Review: Wacken Open Air 2017
Day 0:
A flight to Hamburg, a subway to the central station and a crowded train later, we were in Itzehoe. A quaint little town in the middle of nowhere with a large congregation of metalheads all headed to the holy land. We were to take the shuttle to Wacken, another extremely crowded and uncomfortable journey that took almost an hour. The sun was up and so were our spirits. We arrived at Wacken Open Air, greeted by screams of tons of other fans, we had a long way to. My friend and I had to part ways for the moment as he was holding a regular ticket and I, the VIP/Press pass. After enquiry at the info desk, I began my really long walk to the check-in counter to collect my wristband. And a return walk that seemed equally long to the VIP camping area. After setting up camp, I was finally ready for some metal and beers. By this time it was pretty late and I had already missed Flotsam and Jetsam. I figured I’d go and check out the festival area and catch Crowbar and Annihilator. The VIP camp was little way off and though you can walk to the festival, you’re not allowed to. You have to wait for the shuttle, an exercise that would grow more tedious by the day. I landed in the VIP bar and headed to the bar for a few beers, caught up some old friends and made some new ones. I figured I’d go catch Crowbar in the Headbangers Stage, but I was surprised at the crowd. I’d never imagined I’d see a band like Crowbar from way behind. Though the sound was great, I wasn’t feeling it. Crowbar isn’t an arena band and you got to be close enough to enjoy them. I headed to the artist village, the backstage area for the WET and Headbangers Stages. The VIP pass holders were allowed here only on Day 0, a thing I found rather strange. I settled with a few beers and decided to watch Annihilator on the screen and not go back in. When they were done I saw them come back and their room was next to where I was sitting. I stood outside hoping to catch Jeff Waters, who just before closing the door saw me and waved at me. I decided to hang around, I met and shared beers with a young Greek band called Domination. They were all around 21 or 21 and I thought it was pretty cool of them to play Wacken. A while later I saw Annihilator leave and I rushed and I caught Jeff and asked if he could spare me a second for a picture. He said they were late for their shuttle but obliged with a smile on his face. I thanked him and wished him the best for his tour and he told me to have fun at Wacken. With this I headed back to the bar to drink some more as there wasn’t anyone worth watching.
Day 1:
The day started off with heavy rains by 10 am and I did not leave the camp site till after 3. I was offered beers by a neighboring camp of Germans and we talked and had some laughs. I decided to head out a while later and grabbed a beer or two and caught Accept on the screen form the bar. Seeing more than 85,000 people didn’t evoke any interest in me to go and watch them, and I was less than impressed with the orchestra.
I decided to head straight to the signing tent to meet and greet Brujeria, while listening to Status Quo stared their set on the Faster stage. Immediately after was Nile, and it was incredible to finally meet Kollias, one of my favorite drummers and Karl Sanders of course. Shortly after we headed to the Headbangers and WET stage for Brujeria, who were absolutely ferocious. The arena was filled with Latin American flags of nearly all countries. It went incredibly well with anti-Trump chants and Brujeria singing Macarena but replacing it with Marijuana. Right after this were UK grind/punk legends Napalm Death, and frontman Barney proved that punk is alive and kicking in the 21st century. A true wall of sound, anti-system and anti-capitalist, I could not feel more at home. Shane Embury who played guitars for Brujeria was on fire on bass, however, Barney stole the show with his incredible energy. The WET stage saw Batushka between Brujeria and Napalm Death, as the bands play alternately on the two stages. Batushka didn’t offer anything for me and I was honestly bored by a mid-tempo Dimmu Borgir. After Napalm Death however were Mayhem, and much to my disappointment, the sound was terrible. Hellhammer’s snare was unheard throughout the set, and the guitars were jarring on the PA’s, and I couldn’t tell one riff from the other. A tremendous waste of their costumes and on stage rituals when most of it was just distorted noise. The last band of the night were Nile, and there couldn’t have been a better end to it. After the grind, the punk, and the mish mash of black metal, it was finally great to hear some death metal. Nile commanded the crowd with technical prowess, and though they didn’t interact with the crowd much, the music seemed to suffice. Unas Slayer of the Gods was probably the song that hit home for me, truly blown away by these legends.
Day 2:
The most interesting day of the festival for me. Up and about early, got my boots on, and headed to the Faster stage to catch Memoriam. Karl Willets said, “isn’t old school death metal the best breakfast?”, I couldn’t agree more. They played a crushing set. I went to get something to eat to survive the day and finally caught up with my buddy Sriram and we discussed the awful muck that covered the entire festival area, and how difficult it was to navigate through it from one stage to another. Soon after, we were back in the signing tent to meet Memoriam. It was great to finally meet Scott Fairfax in person, and the legendary Karl Willets, who, much to my surprise, was pretty outgoing and talkative. We took our pictures and expressed our heartfelt love for the death metal machine Bolt Thrower and headed back to the Faster stage to catch Sanctuary. A great feeling to see Warrel Dane in the flesh, having never seen Nevermore. However, seeing him was the only thrill as the man cannot sing or hold a note anymore. Disappointing as this may be, the rest of Sanctuary were spot on and unleashed an incredible set. The rain started to come down again, much to our annoyance, but we weren’t to be swayed. We rushed back to the signing tent to see Sanctuary right after their set and I was on cloud nine meeting the man himself. He was quite funny when I told him Nevermore’s lyrics changed my life, loved every bit of our little conversation (thank you, Warrel!). We had an hour or so to kill, and we headed to the Headbangers Stage to catch the phenomenon that is Grand Magus.
It was Sriram’s first time and my second, and we were in unimaginable awe as the Swedish power trio galloped in full force on hooves of gold. The ritual of heading to the signing tent continued and this time was the biggest thrill of them all to meet and greet Magus and we were jumping with joy. We got postcards signed for our friends back home and took our pictures and headed to the Harder stage to catch another legendary band – Paradise Lost. The muck was getting worse now and it took us almost 25 minutes to make it there. The mobility being a big issue, we decided to watch from a distance and despite the sound not being the best, we held on. We stopped by for a bite and witness Emperor on the big stage and I didn’t quite feel a thing, not even when they played In The Nightside Eclipse and an entire set of Anthems of the Welkin at Dusk. I realized I’m not fan of big stages at all, and there are only few bands in the world I’d make an effort for to go up front and catch them (Rush, Maiden, and not many others). Back to the signing tent to meet our hometown boys Kryptos, it was good fun catching up with them for a bit. We hung out and watched Megadeth on the screen and it was pretty great to see the crowd, which was about 80,000 + now, go nuts watching the great Dave Mustaine. Right after them was the meet and greet for Candlemass and much to our surprise, Leif Edling was back and I managed to get signatures from both Mappe and Leif. They were in a hurry as they were yet to play and we couldn’t get any pictures. We too rushed back to the Headbangers Stage to see what would be one of the best bands of Wacken 2017. Sacred Reich on their 30 years of Ignorance tour. The American thrash legends played a most phenomenal set and showed no signs of ageing whatsoever, loved them to bits. We had a bit of time and we were exhausted from all the walking we did and I had a beer or two to feel better before Candlemass came on and blew us away. Mats Leven is brilliant on the mic and Candlemass played an all Nightfall set and it was truly orgasmic. The night would end with Kryptos taking the stage at 2:25 am. Now, I’ve watched Kryptos for a decade or so, I’ve watched them in college fests in Bangalore, in really good pubs and really bad ones, at their best and at their worst, and to watch them at Wacken, delivering the goods halfway across the world, with ferocity, was just an amazing feeling. They are my favorite Indian band and rightfully so. I don’t much care for Indian metal being “represented” in Europe, and mostly because most of them aren’t good enough, but Kryptos tour with Sacred Reich, Tank, Death Angel, among others, that speaks for itself.
Day 3:
The last day began as the rest, rise early and head straight to the Faster stage to catch Possessed. Watching the king Jeff Becerra on his throne lash out some evil vocals and the rest of the band ploughing through the crowd with true 80’s thrash metal was just the best feeling to be had in the morning. A moment I’ll cherish forever. The meet and greet that followed their set was quite a let down as the line was too long and the guards decided to cut the line in half by barricading it at random. It was quite frustrating to not be able to go up there and meet them when I was standing just feet away. I walked back with much annoyance and I witness a bit of Max and Igor on the Faster stage and I was less than impressed. It was mostly just the two of them with no bass player and their attempt at “returning” to Roots was in vain. I love Sepultura for what they did back in the day, but Max cannot sing anymore, and that’s a major setback. There wasn’t much to see the rest of the day and I decided to buy some merchandise and kill time. Going to the metal market and back was a hassle, as was anything else, given the distance and the muck. I really did not want to make a half hour journey one way to check out shirts. And I soon returned to the WET Stage as it was time for another big favorite – Orange Goblin.
No surprises there, they razed the arena to the ground. It was lovely to see Ben in an Entombed shirt and Martyn in a Grand Magus shirt (we had more than one thing in common, Martyn and I, hah). They played Harvest of Skulls and Ben dedicated it to the memory of legendary horror director George A. Romero. Soon after this, I headed to the signing tent for one last time to meet Soilwork. This wasn’t very eventful, Björn is the only original member left and the only one who makes conversation, nonetheless, I loved it. I headed back to the Headbangers Stage to see British Lion, Steve Harris’ band. Now, honestly, I don’t much care for their music, I just wanted to see Arry and I almost welled up doing so. It’s been more than 8 years since I last watched Maiden and this was a pleasant feeling. Also, the music isn’t that bad as I thought when I heard the record some years ago. The musicians are great and the singer isn’t bad and makes for a worthy one-time watch, sans Steve Harris. The last band of Wacken for me would be Soilwork, and much to my dismay, their set list mostly consisted of their newer albums, something I’m not a fan of at all. They did play a few older numbers but I had lost interest by then and I wasn’t feeling it as almost the entire band is new. The last night ended with me waiting for the bus to take me back to the VIP tent and get some sleep and pack up and leave the next day.
I found it quite inconvenient that we had to walk all the way to the main entrance from the VIP camp for the shuttle to Itzehoe. I, along with two others, caught a taxi and took that to Itzehoe instead as walking was impossible. To conclude I’ll say that the lineup is the only thing that draws me to Wacken, and unfortunately nothing else. The place is too big and walking around in the muck, which is inevitable, is a huge hassle. The rains are okay to deal with, but not the muck. I would also like to point out that Wacken is too big in terms of crowd and that means more rules and regulations and that can get really annoying, considering you’re there to relax and have fun. Wacken is my 5th European metal festival and I found that the restrictions really troubled me, though extremely well organized for close to a 100,000 people. The VIP camp probably had the least convenience and it was quite cumbersome to wait for the shuttle to ferry you back and forth each time. Also, the check in for the VIP which is a 40 minute from the entrance, and considering you have to do this with our bags, is quite ridiculous. I wish there were alternatives to this. I did enjoy every bit of every band I watched and I am grateful that Wacken is the reason I watched a cluster of my favorites in a span of three days Until next time!
