03.08.2018 Schandmaul

Wacken Open Air XXIX

Wacken (Germany)

(Pentax K-5 with Sigma AF 70-200mm 2.8 EX DC APO HSM II)

After the youth memories with Mr. Big it directly continued back at the Harder Stage, where the German medieval rock band Schandmaul was preparing to amuse the people with their wonderful melodies.
The last time I saw them on the very same place back in 2014 where they put out the lights on Saturday night at 3:00. Now, the sun was burning from the sky and there was one more thing that was different compare to then: violinist and hurdy-gurdy player Anna Katharina Kränzlein left the band one year ago and was up to now not permanently replaced. As replacement for this concert Ally Storch joined them. And there was one more specialty. For the first time on Wacken Open Air, there was a sign language interpreter joining them, translating the lyrics of the songs into sign language for the deaf. In order to do so she was standing at the edge of the stage so that everyone could see her very well.
Musically, there was the usual good mixture and also singer Thomas Lindner was, just like all the others, in a really good mood. So, there were nice tales around the song “Der Hofnarr” and also again and again short announcements to the numerous crowd. Additionally, the two ladies animated the people permanently between their little dances to take part. That did not need to be told twice and so, just like at Korpiklaani, there were smaller groups that were not standing there banging their head but lively spinning around. From style point of view their music is uncommonly calm with respect to what else is played at Wacken which may also be related to the instruments (acoustic guitar, violin, hurdy-gurdy, shawm and flutes cannot be found very often on the main stages).
Overall a very entertaining performance that could have been a little bit longer. But, as Linder already remarked very nicely: It should be only a short intermezzo for relaxation before over the course of the day the energy reserve was emptied quite more during the other bands.