It’s that time of year again when the world’s heavy metal elite in a place that can only be referred to by extreme music lovers as the ‘Holy Land’. 75’000 metalheads migrate to this patch of Northern German turf every year to pay homage to the metal gods, and revel in the good times with friends, old and new from all over the world. This is Wacken Open Air. And this is how we experienced it.
In 2016, this would be my 12th festival having begun attending in 2005 – and quite frankly the experience gets better every year. The bands, the food, the people, the beer, the entertainment…it’s all simply fantastic, pure paradisium for a die hard metal fan.
The past couple of years have been hindered by extreme weather, and in the case of 2016, security concerns given the recent events that have been occurring in Germany – again this year was a flawless experience ranging from one highlight of entertainment to the next. The festival gets the best out of people as they make the best of the situation they are in. That is perhaps what makes Wacken Open Air so unbelievably special.
With a few pints and few bratwursts down, and of course that legendary Zyklopenspeiss (you’ll just have to come to the festival…I can’t even put high poetry to describe the radial taste of this stick of meat), we kick off the first day of music!
Wednesday
We begun our Wacken adventures by checking out one of Iceland’s hottest properties on the traditional Wacken metal battle. Why these guys and no-one else? Well to be perfectly honest – we’ve seen them a couple times before, and they own.
Cold embracing black metal that sounds like a pagan ritual through the warm and humid tent of the Headbanger’s stage, Audn were appreciated by the German masses, celebrating their Nordic black metal by adding the famed Viking chant that was discovered at the Euro Football Tournament this year. Excellent performance and worthy winners.
Thursday
Our Thursday proceedings begin with the Polish legends Vader who are currently gearing up to release a new album, but have decided to play a few shows over the summer just to wet our appetites. We saw them in London a while back, but seeing them in Germany in front of a larger crowd is something else.
Firing off their hyper-fast blast beats with the roaring guitars of ‘Go To Hell‘ and ‘Come and See My Sacrifice‘, the packed tent is livid with excitement. It’s probably showing that neighbourly love to the band that kicked off a legion of death and thrash metal in that part of the world, and the crowd respond. Not to mention an insane light show that sliced through the tent.
Whatever capacity you have to see The Black Dahlia Murder. It’s always something that delivers. It’s a short slot given to the Michigan death metallers, but it’s a sweet one, packed to the brim with TBDM classics that the crowd are ever so appreciative of.
The sound was sadly a bit muffled by heavy bass, but it didn’t stop the Wacken crowd from proving their worth to the sounds of ‘What a Horrible Night To Have a Curse‘ and ‘Everything Went Black‘. This band are so consistent with what they do performance wise, that it always makes from great watching whether you are hardcore fan or simply curious.
Feuerschwanz are one of those bands we have to see when they play Wacken, simply because we never have the opportunity to see them anywhere else. It’s that odd band shrouded in a bit of mystery as we never have any idea what is going, but they always attract large crowds of dedicated fans who love the on stage antics of this band that range from having fans dance on a castle to sending them out in an inflatable boat.
The fans are so dedicated that they are even skipping Iron Maiden for this band, ashamedly we missed most of it as well. But given that we have seen Maiden earlier this summer at Download, the choice was made to enjoy these crazy Germans and their medieval folk rock. Even though again we had no idea what was happening, it was all so light-hearted and entertaining.
We did manage to catch the end of the Maiden show however – and right at my favourite part of every Iron Maiden show ever. The part where Mr. Dickinson commands the audience to sing along to the opening tunes of ‘Fear of the Dark‘. Something that always sends chills down the spine…but even more so if 75’000 people are singing along. This is something that makes the whole Wacken experience so amazing – watching that many dedicated metal fans paying homage to one of the best metal bands in the world.
Of course the last few songs we get to see the band play were classics and fiercely executed on that grandiose stage tailored for ‘The Book of Souls‘ tour. ‘Iron Maiden‘, ‘Blood Brothers‘, ‘The Number of the Beast‘, and of course ‘Wasted Years‘ were flawless. Even though I only got to see them for a bit, it was an instant reminder of why Iron Maiden are one of the best live bands in the world.
Friday
What had looked to be a promising bright and sunny day was suddenly thrown into question by the looming dark storm clouds. Or perhaps maybe when Orden Ogan took the stage, somehow the song of German power metal called the rains down with a vengeance. It was suddenly pouring, but nothing about the weather dispersed the crowds in what was a magnificent performance from the band including epics such as ‘Here At The End of the World‘ and ‘The Things We Believe In‘. It was an excellent albeit wet start to the Friday at Wacken. But it was nothing a couple beers and Zyklopenspeiss couldn’t solve.
As we shuffled on over to the Wackinger Village, we nourished ourselves with all the local treats on offer, and munched down to the sound of medieval folk rock band Reliquae. I had seen this band before years ago, but for some reason could not remember anything they had done. But it’s band’s like these that really make Wacken for me these days – the small party bands that really pack a punch in your day. It was fine feasting music, and mixed with a bit of ale, is what really brings the whole Wacken experience alive.
But we move on to the staple of what made the festival great – the momentous heavy metal bands that adopt the holy heritage and perform their hymns to the legions of followers. And at this very moment presented the opportunity to feel some traditional heavy metal in Eastern flavours, as Loudness, from Japan took the stage. I knew very little about this band apart from the fact that they have been around a very long time, and are very big in their native country. Delivering some angsty heavy metal sounds, it was quite enjoyable to see Japan’s take on the genre, and incredible to see just how many fans turned up to watch these guys.
The weather finally started to clear, and it probably made the next set of Equilibrium all the more enjoyable as the epic metallers probably had a massive contribution into pummelling the sky clear. Tracks like ‘Karawane‘ brought one of the largest surge of crowd surfers at the festival, while the speedy ‘Blut im Auge‘ got the centre moving. The energy levels that the band brought out definitely made the performance one of the highlights of the festival for me personally.
And coming off a musical high like that required a few beers more, and of course we stormed into the Beer Garden to chug some litres and make a few new friends. As we were getting comfortably merry, we thought it suitable to track over to see some more folk metal, but this time with a bigger stage and a lot more people. Eluveitie took to the main stage to blow the minds of 70’000 metalheads with their virtuoso standards of folk instrumentation, getting everyone leaping for ‘Inis Mona‘ and everyone clapping for ‘Tegernako‘. It was music perfectly tailored to the afternoon highs of almost every festival goer.
And by now enough ale was flowing from the stream of folk metal throughout the day to spark curiosities in the more outlandish acts that the festival was offering this year. That included Tarja, who typically known for being the ex-frontwoman of Nightwish, brought her solo band to Wacken to perform her newly established ‘heavier’ sound. That actually proved to be a pleasant surprise. Having heard Tarja’s solo work of old I was expecting a bit of pop-rock and the odd Nightwish enthusiast to support here, but what we got was a much heavier Tarja performing new hard-hitters such as ‘No Bitter End‘ and ‘Innocence‘. It may have been the beer talking, but it was a surprisingly good show.
But now the vocal chords were completely warmed up, and it was all leading to this moment. Blind Guardian, Germany’s pride and joy, were to take the stage to perform a headline slot in their homeland, and what happens to be the world’s biggest metal festival. Getting us all fiesty with the opening ‘The Ninth Wave‘, the whole experience of Blind Guardian in this performing capacity is simply overwhelming. 70’000 metalheads all singing along to ‘Nightfall‘ and ‘The Bard’s Song‘ is something you really have to see to believe. It sends the coldest of chills down your spine, and the unity involved in seeing things such as this builds up the bastion of Wacken with the embedded motto – ‘this is your happy place’. Unbelievable stuff.
Saturday
The last day at Wacken Open Air is always an emotional paradox. On one end, the place really is a dreamland for a metalhead, and an experience you just don’t want to end, but on the other hand, 3 preceeding days of hard physical exercise really does take it’s toll on you. But alas, we power on for the final day full of some of the best live metal that could be offered.
Dragonforce are the first to take the stage early on this Saturday morn, and quite frankly it is probably the best way to wake yourself up. The sun is out now, but the mud is still thick, making it a tad awkward when commanding vocalist Marc Hudson attempts to get the building crowds to jump or mosh – it certainly must have been entertaining to watch from the band’s side – but tracks like ‘Fury of the Storm‘ and ‘The Game‘ certainly get the blood pumping and the brain back in gear. It’s certainly needed for the onslaught of technical metal ahead.
And it’s really no time at all before the legendary progressive metallers Symphony X take the stage. As Dragonforce warm us up with their speedy, technical shredding, now we are ready for our faces to be melted and minds warped with the unearthly guitar work of Michael Romeo. Crowds amassed in almost cultish form, only screaming their unworthiness as the band shred through the famed ‘Sea of Lies‘. Even musicians from other bands packed the side stage to pay homage to these legends. Bands like these take up a good chunk of the metal religion, and there is no better place for them to play than Wacken.
And after a couple of hours of being pummelled by technical metal, of course beers and wurst are in order. Naturally we were not the only ones with the idea, but the gatherings at the mead stand always allow for time to make friends and discuss metal with a mouth full of meat and a tankard full of ale – and of course get you pumped up for band like Therion, a cultish band in their own right, and something that I was looking forward to resonating across a giant festival stage.
It certainly didn’t disappoint. The sound of the complex, atmospheric layers of the Swedes are what I was interested in across a wide area, and it was nailed. Personal favourites such as ‘Niflheim‘ and ‘Ginnungagap‘ sounded brilliant through the giant speakers, something I always feel is very difficult to pull off in an area that size.
After that riveting experience we thought we would experience some of Wacken’s non-musical offerings as it was our last day, and of course most of that entertainment came from the medieval-themed Wackinger village – a place I believe to be one of the festival’s most ingenious installations, and one of my favourite parts of the festivals. We spent the afternoon enjoying the assortment of German mittelalter bands that rocked the small stage, and other throes of entertainment that included a cage fight in a Thunderdome-themed arena, flaming sword battles, and tried our luck hitting a target with a crossbow. Safe to say we did not do too well, but at least we got to be a medieval archer for 5 minutes. As dusk began to shade northern Germany, it was time to kick up the glam.
What better band to reminisce in North Hollywood tomfoolery than Steel Panther? I knew nothing about this band before I saw them at this very festival two years ago, and that ridiculously entertaining performance got them an invitation back. It’s a festival band through and through -adopting the persona’s of washed up glam musicians from the 80’s, the band’s brilliantly constructed parody hymns really bring the party, throwing in great humour between songs, and of course a hell of a lot of female dancers from the audience. As the fan favourite ‘Death To All But Metal‘ rings out, it is clear Steel Panther are becoming a festival favourite, but that’s only a precursor to the true heavy metal that’s about to come.
And that comes in the form of the legendary Twisted Sister. It’s my first time seeing this band, and probably my last as the band are on their final tour, but what an experience it was. They are true icons of heavy metal, and their live show in front of 75’000 metalheads ensure that status is eternally solidified, preaching to the masses at the metal holy land.
What did I truly take away from this? A couple of things. First that Dee Snider is the loudest man in metal, im pretty sure he didn’t even need a microphone to make himself heard across the Wacken plains. Second that the 40 years of being a band has made them a force live. The sound is perfect, every note is perfectly audiable, and Dee Snider has every man woman and child eating out of his hands in classics such as ‘You Can’t Stop Rock & Roll‘ and ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It‘. It slows down a bit when ‘The Price‘ is dedicated to fallen heroes Lemmy Kilmister and late drummer A.J. Pero, but in it’s two hour set time, it’s one of the most wild rides I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing on a live stage.
The whole experience was overwhelming, but there was one more large scale performance to witness in death metal titans Arch Enemy, who were filming for a DVD this evening. There’s no better stage to capture these performances – Wacken provides the space to do some extraordinary things visually, and audibly the engineers almost constantly deliver a sound that’s second to none. The band put on quite a spectacle – a theatrical stage set, colossal pyro, and of course a run through all the Arch Enemy classics such as ‘Dead Eyes See No Future‘ and ‘Nemesis‘ that really brought out one of the best performances I have seen from this band – and I’ve seen quite a few.
Round-Up
The whole performance just epitomised what Wacken is really. A metal fantasy land that brings all your musical dreams to life and more through unprecedented visuals and lucid audio. As fascinating and surreal as it is, the staple that holds it all together is the strong metal community that flows through the gates year after year, you won’t find another bunch that is as friendly as these guys, and one’s that enjoy metal just as much as you from all corners of the world. It’s why we keep coming back. To us there isn’t any other place in the world that is fulfilling from a metal fan’s perspective, and we will be back next year, rain or shine.
