Gods To Stay In Bologna

Andrea Pieroni says he’s delighted he moved this year’s Gods Of Metal back to Bologna’s Parco Nord, but he isn’t promising he won’t move the Italian festival again.

"If we have big acts like Iron Maiden and Metallica, then we need the bigger space in Bologna. But if there are only smaller bands touring at festival time, then it makes more financial sense to set up in the 25,000-capacity Idropark in Milan," Pieroni explained, having moved the event six times in its 12-year history.

The larger Parco Nord site was certainly needed on the first day when more than 25,000 showed up to see a bill headlined by Iron Maiden. Pieroni is confident that more than 30,000 will come when he promotes Metallica on the same site July 22.

The second and third days of Gods of Metal, headlined by Slayer and Judas Priest, pulled 14,000 and 11,000 respectively. Pieroni says he was happy with pulling 50,000 over the three days.

The other acts enjoying the festival’s current stopover in Bologna (June 27-29) included Testament, Avenged Sevenfold, At The Gates, Yngwie Malmsteen and Morbid Angel.