So, here we finally go. As some of you may know, myself and national_acrobat went to the UK Sonisphere and Wacken festivals on the last two weekends to see our favourite band, and then some. I'm going to try and keep this short, but at least the old-timers will know that as far as my posts go, this can be very relative.
SONISPHERE
Nush picked me up at Stansted airport on Thursday morning, and we had a drive around the countryside for a while until it was time to go to Knebworth Park and pitch our tent. Since there was a separate car park and a long walk to the campsite, we decided to go pitch the tent first and then go back and get the booze. Little did we know we would have to stand through the entire queue again to get back in. So we decided to stay at the car, blast some classic heavy metal and have a beer. The less said about the rest of the evening, the better, but I'm just going to mention we ran out of the booze we had bought for the entire weekend that evening.
So on Friday, we caught a few bands among them Europe, whose entire 45-minute gig was a build-up for one song, and a pretty boring one at that. The highlight of that evening was of course Alice Cooper who as always did a brilliant and fun show. Although, the way he handles his daughter on stage kind of makes you think a bit.
The next day, we first saw Turisas. My fourth Turisas gig, and it's always worth it. They might seem a bit dull in the studio, but they always put on a great live show- and they could even afford not to play Rasputin! I tend to mix up the last two days, so it is possible that we saw Lacuna Coil next, who are the most boring band with the hottest singer ever. More eye-candy than interesting music for me, anyway. After that(? unsure) Anthrax were on, with their old/new/old/new singer, Joey Belladonna, and I fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams of being in a moshpit to Caught in a Mosh. Again, a great show, though you sometimes get an uneasy feeling because you don't really know what the band is up to again. Ah well. Later on, we caught Rammstein. It's kind of weird to fly all the way to England from Berlin to see a band from Berlin... but on the other hand, it's nigh-impossible to see them live in this country. It was well worth it, though, a great band with an amazing live show. And having thousands of Englishmen around you chanting along in German...
The next day, the first band we caught were Sabaton, one of my recent favourites. Cheesy, World War II lyrics, but great fun and great music. Later at some point, Slayer were on, and they only had a half-hour gig! Can you believe it? They were co-headliners at Wacken! I guess this is where our problem with Sonisphere was, they didn't know if they wanted to be a metal festival or not, even though more than half their bill was made up of metal bands. The rest of the bands that day were crap anyway, none of which I cared for.
Well, except for one.
Iron Maiden!!! I was so glad I didn't spoil the setlist for myself, and I was pleasantly surprised. Although I've been a Maiden fan for more than ten years, I hadn't seen them live before 2006, so I haven't seen most of the songs they performed before. I guess you can never please everyone, and I know that apparently, it's cool to criticise setlists, but I really loved it. And lots of great surprises. It's hard to pick a highlight, but I guess Ghost of the Navigator, Blood Brothers, No More Lies and Brave New World would qualify. Nush and I were a little disappointed when later on, we read in a review of the Dallas gig that they played Paschendale there and later dropped it, but still, I have only good sentiments about the gig. Bruce's rants were great as far as I could hear them (as in, when I was not busy trying not to get squished in the crowd), but I can hardly quote them. There were things about how the world would be better if it was run by metal bands, some explanatory comments to the lyrics of El Dorado and of course the dedication of Blood Brothers to all fans and the memory of Ronnie James Dio. That song was one of the greatest live moments I had ever witnessed anyway, although No More Lies (one of my favourite Maiden songs anyway) was pretty close. All in all, an amazing gig, and I guess second only to my first one in Paris in 2006.
Fast forward to WACKEN OPEN AIR
Let's just say this much: We were really, really exhausted from Sonisphere. Plus, the first night, once again we got very pissed. Fortunately, we were early (Tuesday, the festival opened on Thursday), so we could recover from that until the official start. The first band worth mentioning is Alice Cooper who was just as good as in England, although he played in daylight. Next on were Mötley Crüe, who I figured is simply not my band. They have a few songs I like very much, but all in all I don't really care for them.
So then, once again, Iron Maiden were on. Basically, all I said earlier on can be repeated here, although Bruce's rants were less and shorter, and I stood much further at the back.
My personal highlight this time was No More Lies, which was unbelievably heavy. Well, and all the other songs. Damn.
Well, and that's that. Two festivals in a row are an experience everybody should have made, but it is pure exhaustion. I can barely recognise myself in the mirror thanks to the great tan I got, and I'm still pretty struck out. Am I getting to old for this shit?
Sundown over Wacken, just an instant before Maiden came onstage.
For those who have me on Facebook, I will post some more photos there shortly (and Nush, I'll send them to you as well)
