Homepage of the German band Wadokyo.
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Homepage of the German band Wadokyo.
It was a first for me and the third edition of the Grafschafter Metalfest. Throughout the afternoon and evening, there were many local bands as well as international guests to enjoy. The day kicked off with the guys from Lingen, A Place To Fall. Their metalcore was a strong start to the long festival day.
The final day at Graspop was shaped by two things: Japan and veteran bands playing to disappointingly small crowds. At noon, Crossfaith from the land of the rising sun made it immediately clear that the audience was expected to move and with countless circle pits and nonstop jumping, the crowd followed that call without hesitation.
The third festival day had already begun in the tent with Vowws, whose performance felt more like modern art than a concert. Afterwards, Last Train managed to impress far more — their energetic performance left no one untouched. Back in the Metal Dome, it was unusually crowded around midday. The reason was the Swedish band Self Deception. Their very pop‑leaning core metal went over well, and their stage show featured plenty of pyro effects, but overall they didn’t fully win me over.
The festival was slowly but surely coming to an end. But not before Rage took the stage. Compared to the other bands of the day, they were in a completely different league. Rage have been touring the stages of the world for 40 years now, and on this night they were the ones to close the show. The lineup has changed many times over the decades, with only Peter “Peavy” Wagner remaining as the constant. Joining him this evening were guitarist Jean Bormann and drummer Vassilios “Lucky” Maniatopoulos.
A large crowd gathered in front of the stage for Scalpture, the biggest audience of the day so far, eager to witness the five musicians from Bielefeld. They didn’t waste any time and kicked things off at full speed with “The Fall…” from their current album "Landkrieg". Once again, death metal was on the menu — though in a noticeably different flavor than the genre’s earlier representatives that day. On top of that, their sheer, unrestrained energy made a huge impact as they constantly stormed across the stage.
After the musicians of Symbtomy, Kozoria had the second-longest journey of the day. The sound remained heavy, but the musical direction shifted. The four guys from France brought more melodic riffs and occasional clean vocals back to the stage. Combined with some synth elements, this created a truly tasty mix that definitely didn’t leave the audience cold. To me, it felt like a blend of Gojira with hints of Children of Bodom.
It was quite early when I had to get up because already at 5:30 more than 500 Krefeld Pinguine supporters had to gather at the Krefeld main station to start their long trip towards Straubing at 6:00. But this was gladly accepted and so the athmosphere was excellent on the way there.
Already very early on Saturday morning a bus started form Krefeld towards the hanseatic town to first visit the monuments and on Sunday the O2 World to hopefully take the three points back home. Because of Servus TV is broadcasting live on tv the first bully was delayed by one hour. Therefore they kindly showed the prepared choreography of the motto "Ballermann 6-undreissig". Especially for this many supporters came wearing shorts and t-shirts (kudos for this because it was extremely cold outside).
The game was announced quite short-termed and so "only" 513 fans went to the Nordhorn Ice Rink. For the Ritter it should be the first test against an equal or even better opponent because no one else than the present champion of the Dutch 2nd division, the Romijnders Devils from Nijmegen were guest.
This summer, the vacation headed south. After a first stop in Kehl on the Rhine, it was just a short bike ride across the bicycle/pedestrian bridge over the river into the French city of Strasbourg. The contrast couldn’t be greater: Strasbourg, with its medieval charm and beautiful old buildings throughout the city center, versus Kehl on the opposite bank, built more functionally and radiating a 1960s vibe.
I had learned through a conversation that there is a zoo in the Netherlands dedicated entirely to monkeys. A quick bit of research revealed that it was Apenheul in Apeldoorn. So, just like that, another destination was added to the zoo list.
It's only been two years since I last visited the NaturZoo Rheine. But even now in autumn, the zoo has its charm. The focus here is on the many species of monkeys that can be observed. Whether it's the lemurs, macaques, or the impressive geladas in their large enclosure. The monkey forest, where you can have close contact with Barbary macaques, whether you want to or not, had already impressed me in my childhood.