W:O:A 2006
It was AWESOME. The weather was great this year (in comparison to last year where you needed a boat to get from the campground to the stage). So out of the 80 bands that were there how many did I see...too few. Got in the spirit of the metal festivals worldwide too damn drunk to see more. The guests were great as usual in Wacken no real big problems with fighting, mostly just people getting too drunk and excited.
who I saw:
Amon Amarth
Even though the start of the show was delayed by technical problems AND they were the last act for the Friday (playing from 200 am to 300 am).
KICK ASS show played a song off of their new album that is coming out this fall. Loved watching the whole lineup do their synchronous helicopter.
They are also great because they know how to make their audiences feel like a true part of their show. (Thought they would play Rainbow Bridge, but Death in Fire and Pursuit of Vikings more than made up for that.)
In Extremo
A German middle age metal band. I would estimate at least half of the 25K people showed up for this one. Great show but as always the good ones go by too fast. Anybody who likes this type of music I would really reccomend them.
Six Feet Under
Well I like the music the show was good, just I aint a mosher anymore and the crowd chased me away here. Got a bit too rough for my tastes and left around halfway through. (But not before hearing them do Die Motherfucker Die!)
Korpiklaani
Great happy drinking metal! Wonderful band! Fucking awesome crowd...seeing a few thousand people start bouncing around to BEER BEER is always a joy.
Now those were the main stage acts that I saw. The true HEART of Wacken is somewhere else though. Wacken isnt only about the big named powerhouses who come in and knock you on your ass (motörhead, whitesnake,caliban,amon amarth, etc ,etc). It also has a smaller stage called the WET Stage. This IS where it is at!. It is a small tent where maybe two thousand people fit and you can also touch the groups and talk to the performers shortly after they are done.
The Dogma
A powerhouse of old style metal straight out of Italy. These guys played the crowd to a frenzy and had me banging for the whole time they were playing. These guys will make it big. (Even if they do have a few too many crosses on their clothes for my taste and I was tempted to start screaming to Odin the whole time.)
Suidakra
What can I say other than FUCKING AWESOME! These guys got hampered by the sound engineers equipment overheating cutting their show down by 20 minutes and they absolutely ROCKED THE HOUSE DOWN. They were tossing out shirts left and right pointing to headbangers they liked and encouraging them while playing their hearts out!
Yeah those are all the bands I saw...never made it to the afterparties either even though they were good. All in all I only have one real big problem with the way things were organized....not enough toilets in the camping area. A 10 minute walk when you got the beer shits aint fun! (Yes outhouses would have been enough!) Other than that W:O:A 2006 was a kick ass festival and I have lready orderd my ticket for next year 360 some odd days and counting.
See you there.
