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Events and Reports - Magic Circle Festival 2008 - Stuart's Festival Report - Days 3 & 4
Day 1 and 2
Day 3 and 4
Friday
"I can see by the look that you have in your eyes
You came here for Metal to fight and to die"
The good weather of the previous days came to a stuttering halt on Friday with some short but persistent showers which were annoying but hardly the end of the world. Steen and I sampled the delights of the breakfast tent (rolls and assorted meats if you were wondering) had another beer from my dwindling supply. I broke out my handy rain jacket to stop myself getting too wet and headed in to see Kobus.
Kobus seemed fairly average and their music was a total mix of styles which ran the gamut of Power, Death and Thrash metal. I reckon they are the first South African band I've ever seen live and certainly the only metal band I'm likely to see soon singing Manowar's Pleasure Slave in Afrikaans. The weather, like the band couldn't decide what it wanted to be, switching between sunshine and showers every few minutes. This meant that my rain jacket was in use a fair bit. I had been quite proud of it until Steen completely showed me up with his awesome blue Manowar poncho. I must get me one of those at some point.
We were then joined by Nina and Mads and watched Stormwarrior. I had seen the band the month before at Sweden Rock and had enjoyed their run through some Helloween classics with Kai Hansen even though the sound was rubbish.
This time the sound was as clear as day although they were sadly down an ex-Helloween member as Kai didn't put in an appearance. Luckily the bands own material is pretty strong. Songs like "Thunderer" "Sign Of The Warlord" and "Axewielder" (or The Axewheeler as Mads misheard it) all sounded excellent as did the newer stuff from their latest album Heading Northe. Frontman Lars Ramcke may not have the strongest voice in the world and the band doesn't exactly have the most original sound but it was still a completely enjoyable experience. Thankfully the rain had decided to take a leave of absence, although there were definitely still storm clouds on the horizon.
Next up were Jack Starr's Burning Starr, I had no idea who Jack Starr was until Mads informed me earlier on in the day that he used to be a member of Virgin Steele. I had been meaning to check out that particular band for quite a while and had never got round to it so I was intrigued enough to stick around for Jacks set.
It turned out that Jack Starr didn't have his own band together for the show so he had borrowed three of the members of Stormwarrior who seemed pretty happy to put in a double shift that day. Also on stage was lead singer Todd Hall who was adequate enough but hardly outstanding. I thought the set was pretty good, if perhaps including a few bog standard heavy metal numbers. The makeshift band was clearly gaining momentum though as the last couple of songs had me riveted. I remember a song about "keeping the flame alive" in particular being tremendous.
After Burning Starr had finished up I headed back to join everyone else at the campsite as they had all left midway though Jack Starr. When I got back to the tents Nina and Mads had got stuck into a keg of beer that their friends Tobias and Lunah had brought for them the previous day. They very generously offered me a pint or two (or three) and of course I couldn't refuse. I had wanted to check out Joe Lynn Turner's new band Brazen Abbot but the lure of free beer was just too much to resist.
There were rumours flying about the campsite that Leppard and Whitesnake had pulled out and even stranger that Majesty had disbanded but would still play. These were confirmed to us by Tobias who had been at the Manowar press conference. It was time for Seen and I to do a bit of face-palming as we had completely forgot about the press conference. Damn that sweet amber nectar!
Still at least it turned out that we hadn't missed Brazen Abbot as after talking to a couple of guys at one of the food stalls I found out that they didn't play and were replaced by Beloved Enemy who were supposed to be playing tomorrow. I guess that was just another level on the "Magic Circle Bizarre Organisational Scale" reached right there.
In saying that at least we got our hands on the new Manowar single "Die With Honour" which they were finally handing out at the entrance to the arena. It gathered quite a crowd around my speakers as we blasted it a few times in preparation for the gig that night. It sounded like a lot of newer Manowar material but that can't ever really be considered a criticism as it still got us singing along on the 2nd and 3rd spin. Mind you it did raise the question of how exactly does one "Fight with blood"?
Send any possible answers to my e-mail address please.
After polishing of the keg with the help of some half naked Norwegians we headed back into the Festival to see Doro, via of course a stop off at a bar to get another round of drinks in.
Doro as I'm pleased to report was as brilliant at ever, yet again showing us why she really is the Heavy Metal Queen. She sadly only had an hour of stage time but put it to good use playing a varied set with solo songs like "You're My Family" and "Deep Inside My Heart" mixing with a fair few Warlock tracks like "Fur Immer" and "I Rule The Ruins". Still looking and sounding great despite the years she wasted no time in building up a strong rapport with the audience, speaking in both German and English for the benefit of a truly international crowd. I reckoned that by the end of the festival I had myself spoken to around twelve of thirteen different nationalities!
Her cover of the Judas Priest classic of "Breaking the Law" was well received. It differs live from its studio counterpart as it starts out as a gentle acoustic strum for the first half of the song before storming right into a full band version worthy of The Priest themselves. Sadly Udo couldn't be there to join her on vocals, now that would have been a treat. Doro's set was brought to a close by a couple of Warlock classics, first the evergreen "All we Are" shook the at times lethargic crowd to life and sparked a mass sing-along then "Hellbound" caused a fair number of heads including my own to bang.
Its not often you get two of your favourite live bands back to back at a festival but MCF managed to provide me with W.A.S.P a mere twenty minutes after Doro had vacated the stage. Sadly, for the first time in the four occasions that I've seen W.A.S.P play Blackie dropped the ball. Sure, they still sounded great and played all the hits that you know and love but something was lacking. Blackie looked a wee bit tired and road-weary as he stomped about the stage trying to rouse the crowd who had now retreated into their shell.
The band left the stage after "I Wanna Be Somebody" having used only forty minutes of there allocated hour and didn't return. I was quite disappointed to be honest as for a band that has been so good on three previous occasions; they seemed to fall a bit flat on this one. The crowd should shoulder some of the blame too as most of them acted as if they had one eye on the band and the other on the clock waiting for Manowar.
For a band who are proud of proclaiming "Heavy Metal or no Metal at all" it seemed like quite an odd state of affairs that they would invite a soft rock band like Gotthard (and then indeed, slippery cock rockers Whitesnake) to play directly before them. I have a theory that they didn't want to risk anyone upstaging them at their own event so arranged for a very different sort of band to be playing before them.
Still Gotthard were alright, completely not my cup of tea but still enjoyable enough. They pulled a very small crowd in relation to the two previous bands but still played as if they were entertaining a full house. Singer Steve Lee put more effort into his performance than Jon Bon Jovi puts into doing his hair and having sat down through the first half of their set, the slow number "Let It Be" (no, not the Beatles song) got me on my feet. Like I always say, you can't fail to impress me with a big ballad.
After Gotthard had finished Steen and I headed into the photo pit to take up position for Manowar. We were made to stand as the side of the pit while waiting for them to appear. While waiting it started to rain, then it started to pour. I ended up being quite jammy as I was standing next to Lunah who had borrowed an umbrella from a couple of Israeli photographers standing in front of us. This kept the two of us fairly dry as the rain continued to fall. After about half an hour the rain slacked off and a not one, but two rainbows appeared (no Richie Blackmore sadly). It was a rather spectacular sight to see that massive crowd backed by these rainbows over a now beautiful night sky.
Eventually at around half nine the lights dimmed and the intro tape started. Steen and I had been talking earlier about what they would open with, I assumed that since they were doing the albums back to back then they would naturally open with "Death Tone", Steen was certain they would open with nothing but "Manowar". Needless to say he was right as Orson Wells voiced boomed over the crowd to announce the presence of the band and they raced on stage to start with their signature song.
Being in the photo pit for the first few songs was intense as it was just unbelievably loud, I was wearing ear-plugs but it was still deafening. The mix was perfect mind you with everything balanced out so that nothing was dominating. It was actually a quite incredible experience being that close to the band, trying to get good pictures, doing commando runs across to the other side of the stage while trying to avoid being in fellow photographers shots and then be able to turn round and see the front rows people bellowing the lyrics back at the band.
The first three songs "Manowar", "Death Tone" and "Metal Daze" passed in a flash for me though I do remember a security guard demanding to see my pass after I accidentally screamed "AND IF I DON'T HEAR THE SOUND OF METAL, I GO INTO SHOCK" in his face while concentrating on taking pictures. As soon as the third song ended in a hail of feedback we were all ejected back into the crowd.
Sadly this meant that I kind of missed "Fast Taker" as Steen and I wormed our way into the crowd. By midway through "Shell Shock" we had attained a pretty good position on the right hand side of the audience not too far from the front and the fun really started.
The band stayed pretty much true to their word and played almost everything else in order that night, with a few obvious exceptions. Battle Hymns is probably my favourite of their albums so being able to sing and head bang along to "Dark Avenger" knowing that I was only a bass solo away from hearing Battle Hymn live was very exciting in itself.
After a blissfully short rant and the Williams Tale bass solo from Joey, the moment that I'd been waiting for since I heard the song first time round happened and the intro to Battle Hymn started. As soon as Rhino (who had to step in for Scott Columbus due to a personal matter) started that drum roll I was in heaven. I don't know if I'd ever seen a more powerful performance of a song in my entire life. From the crowd singing along to ever word especially the slow middle part, the second drum fill shaking the ground, the perfect solo from Karl Logan to Eric Adams who sounded absolutely on fire. His "SOUND THE CHARGE" scream was utterly, utterly incredible.
I had heard some disturbing things about Manowar on the various places on the net and elsewhere saying that they don't actually sound that hot live anymore, that Eric can't hit the high notes and the band spend most of their time talking to the audience rather than playing songs. I would just like to take a moment to say that on the evidence of the two gigs I saw all of that is complete bullshit. The band sounded incredibly tight despite not playing with their regular drummer, Eric hit pretty much everything that was thrown his way and on the first night they were onstage for just under three hours, played twenty four songs and only spent around fifteen minutes out of the total stage time talking to the audience.
After the glory of "Battle Hymn", the ridiculous intro to "Warlord" started. I had half hoped that band would attempt some sort of recreation of this intro but I can only assume they came to the same conclusion as me, that it would have been rather disturbing if they had tried.
"Warlord" itself sounded excellent and put a smile on my face, the rest of the Into Glory Ride section was deadly serious as epic tale followed epic tale. I don't have a better way to describe "Secret of Steel" other than it sounded massive and impenetrably dark and gloomy. Special mention must go to Joey's bass playing during the song which was maniacal yet completely controlled.
After screaming my head off about "Leather, Metal, Spikes.and Chains" along with "Gloves Of Metal" it was time for another of Manowar's greatest songs "Valhalla". Once again Eric's vocals sent shivers down by spine as he hit those high notes with ease.
"Hatred" while not being one of my favourites from the album was performed with such ferociousness that I felt compelled to push my already aching vocal chords to the limit and sing along.
"Revelation" (They must have missed out the"Z") was tremendous and somehow managed to sound even better that the album version. The account of mankind's reckoning weaved a spell on the audience and Karl's guitar work in particular was mesmerizing. Plus let's face it, is there a more visceral way to describe the end of the world than with the lines:
"Armageddon the first trumpet blows
Hail, fire and blood fall on Satan's throne"
It was round about this time where Joey took to the stage to hail the countries that had made the trip to Bad Arolsen for the festival. He read out a long list of countries, each one getting a cheer from the nationals in the crowd but Scotland (and also Wales) were not among them. After he had finished his list he paused and told us that "someone had fucked up". This was it I though, he has to mention us now! But instead he continued with "we forgot...Bulgaria"
Now no disrespect to the Bulgarian nation and all its brothers of metal but how can you read out England and Ireland then forget the other UK countries? As you can imagine I threw a few choice insults Joeys way at this point, I think the people round about me were wondering what the hell I was on about. Apparently the phrase "Whits yer fuckin game ya bawbag?" doesn't travel well.
(Translation for non Scots: Excuse me Mr Joey D'Maio, sir. You didn't read out the name of my country. Could I trouble you for an explanation?)
I couldn't stay mad at him for too long though as the show then continued with an almighty rendition of "March for Revenge". The "For when we march" section was particularity stirring with most of the crowd raising the sign of the hammer high in tribute to Rhino's pounding drums.
Then it was straight into "Blood of My Enemies", which was marvelous with the high vocal section at the end of the song creating a special atmosphere.
"Each Dawn I Die" was possibly the most brutal song of the evening and "Kill With Power" got one of the loudest reactions of the night. Everything about the song was perfect from Eric Adams running the length of the stage screaming like a madman and the awesome, battering drum sound to Joey's patented leap over a prostrate Karl. Also it's not often that you find yourself in a crowd of thousands upon thousands of people all screaming "Die, Die" and can call it a positive experience.
They then decided to change things about a bit and instead of playing "Hail to England" the rest of the band left Joey on the stage for "Black Arrows". Joey's started his "Let each note I play" spoken word passage but the crazy, demonic-sounding vocal effect on his mic made it incomprehensible. The less said about the actual bass solo the better. While it started off strangely enjoyable just for the sheer volume and intensity, the "song" soon disintegrated into a meaningless racket.
The band then returned to play the title track from the third album "Hail To England". Or as I had renamed it for the night "Hail To Scotland" as for a Scotsman it seems very, very wrong (nae, impossible) to hail England in song.
The song itself sounded excellent as did the follow-up "Army of Immortals". There could be no better place or time to play this song than here for a throng of true Heavy Metal fans who had came from across the globe to witness it. Just looking about and the many, many flags on display (including a Saltire flown a fellow Scot hailing from Elgin) was a terrific sight and put no doubt in my mind that "Metal makes us stronger"
Then it was time for another Joey speech; this one was about being yourself and living with honour. Unsurprisingly they then played the new single and Steen and I joined in the chorus with great gusto, although possibly still distracted by the thought of using blood as a weapon.
A truly unexpected moment was to follow with the airing of mega- hit (well in Germany anyway) "Warriors of The World". This really did unite the crowd as it was a song that absolutely everybody new the words to and it provided the first true "Whoh-oh" crowd participation moment during the intro. I do love it when that happens.
Now it wouldn't be a Manowar gig without Joey bringing a girl onstage. This night was slightly different as he led out the 14 year old daughter of the Bad Arolsen Mayor. Now if you were expecting Joey to act sensible then you were watching the wrong band as the girls age and the fact that they were thanking her father for letting them put on the gig didn't stop him from making a few crude comments about her. For shame Joey, for shame.
He also no doubt caught the attention of the Irony Police at this point by announcing that every town official he had talked to was impressed with the behaviour and politeness of the Manowar fans. Something he of course had known about all along. And what does Mr D'Maio say to people who don't think Manowar fans are polite??? Well "FUCK YOU" of course.
The evening was finished on an insanely high point with the final track from Hail, "Bridge Of Death". The band had clearly spared no expense with the pyro as soon the whole stage was aflame with jets of fire appearing to shoot out from seemingly every possible position. The song itself sounded immense and as Eric intoned "I know the one who waits, Satan is his name" you genuinely believed he was ready for an appearance from the Dark Lord himself. The song climaxed with pyro blazing high in the night sky backed by Eric's mocking laughter. A truly stunning way to end an astonishing gig.
Saturday
"For when the day is done, forever carry on"
Saturday started with Steen and I having our very own RevelationZ feast. We went to the supermarket and bought grapes, bananas, bread, ham, cheese and some chocolate biscuits. But most importantly we had the last two beers from my supply. I felt sorry to see them go but it was a fitting meal to use them on.
And to all those who are appalled at the thought of having a beer for breakfast? "Go on, get out, leave the hall"
Jim and I decided to check out the Battle Of The Bands winners, we found out that every thing was running way behind schedule to make up for the fact that they were down two bands. The winner of the Battle of The Bands came on around twelve and we were unsurprised but delighted to find out it was Cassock. This meant we got to appreciate the rather pretty lead singer plus join in with the songs we half remembered from two nights ago. I thought I was going to have to restrain Jim at one point as he was getting carried away screaming "Bitch" during their best track "Do You Like This Song"
We had been firing through rounds of beers in the festival site but even they couldn't help us enjoy Velvet Revol... sorry Sixth Sense. We watched a couple of songs, got annoyed then headed back to the campsite. We returned with Paul and Ully a while later for Mob Rules who played some highly enjoyable, melodic, keyboard heavy metal. They are playing at Bloodstock in August so hopefully I should get the chance to see them again.
We had managed to grab a look at the timetable and had found out that the organizers had roped in an extra band called Krypteria to help fill in for the two sets of aged British rockers. Not exactly a big name but I wanted to check them out none the less.
First we had to negotiate Titanium Black, we got ourselves another beer and settled down on the grass. The band were pretty poor, they sounded like a modern commercial rock take on Heavy Metal, too plain and unadventurous to make any real impact. Still they had singer who from far away looked the spitting image of Ralph Scheepers and played a decent enough Judas Priest cover so it wasn't all bad.
Krypteria turned out to be a respectable enough female fronted gothic rock band. Thankfully they came from the more up-tempo Nightwish school than the plodding Lacuna Coil goth nonsense. I went into the pit to take a few pictures then rejoined Jim and Paul. It was around this time I noticed I had a very intriguing text from Steen. It implied that they had found somewhere to purchase beer and were off to investigate.
Sure enough a few songs later I got the call saying that they had achieved their mission and I should head back to the campsite. We hurried back and found beer in plentiful supply. The guys had managed to get another keg plus two big bottles each. I fired up the stereo with some Manowar in celebration and we enjoyed the beer and a sing-along.
I didn't ever hear the full story on how they came to get a hold of the beer and quite frankly I don't want to know. As far as I'm concerned they followed a trail of empty beer cans into the depths of the forest and found the mythical Beer Witch of Bad Arolsen. They then managed to evade her terrible clutches and come away victorious with the spoils of war. And if anyone thinks of telling me different then I'm sorry but I won't believe them.
We ended up having so much fun and drinking so much that we totally forgot about Brazen Abbot for a second time. I'm sorry Joe but I guess it wasn't meant to be.
Fully liquored-up we went off to watch HolyHell, your faithful correspondents decided that they only way to cover the band righteously would be to grab another drink first. This lead to us trooping into the photo pit armed with a beer and a rum and coke. We like to consider ourselves professionalism incarnate; as I'm sure you will agree.
HolyHell sounded pretty good. They played songs off their only release "Apocalypse" including "Last Vision" and a fine rendition of the title track. Lead singer Maria Breon's vocals sounded more mature and powerful than on the recorded versions. This along with some excellent musicianship (I could listen to Rhino drum on tin cans and still enjoy it) helped do justice to the selection of covers they played including "Dream On" by Aerosmith. I was hoping they would play "Phantom Of The Opera" and be joined onstage by Eric Adams but sadly I was to be denied.
Next up were Majesty, who were introduced as "Metal Force" by the announcer, confirming the rumour that had started yesterday. I'll be honest and say I still have no idea what the hell is going on there with the name change but it didn't seem to matter too much as the band played through an all Majesty set-list. Steen and I took to the photo pit once more, I then stayed down the front for a while as he went back to join everyone else.
Songs like "Hell Forces" and "Swords and Sorcery" are just about as clichéd and cheesy as Power Metal gets but I still really enjoyed them. I dare anyone to stand through anything as willfully dumb as a song like "Into The Stadiums" and not come out the other end with a big grin on their face (and possibly a mullet on their head). Its cry of "Bring Metal to the stadiums cause that's where it belongs" is just too infectious to avoid singing along with.
"Heavy Metal Battle Cry" was also great fun with the "Hail Hail Hail" chorus getting the crowd going. Metal Force also tried to stamp out the ghost of their previous incarnation by changing the traditional chant of "Hail, Hail to Majesty" to "Hail, Hail to Metal Force". Unhappily for them the crowd were not having any of it and kept it true to its original form. Still nice try lads.
We had decided earlier in the day that having got plenty of photo's of Manowar last night we would just stay in the crowd for the night's performance. We made our way to near the front of the stage and commenced a sing-along to all the Manowar classics you know and love while waiting for them to appear.
If you happened to be down the right hand side of the stage and heard us then you now know who was responsible for that unholy racket, but if you were there and didn't sing along then shame on you for not joining in!
Once again the band opened with "Manowar" then this time went straight into "All Men Play On 10" from Sign Of The Hammer. A couple of things became apparent even at this early stage. If last night had been loud it was nothing compared to tonight as the band took their creed of "While I'm playing you won't get robbed" to heart and turned the amps and P.A to breaking point as they themselves seemingly put all their remaining energy into the performance.
The crowd seemed to react to this and went 1000 times crazier than last night. This did result in Nina, Mads, Steen and myself being separated in the crowd but also made for a spellbinding, captivating gig which left me and every single person there that night physically and emotionally drained but at the same time utterly euphoric.
I can't really remember the order that the songs were played so for the most part I'll just stick to the album running orders although I know for a fact that there were moments when songs was changed about. Still, that night was no time for notepads and set-list taking I had the concert of a life time to enjoy.
Eric took the crowd though a vocal work out before unleashing the opening scream of "Animal", which was great fun. "Animal" is one of those songs that you know Manowar shouldn't really be writing but is just so catchy you can't hold it against them.
This lead into triumphant renditions of "Thor (The Powerhead)" and "Mountains". The latter in particular was awe-inspiring as the band wrung every drop of emotion out its seven and a half minutes.
"Sign Of The Hammer" was unleashed with great fury and Eric's vocals have never sounded more vicious as they did at that moment. If "The Oath" had sounded good at the soundcheck then it was out of this world that night. It's almost thrash pace and torrent of hate filled lyrics made for some intense moments.
Joey had decided that he had lots more to say tonight than he did last night and made various different speeches throughout the evening. It was Eric's birthday so at one point he got the crowd to sing Happy Birthday to the man of the moment. He also made up for his oversight last night by thanking the fans from Scotland and Wales for coming to the festival. Thank you Joey all is forgiven!
There was also a point where Joey brought out the chief of the Fire Department to judge how "Heiss" or "Uber-Heiss" some girls were. These girls turned out to be the tequila-licking strippers Jim and I had seen a couple of nights ago. There was no tequila to be seen this time though as the girls were busy with fire breathing while wearing some very skimpy outfits. Rather them than me.
"Guyana (Cult Of The Damned)" closed the Sign Of The Hammer section and was marvelous. I've always been interested in the Jonestown massacre and its fascinating to investigate just how one man can gain absolute power over so many. It also of course makes a great topic for a song and had me singing along from "Thank you for the Cool-aid Reverend Jim" to the final cry of "MOTHER, MOTHER, MOTHER!!!"
"Fighting The World" was next and it's a song I've always wanted to hear live and it's the first Manowar song I ever heard. I got carried away at this point and ended up jumping about like a mad man. But hey, as the band say: "True Metal people wanna rock not pose"
"Blow Your Speakers" was brilliant fun as was "Carry On", which provided yet another sing-along moment for the crowd. Eric's high vocals were again perfect on both and while not being the heaviest songs the band have ever written they were still both a pleasure to hear live.
Then the lights dimmed and sirens wailed as "Violence and Bloodshed" roared into gear. Now on the album it's a fairly average song enlivened by some manic vocals but hampered with a rather dull and overlong fade out ending. Live however it's a completely different beast as it carried more power than ever before. The frenzied snarl of the chorus was ravaging and the band played as if they really were preparing to go on a vigilantly crusade.
Rhino then took control of the stage for "Drums of Doom" which as on the album was followed by "Holy War". I then don't remember if "Master of Revenge" was played but what I certainly do remember was the masterful rendition of "Black Wind, Fire and Steel". It was one of the crowning moments of the entire festival and certainly the most extreme as after the note perfect solo Eric came crashing back in with an the almighty scream of "I am an outcast." Seriously, I'm sitting here typing this a few weeks after the festival and I'm still getting goose-bumps thinking about it.
There was some more dicking about onstage as the motorbikes were given away and not for the last time tonight the whole thing went on a lot longer than it needed to as they got the winners up on stage. Not that I would have been complaining if I was one of them right enough.
Then it was time for the last album of the night "Kings of Metal". And my God what a way to end the event!
A blistering "Wheels of Fire" was followed with "Kings of Metal" itself. A song which seemed to get the whole crowd (or at least those about me) jumping. I can now vouch for the fact that while other bands play, Manowar most certainly kill.
There was then another departure from the album running order as Joey and Rhino raced though "Sting of The Bumblebee" at an unbelievably loud volume. I remember thinking that some of my internal organs were going to get displaced such was the force of the rendition. I could still feel my chest reverberating days later.
Joey then brought up a female fan on stage that had something she wanted to ask her boyfriend. He too was led onto the stage and she proposed to him. The guy looked like he was ready to say yes but Joey stopped him in his tracks. He called forward the tequila-licking, fire-breathing strippers and a few of their friends (who shared their habit of not wearing a large amount of clothing). They sat the guy down on a chair and proceeded to get rather up close and personal with him.
The band then started up "Pleasure Slave" as the two lead strippers started their fire breathing at either side of the stage. When they weren't fire-breathing they were gyrating, when they weren't gyrating they were fire-breathing. All the while their four friends were dancing round the guy in the chair and the band was grinding out "Pleasure Slave" (although for some reason Eric had disappeared back stage to sing).
The sensitive, new age guy in me was of course disgusted by the depiction of the female sex as mere slaves to the will of men. Luckily this side of me was beaten into submission by the unrepentant misogynist in me and I soon was screaming "Woman remove your garments, Kneel before me." with the rest of the audience.
After the song Joey asked the girl if she would let her boyfriend do this kind of thing whenever he wanted and she agreed. They were then pronounced Heavy Metal man and wife and lead off stage. But it occurred to me we never heard the guy say yes to her proposal so I'm not sure how legally binding the whole ceremony was.
After the stage had been cleaned up a bit (we wouldn't want anyone slipping on any of the fire breathing liquid) a 20 man choir was bought on to the raised platform at the back of the stage and then came the defining moment of the night "Kingdom Come".
"Kingdom Come" has always been a bit of a sleeper hit for me. It's never a song I always skip to when I'm listening to Manowar but every time I hear it I remember how wonderful it is. Things changed with this performance as that night it became unquestionably one of my favourites.
It was just so perfectly played by the band and the choir added something extra and unique to it by joining in on the chorus. I can't put into words what it did to me but by the time Karl played the inspiring solo I was in tears. I don't really cry at many gigs but there was just something about that moment that pushed me over the edge. My eternal gratitude must go to whoever decided to extend the heaven sent outro with Eric's high pitched screams counter balanced by the choir's chant of "Kindom Come" as it made for a very special moment.
There was no let up in the emotional rollercoaster as the next song played was "Heart of Steel". Looking back, it makes perfect sense to play these two songs together as they both carry the same message of standing up for yourself and never giving up. This rendition too was breathtaking, I love the way that the song starts live with just Joey's bass as it really builds up tension until Eric starts to sing.
Some bands would struggle to follow up a devastating one-two combination like that but not Manowar, they just simply played yet another undisputed classic "Hail and Kill". It was the ideal song to play as it let the crowd release all the energy they had built up over the last two songs, and release it they did with what seemed like every single person in attendance joining in the chant of "Hail. Hail, Hail and Kill".
The crowd were then left alone to listen to "The Warriors Prayer" before the band reclaimed the stage to play "Blood Of The Kings". This was a tremendous version only tempered slightly by the fact that Eric didn't attempt the screams on the intro. But to be fair he had put in such an impeccable shift up till then that I couldn't hold it against him.
Like the previous night Joey made a speech about being yourself and they then played "Die With Honour" and "Warriors of The World" again. While enjoying them immensely it cause a bit of déjà vu as I had seen them both being played only 24 hours previous.
At this point I realized that the gig had now being going for well over 3 hours and I was starting to get very tired. I was having a bit of trouble standing upright as my legs were turning to jelly but there was no way I was going to miss any of the night.
My exhaustion was not helped by Joey spending the next 10 minutes talking about next year's festival. Although I was intrigued to find out the next album will be made alongside a movie, book and a video game and would be played in its entirety at next years festival. They then brought the author of the book Wolfgang Hohlbein onstage to read the first line from his creation. To be honest it sounded like he had pulled the line out his arse two minutes before he came onstage but I'll be very interested to see how all these plans come together.
Joey thanked the people who made the event possible and us for coming and making it a success. He then promised that next years would be even bigger and better and that they had one more song left this evening.
He went offstage and two keyboard players took to the sides of the stage. The band reappeared and began a beautiful rendition of "The Crown And The Ring" backed by the choir who were on the original recording. Yet again it exceeded all expectations and by the last line of 3rd verse when Eric split the night sky with his cry of "Ours is the kingdom.of steel" it left no doubt in my mind that I had witnessed a very momentous occasion.
After the show was over I rejoined Steen, Nina and Mads who all agreed that that was one of the finest gigs they had ever seen. In fact every single person who walked by looked shell shocked but elated to have been a part of the event.
It really hit home at that moment that despite all the bad organization, cancellations and the time, money and effort that it took to make it to Bad Arolsen I wouldn't have spent the last four days anywhere else. And if the Kings of Metal say they will return again next year then I'm going to make sure that I'm there with a beer in my hand and my brothers and sisters of Metal by my side.
"Fight the world
Hail and Kill"
| Click pictures for a bigger version.
Storm clouds on the horizon
Doro
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The crowd at Doro
WASP
Gotthard
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HolyHell
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Magic Circle
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Manowar
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| Written by Stuart
Monday, August 11, 2008 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Revgoomba (Member) - Tuesday, August 12, 2008 | 
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Comments: 20
Ratings: 0 | | I think "blood" is referring to passion, possibly. Like their power for each battle is in their blood.
No?
Posted by Revgoomba
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 |
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| Comment by Jim (Member) - Tuesday, August 12, 2008 | 
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Comments: 2
Ratings: 0 | | Awesome, comprehensive review Stuart. I had forgotten a lot of the track listings and little bits and pieces of the festival. My mind is still a hazy maelstrom of meeting many great people, seeing some great bands, beer and watching the True Metal Kings absolutely destroy us and everything in their path over those 2 fateful nights. Reading your review brought it all back to me so thanks for that mate. Hail and Kill. Jim
Posted by Jim
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 |
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| Comment by Dennis the Menace (Member) - Tuesday, August 12, 2008 |
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Comments: 12
Ratings: 0 | | So here we got the next promising Scottish shortstory writer. Excellent work. Should have taken a while..., but I really enjoyed readin'. Same goes for the Swedenrock-report. Smells like nightshifting...;-) Just as Steens report and this one pulled out: There must have been magic during the Manowar shows. Would have been worth the Euros. Big laugh: AND IF I DON'T HEAR THE SOUND OF METAL, I GO INTO SHOCK. I hope he heard it and you did not get paralysed in front of the stage! Just got back from an outstanding Headbangers Openair. Take this one in consideration for next year. Never been on a festival that underground and true. Planning to go to KIT XI with Flotsam and Jetsam, Forte, Artillery, Tokyo Blade, Girlschool, Nasty Savage, Hellhound, et al. If somebody is interested... take care, D.t.M.
Posted by Dennis the Menace
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 |
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| Comment by wildpegasus (Member) - Wednesday, May 27, 2009 |
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Comments: 3
Ratings: 0 | | Hi!
Great report. Great Festival! But I miss the photos of my favourite band
Jack Starr's BURNING STARR.
There is too less information in this world about exceptional musicians like Jack Starr.
This is why I first also knew Jack Starr only as the ex-guitarist and founder of the Power Metal band "VIRGIN STEELE".
I love the album "Under A Savage Sky" and it's uniquely stylistic balance between traditional and today's current sound.
Like other guitar players Jack Starr also offers different techniques of guitar playing, but there is something different:
Jack Starr's guitar melodies are extremely stirring, touching, wild and passionate!
You can not find everywhere this exciting contrast of hard riffs and very emotionally presented moving melodies and a guitar sound full of heart and soul.
This is why I never would have renounced his performance with
BURNING STARR on July 11th, 2008 at the Magic Circle Festival in Germany (Bad Arolsen).
I'm pretty excited to get Jack Starr's new Melodic Metal CD "DEFIANCE"
which should come out very soon.
It must be already Jack Starr's 13th CD with changing bands (this talented guitar hero seems to like to be not limited to only one band and style to realize his tremendously great repertoire of ideas!).
The songs which I have heard at this mentioned festival and at the pre-listening session are absolutely great!
I like the new singer's voice (Todd Michael Hall) very much! It is high, powerful and voluminous and he presented his singing in so many different ways and therefore underlines the expression of the extremely moving tunes.
If you like screams full of whole elemental power, while high charisma is lying in every tone and every word which is pronounced - you will know what I mean.
The sensational riffs and the catchy chorus lines in Jack Starr's versatile Melodic Metal songs I can remember very well.
This up-coming album must be great!
Spectacularly demanding is for example the title song "Defiance" - which starts as a goose-flesh making ballad and rises up to a bursting true metal song.
"The beast inside", on the other hand, will let you dive into a gloomy threatening atmosphere with heavily dragging sounds that could be an answer to the Music style of METALLICA.
Of course you will also find surprising, lively and dramatic guitar solo melodies, the wild rocking energy, the touch of the Indian spirit, mythic elements, middle-eastern accessories, freeing passages, profoundly developed song constructions with genre overstepping stylistic influences and at least the battering power of the thrilling "live" atmosphere from the festival in 2008.
To all European explorers of earth shaking metal events it is firmly recommended to visit the next Jack Starr's BURNING STARR concert
on July 18th, 2009
at the next Magic Circle Festival in the tremendous "Loreley" amphitheatre
in St. Goarshausen - together with
MANOWAR, HOLY HELL, KINGDOM COME, DOMAIN and many other bands.
For the rest of this world: Feel invited to watch the 2008 video clip of Jack Starr's BURNING STARR's song "Evil never sleeps" at the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS8jvDUc8DI&feature=channel_page
Insiders may know Jack Starr as one of the most important pioneers and inventors of the new style in U.S. Power Metal in the past.
Progress will show that this guitar hero will surprise us with defining many more paths for exceptional, clever Melodic Metal variants which will become copied in the future times.
Websites for more information:
http://www.jackstarr.com
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=stratluvr
http://www.spacecoastlive.com/calendar/band/001408
http://www.myspace.com/jackstarrmetal
http://www.myspace.com/jackstarrsburningstarr
http://www.guardiansoftheflame.us/
http://www.myspace.com/jackstarrbluesband
http://www.jackstarrblues.com
MELODIC GREETINGS FROM GERMANY!
Posted by wildpegasus
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 |
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