Day 1

I did recall QUIET RIOT's Bang Your Head (Metal Health) classic while approaching Stuttgart's airport. Having suffered a unique torment with my flight leaving from Athens 70 minutes earlier than officially mentioned in my ticket (some really 'killing is My business...' facts occurred in the Greek airport prior to grabbing the plane on departure), I was really calm - eventually - while picking up our rented car and inserting a RUNNING WILD disc in the CD player. Germany, seid ihr bereit fur Metal?!?

'Bang Your Head!' fest is one of the major summer metallic gatherings I've never attended in the past, so getting familiar with the beautiful city of Balingen - every small city in the Central_Northern Europe seems to be wonderful, to be honest - prior to getting my ass to the pre-show party was a remarkable experience, omitting the nerve-cracking (for my Greek likes) 'find-a-parking-space-that's-allowed-to-leave-your-car-to' procedure. Thanks to a kick-ass GPS device I was lucky enough to drive for less than an hour to find the fest_pre-show area (which - I'm pretty sure - was not more than a 15'-minute walk from the city centre, had I asked somebody in prior...)

[Greg]: Not being able to separate my full belly - it's always nice to have a rich hotel breakfast in order to keep in shape for the first dozen of beers till noon - I entered the fest area at 10:00am sharp. No band was onstage yet so a glass of beer and some brief walk to check the fest's facilities was a 'must'. Anyone familiar with the 'German Metal fest' term already knows the teams organizing such events do virtually have everything in place for the fans' pleasure (OK, it gets rather dirty at times with so many people - half of them drunk all the time - gathered at a restricted area...) plus the stalls serving food, drinks or selling accessories were allocated in a nice scheme. There were enough lobby(?) areas to sit and have a drink or eat something, but the orientation in half of them was not that good in order to have an eye on the stage too. What the hell, of course...
While checking the first piles of second hand LPs/CDs at the market area (the indoor space the pre-show gig was held) it was time for HATSTIK to hit the stage. Not a familiar name to me in prior, I rushed out to check on them only to discover the Reutlingen trio was way more into modern/Nu/HC Metal than I could ever live with. Their sound was OK and they did seem quite serious on their work; still not being my cup of tea at all I rushed back to the indoor vinyl heaven. The band was generous enough to send over their setlist.

HATSTIK's setlist:

01. Gone Away
02. The Reason Why
03. Footsteps
04. Go!
05. Broken Hope
06. Deep Black Hole
07. Through My Eyes Again
08. Watch Out

Studio-wise I consider these Scottish guys to be more of a funny act and less of a mature band; their polished MANOWAR-meets-RUNNING WILD-meets-BLIND GUARDIAN stuff seems more naive than I can handle. But, to be honest, a good verification whether a band should win your interest is the stage. Grabbing another glass of cold beer it was time for some pirate Metal the ALESTORM way. Well, if it's gonna get close to this kind of shit then I feel bands like STORMWARRIOR or LONEWOLF show more serious attempts to perform such restless Metal, but I have to admit that ALESTORM where really fascinating on-stage with a wide smile on their faces and some rather vivid appetite to walk on us. With their Black Sails At Midnight latest effort having scored a good impact in the European territory, ALESTORM indeed summoned a good amount of core-fans in front who surely had a good time; and that's what counts. I can recall Over The Seas, Old Spice, Pirate Song, Captain Morgan's Revenge and Wolves Of The Sea being played, plus Terror On The High Seas acting as their encore.

[Erika]: The balance between being cheezy and pathetic or mastering the poses is very subtle but I must say KISSIN' DYNAMITE actually managed to get away with it. Even if they forced every cliche in the Metal world to its limit and struck every pose that has been used since the dawn of Metal. It never felt too much, too cheesy or over the edge. They were just a lot of fun to watch. Sure, people around me were laughing perhaps more at the band after the next second nod approvingly to the music. Catchy 80's Hard Rock with just enough of the LA Scene in it, absolutely works great in the early hours of the festival. Especially, when the songs are good and are performed with the attitude and skills this band holds. And it's great that the festival is pushing bands they believe in. A young band like KISSIN' DYNAMITE really deserved their spot on the bill and their music certainly held high enough standards to fit right in too.

KISSIN' DYNAMITE's setlist:

01. Intro
02. My Religion
03. I Hate Hip hop
04. Out In The Rain
05. Steel Of Swabia
06. Zombie
07. Iron Fist
08. Let's Get Freaky
09. Ready Steady Thunder
10. Addicted To Metal
11. Welcome To The Jungle

[Erika]: It can't be an easy task for Patrick Fuchs to try and match Eric Adams. Say what you will about MANOWAR, Eric is still a great singer. ROSS THE BOSS' music isn't very far from MANOWAR, with all the rights, since he was a part of that band up until two decades ago. And this is very pleasant in a right doze. There's nothing bad about it at all, everything is good. The albums and the gigs are good. But just good! So, the first half of the gig was great, typical festival music I would say, basic Heavy Metal with easy enough chorus lines to sing along to. And with the sing-a-long comes the cheers and when you have someone to share a beer with it gets even better. Ross himself is a really decent guitar player and shone over the rest, that raises the grade significant. Patrick's voice was very whiney and that got annoying after a while and it felt like the melodies were being reused time after time. So, the second half of the concert wasn't as interesting as the first. But of course it continued to be good. The fact that the last part wasn't as exciting as the first didn't have much to do with the songs though, I doubt the review had been different with a different setlist. The thing that talked against this, is that MANOWAR song No 1, Gloves Of Metal, sounded pretty lame while last song of the set, MANOWAR song No 2 and 3, Thor (The Powerhead) and Hail And Kill were really great! All in all, ROSS THE BOSS were good, could have been great but it was just good.

ROSS THE BOSS' setlist:

01. I.L.H.
02. Blood Of Knives
03. Death & Glory
04. Death Tone
05. Gloves Of Metal
06. We Will Kill
07. May The Gods Be With You
08. Immortal Son
09. Thor (The Powerhead)
10. Hail And Kill

[Greg]: Quebec, Canada loves VOIVOD and so do we, even if I'm a core fan of their noisy early years and not that addicted to their later, surely respectful, 'avant garde' deeds. Storming in with the legendary Voivod track, it was obvious these Canadians -featuring original member Jean-Yves Blacky Theriault as the touring bassist (yeah!)- had the guts to overcome both technical difficulties with the stage equipment plus the burning sun. Singer Denis Snake Belanger was very active with the crowd (when you're wearing a MOTORHEAD Rock 'n' Roll T-shirt you surely have the potential...) and a 'best of' setlist surely paved the way for a successful performance. The band, must be said, is in top form in terms of chemistry and I'm pretty sure VOIVOD left a positive mark at this year's installment. Old-school VOIVOD maniacs surely broke their necks to the hearing of massive diamonds like Overreaction and Ravenous Medicine while songs from the quartet's latest Infini CD did make a good impression, too.

VOIVOD's setlist:

01. Voivod
02. The Unknown Knows
03. Overreaction
04. Tribal Convictions
05. Treasure Chase
06. Ravenous Medicine
07. Tornado
08. Brain Scan
09. Astronomy Domine

[Erika]: Unfortunately PRIMORDIAL didn't seem to attract the majority of the festival visitors. But for the ones who chose not to be there, it was their loss because PRIMORDIAL is an amazing live act. Sure, everyone needs a break every now and then but it's impossible for me to understand how just this time could have been right for a pause. PRIMORDIAL was probably the oddest band on the bill and the most extreme one. No, not the most brutal but, bands can be extreme in other ways too. They are extremely intense on stage, Alan A Nemtheanga looks very scary though with the paint-job on his face and head. Still, even if he's the only one with this type of outfit, it doesn't feel artificial or over worked at all.

The thing that's so cool with PRIMORDIAL is that they suck you into the music, it is just to sit back and wait for it to happen sort of. The drive, the grinding riffs just sets everything rocking. One thing though, I would love the rest of the band to be a little more visible, now it's mainly Alan. On the other hand, he's a really strong character and it might be too much if the others took on the stage as he does. The good part with the quite sparse crowd is that it was easy to get close and really watch PRIMORDIAL perform, the downside is that the sing-a-long part in As Rome Burs didn't get as powerful as it was at 'Wacken' last year. Another bad thing (well, not bad really) is that the time-slot at a festival always is way too short for a PRIMORDIAL gig. Five songs felt a little thin. Then that those songs filled their entire slot probably should be mentioned. Still, I wouldn't have mind the double since PRIMORDIAL was one of the best on this year's festival.

PRIMORDIAL's setlist:

01. Empire Falls
02. Traitors Gate
03. As Rome Burns
04. The Coffin Ships
05. Heathen Tribes

[Greg]: Aaahhh...Hello Germany! We are SACRED REICH and this is the American Way... It was Phil Rind's voice setting the fest on fire and - even though it was not 4:00pm yet - a glossy chapter of American Thrash Metal was in front of us ready to bombard an unsuspecting crowd with exciting tracks like One Nation, Independent, Who's To Blame, Ignorance and...their whole setlist. Backed by an appropriate sound the Arizona thrashers shook hands with the devil and confirmed which bands should reunite to perform on-stage for the metalheads' sake. The killing machine named Greg Hall reminded us of why he was credited as the best Thrash Metal drummer circa 1989/1990 and -overall- SACRED REICH's performance was excellent by any means: song selection, technical skills, vibe... Pushed by time limits to perform a Deathsquad/Surf Nicaragua fast medley as their encore, they received the applaud they surely deserved while walking off stage. Thanxxx!

SACRED REICH's setlist:

01. The American Way
02. Independent
03. Administrative Decisions
04. Love...Hate
05. Sacred Reich
06. One Nation
07. Crimes Against Humanity
08. Who's To Blame
09. Ignorance
10. War Pigs
11. Death Squad/Surf Nicaragua

[Greg]: Is one hour enough for SODOM's music to wreck everything? Kicking in with Napalm In The Morning, the furious trio - featuring some 'vintage pants' Tom Angelripper in the forefront - had nothing to prove again, and I had nothing more to expect. So, walking back to a safer distance for another beer and some rest, things rolled really good for one hour and the setlist - see below - guaranteed tons of moshing and crowd-surfing in the front rows. Rather bizarre to see a SODOM gig in the afternoon, isn't it? Nuff said, really. If you never liked this band, no detailed report can change your mind anyway...

SODOM's setlist:

01. Napalm In The Morning
02. Outbreak Of Evil
03. Axis Of Evil
04. Surfin' Bird
05. The Saw Is The Law
06. Blasphemer
07. Agent Orange
08. Wanted Dead
09. M-16
10. Ausgebombt
11. Remember The Fallen
12. Bombenhagel

[Greg]: Bad thing with those 80s Metal Queens, is that it's been nearly 20 years now from their prime. Neither their looks nor their skills have enough chance to remain in an accepted level. While waiting eagerly for Lita's crew to set everything straight, it was kinda awkward to witness fans from different sub-genres pushing to sneak in the front rows...Lita's performance - to cut a long story short - was rather mediocre, if not disappointing. The band surely had not rehearsed that much for such a demanding comeback, thus half the songs were half-ruined, plus Lita's voice obviously wasn't in a top notch condition for the level required to cover cuts like Gotta Let Go, Back To The Cave or Close My Eyes Forever. Her husband (Jim Gillette, ex-NITRO) did some back up singing while fronted half of the vocals in a new (quite modern_aggressive) song to be included in Lita's comeback CD, Wicked Wonderland. Having a good interaction with the crowd, falling to her knees, lying on the stage floor, Lita partially made us forget the mismatch in the music part of her recital but - for my beliefs - this was probably the weakest performance of the fest.

LITA FORD's setlist:

01. Larger Than Life
02. Black Widow
03. Can't Catch Me
04. Gotta Let Go
05. Back To The Cave
06. Hungry
07. Falling In And Out Of Love
08. Piece (Hell Yeah)
09. Betrayal
10. Close My Eyes Forever
11. Kiss Me Deadly

[Greg]: Nothing can go wrong the time that the Godfather of German Heavy Metal decides to walk onstage. The sun was starting to set peacefully and it was the kind of times all of us need some piece of classic Metal to flow. For 70 minutes it was nothing less than real magic made in Germany. I cannot believe someone having a bad time watching a tight ass band playing traditional Metal spurting from Udo Dirkschneider's both worlds, ACCEPT and U.D.O.. The sound was nearly perfect, the atmosphere was hot as hell, songs like Midnight Highway, They Want War and Animal House rocked the house (sic) and Steffan Kaufmann's help was way much more than visible if you could read behind the lines. The Commander was like at home and we were all praying time would not pass that fast, in order to enjoy more and more of his charisma. It was the first time I was watching Udo performing on German ground and smiled serenely to the acceptance from his compatriots. If there's a ten scale to grade, I think U.D.O. got a generous nine that evening.
U.D.O.'s setlist:
01. Metal Heart
02. Midnight Highway
03. They Want War
04. 24_7
05. Vendetta
06. Princess Of The Dawn
07. Living For Tonight
08. Man And Machine
09. Thunderball
10. Animal House
11. Holy
12. Balls To The Wall
13. I'm A Rebel

[Greg]: To have the American AOR_FM Rock legends headlining a (widely considered) Metal fest was - in prior - quite a contradiction. Well, judging from the faces smiling during the first notes of Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) the evidence was crystal clear. In a country_region of people with wide knowledge it's not difficult to comprehend/recognize one band's influence_value; add the 'summer fest' reliable factor and it's no wonder the crowd did not even bother Arnel Pineda's first couple early mismatch singing. JOURNEY - clearly reborn after the new singer's arrival - reminded us of why you can't teach an old dog new tricks; especially if they're among the original contributors...

A 'greatest hits' setlist, ideal for a breezin' summer night, featuring an impressive performance/sound by the band probably let no one down, provided you're familiar with the Californians' legacy/magic. Apart from his early mistake, Pineda was once again virtually faultless and the Schon/Castronovo duet forced us getting struck by lightning in hearing of both famous and newer cuts like Ask The Lonely, Change For The Better, Wheel In The Sky and Don't Stop Believing. Surely not a Metal act, not even a Hard Rock one, but rather convincing on their aim, JOURNEY - I think - won the bet and left the stage with enough people wondering what the real limits of rock_hard_heavy music are at times and occasions like this.

JOURNEY's setlist:

01. The Journey (Revelation)
02. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
03. Never Walk Away
04. Stone In Love
05. Rubicon
06. Only The Young
07. Ask The Lonely
08. Change For The Better
09. Lights
10. Edge Of The Blade
11. Wheel In The Sky
12. Chain Reaction
13. One More
14. Wildest Dream
15. Faithfully
16. Don't Stop Believin'
17. Be Good To Yourself
118. Anyway You Want It

[Greg]: The first day was over; a rather entertaining event with nearly all bands giving their best to feed our Hard 'n' Heavy hunger. The schedule was strict but everything went according to plan. Now, watching the first raindrops falling from a 'vague' sky, it was time for some driving back to the hotel and sleep in order to catch up early for next day's demanding program.

(photos by surfin Nicaragua Erika)

KISSIN' DYNAMITE

ROSS THE BOSS

VOIVOD

PRIMORDIAL

SODOM

LITA FORD

U.D.O.

JOURNEY