Reviews

37 bands, two discs, tons of (short) interviews, and some hilarious highlight footage of the best and worst in stage diving, and what's the first thing I check out? Me. Oh yeah baby. 39.56 Disc One. A shirtless and sweaty me makes fist and opens mouth in time with Further Seems Forever. 1.18.01 through 1.18.02. I get kicked in the face during Stretch Arm Strong. Once I had satisfied my burning urges towards overwhelming vanity, and had watched CKY be real assholes, I could settle down and relive July 4, 5, and 6 2003. What I noticed was, that for all the amazing performances, most notably DEP, Thursday (with Gerard from MCR), The Bled, Daughters, and the crowd for Norma Jean. Holy shit, NJ is hardly playing, the singer is off the stage more time than on, but the kids are flipping out.  It was amazing. I remember the singer lost his shoes. That's not on the DVD. And that's what weighs it down for me; all that's missing. Entire bands are gone, in addition to the little things. Where the hell is Converge? And Dead to Fall? In Flames, Every Time I Die, Suicide File, Shai Hulud, Hope Con? I understand some issue must have arisen between certain labels and the filming company, but it just isn't Hellfest without some of those headliners. Thankfully left out of the DVD was Kittie. Enough said. This DVD has good extras, but short, sometimes pointless, interviews. If you didn't make it to Syracuse in 2003, then get this and see all (or most of) what you missed out on. If you went, maybe you still want to get it, look for yourself, and reminisce over what ended up on the cutting room floor.