Spontaneously the best band in the world announced mid of August to go on their tour “Herbst Ihres Lebens” through smaller venues of the republic. Two weeks later it already started, and I was able to get tickets for the final concert on 14.10.2023 at the Turbinenhalle at Oberhausen. As it could be expected the tickets were out of stock in no time and this appointment sold out. Luckily, they did not sell that many tickets for this location as they did when I was there the last time for a concert as at Saltatio Mortis it was that crowded that you could hardly move anymore. This evening it was a lot airier and more agreeable. As often, so also today Die Ärzte played without any support acts which can be gotten over taking the normal length of their sets into consideration.
At 20:45 it finally was the time and Heaven Shall Burn entered the stage to the sounds of the intro “Awoken” from the 2008 released album “Iconoclast (Part I: The Final Resistance)”. When they were over it seamlessly went into “Endzeit” and with the first words sung the crowd in front of the stage directly started moving. Already during the winter they toured through the bigger venues together with Trivium and now they continued this during the Summer Battles Tour 2023 also in smaller locations. Due to that there was no big show on stage with fire and the usual hoo-ha but that was also not needed at all. The band on its own already put across so much energy that there was no limits in the audience and in such small locations where you are really close to what is going on the concert experience is anyhow much more intense.
The sun was still shining brightly from the sky and so did the jacket of Matt Heafy. After the intro “X” of the album “In The Court Of The Dragon” faded out the identically named title song directly boomed from the stage. The backdrops and covers were just as colourful as the front man and he made straight clear that he was really bent on playing this evening. The tongue was again and again sticked out and permanently he swirled from one end of the stage to the other.
After it had been quite changeable across the day it was getting sunny towards the evening and so the guys of the Scottish band Bleed From Within could enter the stage at best weather. The Junkyard provided a worthy setting for the upcoming hours due to its unusual setup of the location (everything outside was built from old containers and scrap). Because also Trivium and Heaven Shall Burn were on the agenda it unfortunately had to start very early at 18:15 in order to satisfy the noise protection requirements for the open-air concert.
From the Swedish rockers of Ghost over to the American hard rock legends Guns N’ Roses, who can now look back on a 40‑year band history filled with many highs and even more lows. The area in front of the stage was well filled, and everyone was waiting for the show to begin. But the older gentlemen took their time. With a five‑minute delay, a three‑hour ride through all their released albums finally began. After the intro from tape and once all band members had taken their positions, “It’s So Easy” from their 1987 debut “Appetite For Destruction” kicked off an emotional rollercoaster.
To secure a halfway decent spot for the upcoming Guns N’ Roses show, I had already moved over to the South Stage during the Ghost performance and watched the show from there. So please excuse the slightly unusual angles and greater distances in the photos. With Ghost, opinions among metal fans are always divided as their sound is very pop‑leaning. Nevertheless, Tobias Forge, in his current incarnation as Papa Emeritus IV, together with his Nameless Ghouls, delivered an undeniably impressive stage production.
After the sweat‑drenched performance by Papa Roach, things continued with an equally big name. Alter Bridge were up next, a band I had wanted to see for a long time. Having already seen Tremonti, the solo project of guitarist Mark Tremonti, at Wacken Open Air in 2018, it was now finally time for the full Alter Bridge lineup: frontman Myles Kennedy, Creed members Mark Tremonti on guitar, Brian Marshall on bass, and Scott Phillips, well hidden behind his drum kit.
After spending the entire day hopping between tents (which honestly wasn’t the worst idea given the temperatures), it was finally time in the late afternoon to head outside to the Main Stages. Nu‑metal veterans Papa Roach were on the schedule, and it seemed I wasn’t the only one excited. The area in front of the South Stage was already nicely packed. They’ve been shaking up the scene since the early 1990s, and today I finally had the chance to see them live for the very first time.
And on it went inside the tent. After the heavy sounds of the two Butcher Babies front women, it was time for something much more melodic. The Raven Age from Great Britain were now set to conquer the smaller Metal Dome. They brought along very melodic metalcore, and their stage presence was immediately on a completely different level compared to the previous band. The atmosphere in front of the stage kicked in right away, and you could see on the faces of all five guys just how much fun they were having.
Right after Orbit Culture, the next band took over the Marquee tent: Butcher Babies, led by front women Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, stormed the stage and kicked things off like a wildfire. They brought along their current double‑release “Eye For An Eye” and “’Til The World’s Blind”, and opened with “Red Thunder”. Given the temperatures, the ladies were dressed rather lightly, and the gentlemen Ricky Bonazza on bass, Henry Flury on guitar, and Devin Nickles behind the drum kit also delivered a powerful performance.