Music
My Wacken In 2016
The W:O:A is the end – for 27. Time 80,000 people celebrated one of the biggest metal festivals in the world – full of extreme music, the sun, the rain, beer and mud. Our reporter Silke Wünsch in the middle of it.
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Here is the heart of Metal beat
75.000 Metalheads, 5.000 guests – V. I. P. s, press people and musicians and 5,000 employees: Like every year, gathered an incredible crowd of people on the cow pastures, in front of the small Town of Wacken. For a few days, the village had a gigantic neighbors – and was sonicated day and night. A total of eight stages, 160 Bands played in four days.
-
Traditional storming of the Infield
The Moment when the “Infield”, the spectator stages of the field in front of the main, open, for Wacken friends a very special moment. Thursdays at the point of 14.00 will be traditionally opened the gates, and the Metalheads storm the roaring of the site. With child and cone. What is for lunch, still Meadow, after a short time the mud. The knows the Wackener audience.
-
Mud battle
The Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) is usually associated with a large amount of mud. The was also in this year. The Fans are used to. They celebrated the mud, jumped, or threw each other with thick lumps.
-
Children’s Paradise
Finally really around in the mud jumping – here the rubber pants makes sense. Many Metalheads have brought their children to the Festival. The most fühtlen visibly, proudly wore the W:O:A-T-Shirts and celebrated with their parents the loud Bands on eight stages.
-
Rock Icons
The first highlight on the Thursday of the Gig of Iron Maiden – of the Fans while cheering, however, as a not particularly exciting rating. A Routine Job for the British Band. Also visiting were classics such as Whitesnake and Foreigner. Friday brought the Fans, among other things, the German Band Blind Guardian. Vocalist Hansi Kürsch (photo) took the audience and brought tens of thousands to sing along.
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Rock-Hard Exotics
All of the nastiest Death Metal played by the Band Overthrust from Botswana. The Four are but the most metal – very nice. They were for the first Time at Wacken and saw themselves as ambassadors of the African Metal. Even though Botswana has only two million inhabitants, is the local metal scene is very large. Until the Bands were able to play this music unmolested, they had to go a long way.
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Caribbean Sounds…
…are on the Wacken Open Air rather rare. For the first Time, the Band’s Lynchpin, has come to Europe. The sympathetic guys from Trinidad have participated in the Wacken Metal Battle. Not with steel drum and Ukulele, but with hard Progressive Death Metal. That they didn’t win the Battle, you don’t mind, they were happy to be there.
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Poznań belongs to
Guitarist Tom Steam from the Austrian Band “Pain” with his new guitar. Musical instruments and money belonging to the prices, which can take the winner of the Metal Battle with home. The Austrians made this year in fifth place. DW-PopXport was already for the second Time media partner of the Battle and portraits of all the winners in the PopXport shows.
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Fun combo
The Dutch Marching Band “Blaas of Glory” made since Wednesday, the entire Festival grounds to be insecure. Wherever they went, around and formed a good-humored crowd. The band plays cover versions of Rock classics and brings people to sing along and dance.
-
Performances of the Wackener wind orchestra
The Wacken Firefighters are a cult. The local brass band plays traditionally on the day before the official opening of the W:O:A, and during the whole festival. Your music: you interpret party songs, Rock classics and a really beautiful folk music. The Metalheads cheered at the chapel at every appearance and sang and schun Celts cheerful.
-
Lemmy is omnipresent
Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead is one of the most revered rock musicians of all time. He died in January 2016. But his spirit is always hovering over Wacken – he was in many of the 27 Festivals and has reunited with his mixture of Rock’n’Roll, Metal and Punk many Rock Genres. Countless Wacken-Fans posed in front of his Statue.
-
Three days awake – at least
The W:O:A is gone in the night to Sunday. Well 80,000 Fans went on Sunday hoarse and completely exhausted after the home. Not without also traditional, many-Kilometer-long Wacken-jam. But the Wacken-Fans’s left, listened to loud metal music on the Radio and greeted on the highway with the Wacken-greeting: The French fork.
-
Here is the heart of Metal beat
75.000 Metalheads, 5.000 guests – V. I. P. s, press people and musicians and 5,000 employees: Like every year, gathered an incredible crowd of people on the cow pastures, in front of the small Town of Wacken. For a few days, the village had a gigantic neighbors – and was sonicated day and night. A total of eight stages, 160 Bands played in four days.
-
Traditional storming of the Infield
The Moment when the “Infield”, the spectator stages of the field in front of the main, open, for Wacken friends a very special moment. Thursdays at the point of 14.00 will be traditionally opened the gates, and the Metalheads storm the roaring of the site. With child and cone. What is for lunch, still Meadow, after a short time the mud. The knows the Wackener audience.
-
Mud battle
The Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) is usually associated with a large amount of mud. The was also in this year. The Fans are used to. They celebrated the mud, jumped, or threw each other with thick lumps.
-
Children’s Paradise
Finally really around in the mud jumping – here the rubber pants makes sense. Many Metalheads have brought their children to the Festival. The most fühtlen visibly, proudly wore the W:O:A-T-Shirts and celebrated with their parents the loud Bands on eight stages.
-
Rock Icons
The first highlight on the Thursday of the Gig of Iron Maiden – of the Fans while cheering, however, as a not particularly exciting rating. A Routine Job for the British Band. Also visiting were classics such as Whitesnake and Foreigner. Friday brought the Fans, among other things, the German Band Blind Guardian. Vocalist Hansi Kürsch (photo) took the audience and brought tens of thousands to sing along.
-
Rock-Hard Exotics
All of the nastiest Death Metal played by the Band Overthrust from Botswana. The Four are but the most metal – very nice. They were for the first Time at Wacken and saw themselves as ambassadors of the African Metal. Even though Botswana has only two million inhabitants, is the local metal scene is very large. Until the Bands were able to play this music unmolested, they had to go a long way.
-
Caribbean Sounds…
…are on the Wacken Open Air rather rare. For the first Time, the Band’s Lynchpin, has come to Europe. The sympathetic guys from Trinidad have participated in the Wacken Metal Battle. Not with steel drum and Ukulele, but with hard Progressive Death Metal. That they didn’t win the Battle, you don’t mind, they were happy to be there.
-
Poznań belongs to
Guitarist Tom Steam from the Austrian Band “Pain” with his new guitar. Musical instruments and money belonging to the prices, which can take the winner of the Metal Battle with home. The Austrians made this year in fifth place. DW-PopXport was already for the second Time media partner of the Battle and portraits of all the winners in the PopXport shows.
-
Fun combo
The Dutch Marching Band “Blaas of Glory” made since Wednesday, the entire Festival grounds to be insecure. Wherever they went, around and formed a good-humored crowd. The band plays cover versions of Rock classics and brings people to sing along and dance.
-
Performances of the Wackener wind orchestra
The Wacken Firefighters are a cult. The local brass band plays traditionally on the day before the official opening of the W:O:A, and during the whole festival. Your music: you interpret party songs, Rock classics and a really beautiful folk music. The Metalheads cheered at the chapel at every appearance and sang and schun Celts cheerful.
-
Lemmy is omnipresent
Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead is one of the most revered rock musicians of all time. He died in January 2016. But his spirit is always hovering over Wacken – he was in many of the 27 Festivals and has reunited with his mixture of Rock’n’Roll, Metal and Punk many Rock Genres. Countless Wacken-Fans posed in front of his Statue.
-
Three days awake – at least
The W:O:A is gone in the night to Sunday. Well 80,000 Fans went on Sunday hoarse and completely exhausted after the home. Not without also traditional, many-Kilometer-long Wacken-jam. But the Wacken-Fans’s left, listened to loud metal music on the Radio and greeted on the highway with the Wacken-greeting: The French fork.
Over the meadows and the North German village of Wacken this typical Wacken is still-smell: a mixture of mud, cow manure, beer and urine. The smell seems to stick, in spite of showers of all: the clothes, the hair and especially the rubber boots.
Four days I was in Metal heaven, have let me duration, me of BBQ sausages and pasta feeds, it was wet raining and the sun dried again. In the evening there was also, of course, a beer – this is one of them. I’ve worn black T-Shirts with the emblems ultra-bad Bands and my pants was stained from the first day with mud – Wacken. Four days outside of civilization, and yet in the middle of it.
Wacken without a net
I carried two Laptops and a camera through the area, sat in the tight production bus in the DW or in the press tent, trash-filled tables between other members of the press, musicians and the V. I. P. s. Here and there someone stood in the corner, his noise to sleep. Wi-Fi, it was just there, the phone was hardly possible. Network problems on the entire festival site and the campsite anyway. Improvisation was announced; about Hotspots with functioning cell phones, or from anyone with a phone to borrow, the reception had to communicate.
International metal scene met in Wacken
Nevertheless, I have seen a lot and especially. I watched the cruel Death-Core-Speed etc – Bands that I have drawn previously – unknown Industrial and punk bands in and had the privilege of Maiden classics such as Iron, Blind Guardian or Whitesnake experience on the stages of Wacken. Particularly exciting was (from the DW magazine PopXport supported) Wacken Metal Battle.
The winners of the Wacken Metal Battle “Zombies ate my Girlfriend”
Here are 27 Bands from all over the world competed against each other. I had the great pleasure to take, with the Lynchpin of Trinidad on the festival grounds, and to interview the Death metal band Overthrust from Botswana. Just the “exotics” Wacken particularly interesting: they do not come from countries here, which one trusts is a vibrant metal scene. They all presented themselves at the W:O:A and surprised Fans and colleagues with an official Sound.
The Wacken Foundation, which has initiated the Metal Battle, taking a close look at the international young talent and wants to strengthen the metal scene in all countries. Wacken makes the Bands from other continents is possible to present to a large audience who is invited to the Metal Battle, which the trip is paid for. Has won in this year, the Band “Zombies ate my Girlfriend” from South Africa.
With Overthrust for a heavyweight representative of the African metal scene showed for the first time. The four boys from Gaborone to understand themselves as ambassadors of the African metal workers. Wacken is a place in the coming year, an increased focus on African Bands. Singer the Vulture Thrust has me given a crash course in “Growlen” The voice deep down from the belly. And look evil.
No carnival is guaranteed to music: Two members of the Cologne-based Band “The Other”
The bands in all of metal, at least for the photo or on the stage. You talk with them, you are welcome, in a good mood and laugh a lot.
Wacken is such a huge family
Also belongs to the metal scene: they All look terribly grim. If you talk to people, reply in a friendly, helpful, and apologize if you bump into Accidentally someone. Of Satanism and brutality, no track – this is only the facade, behind which a culture has developed that family and of related that can hardly be.
Metal music almost around the clock, wet tents and mud – in some years, dust and beer: the recipe, which attracts every year up to 80,000 music fans to Wacken. For The Past 27 Years. And the end is not in sight.