Wacken 2018 - When There Is No Mud

Compared to the previous two years, this Wacken became entirely different due to different weather conditions: no rain meant no mud, but a lot of sun meant hot temperatures during the day and very nice ones after sunset. 

This year, both Werner and Lorenz joined, and we certainly did not regret these three days.  Probably the best Wacken experience so far.

We already purchased the tickets for next year - the 30th anniversary - and will be joined by a fourth ruthless guy ;-). As of writing this, Wacken 2019 has sold out entirely.



We saw an awful lot and missed out on even more again. So let's see how these three days evolved.

Day 1 - Old School rules

Thursday has always been focused on Old School - also this time. Some vicious stuff rounded up a very nice starter into the festival.

Dokken: Still Eighties Metal, but vocals became a bit more bluesy which I liked. The music has a quite sad tone, in particular their hit Alone Again. All in all, a nice surprise start.

Vince Neil: No surprises here. Some newer stuff, some old sh*t from the Motley Crue times, including 'Shout At The Devil'. Lorenz particularly liked the guitar roadie ;-).

Udo Dirkschneider: The two prior acts caused a slight Eighties Metal overdose on my side. So Lorenz and me skipped Udo. For Werner it was the highlight of the first day. We continued with ...

Vallenfyre: The first sinister tones of the day, still an opportunity to cool down from the blazing sun outside of the tent. Founded by ex-Paradise Lost Gregor Mackintosh, this music stands quite in opposition to what his former, more famous band developed. In your face metal, blazingly fast, rather sinister. Then back into the sun, but this time...

Behemoth: My personal first highlight of the day, though my two friends did not share this view. With the benefit of having prepared with two albums, I was highly impressed how intense and good these live versions actually were. A perfect start with "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel". Also "Ov Fire And The Void" and "The Satanist" left no doubt that this band is a live monster - power and perfection. New songs also to be published in August were on the setlist.

Behemoth - Stage 1

Behemoth - Stage 2

Behemoth - Final Stage

This set left me definitely with the wish to hear more from that incredible stuff. See you again live!

Danzig: High expectations - not met at all. Unfortunately this gig failed in nearly every respect. Sound problems, band not really in sync, vocal problems. We skipped it after the third song and went into vicious area...

Watain: Never heard of them before Waken 2018. These guys set the stage on fire - virtually.

Watain - all on fire

Musically and performance-wise in best Black Metal tradition, it was all in all the creepiest performance of the day. They are definitely masters of their business. And clearly the tent is always better for such type of music than the open air stages - I would have loved to see Behemoth here actually.

Judas Priest: Typically for the first day's headliner, the only set where the Infield was completely packed. No chance to reach the front of the Infield, and though far away still rather claustrophobic.

Judas Priest - much light&visuals

Priest, my heroes back in the Eighties, now live for the first time. I even had bootleg vinyl of their gigs. Will I like them?

Two things that I found surprising this day: First, Rob Halford not really communicating with us (why not?), so the band stayed somewhat in distance to the crowd. Secondly, too much light and visuals, movies all the time, which really distracted from a more than decent musical performance. The two new guitarists being impeccable and well placed, and Glenn Tipton joining for the last two or three songs. I would not call this gig bad at all, but the spark did not jump over to us. Somehow too artificial and distanced.

All in all, Day 1 was more or less the performances to be expected, with only Danzig disappointing.

We missed out on: Tremonti (due to Dokken), Belphegor (due to Danzig), Gaahl's Wyrd (too tired)


Day 2 - Long, Hot & Busy

Friday was the hottest day, and we started already around noon at the Infield. It was our planned busiest day.

Cannibal Corpse: No regrets to start early at noon with them - quite the opposite. They were as good as expected, also in blazing sunlight ruthless and tough, still very artistic.

Cannibal Corpse in blazing sunlight

Rogers: We did not plan to see Rogers, but the heat forced us into the tent. This was a good decision, their punk was tough and very well received.

Rogers - great guys

Mr. Big: Really? We headed for Mr. Big was more due to the impossible Epica on the main stage. Nothing to expect, and, well, it was just fine, nothing for me to listen to.

Firewind: Back to the tent, already rather exhausted from the sun. Firewind's power metal was a good contrast to Mr. Big and brought us back into Metal. As expected, incredible licks from another guitarist that Ozzy Osbourne identified as metal talent. The second guitarist, also keyboarder, from time to time playing on both instruments simultaneously. Sadly they missed out on the genius cover version of the Eighties hit 'Maniac' of the Flashdance Soundtrack (Michael Sembello) - actually this song fits perfectly into Power Metal, hearing Firewind's version is believing!

Firewind

Dool: The first major positive surprise. Already promising when listening to the band on Spotify, their live performance was impressive as well. This was one of the few bands that did not quite fit into the regular Wacken categories (similar to the great Alceste two years ago at exactly the same stage). Dool name Sisters of Mercy and Sonic Youth as major sources of influence, and I buy into this description. It was a very welcome and much needed musical enrichment, similar to Rogers, but much more according to my own taste. I will definitely follow this band further, and you should too. 'Oweynagat' or 'Golden Serpents', for example, are these songs with a great drive as we love it from The Sisters Of Mercy or also The Mission.

Dool impressed me

Destruction: A legend on stage, first time for me. I still remember the moment I bought their first Mini-LP 'Sentence of Death' back in 1984, so quite some time passed, now finally live. They were impressive, and fans contributed with rather ruthless circle pits. They also played the very old stuff from the old times in very powerful versions. One of the best gigs of the day, for sure, and very nice guys.

Destruction

Clawfinger: Another big 'hello' to one favorite band of the past, a bit forgotten through time. Clawfinger rocked and reminded us of how good 'Deaf Dumb Blind' was. They also seem to know, since they first played every single song of this album - and nobody complained. The loops did not age through time, the guitar is as great as ever, so were the rap lyrics. 'Rosegrove' - if I may name one song - is one of this very special irresistible songs that keep you moving. Many thanks guys, so nice to hear you again!

Clawfinger - yessssss

Bathing in the crowd

Lee Aaron: Well, it seems that Lee Aaron goes back to the roots to play some Metal, along with radio-compatible songs of typical US rock style. Compared to the Eighties, her voice seemed much better than back then, so all in all, just fine for us to hang out to her songs.

Lee Aaron

Mantar: Mantar had impressed us in flex/Vienna as support act of Kadavar, and Wacken saw them performing even better. When two guys (guitar/vocals and drums) form one band and perform looking at each other, it is always special. This time, a kind of bass guitar effect supported the guitars and provided for a quite significantly better sound. All in all, the band progresses further, and Wacken seemed to like it as well.

Mantar - two guys, one band

In Flames: Something like the main act of the second day (probably along with Ghost that started only at 1 a.m. in the morning, which was too much for us). After a long day, we preferred to stay at the rear end of the infield, and it provided a similarly impressive view to the set. Professional as always, no disappointments, just In Flames as we know them.



Otto & Die Friesenjungs: Well, though a lot of people seem to like it, we did not stand it - at all. When Otto started to perform 'Born To Be Wild', the thing was done for us at that time of the night. Sorry, nothing for us. Good night :-).

We missed out on: Amorphis (too hot), Children of Bodom (due to Dool), W.A.R. (due to Destruction), Ghost (too tired)

Day 3 - Highlights & Relax

Saturday brought much more relaxed temperatures, but on the third day, we (as many others) took it easy. Therefore the list of missed acts rose, which is just fine.

Wintersun: Power Metal Shredding at the outset of Day 3 - not everybody's darling. Since Alex (my friend and guitar teacher) really digs into Wintersun, we headed for them. First impression: They wore long sleeve skirts at these temperatures! It was a perfect Power Metal performance. I quite liked "Time", which has a lot of interesting musical ideas.

Wintersun

Skindred (seen from the Jägermeister Deer): One of the bigger surprises of Wacken, very powerful, quite distinct sound and style, and a very strong live performance. They easily became the favorite of Lorenz this year. It would have been good to be down at the stage.

Gojira: One of this year's favorite gigs. We were in the middle of the madness, Circle Pits all around, with Gojira playing the heaviest of their heavy songs. When 'Flying Whales' started, I suddenly during filming was hovered into a huge Circle Pit - one round running, and just fine. But it was a rather ruthless Circle Pit. Maybe I will upload this video later on.

Mighty Gojira

Steel Panther: Another clear favorite of this year (again). They are just hilarious and ridiculous. They are extremely rude and impolite, they play Hair Metal without compromises, and everybody celebrates a big party. Many thanks Steel Panther, you still rule - Death To All But Metal :-).

Power Rangers love Steel Panther as well!

Mambo Kurt: I was not aware of Mambo Kurt - until we saw him at the Beergarden Stage. He clearly rules, plays songs on a version 1 Gameboy or other vintage synths, and it sounds just great. Hail to Mambo Kurt :-).

Mambo Kurt

Helmet: Very nice to see Helmet again, still remember their great gig in Szene Wien. They did not disappoint. An intense gig with little speaking (this will follow then, unfortunately), and another great version of my all-time favorite 'Unsung'.

Helmet

Halloween - Pumpkins United: Actually the title of this show should already have raised eyebrows with us. We headed for the 3 1/2 hours' (!) show with a lot of talk and even more talk in order to see some songs from the 'Walls Of Jericho' album - and we ended up in receiving a medley (yes, A MEDLEY) of three songs from this album. We immediately had to flee. That's not worthy of Wacken, come on guys, please stop such nonsense - immediately.

We missed out on: Arch Enemy (due to Helmet), then already too tired for all of the following: Alien Weaponry, Solstafir, Eskimo Callboy, Zeal & Ardor


What Else To Mention
This festival is not just about the music. Every year, it is worth to explore the vast area for nice surprises. Some photos explain best.

Very funny in German

Well, yes :-)

Wacken Ice Cream - my favorite

Lorenz takes a shower, Wacken style

Wacken Infield - from far behind

For sure, this year was the best of the three Wacken events for me, everything is just so much easier without the mud. The overall atmosphere became even more relaxed, which is very important if you are here for three days in a row.

Even if statistics speak against it, we already booked for next year - which will be the 30th anniversary - and hope for another year without mud. But as a t-shirt slogan says: See you in Wacken - rain or shine!