12.06.2015 Subway To Sally

Blackfield Festival

Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen (Germany)

(Pentax K-5 with Tamron SP AF 17-50mm 2.8 XR Di II LD Asp IF and Sigma AF 50-150mm 2.8 EX DC APO HSM II)

I had seen Subway To Sally twice at Wacken Open Air, and this evening they were to conclude the first day of the last Blackfield Open Air Festival as headliners. Throughout the day, the sky was watched, and a storm was forecasted for the evening. Fortunately, it took a different path, so one could listen to the rock-medieval sounds of the seven artists around singer Erik Fish without getting wet.
The first song immediately made clear what to expect. With plenty of pyrotechnics, the band fired a broadside into the audience with “Warte, Warte” from the current album “Mitgift”, which was gratefully received. From the first notes, the audience was fully engaged, making it easy for Erik Fish to keep the mood high. The band has existed for 22 years, so there is quite a lot of material. I can imagine that it's really hard to choose the songs for such a set. There was a good cross-section of their work, although the oldest pieces were unfortunately omitted. Whether classics like “Wenn Engel Hassen” from the 2001 album “Herzblut” or newer ones like “Das Schwarze Meer” from the 2011 album “Schwarz In Schwarz”. The “new” songs, as Erik Fish announced them, were also very nice. These were the older classics “Kleid Aus Rosen” and “Veitstanz”, which were sonically modernized and were very well received by the crowd in front of the stage. At some point, the mood was so boiling that Fish couldn't hold back and threw himself into the crowd for some crowd surfing.
I was really impressed. Good songs and musicians who repeatedly switched their instruments (from guitar to shawm, flute, hurdy-gurdy, or bagpipes). The show was excellent, and the stage design was fitting. Mostly kept in red light, accompanied by fog and several mesh elements with a chain-link fence, which partially separated the musicians from the audience. Very fitting pyrotechnics with well-chosen songs contributed to a lively mood in the audience. At the latest during the traditional closing song “Julia Und Die Räuber”, where the band hardly had to do anything, and the audience wouldn't stop singing, everyone was fully satisfied. This concludes the first day, and I have to say that I enjoyed this festival very much so far. Hopefully, the weather holds up for the next two days because the line-up is no worse.