PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
As we head into the arena, we see Suffocated blasting away on Party Stage. They are sounding great at ths time of the am.
However we can’t stop as we need to head into the Press Tent to catch the press conference with German author Martin Dreyer. Martin is the author of books such as Jesus rockt, Die Volxbibel: Altes Testament 1, Die Volxbibel 02: Altes Testament Band Zwei,
To listen to the press conference click here it is conducted in German with no English translation.
We headed over to Headbanger Stage to catch the end of the Spoken Word set by Henry Rollins, he spoke about his childhood, emails he receives and his work for National Geographic and so on. He had everyone in stitches. Definitely check him out if you can.
Now I am at my only huge clash of the festival Napalm Death or Paradise Lost. I had already seen PL twice this year already and was seeing them the following weekend at Bloodstock but I hadn’t seen ND since Dec. So I had decided to walk down to between the two stages and see what one had the best vantage point. No barrier space free for Napalm Death who had already started to tear up the stage, so I headed to the side barrier for Paradise Lost instead.
This was their first time performing at Wacken and the played a stunning set filed with the old crowd pleaser’s ‘As I Die’ still one of my favourite tracks by them as well as few from their new album ‘The Tragic Idol’.
The crowd are singing along to all the tracks whilst Nick cracks jokes from the stage as well as shouting on Barney who are on the next stage. It was an awesome set and when they are playing you can’t hear any of Napalm Death set!
Paradise Lost Setlist:
- The Enemy
- Honesty in Death
- Erased
- As I Die
- Tragic Idol
- Forever Failure
- One Second
- Fear of Impending Hell
- Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us
- Say Just Words
We headed back to the Press tent for the Festival Promoters press conference, which was conducted entirely in German. At the end the announce the first lot of bands for the 24th Wacken, these bands included,. Deep Purple, Anthrax, Nightwish, Sabaton, Arch Enemy, Doro – 30th anniversary show, Lingua Mortis feat. Rage, Amorphis & a special acoustic show and Subway To Sally. Click here to hear it
I was due to interview a member of Napalm Death at 5pm unfortunately; it was cancelled so I headed out over the bridge and straight to the barrier for….
Testament was one of the main bands I had come to Wacken to see, they are one of the first bands I had seen live many years ago, and I have followed them throughout the years and was looking forward to hearing the new tracks live so I was waiting at the barrier for them to start their set.
The kick off the set with a new track ‘Rise Up’ on the album this has a very clean sound and feel to it however played live it has a more darker intense vibe to it which suits Testament perfectly, all the new tracks that they played work even better live than on album.
Title track ‘Dark Roots of Earth’ it stunning live especially when followed up with ‘Into The Pit’ where we can see a huge pit growing before they head into ‘Practice What you Preach‘ definitely a fan favourite judging by the reaction from the crowd. Testament are performing a very tight and awesome set, it’s great to see the guys doing so well.
Towards the end of the set they pulled down huge banners with ‘Free Randy’ on them which they had signed along with a few other bands. There is a hugemongous cheer from the crowd as Chuck Billy takes to the stage he announced, “Randy is FREE”. Randy Blythe, lead singer of Lamb of God who had been incarcerated in the Czech Republic on charges of manslaughter. Randy’s second appeal to bail had been granted that day.
Testament setlist:
Rise Up- The New Order
- The Preacher
- Native Blood
- True American Hate
- More Than Meets the Eye
- Dark Roots of Earth
- Into the Pit
- Practice What You Preach
- Over the Wall
- D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)
- 3 Days in Darkness
Just as Testament finished their stunning set, we headed back up to Press Tent so we could get a decent view at The Scorpions Press Conference which was due to start at 7pm, however it was running behind schedule. The Scorpions took to stage and discussed how emotional it was to be on a farewell tour, Wacken being their final German open-air performance and so on. Click here to hear it.
After The Scorpions had left I stayed and waited for my interview slot with Lou from Sick Of It All. Click here to hear it.
We headed out for something to eat and then dashed over to the barrier at the side of the True Metal Stage for The Scorpions to come on. Neil has been a Scorps fan for years and they were one of the main reasons for him coming to Wacken.
They open in spectacular style with ‘Sting in the Tail’ before working their way through their extensive choice of tracks, playing old classics and some of their greatest hits like ‘Is There Anybody There?’, ‘Tease Me, Please Me‘, ‘Hit Between the Eyes‘ and ‘Blackout’
We are treated to a set filled with tons pyros and fireworks also having a TV screen instead of a proper backdrop gives it a very different feel.
To read Neil’s full review of The Scorpions set click here
Unfortunately, during their set I spotted huge flashes of lightning above the main stages. Yup if you watched the live stream you know what happens, a huge storm breaks, torrential rain lashes down on us and my waterproof jacket gives up protecting me after the first ten mins of it breaking so I leave Neil and head back in to the Press Tent to dry off. I am very thankful we have this bolthole to go dry off in.
Just before the encore, Neil joins me to dry off and watch the end of the set via the big screen TV instead. We see the Scorpions Statue getting grinded during ‘Coming Home’ then they close with ‘Still Loving You’ and ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’
Setlist:
- Sting in the Tail
- Make It Real
- Is There Anybody There?
- The Zoo
- Coast to Coast
Loving You Sunday Morning- Rhythm of Love
- Raised on Rock
- Tease Me Please Me
- Hit Between the Eyes
- Dynamite
- Kottak Attack
- Blackout
- Six String Sting
- Big City Nights
Encore:
- Coming Home
- Still Loving You
- Rock You Like a Hurricane
We ventured out from our dry hidey-hole to do a final donder around the site and catch a few songs by Amon Amarth, who I had seen earlier this year at Hammerfest and I can tell you the difference is amazing here they were so much better and the sound is stunning.
However once it started to rain again we headed back into Press Tent to camp out and watch Machine Head and Ministry via the big screen TV instead of venturing out in the rain. It is not the same but at least we are dry and have a comfy-ish seat!
I have to admit it was so hard sitting watching Machine Head and Ministry instead of being out at the front however due to the weather, I managed to stay put as there is no speakers you hear what is being played on the stages.
Even this far away and above the background noise Machine Head sound great, I head outside to hear MH better and Ministry who play on the stage closest to us sound great as well. Strange end to the night we head back to the bus to the sounds of Ministry playing.
Machine Head setlist
- I Am Hell (Sonata in C#)
- Old
- Imperium
- A Thousand Lies
- Locust
- Aesthetics of Hate
- Darkness Within
- This Is the End
- Halo
- Davidian
Ministry Setlist
- Ghouldiggers
- No W
- Rio Grande Blood
- LiesLiesLies
- 99 Percenters
- Life Is Good
- Waiting
- Relapse
- N.W.O.
- Just One Fix
- Thieves
To view Neil’s pictures that he took at Wacken click here
