Hello all,
Just got back from Wacken today and thought I would let everyone know what they missed!
I will post pics later after I download them from my camera. I didn't take as many this time, about 350 from 2002 compared to about 50 this time. There were a couple of reasons for this:
1) Didn't bring the correct adapter to charge my camera and I couln't find one.
2) I seemed to be at the baaaaaaack of the crowds for almost every band- pics aren't so great from back there.
Anyway, here are some of my thoughts about this weekend:
About the only bad thing that happened this weekend (besides it ending) was the Wacken t-shirts were already sold out by the time we got there at 10:30AM on Friday!! They got some more of the plain black ones in, but they had a really sweet grey design I really wanted but they were completely gone. If I was thinking, I would of bought they one they had hanging there like someone did later on.
One of the things different about this years fest from the one in 2002 was they added a large TV screen for the 2 main stages. For someone standing in the back all weekend it was a really nice addition. I don't know when they added the screen - but a big thumbs up!
The bands from Day 1:
Mystic Circle - Wasn't planning on seeing these guys, but they sounded really killer. A melodic, quasi-symphonic style of black metal compently played. The crowd really dug them.
Wintersun - What a tremondous way to kick of the festivities for me. They sounded great and were pretty lively on stage for a 12PM start. They didn't play any new songs or any Ensiferum songs (bummer - but not surprised) but they played a good selection of my favs from their debut CD. Not sure who their guitarist was (Teemu, I think is his name)- but he looked to be about 13 years old - he could shred though. Also, Jari's voice was really clear and sounded great - especially the clean vocal parts. Got a sweet Wintersun T also - pretty excited about that.
After Wintersun, my friends and I retired to the beer garden on top of the hill. The nice thing about this was you could still watch the big screen and listen to the bands that play on the 2 main stages. I'm not sure if anyone is familiar with the way the festival is set up, but there are 4 total stages. 2 main stages - the Black stage and the True Metal stage. There is also a smaller stage to the left of the 2 main stages called the party stage and there is a tent just as you walk in that contains a stage - called the Wet stage. While a band is on the black stage - there is a band on the party stage. But when a band is playing the true metal stage - there are the only one playing on the "outdoor" stages. Where/how the party stage is located, you can't hear it while the main stages are playing, which proved to be a problem during Korpiklanni (more on that later). The main stage band gets the use of all the speakers from both main stages - so it's pretty loud. You have to talk at the top of your voice even when you are in the beer garden.
The first band we "listened" to was Danko Jones. I've never heard of them but they would not be a band I would consider WOA material. They played a rock/nu-metal style and the singer liked to talk about oral sex and himself and made sure everyone knew they were on the True Metal stage. Other people seemed to enjoy them though...
When down for Six Feet Under and lasted about 3 songs before we walked back up to the beer garden. Nothing really special about them. Listened to Nevermore next. Amazing set and the boys sounded really great. So Sanctuary tunes to report (bummer - and not surprised) but I do remember them playing an Ectasy era song - maybe 7 Tongues of God (I'm reallllllly bad with song names). Good stuff.
Next on the agenda was watching/listening to Opeth from afar. These guys have to be the most laid back metal band in existence. Every time Mikael introduce a song, it sounded like he was about to fall asleep. They did sound amazing though. A friend and I kept track of the bass player during the set - he moved one time - to turn around and towel himself off - that was it.
Next for me was Vreid on the Wet stage. I don't know how many of you are familiar with them, but after Valfar passed and Windir split up, 3 of the 6 band memebers went on a formed a new band - Vreid was it's name-o. They play a "black-and-roll" style of metal. They sounded great and they even had the hair standing on the back of my neck when they paid a tribute to Valfar by playing a Windir song. Sture doesn't have the same clean singing voice that Valfar did, but they did do the song justice. Can not wait to see these guys again at Heathen Crusade 2.
Korpiklaani immediately followed Vreid on the party stage. Carnivore was playing at the same time, and by the time we got to Korp, they had already started playing and the crowd was f'in huge for them! I was standing to the extreme right of the stage toward the main stages. Once Carnivore started, I could no longer hear the forest clan. So I tried to move farther back and behing the crowd - they really didn't improve my sonic pleasure and I couldn't see the stage that great anymore. So I moved further around and when I finally found an open spot where I could hear them, I was standing behind the sound booth! So I could hear them great but couldn't seem them. So my friends and I decided to sit down there and have a crepe was listening to them. They sounded amazing and the songs translated really well live. I thought they were received extremely well and it seemed a lot of people were there to see them. (Please come to the States!)
Celtic Frost was next and was quite excited to finally see them live and they did not dissapoint. Their entire set consisted of Morbid Tales/To Mega Therion material with the exception of one song off the new CD. I was slightly disappointed that they weren't wearing the classic leather/spike get-up from ages ago, but they did sound great. Was really happy with they way they sounded and looking forward to seeing them on their NA tour.
The next band was one of the reasons I went to Wacken - Battlelore! I waited all day for them to play and I was not dissapointed in what I saw/heard. They were in their LOTR costumes and the music translated very well into the live setting. They seemed to be totally blown away by the crowd reaction. There was crowd surfing, clapping of hands, and horns galore! They happen to play over by a few minutes and into the last song, they place cut the lights and their sound, but Battlelore didn't miss a beat and neither did the audience who continue to chant/cheer/singalong. So, the lights came back on and the volume increased. Quite a sight to behold. I really hope they get a chance to play a Prog Power in the near future.
The last band of the night for me was Amon Amarth and the special "viking" show. Since Battlelore and Amon overlapped by about 15 minutes, they of course did the viking show at the begining of their set and I missed it. This is the second time I've seen Amon and the first time really being a fan of theirs. I saw them a few years ago at one of the Metal messes and didn't know any of their stuff. But this time was different and I really liked their set. They even played 2 new songs during their set which sounded great.
Well, that's it for day one - back to the hotel at 4:30AM and back on the next bus at 10:15AM.
Just got back from Wacken today and thought I would let everyone know what they missed!
I will post pics later after I download them from my camera. I didn't take as many this time, about 350 from 2002 compared to about 50 this time. There were a couple of reasons for this:
1) Didn't bring the correct adapter to charge my camera and I couln't find one.
2) I seemed to be at the baaaaaaack of the crowds for almost every band- pics aren't so great from back there.
Anyway, here are some of my thoughts about this weekend:
About the only bad thing that happened this weekend (besides it ending) was the Wacken t-shirts were already sold out by the time we got there at 10:30AM on Friday!! They got some more of the plain black ones in, but they had a really sweet grey design I really wanted but they were completely gone. If I was thinking, I would of bought they one they had hanging there like someone did later on.
One of the things different about this years fest from the one in 2002 was they added a large TV screen for the 2 main stages. For someone standing in the back all weekend it was a really nice addition. I don't know when they added the screen - but a big thumbs up!
The bands from Day 1:
Mystic Circle - Wasn't planning on seeing these guys, but they sounded really killer. A melodic, quasi-symphonic style of black metal compently played. The crowd really dug them.
Wintersun - What a tremondous way to kick of the festivities for me. They sounded great and were pretty lively on stage for a 12PM start. They didn't play any new songs or any Ensiferum songs (bummer - but not surprised) but they played a good selection of my favs from their debut CD. Not sure who their guitarist was (Teemu, I think is his name)- but he looked to be about 13 years old - he could shred though. Also, Jari's voice was really clear and sounded great - especially the clean vocal parts. Got a sweet Wintersun T also - pretty excited about that.
After Wintersun, my friends and I retired to the beer garden on top of the hill. The nice thing about this was you could still watch the big screen and listen to the bands that play on the 2 main stages. I'm not sure if anyone is familiar with the way the festival is set up, but there are 4 total stages. 2 main stages - the Black stage and the True Metal stage. There is also a smaller stage to the left of the 2 main stages called the party stage and there is a tent just as you walk in that contains a stage - called the Wet stage. While a band is on the black stage - there is a band on the party stage. But when a band is playing the true metal stage - there are the only one playing on the "outdoor" stages. Where/how the party stage is located, you can't hear it while the main stages are playing, which proved to be a problem during Korpiklanni (more on that later). The main stage band gets the use of all the speakers from both main stages - so it's pretty loud. You have to talk at the top of your voice even when you are in the beer garden.
The first band we "listened" to was Danko Jones. I've never heard of them but they would not be a band I would consider WOA material. They played a rock/nu-metal style and the singer liked to talk about oral sex and himself and made sure everyone knew they were on the True Metal stage. Other people seemed to enjoy them though...
When down for Six Feet Under and lasted about 3 songs before we walked back up to the beer garden. Nothing really special about them. Listened to Nevermore next. Amazing set and the boys sounded really great. So Sanctuary tunes to report (bummer - and not surprised) but I do remember them playing an Ectasy era song - maybe 7 Tongues of God (I'm reallllllly bad with song names). Good stuff.
Next on the agenda was watching/listening to Opeth from afar. These guys have to be the most laid back metal band in existence. Every time Mikael introduce a song, it sounded like he was about to fall asleep. They did sound amazing though. A friend and I kept track of the bass player during the set - he moved one time - to turn around and towel himself off - that was it.
Next for me was Vreid on the Wet stage. I don't know how many of you are familiar with them, but after Valfar passed and Windir split up, 3 of the 6 band memebers went on a formed a new band - Vreid was it's name-o. They play a "black-and-roll" style of metal. They sounded great and they even had the hair standing on the back of my neck when they paid a tribute to Valfar by playing a Windir song. Sture doesn't have the same clean singing voice that Valfar did, but they did do the song justice. Can not wait to see these guys again at Heathen Crusade 2.
Korpiklaani immediately followed Vreid on the party stage. Carnivore was playing at the same time, and by the time we got to Korp, they had already started playing and the crowd was f'in huge for them! I was standing to the extreme right of the stage toward the main stages. Once Carnivore started, I could no longer hear the forest clan. So I tried to move farther back and behing the crowd - they really didn't improve my sonic pleasure and I couldn't see the stage that great anymore. So I moved further around and when I finally found an open spot where I could hear them, I was standing behind the sound booth! So I could hear them great but couldn't seem them. So my friends and I decided to sit down there and have a crepe was listening to them. They sounded amazing and the songs translated really well live. I thought they were received extremely well and it seemed a lot of people were there to see them. (Please come to the States!)
Celtic Frost was next and was quite excited to finally see them live and they did not dissapoint. Their entire set consisted of Morbid Tales/To Mega Therion material with the exception of one song off the new CD. I was slightly disappointed that they weren't wearing the classic leather/spike get-up from ages ago, but they did sound great. Was really happy with they way they sounded and looking forward to seeing them on their NA tour.
The next band was one of the reasons I went to Wacken - Battlelore! I waited all day for them to play and I was not dissapointed in what I saw/heard. They were in their LOTR costumes and the music translated very well into the live setting. They seemed to be totally blown away by the crowd reaction. There was crowd surfing, clapping of hands, and horns galore! They happen to play over by a few minutes and into the last song, they place cut the lights and their sound, but Battlelore didn't miss a beat and neither did the audience who continue to chant/cheer/singalong. So, the lights came back on and the volume increased. Quite a sight to behold. I really hope they get a chance to play a Prog Power in the near future.
The last band of the night for me was Amon Amarth and the special "viking" show. Since Battlelore and Amon overlapped by about 15 minutes, they of course did the viking show at the begining of their set and I missed it. This is the second time I've seen Amon and the first time really being a fan of theirs. I saw them a few years ago at one of the Metal messes and didn't know any of their stuff. But this time was different and I really liked their set. They even played 2 new songs during their set which sounded great.
Well, that's it for day one - back to the hotel at 4:30AM and back on the next bus at 10:15AM.
