Wacken : Open : Air : 2011

For anyone who has been to Wacken Open Air you’ll know its one of the most well organised festivals in Europe, as everything just seems to run like clock work. This year’s Wacken Open Air saw the heavy metal festival celebrating its 22nd birthday. Even though that number isn’t as significant as 18 or 21 from a westerners celebratory perspective, you’ll still want to be celebrating regardless, as Wacken is one of the oldest and well respected metal festival on the planet.

However, with any big celebration comes the daunting task of invitations. This year Wacken saw somewhere close to 80,000+ people invading the small farmer town in northern Hamburg which included festival goers, staff, police, paramedics, crew and a healthy dose of VIPs and bands to-boot. In comparison to some of Australia’s more well known festivals like Big Day Out and Soundwave, they are merely just a scratch on the surface to what Wacken brings in every year for an amazing four days of excellent and affordable beer, barely distinguishable festival food and amazing music from all corners of the globe.

This was my second visit to Wacken and all though many things have improved since last year like toilet facilities, food, market stalls, entertainment and so on. I was still a little turned off by how many people consume the the festival grounds at any one time. Last year seemed somewhat bearable, but returning this year seemed to be overflowing at the seams. Getting into the grounds was a mission in itself as hordes of festival goers lined up for what seemed like hours to enter the 3 main stage area to see big acts like Ozzy Osbourne, Helloween, Blind Guardian and Motorhead. I was quite lucky in that respect as I had VIP access to the grounds which enabled me to enter them with ease.

This year’s line up at Wacken was quite a special one, as it not only showcased some of the world’s most amazing metal talent like Sodom, Trivium,  Helloween, Blind Guardian, Ensiferum and Mayhem. It also celebrated Judas Priest‘s only German festival appearance and final world tour dubbed ‘Epitaph’. Seeing them for the second time was by far the best performance I’ve seen of Priest in recent times and I shall go into detail about it later. But first, let me start from the start.

Day 1: Mambo Kurt, W:O:A Firefighters and many more

The first day at Wacken is probably the most exciting for anyone, as you’ll always bump into local German metal heads who always appreciate and love making friends with their international metal brethren who make the long journey over to the holy metal land of Wacken in Hamburg, Germany. During my indoctrination I was unfortunate enough to bump into a couple of Australian metal heads, many of which I probably would never want to speak too again because of their bogan (redneck/scum of the earth) like attitude towards everything. They seem to stick out like sore thumbs no matter where you go on this planet.

Literally acting like the typical drunk dickhead we usually see attending festivals like Big Day Out, who cause nothing but trouble, get totally drunk and parade their iconic bogan stamp of approval over their shoulder blade or wherever else they pledge their allegiance to a wrapped ideology. However, this was only a small amount compared to the great bunch of Australians and many others from across the globe I got to meet and befriend while at Wacken this year. It was a very humble experience and I have stayed friends with many of these people, including a great bunch of Germans, Irish,  Swedes and Italians thanks to the wonders of Facebook.

I’m sure a lot of people think that Australia is quite open when it comes to meeting new people, but once you make your way to Wacken or any metal festival in Germany, you’ll instantly notice they take first prize in that department. The metal community in Germany, and pretty much the whole of Europe seem to ooze with compassion and open mindedness.

When I first arrived there was already a massive crowd growing in front of the newly erected Beergarden stage for the return of Wacken’s own firefighters, who each year get together and play classic metal and hard rock hits from a completely brass and horn perspective. Both young and old joined in as hilarity and wacky antics soon ensued. Up next was one of Wacken’s oldest and well known acts Mambo Kurt. He warmed up the crowd with his uniquely German comedic metal experience. Mambo Kurt is essentially the German counterpart of Weird Al Yankovic, yet is even weirder and harder to understand. For the remainder of the evening we were presented with many recently signed bands from all over the globe playing at the W.E.T stage, formally known as the Headbangers Ballroom. Mortal Stirke, Hammercult and Aphyxion were just a few to keep first day attendees busy, while others got totally drunk and partied throughout the night.

It’s actually quite hard not to get drunk at Wacken as a 500ml can of beer is just 1 euro. That’s like $1.75 in Australia give or take. It maybe cheap beer, but it sure as hell tastes better than the cheap backwash we consume every day. That’s something I’ll probably never get over coming back to Australia, is how cheap everything is at Wacken…even food and band merchandise. The most you’d pay for a decent t-shirt would $20 (AUD).

Your probably thinking to yourself that since beer is cheap, everyone just gets totally wasted, but clearly that’s not the case. Germans know how to hold their alcohol and have a good time. No matter what time of day or how hot it gets, regardless of having a ice cold beer or one that is the same temperature as the sun. They’ll drink up and keep their cool throughout the entire day without acting like social retards. Not once did I see a fight break out, nor see anyone mouthing off about one band being better than other. Everyone goes to Wacken to simply have a good time, enjoy the music no matter what the style and to make new friends regardless of social, economical and religious standards. It’s simply heaven on earth!

 Day 2: Blind Guardian, Ozzy Osbourne, Helloween and many more

The next day many people didn’t awake til after lunch. They slept off all the beer and terrible food they consumed the night before. Nothing really started until midday when more recently signed bands opened the second day’s proceedings. It wasn’t until 4pm that the big guns started to arrive and bring in the hordes to the True Metal Stage and Black Stage.

First up was Skyline which included well known German metal singers Doro Pesch (ex-Warlock/Doro) and Udo Dirkschinder (ex-Accept, U.D.O). Skyline was one of the first band’s to appear at Wacken Open Air during its conception back in 1990 and has played a pivotal role at nearly every Wacken Open Air since then. This year they treated fans to some well known classics, including the iconic Wacken hymne ‘We Are The Metalheads’ sung by Doro Pesch. Later in the evening we were presented with the first major act Helloween.

There were many audio complications at first, but it soon smoothed out. However, Weikath and Gerstner seemed to play real sloppy while Deris sounded very out of tune at times, which lowered my first expectations of their performance. Regardless of this minor mishap everyone seemed to not care and just have a good time. Being a massive Helloween fan myself, I looked passed the sloppy performance and just head banged to my hearts content. Classics like ‘I Want Out’, ‘March of Time’ and ‘The Keeper of the Seven Keys’ melody were just a taste of their hour long set.

Following Helloween’s performance Blind Guardian made their way to the Black Stage. Opening with their magnum opus ‘Scared Worlds’ from their latest masterpiece ‘At the Edge of Time’. The crowd exploded, along with me as I always dreamt of seeing Blind Guardian at Wacken in front of hordes of screaming fans, singing all their classics. My heart filled with joy as I got to bare witness one of the most entertaining and exciting performances I would probably ever see. I don’t think any band at Wacken could top the performance that I witnessed when watching and experiencing Blind Guardian live at Wacken in front of 80,000 people. ‘Welcome to Dying’, Valhalla’, ‘The Bards Song’ and ‘Mirror, Mirror’ were just the icing on the already enriched and multi layered cake of Blind Guardian setlist.

After a short break and a mild catch up with local Melbourne metal heads Paul and Andrew Haug in the VIP area, we all made our way to the True Metal stage to witness either the disastrous or entertaining performance of one Ozzy Osbourne. To my surprise, he played flawlessly, yet with the mild help of modern technology. Backing tracks seemed to motivate his performance, but as an all round performer he was both hilarious and fulfilling to watch. Playing classics like ‘Mama I’m Coming Home’, ‘Crazy Train’, ‘Shot in the Dark’ and ‘Iron Man’, whilst constantly screaming to his fans to go even crazier and louder while throwing copious amounts of water from buckets across the stage made for a final climax to an already enjoyable hour an a half of one Ozzy Osbourne.

Day 3: Primal Fear, Morbid Angel, Suicidal Tendencies, Rhapsody of Fire and many more

This is when things started to get really interesting. If the previous days weren’t enough to make you moist in the pants, then surely a fulfilling day of performances from Sodom, Morbid Angel, Primal Fear, Triptykon and Apocaltptica would.

The first major act of the day was Primal Fear. Ralf Scheepers was in fine form as the band played the Party stage. It was quite an honour to see Primal Fear live as I’d probably never get to see them perform in Australia. It will be a performance I shall never forgot, moreso screaming ‘Metal is Forever’ at the top of my lungs. Up next was Suicidal Tendencies. Even though I’m not the biggest ST fan I made my way to watch their performance, albeit a very short one.

Watching them play in front of hordes of metal heads really gives you an appreciation and understanding of how open minded some people are, moreso in the metal community. Many would probably show their disrespect towards the band by spouting bullshit from their mouths about how ST isn’t “metal”, but that clearly wasn’t the case at Wacken this year. Soon after ST finished their set Morbid Angel made their way to the Black stage. I’ve seen Morbid Angel three times already and seeing them again was no disappointment. Still, I had a slight uncomfortable feeling in my stomach when they played material off the latest album ‘Illud Divinum Insanus‘, as fans didn’t react as well to them as they did when playing classics like ‘Maze of Torment’ or ‘Where The Slime Lives’. It obvious many people still can’t appreciate the band’s new album. I for one quite approve of it and thoroughly enjoyed listening to ‘Nevermore’ and ‘Existo Vulgoré’ live at Wacken.

Sodom, as always, just ripped up the crowd and put yet another smile on my face as classics like ‘Agent Orange’, ‘Outbreak of Evil’ and ‘Blasphemer’ echoed throughout the holy lands of Wacken. The crowd was a bit distant from going crazy, but this gave me the opportunity to get up front and enjoy Sodom close to the barrier. Rhapsody of Fire, who sadly broke up sometime last week played to an overwhelming crowd. Most of their setlist was more of a ‘best of’ performance, rather than promoting the band’s latest album ‘From Chaos to Eternity’. I’m quite content in knowing that I got to see Rhapsody of Fire before their final demise.

One act which took me by complete surprise was Trivium. Having known of their latest escapades ‘In Waves’ I wasn’t entirely sold on seeing them at Wacken this year, but all that changed when I saw how much of a response they received. Opening with the first single off their upcoming album ‘In Waves’, the crowd and myself quite enjoyed their performance. But I honestly didn’t stay that long to watch their set as my head had a date with my pillow to get well rested for Judas Priest later that evening.

After a slight nap I quickly rushed myself to the True Metal stage to witness the gods of metal, Judas Priest. I honestly haven’t seen so many people standing in one area at any one time. I believe the whole of Wacken Open Air was standing with me at that exact moment, as moving in any direction was a complete risk of losing a prime position of seeing the band. Thankfully the Germans are quite good when it comes to people asking to get through the mosh pit.

I had a bit of difficulty at first trying to get a prime position, but after a bit of motivation and pushing and shoving I made my way to the sound booth and stood atop a ramp to see the entire performance. I know in the last couple of months Judas Priest haven’t been sounding all their best, moreso with the departure of one KK Downing, but all that was looked  aside when they played Wacken Open Air 2011. Not since seeing them in Australia back in 2008 have I been so overwhelmed with excitement and pure giddiness to see one band. A performance which seemed to go on for 3 hours was one of the true highlights of Wacken Open Air this year.

There were times when Rob Halford lost his voice, but thankfully bounced back and pushed even harder and gave it his all. I honestly think that was the best I’ve seen Halford perform in recent years. A memory which will never leave me I’m sure. To all that haven’t seen Judas Priest, I urge you to see them, wherever they go. You will not be disappointed in the slightest.

After lactating in my pants for the past three hours and recuperating with a couple of ice cold beers in the VIP area I stumbled back to my tent, but only to realise Triptykon were performing straight after Judas Priest. Seeing them last year at Summer Breeze was an amazing experience, yet I could not stand myself up enough to watch their performance from the pit. Thankfully, the massive screen planted near my camp grounds was sufficient enough for me to enjoy their set. Triptykon were actually a last minute replacement for Cradle of Filth, as Danni Filth become sick before the band’s performance. I have heard from the grapevine that Cradle of Filth shall be returning in 2012 to Wacken, so don’t despair.

By the time Triptykon finished their set it was already past midnight. Many had fallen, while others struggled to push through to watch the final bands of the evening, Apocalyptica and Australia’s own Airbourne. By this time I was completely warn out and sadly had to miss Airbourne‘s performance, but I will say I was lucky enough to see them in Frankston of all places and enjoyed them immensely. I could actually hear the energy of the crowd from my tent and judging from the amount of energy the band were throwing out into the crowd, I wouldn’t be surprised if they all snorted crack before the show.

My comments would become somewhat fact as after their performance I heard that Joel climbed up the stage support beams and did a unique solo from up top. Much like what he did at Wacken back in 2008, or was it 2009? The crowd at Wacken loved them. It’s no surprise as Airbourne do sound similar to AC/DC, and as we all known AC/DC are considered gods in Germany. So you can understand how well they were received after they jolted the slumber crowd back into life with their erratic and completely off the wall performance.

To finish the night off I stumbled my way back to the Black stage to watch Apocalyptica at 2 o’clock in the morning. By this time many had collapsed where they stood or tried valiantly to make their way back to their tents. With what little energy I had left I embraced Apocalyptica’s performance. Another band I would probably never see in Australia, I was both humbled and filled with joy to watch their late set which included a fantastic cover of Metallica‘s ‘Nothing Else Matters’.

 Day 4: Iced Earth, Mayhem, Kreator, Avantasia and many more

All good things must come to an end. After witnessing the band’s already mentioned before, I’m sure many would not be complaining if one had to abruptly leave the festival early. However, that wasn’t the case as festival goers had another 24 hours of heavy metal madness to get through. The last day consisted of a more mellow atmosphere. Most people seemed distant from reality as the consumption of cheap alcohol and festival food made many as slow as a common house fly, conceived in a pool of fig jam. Drunk with both alcohol and a love for heavy metal, we all pushed on.

The first band I wanted to see on the final day was Crashdiet,  yet sadly missed their set due to sleeping off some 6 pints off beer and what looked to be stir fry noodle from the night before. However, I was lucky enough to catch the last couple of songs of The Haunted when I finally awoke from my slumber. I got to see them in Australia a couple of months ago and enjoyed their set more at Wacken as the crowd was filled with more energy this time round.

After The Haunted was the infamous J-rock band Die En Grey. They played some of the most experimental stuff which confused a lot of people, myself included. They seemed very distant from the crowd, keeping to themselves and just staring at the ground with no react what so ever to the crowd. I heard a few negative comments about the band after they finished which mainly consisted of their stage presents and attitude. I for agreed and thought they played a decent set, yet their stage presents was little to be desired.

Mayhem were up next and after seeing them twice already in the past, I was expecting only the best and inevitably got the best, albeit with minor stage props and atmosphere. This was probably the band’s most straight forward set I’d ever see them play. No costumes, no corpse paint , no chains or bloodied pig heads on stage. Just Attila swinging his signature upside down crucifix and being all morbid as per usual. Seeing them play in broad daylight really ruins the entire atmosphere of their performance. Regardless of this minor inconvenience they played for just over an hour in the humid Wacken heat.

After baring witness to the satanic onslaught of Mayhem I thought I needed some uplifting power metal to cleanse my soul. Thankfully, Iced Earth came to my aid as they were up next on the True Metal stage. This was quite a special performance for the band as it signified the departure (even though it was his second) of Matt Barlow. Thankfully the humidity died down enough for me to enjoy the band’s set and give Matt Barlow and gracious send off, along with the rest of Wacken.

Avantasia seemed to get the biggest crowd of the evening as droves of fans entered the 3 main stage area with chants and clapping echoing throughout the fields. Its quite a breathtaking experience seeing Toabis Sammet singing with Jorn Lande (Jorn) and one very bald Micheal Kiske (ex-Helloween, Kiske) live on stage in front of some 70,000 people. Yet another breathtaking experience I can take with me when I leave this life.

While many left to go back to their tents to consume more beer, many drifted back to the Black stage to bare witness to another major headliner, Kreator. An elaborate stage set up welcomed the crowd as the band opened with ‘Hordes of Choas’. Flashy videos, amazing lighting and a solid setlist made for an amazing hour with Kreator. To finish off the night we were given non other than Motorhead. To put one of the loudest bands on the planet last was sheer genius, as many were forced to stay up due to the sonic echoing of Lemmy’s bass and rusty chainsaw vocals echoing across the countryside for over 2 hours. You literally couldn’t go anywhere unless you were wearing earplugs, it was that loud.

Afterwards we were given a final send off and thank you by the promoters while Children of Bodom and Subway to Sally finished up the final night of Wacken 2011. I have to say that Wacken this year was by far 100 times better than when I went last year. I’m already booking my next trip to Wacken in 2012 which tells you how much its worth going there and experiencing not only the music, but the people as well. Its one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do in your life. Rob a bank, become a hit-man or sell yourself on the street. Literally do anything you can to get your arse to Wacken. It’s worth every moment and will never leave you.

The following day, what was left was nothing more than aches of empty beer cans and tents. A homeless bum’s wet dream…

Apologies for the lack of photos.

For more information and tickets on Wacken 2012, go to: www.wacken.com

 See you at Wacken 2012!