Live Review

Wacken Open Air Festival

July 31st thru August 2nd 2003
by Jonathan Mariante

The Wacken Open Air festival, held in Germany, near the city of Hamburg, every summer since 1989, is considered the ultimate heavy metal festival, and is a mecca for headbangers worldwide. After years of waiting and dreaming, I finally got to go this year.

The festival begins every year with a "warm up" show, held the night before the festival proper, in which a few bands play to get the fans psyched up for the next two days. This year, the warm up bands were Annihilator, Circle 2 Circle (the new band fronted by ex-Savatage singer Zak Stevens), Victory, and Running Wild. Unfortunately, I missed these bands, as I arrived late that night, and was very bummed as I love them all (especially Running Wild), and was even more bummed when I heard that Saxon had made a surprise appearance! (They are scheduled to headline next year, however).

I arrived at the festival on August first. There were many, many bands (four stages) playing, so naturally I couldn't see them all. My musical favor lies in traditional style/old school/power metal, so those were the bands I gravitated towards, hence my review will focus on those bands. The first one I saw were SEVENTH ONE, who played on the Party Stage (one of the smaller stages). They are a new power metal band, and I wasn't all that familiar with their music, but their performance was very good. I think we'll be hearing from these guys years to come. Then I moseyed on over to the True Metal stage (one of the main stages) to catch NWOBHM stalwarts DIAMOND HEAD (the band Metallica made famous by covering their songs). Some folks referred to them as "Tyger Head", as their lineup now includes members of the Tygers Of Pan Tang, another NWOBHM band. Call them what you want, but they rocked! They played all the Diamond classics, including "Helpless", "It's Electric", "Am I Evil", "Makin' Music", "Shoot Out The Lights", and even threw in a couple of Tyger tunes. These guys have going at it for a hell of a long time, but aren't showing any signs of losing it! As unbreakable as diamond itself! The next band I caught were FREEDOM CALL, another relatively new power metal band, who play in the melodic vein of Stratovarius or Rhapsody (and feature Gamma Ray's Dan Zimmerman on drums). They are a good band who put on a good performance, playing a selection of songs from the handful of albums they have out (of which I only own one, so I didn't recognize all the songs they played), and their show included some pyro. After that, I headed to the "Wet Stage" (another smaller stage, inside a tent) to see a band called ORATORY. I'd never heard of this band before but they were recommended to me by another guy I talked to. I'm glad he did, because Oratory are really good. They are from Portugal, are fronted by a woman, who has a really good voice, and play Stratovarius influenced progressive metal. They put on a good performance, and even threw in a "metalized" cover of the old Bangles hit, "Eternal Flame", which I got a kick out of. An interesting choice for a cover but they sure did a good job with it, outdoing the original! After they finished, it was back to the True Metal Stage to see one of THE bands I came for, the mighty PRIMAL FEAR! These guys have been power metal royalty for several years now, and they didn't disappoint! They took Wacken by storm and kicked it square in the ass, playing all their best known cuts, including "Chainbreaker", "Church Of Blood", "Nuclear Fire", "Angel In Black", "Silver And Gold", and "Black Sun", among others. Vocalist Ralf Scheepers, still sporting a shaven head, flexed his golden pipes to the max, belting out the songs like there was no tomorrow, and the rest of the band followed suit, firing on all cylinders all the way! A terrific performance all around! Then it was back to the Wet Stage to check out another newcomer, SYMPHORCE. They have just released their first album, and an ad for it said, "Maiden fans, rejoice". Sounded like my kind of thing, so I thought I'd check 'em out. They turned out to be quite good, played traditional metal in the Maiden/Priest/Helloween type vein. Unfortunately, they clashed with TESTAMENT (whom I'd seen before in the past, so I decided to check out a new band instead), but I managed to catch the last part of their performance, and hear them play "Electric Crown", one of my favorite Testa-tunes. Singer Chuck Billy also said, "Life is like a box of chocolates-Tastes like shit!" Maybe true, but when you're at Wacken, life tastes pretty good! Next up, on the True Metal stage, were another band of the power metal elite, GAMMA RAY! Gamma Ray were formed by vocalist/guitarist Kai Hansen upon his departure from Helloween, and he has led the Rays to the top of the metal mountain ever since! Their performance was fantastic! The band played a variety of song from just about all their albums, including "Heart Of The Unicorn", "Heavy Metal Universe", "New World Order", "Watcher In The Sky", and many others. At the end of their set, they were joined by Primal Fear's Ralf Scheepers for a rendition of the Helloween classic, "Victims Of Fate". Ralf used to sing for Gamma Ray, so to see him perform with the band was very cool! A great way to top off an awesome set! Then, I returned to the Party Stage to see ASSISSIN perform. Does anyone remember these guys? They're a German thrash metal band who released two albums ("Upcoming Terror" and "The Interstellar Experience") in the 80's, then vanished without a trace. Well, now they're back from outer space, and it was good to see them! They put on a very cool performance, playing their classic style thrash metal (sort of in the vein of Nuclear Assault or Kreator) like they never missed a beat, showing they've still got a lot of fire in them. They cranked out all their classics, including "Abstract War", "Baka", "Junk Food" (they are probably one of the ONLY metal bands to ever write a song about Oreos and M&Ms!), and "Assassin". These tunes still sound fresh and kick as much ass as they did in the 80's! Nice to have you guys back! Stay a little longer this time, OK? Finally, it was back to the True Metal stage for the headliners, the days' highlight, another recently reunited band, 80's metal icons TWISTED SISTER! They came on stage looking almost exactly like they did in the 80's, just like they stepped out of one of their videos, frontman Dee Snider his old blonde maned, neon pink peacock self! I never got to see Twisted Sister in the 80's, but it was well worth the wait! They put on a fantastic performance, kicking major ass from start to finish, giving it everything they had and then some! They played all the classics, kicking off with "What You Don't Know Sure Can Hurt You", then going into "The Kids Are Back", "You Can't Stop Rock And Roll", "Destroyer", "Shoot 'Em Down", "Under The Blade", "We're Not Gonna Take It", "I Wanna Rock", "Stay Hungry", "Burn In Hell", "The Price", "Like A Knife In The Back", "Ride To Live, Live To Ride", "SMF", "I Am, I'm Me", and they surprised me with a few songs their "Come Out And Play" album (an overlooked LP), including the title track, "The Fire Still Burns", and "I Believe In Rock And Roll". Their show included some mondo pyro, and Dee and the boys talked to the crowd a lot, praising us and expressing their appreciation, praising metal, and telling some Twisted tales about how the band decided to get back together. To use 80's lingo, Twisted Sister were, like, totally awesome dude! Gnarly show, man! Amazing how some old dogs can still bite!

-Day 2-
On this day, my bus arrived a bit late. I was hoping to catch HOLY MOSES, another recently reformed 80's metal band (with a female singer) but I only got there in time to see them play one song. After that, I watched a death metal band called THYRFING. Death metal ain't really my cup, but these guys were pretty good, their singer dousing himself in blood in the middle of their performance. Your basic death metal band. When they were done, I headed to the Party Stage again to see another band of the "twisted" variety, TWISTED TOWER DIRE. Twisted Tower Dire are an American power metal band, who play metal the good old fashioned way and have been going at it for a couple of years now. They are a great band who play well, and the kicked ass on stage! No frills, gimmicks, or genre bending, these guys just crank out the metal the way it was meant to be! Props to 'em and may they get the success they deserve! The next band I saw were more power meisters, METALIUM. These guys have been making waves on the scene for a few years now, and their performance was definitely one of the year's highlights! They did a great job, playing a selection of songs from their three albums (their sound is a Helloween meets Savatage style), and they had a pretty fancy stage show, which included some pyro. At the end of their set they were joined by a "special guest", a singer named Jutta Weinhold, who used to sing for a band called Zed Yago (anyone remember them?). She sang one song on her own, then she and Metalium singer Henning Basse did a duet, with the Led Zeppelin classic, "Rock And Roll". A great way to top of a great performance! After this, I went shopping in the metal marketplace, and lost track of the time, like I always do when I'm shopping for new tunes, so I missed a few bands. When I finally managed to pull myself away from there, the next band I saw were German speed metal legends RAGE, led by the illustrious Peavy Wagner (the only original member remaining), who have been going at it forever! They have released so many albums during their career (of which I only own a couple), so I wasn't able to recognize all the songs their played. However, their performance was killer all the same! Peavy and the boys cranked out the thrash like there was no tomorrow, taking no prisoners! The next band I saw were a bit of a contrast, STRATOVARIUS, a band on the more melodic side of metal. They have become legends in their own right among fans of power and progressive metal, and are a very talented band. Their performance was great, the band sounding very good on stage, and playing a good selection of songs from their many albums. Singer Timo Tolki's voice was as powerful as ever, and the rest of the band was also in top form! They even set of some fireworks! A job well done all around! Up next were another band who have around longer than Father Time himself (meant in a good way, of course!), SINNER! Bassist/vocalist Mat Sinner (Who also plays bass in Primal Fear. Sinner also includes Fear guitarist Tom Naumann and Saxon drummer Fritz Randow, making them a supergroup of sorts), led his boys through a kick ass performance, playing their brand of old school, Priest style power metal. These guys have a TON of albums out, so how they picked out the songs they wanted to play, for a set that lasted less than an hour, I don't know! They were great on stage, though. My only gripe was, they didn't play any songs from their very first album, "Danger Zone", which I really like. No songs from the album that got you started? Come on! Aside from that, their performance was killer! Finally, we came to the night's main event! Wacken 2003 was topped off by thrash titans SLAYER! One could (arguably) consider Slayer the Led Zeppelin of thrash metal. Their music never gets old! Slayer brutalized the audience with their usual super aggressive blitzkrieg of a performance, ripping off everybody's face, the way only Slayer can do it! They kicked off their set with "God Hates Us All", and treated us to the usual classics: "Angel Of Death" (of course!), "War Ensemble", "Raining Blood", "I Am The Antichrist", "Dead Skin Mask", "Seasons In The Abyss", "Hell Awaits", "South Of Heaven", "Behind The Crooked Cross", "Blood Red, etc. One thing I've always liked about Slayer is their light show. They have probably one of the best light shows in metal! As Ireland is said to have "forty shades of green", Slayer's light show could be described as "forty shades of hell", if not more! Seeing a Slayer performance is like a trip to hell and back, which, if you're a Slayer fan, can be heavenly! Their Wacken performance was awesome! So beautifully brutal! But after that, it was time for me to go. There were a couple of other bands playing that night, but Slayer was without a doubt the day's pinnacle, and I was all Wackened out at that point, so I decided to call it a night. I was exhausted, my ears were killing me, my legs felt like they were going to fall off, I had heartburn from too much beer and currywurst, with enough gas coming out of both ends to make another hole in the ozone layer... And I was on cloud nine! Wacken was, without a doubt, one of the greatest experiences of my life! Every band gave a top notch performance, it was very well organized, everyone was friendly, there was no trouble, the metal marketplace was awesome...This festival definitely lives up to its reputation! This is something every metalhead should experience at least once! I have, and I can die a happy man now! That's not to say I don't want to go again! In fact, next year is Wacken's 15th anniversary, so that should be a big deal. If interested, check out the Wacken website: http://www.wacken.com.