In front of the stage it was jam-packed and at 22:30 everything finally was ready. A voice, slight whiningly rose: "I can’t hear you!". That was the starting shot for a fulminant final of the "Night to Remember". Ozzy paddled with his small steps onto the stage and enthused the crowd for roughly 90 minutes with the classics of his solo career as well as with songs of his former band Black Sabbath.
It was slowly getting dark on the festival area and Blind Guardian entered a wonderful enlightened scenery following the pyramid on the cover of the current album "At The Edge Of Time". But they did not restrict only to that album.
Towards 19:00 the doyens of Helloween entered the stage and had lots of material of in total 27 years of band history with them. But in the beginning it looked like someone minded their gig. Already after a few seconds of the opener "Are You Metal?" the power supply of the True Metal Stage broke down.
So, enough time spent in the tent, time to go outside. After Bülent Ceylan (why was there comedy on Wacken this year; it is not needed because after all it is a metal festival and not the German comedy prize-giving) cheeky German rock was presented by the South Tyrols Frei.Wild. Inspired by the style of Böhse Onkelz the band presented songs of the last two albums "Hart Am Wind" and "Gegengift".
The second act I chose to look at that day was the Norwegian band Kvelertak playing at the Bullhead City tent. Many others seemed to have had the same idea because the tent was quite crowded when the guys around singer Erlend Hjelvik entered the stage starting directly extremely powerful.
Already during the 70s a band called Törner Stier Crew was formed stiring up the German rock-scene but disappearing already during the 80s. Of the former cast H. Martin Stier (maybe known to many from TV, e.g. Hausmeister Krause), keyboarder Charlie Steinberg as well as bassist Walter Stoever thought of that this could not have been the end.
On Wednesday evening this year’s Wacken Open Air started very calm for me. At first, I saw Horch before later that evening the Belgian Metal Battle winners Powerstroke were following. Their style of music is described by a mixture of Metal and Hardcore. Additionally the three Belgians describe themselves with the three words: basic groovy powerful.
After Lena reached an outstanding victory last year at Oslo Germany was now host of this years Eurovision Song contest and chose the Düsseldorf Esprit Arena as venue.
Aroung 22:15 it was finally the time: Kamelot entered the stage and with them the anxious question waving through the halfway filled venue: how would the band get along with the loss of their charismatic singer Roy Khan. Not that small footsteps which Rhapsody Of Fire singer Fabio Lione tried to fill by replacing the left front men on the current tour.
Right before the main act of the evening Evergrey from Sweden entered the stage. The venue was meanwhile filled a little bit more and also the mood got better. But to that the music of the men around singer Tom S. Englund formed somehow a certain contrast as it is more gloomy, heavy and solemn.