Report: Wacken Open Air 2005: Surprises from Sky and Earth for 16th Fest Edition

Photos: Crazyte. More photos here >>

1. Surprises from sky and earth for 16th fest edition
2. Rain, business, improving organization and almost perfect beginning
3. Reborn triplet, WOA newcomers and holey sky
4. Triumph of „Black“ stage, legendary returning, trolls and mud baths

1. Surprises from sky and earth for 16th fest edition

Birute: “Iron“ guys (Thom Jensen and Holger Hübner) don’t slumber, and despite of the heating sun or melting rains, carry out their mission. At the very end of one WOA, preparation jobs for another one are performed. And this year a few bands are already known to be playing in next year’s festival. Though events of August 4-6, 2005, are already a closed page of history, this remarkable event cannot be forgotten. A couple „freaks“ (quite well fitting English word) from Lithuania will help chronicles of passed days to be born…

By all possible means, a traditional Lithuanian team starts towards the small but worldwide famous town due to the impressive metal fest. Even if you get possibility to fly to this festival in one plane with… NIGHTWISH, you don’t get surprised – this is Wacken! Hamburg, Itzehoe – everything everywhere shows which direction in Germany is main for metalheads. The national three-coloured flag in well-known fields informs about the location of fellow-countrymen. Some of them came from London, some of them were exiled to distant sectors, but it doesn’t matter where you got a place to stop – the first thing to do is get acquainted with the nearest neighbours for the next few days…

2. Rain, business, improving organization and almost perfect beginning

Birute: Now, after a few years of blaming heat, we got the “revenge” – cold and gloomy sky sometimes (all the time) pouring with rain. Really, as the festival motto says, sun or rain, we’ll meet in Wacken. The whole town, even its most distant places, is full of WOA participants. A pleasant surprise was presented by the improved accreditation order – this year we were offered even coats from rain! Shopping ended again by standing in long queues, so we took products for 3 days at once. A short break at the food and coffee stand, bathing in pool even in such weather, gathering of euros from pool’s floor – nothing can surprise anyone here, we all are „freaks“.

Some not very pleasant facts appeared – I had a direct confrontation with those, who tried to buy spare festival tickets cheaply and to resell them at a double price – even then that price was lower than the official price at that time. Possibly, that is inescapable, but it’s a serious signal to organizers. Traditional football matches took place, but this time without the usually quite successful Lithuanian team. At 18:00, the fest began, but this fact was interesting not to everyone. Neighbours from Sweden, continuously playing their boring to death „freaky“ CD, only gasped, asked what bands they came to see. Future events will show that they have come here only to drink and would go nowhere. But our people were more active, so we moved towards the „True Metal“ stage, where WOA 2005 started with Norwegians TRISTANIA. The special characteristics of this gothic metal band is that they have even three singers. I cannot say that such a type of music is my favourite, but the name of this team excited my curiosity. As it could be foreseen, the 45-minute show wasn’t somewhat extraordinary or exclusive. The only lucky thing was that rain did no harm at that time, so gothic clothes, which goths wear even in such extreme conditions, stayed clean. At the end of TRISTANIA show, my mind was already occupied by thoughts what would be served by the returned legendary Swedish doomers CANDLEMASS because their new product „Candlemass“ is really splendid and strong.

During the pause I’ve wondered at the market range: organizers surpassed all expectations – one could find almost everything with WOA sign: from various T-shirts, towels, carpets, rings, earrings and pendants to watches, camp chairs, sleeping-bags and even tents. I’m not even mentioning the abundance of various CD, DVD, vinyl, journals and so on. Soon three white crosses decorated the same stage; we got a smoke curtain and four „mass attendees“ appeared. After a short prelude the main „priest“ himself flew onto the stage, what, having in mind his age and weigh, is really commendable. Evidently a shorter cassock and a little bit weaker voice power had no influence on the good memories of past and new impressions of nowadays. Anyway, already 20 years have passed after first album release. Messiah tirelessly fluttered his hair and monks’ attribute for the whole hour, and absolutely delightful music flew from the stage. All the time the stage was refilled by new portion of smoke as if “black” mass candles produced them. The only pity is that there were no lighting effects yet. Still, the vocal of mister Marcolin is impressive, so there was quite deep echo in the fields of Wacken.

The beginning of WOA 2005 was continued by OOMPH! Maybe they are really cute and sparky as their name indicates, and the mix of hardcore, industrial, doom metal with gothic romanticism is interesting, but we needed some rest before the NIGHTWISH show. Some quarts of beer, and our previous fellow passengers are on the stage. What can be said about a team, whose name is always present in the press, festival posters and elsewhere? Despite the fact that the show was late for 20 minutes, Tarja changed her stage robes for three times, the whole repertoire of „Once“ was played with rear sidetracks to previous creations during 1.5 hours, and there was so much pyrotechnics that I even jokingly thought: I hope her arsenal wasn’t on „our“ plain, because we could all blow up. This show made a really big impression, though I saw the band for third time already. To take the play of light only, caused by rotating, lifting, lowering constructions, that synchronically changed colours and effects, it is worth a lot. And those enormous fireworks… This night would stay in memory for long. The evening was unusually cold for summer – so it tempted some people to get out some stronger drinks, others – to try to warm a tent with the help of candles. Water that gathered and was poured from the roof of arbour was a good imitation of a cold shower…

Crazyte: Here I would just agree – Birute have said everything. The bands we saw were just the same ones… Maybe, I will only mention that those “exiled” persons were my friend and I – that would have some consequences in future.

3. Reborn triplet, WOA newcomers and holey sky

Birute: The following morning promised nothing good. Tons of gray and water-full clouds not only threatened to make a flood but also did all the best to make it. It was raining almost all the time, so one could assume that somebody has made one of the water gods angry. Reserves of litter rolls were disappearing almost in the blink of the eye, they were used to make some “solid” ground – otherwise there would be real threat to stick in the mud up to one’s knees. Still, evidently this year was a great economy of water, which during my last three visits to Wacken was heavily poured on heated heads. Now this part was played by nature itself. Nonetheless, enthusiasm overcame everything, and together with first fanatics, covered in waterproof clothes, I went to the place, where a couple of shows began at 11:00 am. I’ve chosen the „Party“ stage with the Danish band MERCENARY. These six, who with „first inspiration“ seven years before played some sort of more brutal music, now bended towards a combination of melodic and heavy metal, somewhere inputting progressive motives. The band played all 45 minutes absolutely „unselfishly“ and pleasantly. It was a pity that this stage lacked ideal sound and better lighting. Anyway, the beginning of second WOA 2005 day wasn’t bad, and those 11 dreams, about which MERCENARY album released in 2004 tells us, led towards one of the big stages, where soon the reborn MORGANA LEFAY appeared.

The history of this Swedish band is full of cardinal changes. After the first disk in 1990, the band members changed, even the name of the band itself, the music also “jumped” from interesting “a la” BLIND GUARDIAN sound towards dull and primitive, cliché power metal, till it seemed at the turn of the century that the band stopped its’ existence. But the year 2005 came, and ML returned by throwing into market a new product ambitiously called „Grand Materia“. Therefore, it was quite curious to hear what news these old-timers of stage would bring. All in all Swedes performed a versatile program. New compositions clearly declared that the sound power and technique of the old days wouldn’t be returned even by a longer name of the band, though the vocalist Charles Rytkönen was running all over the stage, fluttered his long hair and demonstrated his glaring white teeth all the time. Elementary power neither fascinated nor disappointed, though this team has some sort of blast in its arsenal. Lets hope that it wouldn’t disperse absolutely, as fata morgana.

Crazyte:A short word from me, too (it was my first time at WOA – and I hope it wasn’t the last one). Our routes with Birute rarely intersected, so I’d try to mention something I’ve seen and heard. Of course, we were late to MERCENARY, though it was on my “must see” list. Nothing can be done – not always you can get up early and count the exact time necessary to cover all the distance to the stage… So we managed to get in just before MORGANA LAFAY (and as I can see from my photos – heard a little bit of NAGLFAR, too). As I was informed that “you will like MORGANA LAFAY”, I went closer to the stage and wasn’t disappointed. The band have some really infectious energy, and I wouldn’t argue – simple power or not simple, I’ve liked it. The following on the same stage were SONATA ARCTICA – one more band from my list. They aren’t my favourites in the usual playlist, but the mood of that day fitted exactly for their music. Then we made some promenade through the stages, during which a visit to the “WET” stage was paid. And the first job after getting out from there was to buy earplugs. It was a very “Lithuanian-like” stage – in respect of lighting, sound and possibility to get close to stage (no offence :).

Birute: After „communication“ with the first ones from the “reborn” triplet, my attention was attracted by one more Danish band ILLDISPOSED, who after a little while occupied the „Black“ stage. The savage quartet, unlike their mentioned compatriots, having almost not sweetened theirs death metal with melody, organized an attractive and inspirational „bold heads“ show. The „1-800-Vindication“ disc cover at the back of the stage, materialized in a huge cloth blown by wind, looked alive. Meanwhile ILLDISPOSED roared a powerful „deathly“ sound, which could easily drown thunder, if such accompanied rain at that time. „Hostile disposed“, but surely not for their audience, the brutalists played powerfully and left us dizzy from the good dose of iron… So dizzy, that some had no strength to bathe in the „bath of blood“, i.e. to listen to „all stars“ alliance BLOODBATH. So the do-or-die decision to see one of metal legends, which began the power metal era, was made. The history of METAL CHURCH was marked by a loss of the previous vocalist David Wayne last spring, and counts the third decade already. During that period, a dozen of musicians changed, but the band still deserves respect, and the glory of the legendary „Blessing in Disguise“ (1989) is worth to be written in gold. For the whole hour the five from Seattle „read“ not really holly prayers, which in the length of time began to get boring. Whichever way you look at it, someday-ago really innovative power today hardly gives any novelties, so one could hear more standards than surprises in the sound of MC. Still, longevity is commendable.

It happened that all the mentioned „reborn“ trio gathered on one day. The second of them was the legend of death metal OBITUARY. Personally I waited for the possibility “to read” this obituary very long, so they were one of my favourites at this festival. Having returned in old cast and released „Frozen in Time“ disc, OBITUARY gathered a big crowd of fans. Azure-coloured fragment of the album cover sinking in a curtain of smoke and already visible sea of lights, after a little while brought this famous five on the stage. Time has shortened their hair and grew a Zztop-like beard for Trevor Peres, but the fidget and still long-haired John Tardy hasn’t abandoned his shorts and sports shoes. His throat hasn’t weakened and, after the introductory „Redneck Stomp“, it grunted not worse than eight years before. Those years passed without any sign – this was proved by J. Tardy/Peres duet and still uncompromising, powerful and dynamic death. On this occasion it began rain raining like cats and dogs; still, the headbanging mania only became stronger because of it. Stage diving activated too, so one needed to take care and watch around, otherwise one could fall into the mud-litter mix together with some heavyweight. Those who were mostly fallen in trance threw themselves on neighbours, but this is Wacken – so the only “payback” was a smile. Nobody got angry if some of divers boots had a contact with his head, face was whipped by somebody’s hair or somebody tried to get to a better position. Seriousness was a distinctive feature only of security men, who vigilantly watched the possible spots of danger and were catching „travellers“ at the finish; still, they could be understood: every shift was working for 18 hours! Meanwhile, OBITUARY stroke with the best compositions with the growing force from their six full-length discs, and the hour of music came to end sooner than one would have wished.

Crazyte: The following band was OBITUARY. Birute has said everything here! Nothing less, nothing more can be added. After them, we decided to make a break – a long night was waiting ahead.

Birute: What this time was served by a country of tulips and windmills? Of course, third „reborns“, but before them I was tempted to see their gothic compatriots WITHIN TEMPTATION “live”. Pompous angels, moons and other figures, stenography and pyrotechnic arsenal decorated the “Black” stage. Having something that in good sense separates them from similar bands, though they have released only three albums, Dutchmen with Sharon den Adel in front of them showed quite a pleasant performance. Sonorous and melodic music, impressive, though in time bothering hands „exercise“, fire and spark effects, play of light… One composition was announced, but absolutely another was played, but this was a rather funny situation, don’t you think so? At the end, as it is usual, the wonderful „Mother Earth“ was performed. It seems that just in a moment Sharon would transform to into an owl and fly away. Somehow “sweetness” of this band gives appetite, not queasiness. Differently from jour, guipure and tear up stockings, which in WOA context looks if not sorrowful, then funny…

Before one more of my favorites in this year WOA, I’ve took a look at the MACHINE HEAD „menu“. They were a „surprise“ band, which changed the planned JUDAS PRIEST and performed for the first time at this fest. Their industrial thrash metal created a real drive at once, and I stayed at the stage without any doubt. The drive of Robb Flynn and all show on the whole was so strong, that it became a personal surprise for me. Some engine made my head move and helped to stand solidly on the feet, even though after a passer-by who felt not so solidly on his feet flopped into a swamp that was covering whole festival area, my jeans experienced a mud therapy. Some extremals rolled in the mud from head to toe purposefully feeling some sort of ecstasy from that. Meanwhile, MH played dashingly, paying an iron contribution to the audience and the organizers, to whom they were very grateful for such an opportunity. And we were really grateful to this „machine“ for an unexpectedly nice „supper“…

The third „reborns“ were nobody else but the fierce GOREFEST men. It doesn’t matter that Jan-Chris is a short- and yellow-haired now and that the disc „Chapter 13“, which was the band’s swansong then, is estimated very controversially. Sometime ago I just salivated looking at „Dynamo“ fest recording, but then I didn’t manage to see them before their break-up. Now the legendary fourth played their best compositions one after another not stinting the old good repertoire for the whole hour that was left till midnight, and I was standing at the stage and still couldn’t believe that the old dream had fulfilled. Here a happy piece of news was announced: GOREFEST finished their new product just a couple days ago and now it is in my hands. It was only a pity that the guys didn’t play any of these compositions. Still, there were enough old compositions. Anyway, this rebirth was the most pleasant surprise for me, so I was in rapture bringing about a kilo of mud and litter mix on my boots to the camp.

At last the time has come to see SAMAEL once again. Thought it was the fourth such opportunity, and „Reign of Light“ confirmed that there would be no return to the old style, these Swiss have something charismatically attractive. This meditation shorter than one hour showed that some sort of divergences are harmful not to everyone. I couldn’t state that I’ve seen something very impressive because there were neither lasers nor video projections, but sometimes charm lies in the simplicity – maybe in that „synthetic“ sound, waves of which dissected rich streams of light. Strange but it seemed to me that the headliners of that day would rather be APOCALYPTICA, which I managed to hear…

Crazyte: One day ago, the neighbours informed us that a “special surprise act” would be STRATOVARIUS, so we came exactly to their performance. Afterwards I went towards the “Wet” stage to listen to METALIUM, and my friend stayed at the stage with APOCALYPTICA. After METALIUM – fantastic, but too short – I stayed with GOREFEST, and after a while – at the stage with APOCALYPTICA (OK, I’ve already seen them this year twice, so I could miss this performance – though they are unreal!). All the remaining time was spent waiting for TURISAS, whom I wanted to see very much. This time I was in place at the right time. Here I realized for the first time that the “Party” stage had a few problems with the sound… Anyway, lambada in metal style at 1:00 am was quite a fun… as everything TURISAS played.

Birute: After getting wet outside and getting moist inside the tents, we thought: who has done what to get Neptune’s or Poseidon’s powers back? However, dear gods, the Wacken nation is very tough, so they could stand another day or two. A much bigger problem was to protect our temporary home from the lurching neighbours…

4. Triumph of „Black“ stage, legendary returning, trolls and mud baths

Birute: On the last day of WOA 2005, the sky took mercy upon all metalheads and sent more sun than rain – and the sun… burnt somebody’s noses. Anyway, that day meant the triumph not of the shameless nature but of the „Black“ stage, which gathered a lot of amazing teams. Surely, there were some good ones on other three stages, too. So the marathon of „black“ Saturday began…

Crazyte: So – this is the last day… Birute’s phrase “sky had mercy and sent more sun than rain” doesn’t mean that the rain stopped – it rained from time to time (and quite heavily) to keep the exact level of mud… The beginning of the day was usual: we were late to ZYCLON (let’s blame the place of living again). The first band on the list was DRAGONFORCE. Yes, it’s power metal, still, I like these guys, it seems like they are having fun on the stage and that is well felt. They also look well on stage (that is especially important and good for me as a photographer). Moreover, some friendly fellow-photographer let me a little bit closer – life was beginning to smile (later I understood that it was just a grimace)…

Later, having left my friend with OVERKILL (she couldn’t get her eyes and ears from them), I ran to the “favourite” “Wet” stage (surely, not forgetting to put in the earplugs), because it was the time for TUATHA DE DANANN. Possibly, because I’m a fan of folk metal (ok, it seems that power is OK for me too), I like this band. At the beginning of the summer, I got their CD – just because of the fact that it was mentioned they played folk/celtic metal. Sincerely, I never thought that I would have a possibility to see them on the stage so soon… It seems that it was luck. After this band I made some rush across the stages to see what happens. During that period some naked person (only with a stocking on the intimate place) was noticed on the “Wet” stage (it seems that during the show of MACHINE MEN) and at last I stuck at HOLY MOSES. Wow! Impressive, very impressive!

Birute: The first were the blackers ZYKLON. The quartet led by Samoth was made from famous Norwegian formations and had released a couple of albums. Surely, they play black metal, which is not as interesting as the metal played by those bands from which they came, but it was also not that primitive as the music played by other multiple performers of this style. However, their performance lacked something, though music itself was attractive. When I heard the same opinion from true black fans, I understood that maybe that wasn’t the luckiest day of ZYKLON’s life. O-o-o-o, something is suffocating… Everything is clear, we have five stranglers from the USA by the codename SUFFOCATION here. The two-meter high egghead Frank Mullen reminds of a rapist and maybe a little bit of the PRIMAL FEAR frontman. Still, when he roared, nobody had any doubts about the purity of the most brutal death metal. The whole hour of extreme sound called the infernal jostle near stage, and even though it was quite a shock therapy for my ears, I stayed in that “mincing machine”. This was some sort of warm-up before the famous thrashers, who had to play next. Brrrrutal madness…

And those thrashers were nobody else but OVERKILL. After they appeared, it became clear that the wild Bobby Ellsworth was as thin as he had been at the dawn of the band’s birth two decades ago. And the real hell began. The weight of years reflecting in faces was no disturb to the youthful fury of these five; old good thrash metal, almost without changes, gladdened everybody’s ears and hearts. The audience rocked and rolled, it also listened open-mouthed – such a convivial and dynamic effect was made by this „killing power“. Plentiful pyrotechnic effects flamed nobody. Unforgettable newest „RelixIV“ compositions, but could it go without super „Elimination“? I can talk about this for hours, but it would hardly illustrate all that unforgettable impression after seeing the whole OVERKILL program.

Afterwards, it doesn’t take long for DISSECTION to triumph at the „Black“ stage. They could cut through bodies and brains for sure. The triumph was legal: their new product had to be released soon, and its promo public hearing was expected at the „Press centre“. Despite of what anyone say now about the sound of Gothenburg, these Swedes in particular gave “birth” to it once, and at that time this name was given to the death metal mix with ironic melodic music with the use of „doubled“ guitars. The show was enlivened by the upraised trident and upside-down crosses hybrids at the edges of the stage. Mister Jonas didn’t throw them into the public, it seemed that years spent in jail would not be forgotten soon. Still, the big dose of good death/black metal is more then enough. Mister Nödtveidt himself, maybe affected by adrenalin, smashed his guitar at the end of the show and threw its peaces to public. If anyone got hit, the stroke would have been almost the same as the one from MAYHEM sheep or pig heads. On the other hand, this was a much more respectful souvenir than drum sticks or picks…

Meanwhile, the „Party“ stage invited to a party, organized by the humorists FINNTROLL. This event attracted attention of possibly the same amount of people as MARDUK on the „Black“ stage romping with new vocalist at the same time. However, there was much less space for audience here, and the lack of room was felt – people climbed on toilets, occupied the causeway and even got into the trees! Those standing below had some sort of attraction of looking at trees swinging from „Tarzans’“ headbang. At the same time, Skyrmer, Routa, Tundra, Trollhorn, Beast Dominator and simply Tapio Wilska, whose pseudonym is represented by authorities’ weight and volume, played one song after another, in which one could hear the mix of folk, black and something else, related with wisdom of trolls and Finnish asperity. They were accompanied by a crowd acclamation, because everybody knows that trolls sing in their mother tongue. This show was moody and good, despite the bad sound. This circumstance looked as „innocent“, but not to everyone apparently…

Crazyte: Yah, yah, FINNTROLL… Now under-aged ones and people with weak nerves plug your ears, please… Though you are lucky – I don’t know so many bad words in English, so I’ll try to say it politely. Birute said “despite the bad sound” in a very soft manner – I’ll be more categorical. The sound was either terrible or impossible to listen. On the whole, the “Party” stage could not boast of the good sound, but this time it exceeded everything heard before (maybe because it was the band that influenced my decision to go to WOA?). After long tries to find a place where sound would be at least a little bit more tolerable, I simply left area as it was absolutely impossible to listen even at the end of the sound engineers. Of course, if it’s the fourth of fifth time you see this band, you may simply have fun in such conditions, but…

Birute: This year the last Mohicans among thrashers were KREATOR. If I was delighted that at last I had possibility to see them two years ago, now I had seen enough of them. Kidding, of course. It’s one of the teams, which one always wants to see again and again. The same may be said about the time given to them. I tried to get as close to stage as I could but not too close because I didn’t want to choke from the thick smoke, orange and blue coloured puffs, which was blending into menacing violet lumps. One more minute and Mille Petrozza with company declared their blasphemous truth – „Enemy of God“. Later we traditionally heard a dozen of title and „ordinary“ compositions from almost all disks, excluding only the „Endorama“ estimated with contradiction. As usually, Mille communicated with the audience gallantly, and the question whether we were ready to kill each other with pleasure, shocked nobody. That was just an entry into wonderful „Pleasure to Kill“. The riffs of “Extreme Aggression” caused no aggression; nobody felt down in a faint during „Coma of Souls“, they maybe just got dizzy from the charm of this composition. There was a somewhat romantic „Renewal“ and dynamic „Violent Revolution“, and many other compositions were played. Again, the whole hour passed in a blink of an eye and, alas, there was no time for encore. There was something mystic and special in that Kreator-type halo that leads them all over these long years.

Then it was time to keep two fronts because the stage time of Irish blackers PRIMORDIAL interfered with the show of legendary ACCEPT. Nobody doubted that this one would be impressive so I decided to have a look at the latter stage. „Old men“ still have charm; fields filled with melodies known very well to several generations. A big pile of them has accumulated during the three decades, and that’s why this team was given even 2 hours. The most impressive lights, tons of various synchronized pyrotechnic effects and generally – absolutely amazing! Is it really necessary to tell how you feel during the live performance of „Helldriver“, „I Am Rebel“, „Breaker“, „Princess of a Dawn“, „Metal Heart“, „Neon Nights“, „London Leatherboys“, etc. and immortal „Balls to the Wall“? At some time in the middle of this show, I tried to wade through unbelievable mud to the „Wet“ stage, where the black forces raged. Still, there was such jam and tussle that after a few PRIMORDIAL compositions I decided not to stay here. To get outside wasn’t an easy task either, so after this part my mood went down. And funeral was still to come…

It began after midnight and meant that we would see one of the last performances of Finns SENTENCED. On this occasion the sky „cried“ sending a heavy fall of rain, but the melodic and lyrical music made my mood better. „The Funeral Album“ material is nice, technical and thoroughly worked out. 15 years of creative work gave us a lot of diamonds, so the end of WOA 2005 was pleasant and somehow not very sad. Though in time SENTENCED became „softer“ and hardly a metal band, the long experience and a lot of great compositions attracted and made one feel respect to the band. The only thing I can do is to wish them good luck and creativity under other flags.

Crazyte: OK – the evening is not over yet… My route was laid through the “Party” stage (again!) where EQUILIBRIUM was waiting. Some people took VIP places on WCs and headbanged there, some stayed sad and thought that at least such sound could have been heard during the previous band… Ok, enough of that. The following band was PRIMORDIAL – surely on the “Wet” stage. Earplugs into their places – and forward to speakers to photograph :). After this some time was left for ACCEPT (luckily they got a lot of time to play). SENTENCED were left for the dessert. Somehow the first thought was that I would have liked to hear them in a more chamber environment… ONKEL TOM was left for Germans.

Birute: A big army of the most tough ones got to be out on the racket with the drinking-songs of master Onkel Tom. However, that was too much for me. Sparkles of “young” wine washed dust from soul, and the rain that continued all night long washed the tents. The morning wasn’t much dryer, but a long road was already waiting for the first two countrymen. Getting into abus was quite a good exercise, and we had to “fly” from Itzehoe by taxi, otherwise it was impossible to get on our airplane in time. We managed to avoid a highway under repair, which was generating traffic-jam, driving by turn-offs. And here was our terminal…

Admiring the planes going up and down in an open balcony, we were waiting for our flight. Next Wacken events seemed so far ahead then. However, they were with us. Such thoughts lingered even then: WOA 2006, 3–6 August, SUBWAY TO SALLY, DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER, IN EXTREMO, SOILWORK, CHILDREN OF BODOM… Doesn’t matter – sun or rain – we’ll all be there again. So, see you there!