Black metal elite Immortal was headlining the last day of Metalcamp, an honourable slot indeed, and they were also the last band for us at this year’s festival.

”Look at all the motherfuckers here tonight!”
- Olve 'Abbath' Eikemo (vocals/guitar)

Out from every dark nook and shadowy cranny, festival visitors had crept out to witness these icy-cold Norsemen and their tribute to the snowy wastelands of Blashyrkh.
It was hard to tell how many watched as fans however, as it seemed there just as many who, like me, have a hard time taking this band seriously, and were just there to play around and have a good time. I know this, as I have a hard time imagining hardcore black metal fans forming a conga-line to the ungodly notes of Pure Holocaust...
There was also a lot of playing around with the inflatable beer-cup holders, which throughout the festival had been used as frisbees just as much, if not more, than their intended purpose, and as some of them landed on stage, I was curious, to say the least, what the bands reaction would be. At first I wasn’t sure if they would play along, ignore it, or be pissed off, and Abbath’s first reaction as he picked one up, pretended to throw it back into the audience, but instead just putting it back on the stage-floor without so much as hinting at an emotion certainly didn’t clarify things for me. Next target up was Apollyon, and as he, looking grim as ever, kicked the holder angrily off the stage, I began thinking this was not going to be one of the bands best days...

Never have I been so mistaken though!
As the gig progressed, the band opened up more and more in ways I have never seen them before, ways I didn’t even think possible.
Abbath was showing unimaginable potential as the frontman that he is, and kept the audience captivated by his good mood and even better crowd-connection. He was talking, smiling, having fun, and even took the time to answer crowd comments when he had the time, and was able to hear them of course.
Not only this, but he had made several updates and upgrades to his normal repertoire of moves; there was a completely new one I would like to baptize the ‘groovy duck-walk’, his normal crab-walk had been upgraded to now include a crab-hop and a deadly crab-walk/windmill-headbanging combination (this garnered high points with the Dances with the Stars judges), and there were even some Elvis-like swinging with the hips during the fire-breathing intermission.
In connection to this, I should remember adding that the pyro-show as a whole was mightily impressive, and larger than normally both for the band and the festival.

I admit, I wasn’t getting into this show at all at first, but unlikely as it may sound, Abbath’s good mood rubbed off on me, and it ended up being the most enjoyable Immortal concert I have witnessed so far!
I think I even heard the wings of the mighty ravendark beat in the not so distant mountains as true darkness descended for the last time on Metalcamp 2010...