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Events and Reports - Wacken Open Air 2004 - Nina´s Wacken report
Sun, summer, beer, gathering of Metalheads from all over Europe! I was more than ready to experience the glory of Wacken Open Air, when I got on board on the bus around 11 AM, which would be turned into a warm up party for the next 6-7- hours, until we reached the Metal mekka!
Already from the start it was clear that this was going to be a hot year in more than one way; the sun was scorching, made people more drowsy than normal and heated up our beers to a high degree. It's better than rain, but the heat was just too much at some points.
Thursday, the 5th of August
The time had come to pick up our backstage passes, which is done inside town, a bit away from the festival ground.
We got there, and after some shopping in the over crowded supermarked, we went to the office stands, where we had to wait in line for around two hours to get our backstage passes! Two long hours in the baking sun without anything to give shade on the flat, dusty field. The Wacken team should be able to know how many press people they have invited and put some more service people in the stands!
After this experience the rest of the day went with drinking 30 degrees warm beers, something that should prove to be a returning discipline during the festival. Yikes! I didn't see any bands the first day. I'm not too keen on Motorhead or Böhse Onkelz, and don't know Zodiac Mindwarp. So the night went with singing along to old Iron Maiden cassettes and laughing at people who fell in the deep ditch, just outside our camp, which was used for pissing in all day!
Friday, the 6th of August
The first band on my bill was my old Doom heroes in Cathedral. With an enjoyable, doomy atmosheric show, they marked the beginning of my festival program, opening with the ultra slow Ebony Tears (**) from their early days, when the music obviously couldn't get slow or doomy enough. Singer and frontman Lee Dorrian is a strange and yet cool experience to watch, pale, melancholic and like in a world of his own, he walks slowly around. A weird but enjoyable show, ending with Lee hanging himself in the microphone line- just for the fun of it!
With 75% Black Sabbath riffs and 25% originality, the English band won the audience over! Newer stuff, from the band's more groove and hippy-rock-meets-doom period was supplied in full as well, with songs like Stained Glass Horizon, Ride, Carnival Bizzare and ending with the excellent Hopkins (The Witchfinder General), where I woke up for real and gave it all I had at this point of day!
I was in doubt whether to watch Dionysus or Arch Enemy, so I decided to split it up at bit.
I started with Dionysus, with the great, melodic singer Olaf Hayer (known from Luca Turilli's solo releases, and sadly less known for the excellent band Lord Byron). I only saw a couple of songs, but the show seemed quite good, especially I must draw attention to the guitar player, who did a superb performance! Olaf Hayer did a great job too, but somehow it felt like some drive was missing, maybe because of the heat, but never the less, I headed to the True Metal stage to watch Arch Enemy. They proved to deliver a very solid performance, and though I don't know the band very much, it was an enjoyable experience. Even when I had to search for shadow and a cold beer in the back of the crowd, the air was thick with atmosphere and people were rocking hard, even all in the back! Extremely many people had shown up, and being able to view the concert from afar on the big screen, is a great thing!
Grave Digger
At 6 pm it was time for Grave Digger, a band I would have been a bigger fan of, if it hadn't been for the vocals.Chris Boltendahl's voice lack melody and harmony in a big way, and on record, I just can't get used to him! But live, I must say he has some kind of charisma, and somehow his voice doesn't bother me as much when I'm swept away by the rocking forces this act deliver live! And rock they did! The old heroes know what it takes to put on a great show and they still sound fresh. Songs like Rebellion, Morgane LeFay, The Round Table (Forever) and Heavy Metal Breakdown rocked hard, and the responds from the fans were great! An absolutely powerful and professional performance from this classic German band!
The crowd at Grave Digger
Next up was Feinstein, who were joined by his old band buddies from The Rods for the first couple of songs. I don't know the band, but it sounded good. Afterwards, it was time for Feinstein's solo stuff, from the newly released debut album, Third Wish. Some sort of mix between Power Metal and old 80's Metal, with solid vocals from John West. Not bad! They played most of the songs from Third Wish, and the concert was very enjoyable! In the end, Joey DeMaio (Manowar), who is Feinstein's record label boss at Magic Circle Music, came onstage and delivered super cool bass playing to the wild fans! Great show, overall, and nice surprise with Joey DeMaio!
The time had come to experience Dio for god knows what time. Well, he always delivers a super show, though it's not surprises that are his biggest force to say the least. We got -once again- all the classics, and of course it was great hearing those magic tunes delivered with professionalism and soul, but not playing any new songs from either Magica nor Killing The Dragon, makes the show feel like déjà vu - you have seen this concert many times before! This made me stay a little more in the background than I would have done, if something more special had drawn me closer. But, well, it's a festival gig, so of course Dio play all the song everybody would know. Holy Diver is some kind of must, I guess, as well as Rainbow In The Dark, King Of Rock 'n' Roll, etc. The performance itself as well as the contact to the audience is always top notch with Dio, and today was no exception!
DIO
When the show had come to an end, Joey DeMaio (Manowar) came onstage and handed some sort of shield to Ronnie James Dio. This was an award for "Lifetime Achievement" in Heavy Metal, on behalf of Magic Circle Music and SPV! In my eyes a very well deserved award! Mr. Dio seemed very touched and surprised, he didn't know what to say or do, and it was hard not getting a little touched by the atmosphere! At the end, various musicians came on stage to celebrate the living legend, among others were Dio's cousin from Feinstein, and it was fun seeing those two small and overly happy men side by side!
Time to catch the Thrash heroes in Destruction! A show filled with energy and nerve, as only Destruction can deliver it! The band rocked hard from point one, and it stands clear that Mike and Schmier are living for this music, which has a good effect on the audience! Old classics like Eternal Ban, Bestial Invasion and Curse The Gods were mixed with comeback songs like Thrash Till Death, The Butcher Strikes Back and Metal Discharge in the black night. The wild blitz show from the stage made me wish I'd remembered my sunglasses (in the middle of the night!) and were a bit annoying at times. But otherwise there's absolutely no complaints! The show was carried out perfectly and with much integrity in the music, so I couldn't wish for more!
Hmmm, my plan was to watch Doro with special guests Udo and Blaze, but unfortunately all the experiences of the day had drained me from all energy, and all I was able to was to sit still with a -for once cold- beer in my hand in the cozy RevelationZ Camp. Our camp buddy, the Maiden-mad Ulrich was more than happy when he returned from the concert, as they had played three Maiden tunes with Blaze! From what I understood it had been a splendid concert, so I regretted not going there, but.well, you are bound to miss out on some of the concerts with this much great music, right?!
Saturday, the 7th of August
Saturday morning. A smell of warm beer, bodies covered in sweat from the heated tents, people who slowly walking towards the breakfast stand, with dark sunglasses and a bad hangover. Yep, I'm still in Wacken!
The first goal for today: Bal-Sagoth! The English act with the exciting soundscapes is playing at Black Stage at 12 under a burning hot sun. Bal-Sagoth is a pretty original band, mixing Black Metal, symphonic keyboards, soundtrack music and some sort of storyteller style, where singer Byron narrates long parts of the albums, which are built upon grand epic legends, created by the singer himself. I am very exited to see how this vision will translate live!
The band played well and the sound was good, though I could miss the huge, majestic keyboard sound, which dominates their albums, but except for that, there are no complaints. Singer Byron didn't really move around on stage, in fact the whole band stood almost totally still during the entire concert, and though it was probably due to the heat, it wasn't exactly something that helped to create a wild atmosphere! On the other hand, it's hard to find anything negative to say about the musical performance, the band played songs like Starfire Burning Upon The Iced Veiled Throne Of Ultima Thule, The Empyrial Lexicon and Atlantis Accendant with ease. On the records, Byron shifts between a deep talking voice and Black Metal screams, but live in flew more together and sounded like aggressive screams, which had a good and more brutal effect on the overall impression. A good concert, without any showmanship, was what we got!
After some time in the camp, I headed for the Cannibal Corpse show. They delivered a refreshing show, and though I'm not a huge fan of the band, I enjoyed the experience of such an uncompromising and brutal band, going full throttle! Singer George Fisher is an experience to watch, as he run around manically, bangs his head, and just goes completely berserk! Even in the back, the electric feeling could be felt, and the fans were ecstatic in the huge mosh pits in the front! A very cool experience, even for a Power Metal head like me!
Helloween
Well, time for Helloween to deliver a solid Power Metal show. The concert reminded me a bit of their show at Sweden Rock Festival, concerning the setlist, they once again played the Keeper Of The Seven Keys, a real treat, alongside a lot of other classics like Eagle Fly Free and Dr. Stein. But also newer songs like Sun 4 The World, Hey Lord and If I Could Fly was taken under treatment. Guitar player Michael Weikath had some trip where he talked with some kind of chicken voice between the songs, but it seems I missed the joke, since everything was in German.!
In the last part of the show, Kai Hansen came on stage as a special guest, and played How Many Tears and Future World with the guys! To see Kai live is so great, he runs around with a big smile on his face and delivers a good show! Certainly a highlight in the Helloween show for me!
After some beers, it was time for Children Of Bodom, who did an outstanding gig at Sweden Rock festival, so I was excited to see, if they could live up to that standard again. Singer and frontman Alexi Laiho is very charismatic on stage and with his special looks, powerful voice and excellent guitar playing skills, he delivered a top gig, both show wise and musically! Keyboarder Janne Warman is absolutely on top of his field, and the rest of the band works well together on stage. So, today the Finns once again were responsible for on of my festival highlights! The setlist was the same as on Sweden Rock, a good mix of never and older material, where especially Needled 24/7, Warheart, Silent Night, Bodom Night and the sing along tune Bodom After Midnight, were winners! The crowd was very enthusiastic and on the big screen, the crowd was hardly visible through the layer of crowdsurfers! A highly enjoyable concert, with lots of energy from both band and fans!
After this great experience, my mouth was so dry, I had to head for the camp to get a beer, as I had almost run out of euro's. I went back to see the last hour or so of Saxon, as I thought this would be the time they played all the hits I knew. And though I was far from stage, the show was impressive! I rocked through 747 (Strangers In The Night), Denim And Leather, And The Bands Played On, and all the other good old songs, I could sing along to, and though not knowing Saxon extremely well, I enjoyed the concert a lot! So cool to see a band this enthusiastic, and the lightshow with the huge eagle and fireworks in the sky, completed the experience!
This marked the end of this year's Wacken Open Air for me, and once again it was a great experience, sharing so much good music with all the likeminded Metalheads!
Bus ride home. Sleep. Wake up, and realize that I have returned from the dreamland known as Wacken, and that a whole year will pass, before I get the chance to go there again.
| You can click most pictures for a bigger version
At the camping ground
Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy
Grave Digger
Grave Digger
Grave Digger
Helloween
Helloween
Helloween
Helloween
Helloween
Helloween
All pictures taken by Steen | Written by Nina
Friday, September 10, 2004 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Morten (Anonymous) - Saturday, September 11, 2004 | Hmmm sounds like you missed alot of bands, did you only watch/listen to the bands you mentioned here?????
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| Comment by Grosso (Anonymous) - Wednesday, September 15, 2004 | Umm... I think Chris Barnes left Cannibal Corpse some 30 years ago, didn't he?
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| Comment by Nina - RevelationZ (Anonymous) - Thursday, September 16, 2004 | Grosso - Ups, my bad...! You're right, of couse, it's George Fisher, don't know what went wrong for me when I did that review, hehe! thanks for pointing it out, I'll change the name in the report! Cheers!
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| Comment by Maryana (Anonymous) - Friday, October 14, 2005 | gosh, HOW I wish to be in one of these shows someday... I WILL!
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