Everyone loves a good party on a Friday night to celebrate the end of the week, and what better way to celebrate the weekend than by kicking it off with
VARG and
NACHTBLUT? Having played to a very small crowd the previous night both bands must have been delighted by the massive surge of fans who turned up for the show, with some even going as far as painting their faces in red and black war paint used by the band in their early days as a salute to
VARG.
Opening up the night's festivities was NACHTBLUT, a Melodic Metal band that amalgamates dark and brutal elements together into a macabre Blackened Death Metal sound that reminds me of a cross between CRADLE OF FILTH and RAMMSTEIN. With the release of "Chimonas", their fourth full-length album earlier this year, much of NACHTBLUT's setlist was drawn from this album, although much-loved crowd favourites were also well represented. This blistering setlist soon had heads banging, and fans singing along, whilst the visual aspects of the show were quite something to behold, ranging from throwing pages from a torn book into the audience, to spraying blood into the crowd, in a true BEHEMOTH-like style. In line with their previous performances this year, vocalist Askeroth brought out a heart which he smeared across his chest as he crooned the words to the ballad "Mein Herz in Ihren Hände". Whilst this heart usually gets thrown into the audience, tonight Askeroth ripped the heart in two, giving one half each to two vivacious young women in the front row. Ending off their performance with the vocalist of VARG coming on stage to do the guest vocals on the last song, fans were left with much to smile about, with their cheers for NACHTBLUT's performance merging into chants for VARG, which rang through the venue whilst the stage hands frantically setup the stage for VARG's upcoming performance. For those dismayed at not having been able to be at the show, the band should definitely be caught: NACHTBLUT will be launching their own headlining tour early next year, so if you missed them this time round, be sure to catch them then.
Setlist:1. Gotteskrieger
2. Die Blutgräfin
3. Bußsakrament
4. Kreuzigung
5. Ketzer
6. Antik
7. Kalt wie ein Grab
8. Wie Gott sein
9. Ich trinke Blut
10. Kreuzritter
11. Mein Herz in ihren Händen
12. Wien 1683
13. Alles nur geklaut (Die Prinzen cover)
And finally was the moment many had been waiting for: VARG's headlining tour. VARG seemed to be thrilled with finally heading out on their own tour, saying several times how great it was that were able to finally play as long as they liked. True to this, a rare treat for fans was the performance of "Sehnsucht", a song which is usually too long to play live. With the guys from VARG having brought shots onto the stage for each of the band members of NACHTBLUT during NACHTBLUT's performance, in an ongoing attempt at getting their opener band drunk each night of the tour, it was suddenly NACHTBLUT's turn for vengeance. With it being the birthday celebration of VARG's drummer Fenrier, this was finally NACHTBLUT's chance of getting back at VARG, and they did so threefold, with Askeroth bringing bottles full of liquor onto the stage and tipping them straight into Fenrier's mouth. This soon took its toll on Fenrier, with him needing a little help from a stage technician for the more complicated drum sections. Nevertheless, considering how much he'd drunk, did a good job of keeping both tempo and rhythm, and all the alcohol, some of which got passed into the crowd, did much to boost the party feeling in the audience. In order to celebrate the occasion of Fenrier's birthday, vocalist Freki announced that VARG would be holding a signing session just after their set, following which everyone was invited to join the party at the band's tour bus after the show. Whilst this impromptu signing session did indeed take place, the after-party at the bus sadly did not, leaving the few staunch fans who were waiting there somewhat disappointed. This aside, it was however a small bump in the road in comparison to the great music that predominated the evening. Particularly memorable was VARG's very last song, "Rotkäppchen" in which they invited all the ladies onto the stage to dance with them, with both guitarists going crowd surfing right at the end, lying on their backs, still playing their guitars. All in all an epic ending to an equally epic night.
Setlist:1. Wir sind die Wölfe
2. Wolfskult
3. Frei wie der Wind
4. Guten Tag
5. Wolfszeit
6. Donareiche
7. Blutaar
8. Sehnsucht
9. Apokalypse
10. Was Nicht Darf
11. Nagelfar
12. Viel Feind Viel Ehr
13. Schwertzeit
14. Rotkäppchen
