Wacken Open Air 2015 (W:O:A)

Last autumn my friend asked me whether I would go with her to Wacken Open Air (the biggest metal festival in the world). Before she asked me I never considered going there – because I was told it was too big and too commercial. But once she asked me, I was very excited to go. At least one time to see how it is really like.

And it was definitely worth it. Yes it is very big, yes it is pretty commercial. But the line up and  the people there are just amazing. And for a festival that has 120.000 people there you just need a very professional organization.

On Monday I left the Amphi festival in Cologne, drove home for a short exchange of my stuff for the next festival. Then I drove with the train to my friend and we left straight away for Wacken with our camper. Fortunatelly we had a long drive before us, so that I could get some sleep. We drove until about 23pm and then slept at some resting place for the night. The next day we left pretty early to get to Wacken and to meet our camp group.

When we arrived in the Wacken village, I started to get really excited. There were already a lot of metalheads running around and the entrie village was decorated and little shops for coffee, food (and showers) where everywhere.  But we could tell already by the legs of the festival guest that it was pretty muddy on the camp ground.

When we arrived at the camp ground, the first thing we did was setting up the camp – a pavilion, the sofa, tables and chairs, a table tennis, the stereo, a fridge and a freezer. We also had generators for getting electricity.  That´s the nice thing about camping in groups - everybody brings a bit and then you have it really comfortable – and it´s of course a lot more fun.

When the worst bit was done, I started to do some finally editing for my Amphi video.  And had big time trouble getting the video somehow uploaded – from the middle of nowhere. But after using up 3 datalimits of mobile phones it was done. I was so happy. Afterwards I was truly ready for Wacken.  We spend the day with walking a bit over the camp ground, setting in the camp, having a barbeque and some drinks.

The next day (Wednesday) was still an unofficial festival day. But there where already some bands playing. In the morning we went to Wacken village and did some scouting and grocery shopping for bread rolls. In the evening we went to Feuerschwanz and also wanted to go to Europe. Feuerschwanz was really good. They show was really entertaining. We didn´t make it to Europe, because they played inside in a (very, very) big tent. And since it was rainy all day long, many people preferred a roof over their heads. But I was told Europe wasn´t so great anyways. All in all the Wednesday felt a bit slow, but it wasn´t an official festival day yet. And because of the whether the action on the camp ground wasn´t as high as usual.

Thursday started with rain again. And now it was really, really muddy. We would sink into the mud knee-deep. So a new fashion come up – the garbage bag rubber boots. Because normal rubber boots where not high enough anymore.

In the morning I went to the village again, to get new bread rolls and some fresh fruit. When I was back, I could change cloth completely again. Everything was wet and muddy. I was really happy that we had a camper. Unforunatelly I still got a little cold.  

In the afternoon we went to Skyline, UDO with the Bundeswehre Musikkorbs and to In Extremo. We actually wanted to stay longer, but my friend got run over by somebody and hurt her ankle. But the most fun we had actually by running through the mud – while most other people just looked a bit crumpy. The rest of the evening we spend in the camp again.

On the Friday the bands started earlier. After the breakfast I went to see Epica and Sepultura. Both bands where definitly worth watching. Only our position was a bit bad for Sepultura so that the sound wasn´t so great.

Around midday it finally also stopped raining. But it was still very, very muddy.

After some resting and a little village tour we went to see Ommph!  and In Flames. I really, really enjoyed In Flames. And my neck is still hurting form the head banging. Ommph! was ok, but I am not to fussed about their music.

Saturday was the best day – weather and line up wise. It started out with Powerwolf. I really like their music. And they did an amazing performance and interacting with the crowd. Me and my friend also went crowd surfing. A bit scary first, but also a lot of fun.

After a little break and some food I went to see the rest of rock meets classic. It was finally dry enough so that I could sit down to enjoy my ice cream.  

I went back to the stages to see Sabaton. They started out pretty bad, because it was way to quiet. And every time we would scream “lauter” (louder) the singer would understand “Noch ein Bier” (drink another beer). But the sound got eventually better and the crowd had fun to mess around with the band. We would scream now really “Noch ein Bier”. And also “Ausziehen” (take off our cloth), which really got the singer out of his concept.

Afterwards Judas Priest was playing. They had an amazing stage show, unfortunatelly it seemed liked they were stretching every single song with solos. Therefore and because I was getting cold, I decided to go back to the camp to get some rest and then go to see the last band of the festival – Subway to Sally. I really like this band, their show was really good and they knew how to entertain the crowd. After Subway to Sally we started directly our drive home. After about 2 hours drive we had a stop for the night, doing the rest of the trip on sunday.

So that was my first Wack Open Air. I really enjoyed it and maybe I can go next year again :)