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WACKEN OPEN AIR 2002
My attendance at this years SOLD OUT Wacken fest was nothing short of a miracle. I had a few obstacles to jump, but gladly I made it to my 3rd WOA without a problem. My Wacken comrade Nathan paved my road to WOA once again. Metal friends are the only friends to have! I was blessed with press accredations from my friend Chris at http://www.gravemusic.com . Without both of these friends, I might not have had the time of my life once again. I arrived in Germany on the 31st of August, giving us that day to prepare for the trip with food, beer, ice, coolers, etc. Once we had that all in order, we made our final night an early one. Up around 5:00am, we left Frankfurt at 7:00am and arrived backstage at Wacken around 12:30-1:00pm. The line for getting passes was a 1/2 mile long and it was hotter than hell outside. Luckily, I spotted my friends from Norway who were in the front of the line sweating bullets and we crowded/wormed our way behind them! Passes were in order and then it was a short drive to the VIP/Press/Artist camping area backstage. This was a pretty cool location. One minute walk to the ultra clean backstage bathrooms/showers, less than a 2 minute walk to the backstage bars, and another 2 minutes to the main festival area. We set up our tent and like we do every year, christened our campsite with evil prayers and jagermeister! I met up with some more press friends from the States and caught up and chatted for awhile. Now, ON WITH THE SHOW! THURSDAY AUGUST 01:Well, I guess the partying and sheer shock that I was at my 3rd Wacken festival got the best of me. I missed all but one of the pre-party bands at the "Night to Remember" fiesta, but what the fuck, I had seen Rose Tattoo and Doro before. BLAZE:
FRIDAY AUGUST 02:Woke up around 8:30am and drank water and Gatorade for an hour, then I walked to the backstage bathrooms and then head to the mainstage area for the first band I had on my list. As I walked it became clear that the rain from the previous night posed a bit of a problem at WOA "02"…..MUD, gooey fucking mud that stuck to your shoes/boots and threatened to take them at any given moment. Luckily I came prepared (like always) and had my steel toe boots. So this was not a big problem. To me it was the METAL that mattered most! VOMITORY: Ahh, True Swedish Death Metal, old school
style! I might have been rubbing the sleep from my eyes at the official
opening of the WOA festival, but let me tell you fucking Vomitory
got my blood boiling!!!! These guys were beyond belief live! And also
they had good sound. I have been a fan of Vomitory since their awesome
1996 debut "Raped in Their Own Blood", and as any fan of
this band knows, they have only improved with each album. I have not
had the chance to get the newest album "Blood Rapture" ,
but they did a few songs from it, including "Chaos Fury"
which had me banging my head like mad. I was happy that the band played
3 songs from 1998's "Redemption", including "Heaps
of Blood". They played a couple of tunes from 2000's "Revelation
Nausea", and then went back to the vault and shredded through
the title track from "Raped". Yes, Vomitory were fucking
killer live, and I hope to see them again soon!! HAIL TRUE DEATH! NECROPHOBIC:
BORKNAGAR:
Setlist: DESTRUCTION:
DRAGONLORD: Oh yeah! Eric Peterson (Testament) paying
homage to Norwegian Black Metal! "Rapture" is one of this
years finest releases I think. From the opening notes of the classically
inspired instrumental "Vals De La Muerte", Dragonlord burst
out onto the stage, wasting no time and whipping into "Unholyvoid"
I don't know where Steve DiGiorgio was but the band kicked some serious
ass! Eric's vocals sounded great and his solo's smoked! The drummer
was just astounding to watch. And the sound was LOUD and CLEAR folks!
One of the best moments for me, was when they played "Born to
Darkness". The crowd got moving on that one. Dragonlord had a
pretty decent turnout considering the Destruction conflict. They also
played "Spirits in the Mist" and ended their set with "Tradition
and Fire". All in all they played all but one song from the album.
And Eric mentioned that it was like only their 7th or 8th gig EVER!
Well, my hats off to you Eric and Dragonlord! Because you guys totally
killed at WOA!!! Another round will be the upcoming US "Extreme"
tour that they will be headlining! Don't miss it!!!! HAIL DRAGONLORD!!!!!!! BRUCE DICKINSON:
CANDLEMASS: The plus of having a backstage pass is
that you have an "update board" posted in the press area,
so us press folks don't miss important changes. The major change of
this years WOA was Candlemass. According to a press release from guitarist
Leif Edling, the WOA HQ fucked up and forgot to pick the band up in
Hamburg! So when they finally arrived to WOA, they were behind schedule,
had interviews to do, etc. So there was no choice but to switch Candlemass
time slot with My Dying Bride on the Party stage so thousands of fans
missed Candlemass because of this. There were pissed off metalheads
who traveled farther than I did just to see Candlemass, only to be
let down. It was really sad. But I was one of the lucky ones! I got
a spot that was just right. It was a tight squeeze. But as the band
started playing, I felt like I was thrown into a time machine back
to the mid 80's! No shit! It was as though they never left. Two giant
candelabras laid out among skulls on the drum riser. Messiah draped
in this Black and red robe! FUCKING BONECRUSING DOOM!!!!!! Candlemass
were in excellent form and played all of their classics! Including:
"Mirror, Mirror", "Bewitched", "Well of Souls",
"Dark are the Veils of Death" "Dark Reflections"
and the ultimate doom classic "Sorcerer's Pledge". Chills
ran down my spine during their 60 minute set! I banged my head for
the whole CANDLEMASS gig and it fucking ruled! A Wacken magic moment
for sure! MY DYING BRIDE: Since first hearing MDB, around 1994 or so, I have been "dying" to see them live. And I will just say right now, that MDB appearing at WOA 02 was the main reason I trekked overseas once again! The show was superb. It was also very dark, somber and downright depressing. I went from a good mood, right into total depression within mere minutes. Aaron Stainthorpe was in fine vocal form for MDB's hour long set. Dressed in black from head to toe, he occasionally banged his head and held his arms out "crucifixion" style as the band pounded and doomed through a most killer setlist. "Your River", "Your Shameful Heaven", "Cry of Mankind" (I almost cried during this song!) and also new material "The Dreadful Hours" and "My Hope, The Destroyer". The first two songs had some sound problems, but that was quickly fixed and most probably didn't even notice it. I was sad when it was over. I wanted them to play for 3 hours. But what the fuck. MDB were awesome at WOA, and I can only hope and pray that I get to see them live again soon. After MDB, I made my way backstage where
I ran into some friends who had also just seen the show. And everyone's
mood was sad. So I just drowned myself in beer and liquor. Stumbled
back to our tent and partied a little more as Warlord were attempting
to play music on the True Metal stage. It was total blasphemy to have
that ultra gay singer of Hammerfall on lead vox. That is sacrilege!
As I lay my head down for the evening, I could still hear fucking
Warlord playing! I wish I could have paid them to "STOP",
but I was too tired and drunk and I just finally crashed. SATURDAY AUGUST 03:Woke up around 9am with a pretty gnarly hangover, I drank water and cola for most of Saturday. One good thing was that the Wacken HQ brought in 200 bales of hay for us metalheads to play with. It sure beats walking in that "mud-piss-shit" crud so Saturday was a little more bearable walking around the festival area. I went to the metal market and threw down 225 dollars on CDs/Vinyl and other metal trinkets. Kudos to the organizers of Metal Market, this year was killer! The biggest one I had ever seen, "Metal for Miles". I then went back to camp to secure my treasures and then went out to the festival grounds for the start of Day three… AMON AMARTH:
Masters of War We were treated to a new Amon Amarth
song, which was cool. The band are now entering the studio to record
the follow up to the "crushing" "The Crusher"
LP. KALMAH: Ever since first hearing Finnish Metallers
2001 debut "Swamplord", I have been a huge fan of their
brand of technical melodic death metal. Some have said they sound
like Children of Bodom. I think Kalmah are in a league of their own.
They are faster and much more brutal than COB. So when I first got
wind that these guys had a slot at this years Wacken festival, I was
thrilled to death and made sure to place these guys on my NOT TO MISS
list. Kalmah were blessed to play their 40 minute set inside the closest
thing to Hell at the WOA festival. The "W.E.T." Stage. I
think maybe they call it that because it is hotter than Hades there.
It is a very small stage inside a small tent. I would say that fully
packed could hold "maybe" 450-500 people. But it is all
enclosed except for the entry way. I was glad I brought along ear
plugs, because Kalmah were fucking LOUD! As I got into the tent and
made my way to a most killer spot to watch, a shirtless Kalmah were
tuning up their guitars and double checking things. Less than two
minutes later, the band wasted no time and tore right into "Hollow
Heart" the blistering opener from the new "They Shall Rise"
LP. For such a young band, these fucking guys were tight. Well they
started in 1999, but still it is amazing at just how good they are
live and on record. They play twice as fast live as they do on record
as well. We were treated to a good mix of both their albums. Other
songs performed were "Swamphell", "Heritance of Berija",
"Evil in You", "Dance of the Water", "Principle
Hero", "They Will Return", "The Blind Leader"
and the most fitting title "Hades" closed things out. Leaving
the stage with only pools of sweat left where they were standing,
Kalmah lit the fires under Wacken's arse on this day. And for those
of you that missed it, I am sorry, because Kalmah fucking slayed!
NUCLEAR ASSAULT: I watched 35 minutes of Nuclear Assault's Wacken performance on the True Metal stage. They totally thrashed and had a very large turnout of drunken fans. Danny and John were both in fine vocal form and were very vocal between songs. Danny introduced three songs that go way back to the vaults of Nuclear Assault's career and were among his favorites to play live. He also dedicated a song to a mutual friend "Metalion" of Slayer zine (Norway), which was fucking cool to say the least. Being thanked at Wacken is really a big thing, regardless if anyone knows who the fuck you are or not. When Deceased gave me not one but TWO shout outs during their WOA 01 performance, I was stunned at the same time totally honored. Anyway, Nuclear Assault is back! I hear rumors of a studio album in the works. This would be fucking great if it happens! HAIL TO THE NUKES!! HOLLENTHON: FUCKING HOLLENTHON!!!! Excuse me, but
as you can tell, I am excited about this band and their smoldering
performance on the W.E.T. stage at WOA 02. Another band I made sure
I did not miss!! Masterminded by Martin Schirenc (Pungent Stench),
this Austrian metal band are simply amazing. After a long check on
the sound and dinking around, Hollenthon finally started their set.
Sadly I don't know the song titles by heart. I do know they opened
with a track from the newest album "With Vilest of Worms to Dwell".
I believe it was "Conquest Demise". Hollenthon were fucking
louder than one could imagine. I was happy with their 45 minute set,
which saw them dipping into both of their albums. The "Domus
Mundi" material was shredding my soul live, that is all I know.
The samples were in synch and the guitars were turned up to maximum
volume. And Martin's death growls and doom screams just sounded great.
I am very happy I didn't miss their set. Wish I could have said the
same for Pungent Stench, whose set I missed this year. Set list: IMMORTAL:
HYPOCRISY: BLIND GUARDIAN:
1)War of Wrath Encore So as you can tell by the set list, that
this show was indeed something special. And on a related note, the
band recorded the set live with professional cameras for a forthcoming
DVD release! Don't miss out on that when it comes out!! And if you
are stateside, don't miss Blind Guardian as they headline the Progressive
Power Festival in Atlanta this fall!! The fest is sold out, but it
should be a killer time for those who attend. KREATOR:
After Kreator played, it was getting late for me and I was exhausted from thrashing all day/weekend. But I still managed to slowly wander over to the Party stage where Green Carnation JUST began playing. The opening chords of "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" began and singer Richart Olsen said somberly "We are Green Carnation, from Norway"! Green Carnation's latest and sophomore effort, "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" is a very much a concept album, the entire LP is actually just one song that last's for one hour and jumps back and forth between black metal, doom/goth metal and even psychedelic rock. There were 7 members of Green Carnation on stage, Tchort among them, so there was a lot to look at, and at times their music was almost hypnotic. Being drunk didn't help matters any…and so I made theGreen Carnation set my final band of the Wacken festival. They were great, and had good sound and all, but I was nearly ready to pass out from all the partying, headbanging, walking and talking that I did for three days…… So another notch in my Wacken belt. We woke up early Sunday morning with massive hangovers and knocked down the camp, packed up, said goodbye to all our friends from all over the world and then drove off into the morning dawn. For those thinking about trying to make the trek to Wacken Open Air, I say… DO IT!! By far the best festival of its kind, I will be back again in 2003 I can assure you. The first confirmed act is none other than STRATOVARIUS from Finland. Until next year,
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Blaze
Blayley made his triumphant return to WOA "02" to a nice
sized crowd of metalheads Thursday evening. His debuted this line-up
at WOA "00", and I was fortunate enough to see that. Tonight
we see Blaze tear through a tight 45 min set which consisted mainly
of songs from his debut LP "Silicon Messiah", "Ghost
in the Machine" was a real crowd pleaser. Blaze album performed
a couple of tunes from his new album, as well as "Man on the
Edge" from his Maiden 15 minutes of fame. The crowd was very
responsive to Blaze and he mentioned that he was thrilled to death
to be playing the WOA fest again.
Black/Death
from Sweden. I have no clue why I have no Necrophobic albums in my
vast collection, because their set at Wacken was punishing. I heard
them one time at a party a few years back and have been meaning to
check out these guys. They played a good amount of songs from their
new album, which the singer assured me at our campsite was the "best"
one. So I have to start there I guess. The sound was ok. Could have
been a little better for these guys I think, but still they put on
a hell of a show. Glad I caught them at WOA! 
One
word…..AMAZING My were they good. The crowd thickened for Borknagar
on the Black Metal stage and the band hit (and I mean HIT) the stage
opening their 50 min set with "The Genuine Pulse" from their
epic new album "Empiricism"! The band looked as though they
were having fun, I must say. Vintersorg, the new vocalist just sounded
awesome. He brings so much to Borknagar, it has to be seen as well
as heard. New bassist Tyr was excellent as well, spending 3/4 of the
time headbanging every way imaginable. Jens/guitars had his curly
locks braided/corn-rowed into two pony tails, and was hardly recognizable.
I couldn't see the drummer very well, but did see his arms pounding
away and my view of the Lars/keyboards was obstructed. But it was
ok, because he came out from around his keys and headbanged like crazy
(quite a few times actually). Just seeing Borknagar live was a major
big deal for me. As you can see by the set list, they played something
from each album. They ruled! 
Well
sadly I could only see a 20 minutes of Destruction's set, as I had
other bands on my agenda. I saw them play "Curse the Gods"
and they sounded great. Then "Thrash 'Til Death"! But Mikes
fucking monitor went out and he had massive problems throughout the
rest of the set (as far as I watched it, that is). It sucked, because
Schmier said "Mike's really pissed off and does not know if he
can go on with this", but he did and had some more problems.
TOTAL DESASTER! Wish I could have seen all of it, fuck ups or not…..
Thankfully a US tour is on the horizon! 
Iron
Maiden are my favorite band, and I am also a big fan of Bruce's last
few solo albums. The Roy Z shit is amazing. So you can imagine the
turnout for Mr. D as he performed on the True Metal Stage at WOA!
As I ran from the Party stage after watching Dragonlord, Bruce had
just started playing "Revelations"!! I started singing and
cheering at the top of my lungs as I made my way to a good spot. I
had lost the rest of my party at this point and that happens at Wacken,
but you always run into someone you know! Bruce played a solid almost
2 hour set. Songs like "The Tower", "Tears of the Dragon"
"Arc of Space" were standouts and his encores were not shabby
either "Powerslave" and "Bring your Daughter to the
Slaughter". Bruce ran about the stage back and forth like a little
kid. He said he just turned 42, I thought he was older than that,
but didn't realize he was only 2 years older than me. Also I might
add he was wearing that black and red t-shirt he always wears when
he plays solo. It must be his lucky shirt! I can die now and say as
my dying breath, "I heard BRUCE DICKINSON yell "SCREAM FOR
ME WACKEN" live"!!! UP THE IRONS!!!!
My
first band to check out on Saturday at the Black Metal stage was Amon
Amarth from Sweden. I have been into these guys since their debut
EP in '96, so I was very thrilled to catch their 45 minute set at
WOA 02. Even though I must say that the sound was pretty sad. Too
much bass and drums, the guitars needed to be turned way up. I wish
I could have told the sound people that. But the vocals sounded great
and the band put on one hell of a show. They were a fun band to watch
as they headbanged in unison to their killer melodic death metal.
There setlist went something like this:
Oh
yes! My favorite Black Metal band in their 2nd Wacken performance!
No less than my 7th time seeing the boys live, I must say that this
Immortal show was something special. First off, who the FUCK is delegating
what time a band is to play at Wacken? Immortal should be playing
at dusk and/or dark. Any fool knows that. But no, in 2000 Immortal
played at 1:00 in the fucking afternoon and this year they went on
at 4:40 in the afternoon. And it was hotter than motherfucking hell
in the Immortal pit at the Black Metal stage at WOA 02. Thank Satan
that they had a damned firehose and were spraying the pit so no one
died from heat exhaustion. Oh, and did I mention the crowd? My heart
stopped 666 beats when I bared witness to the massive turnout for
Immortal at WOA. It then hit me that the new LP "Sons of Northern
Darkness" has thrown the band into immense popularity. I have
also found this to be true "stateside" with the recent US
tour with Manowar. Feeling the heat, I still banged my head to bone
crushing songs like "One by One", "Solarfall",
"Damned in Black", "Tyrants", "Withstand
the Fall of Time", and "Sons of Northern Darkness"!
Immortal were killer and entertaining as usual. My highlight was later
than evening being introduced to Abbath (guitars/vocals). Of course
I didn't know what to say, but "You guys are my favorite band"
and Abbath said "Thank you" and asked if I could feel the
"power" during their performance and I concurred that the
message was loud and clear! Now I want another US tour for my 8th
round of Norwegian Blackness from the almighty IMMORTAL!!!!!!!!! 
The
Swedes are back destroying Wacken as usual and for the third time
no less, Hypocrisy ripped through a sweet 60 minute set on the Black
Metal stage, playing such fan favorites as "Roswell 47",
"Pleasure of Molestation", "Fire in the Sky",
"The Fourth Dimension", and "Penetralia". They
also delivered two songs from the new and most killer "Catch
22" LP, "Destroyed" and "Don't Judge Me".
The sun was finally setting towards the end of Hypocrisy, thankfully..
I was getting sick of the sun and light. My face and arms were slightly
"red" from the sun on Saturday, but it was worth it.. Anything
for Metal!!!!!! Hypocrisy ended their set with "The Final Chapter"
and did not let me down performance-wise. Come to think of it, they
never have sounded bad in all 6 times I have seen them. Hope they
play Wacken again in the future! 
Wow,
Blind Guardian in their homeland playing live at the premier heavy
metal festival in the entire world.. If you were not watching BG,
you were missing out on one hell of a show! Playing for a hair over
2 hours, BG sounded phenomenal. With a big headliner like BG, you
know you are bound to get your money's worth and then some. I cannot
comment on what vocalist Hansi Kursch was talking about between songs
as he spoke in his native tongue, but did understand "Beer"
and "Thank You"… But the crowd was so happy and drunk
during BG's set. They would majestically sing along from time to time.
It was a real cool experience watching BG at Wacken. Their music just
does something to you inside. And live is no exception. Here is the
complete set-list:
Securing
myself a spot a good 20 minutes before showtime, I stood there drinking
amongst drunk metalheads, gazing at the HUGE Kreator backdrop, The
cover of the insta-classic new album "Violent Revolution",
I thought to myself…"Well this is going to probably be my
highlight".. And was I right. Mille and crew came out to a very
noisy/drunk crowd, picked up their instruments and launched right
into "The Patriarch"/"Violent Revolution", head
banging, fists pumping….Arrrrggh! The mighty Kreator are back
and better than ever! Their set could have been longer in my opinion.
It was just under 50 min. Songs they did include: "Phobia"
"People of the Lie", "Servant in Heaven, King in Hell",
"Coma of Souls", "All of the Same Blood", "Pleasure
to Kill" and then closing with "Flag of Hate" and "Tormentor"!!!!!
Fuck yeah!!! Kreator at Wacken were fucking awesome! I cant wait for
them to play my town with Destruction in the coming month!!!! HAIL
GERMAN THRASH FOREVER!!!!!!!