Wacken Open Air – Arguably one of the world’s largest Metal festival and every metalheads dream to visit the “Holy Ground”. This was my first time visiting Wacken, so I was obviously extremely excited as it has been a lifelong dream of mine to attend this mega festival. Little did I think I’d be invited as a media guest, which made things a little more special! I was accompanied by my good mate and owner of Metal Roos – Michael Lueders, who is a seasoned Wacken veteran. Which was mind easing as a festival of this scale can be quiet intimidating!
The day began with the hour and a half drive from Hamburg to the Holy Ground and I immediately noticed the large amount of vehicles on the road with “W:O:A” written across the back window using duct tape. Being from Australia, I have never seen anything like it… So out of excitement, every time I passed a Wacken goer I repeatedly beeped my horn and raised my horns at them! Let’s just say with the sheer amount of W:O:A signs on the road, my poor hire cars horn was a little tired..! Haha
On arrival at the check-in office, we were greeted by the lovely Wacken staff who sorted us out and directed us to our campsite. For a festival of this size, I was honestly expecting this whole process to be a long one. Although I was pleasantly surprised on just how easy it was to navigate through everything. Minimal traffic on the road, foot and road traffic was directed really well with clear signage and passage ways, with helpful Wacken staff and plenty of friendly faces along the way to help out.
After quickly setting up camp and visiting the press/VIP Wacken United area, we set foot onto the festival grounds and took a walk to get our bearings around the site. Being such a large festival, it honestly took me until the last day to be able to get around the festival without getting somewhat lost… Not to worry though as the extremely helpful Wacken Open Air app was there to save me each time. The map was very easy to navigate, showing your exact location at all times and being able to search stages, food stalls, etc by using the search bar was a very helpful feature.
After getting a bite to eat it was time to head over to the Louder Stage to see my first band of the day. NWOBHM legends – Girlschool. The louder stage was in safe hands of rocking women on day 1, including Crystal Viper, Butcher Babies, Girlschool, The Warning, Tina Guo and Suzi Quatro.
Girlschool kicked off with guitarist Jackie Chambers jamming the opening riff of their 80s classic “Demolition Boys” as each band member walked onto the stage with smiles ear to ear. The crowd instantly receiving their rocking energy and exploding with energy and excitement. The ladies put on a great show of what they do best. Raw and loud old school Rock n Roll!
I especially love how Girlschool played an extensive set not only covering all of their classic tracks like Race with the Devil, Nothing to Lose and many more. Which had the crowd banging their heads and dancing the whole set, but they also included a bunch of tracks from their later releases. Including the opening track of their brand new album WTFortyfive “It Is What It Is”. Vocalist/founding member Kim McAuliffe introduced the song stating “the song is pretty self-explanatory really. We have been around for nearly 50 years now and I don’t know what else to say other than it is what it is!”
Girlschool also busted out a ripping cover of Motorhead crowd favorite “Bomber”. Paying tribute to the late Lemmy Kilmister and Phil Taylor, this was an obvious favorite for he crowd! Closing their set, Girlschool played their 1980 classic “Emergency” which had the crowd moshing and dancing along. Girlschool really proved they have preserved their raw rocking energy over the years and I really thoroughly enjoyed their hour long set!
Just as Girlschool were concluding their set, the infield opened to the masses! For those unaware, the infield is where the two main stages (Harder and Faster) are located at Wacken. To say it’s a massive space is an understatement… First up, opening the Faster stage was well known German comedian/vocalist – Bülent Ceylan & band. I only caught the last couple of songs from their set, although a highlight for the fans was definitely when legendary Romanian/German singer & composer Peter Maffay joined Bülent and his band for a fan favorite track “Anders Gleich”! Bülent Ceylan & band absolutely set the mood for the day at the infield with a fun and powerful set, kickstarting the party at Wacken!
My next band to see was Spanish new wave rising stars Hitten over at the Wasteland stage! Hitten were one of the bands I was most excited to catch at Wacken and they definitely did not disappoint! Opening with the intro track of their latest album While Passion Lasts, they blast into title track “While Passion Lasts” soaring into one of my personal favorites, “Mr. Know It All”. Hitten just scream the 80s and along with that they put on a great show with the boys owning the stage. Running from one side of the stage to the other, Hitten connect with the crowd and have everyone feel seen. The musicianship between the band from Johnny Lorca & Dani Argilés on guitars and Alex Panza’s vocals is second to none. Hitten truly take you back to the 80s with crushing guitar riffs, lightning-fast leads and melodies for days. Not to mention Alex’s soaring vocals… These guys are the real deal!
Johnny and Dani seemed to have experienced troubles with their wireless packs cutting in and out throughout the set, but they really showed off their showmanship when they continued to play unphased, not letting it effect their performance at all. Very impressive stuff and not easy at all to do as a musician! I ended up partying with the lads later in the night backstage and they stated “I wasn’t going to let any tech issues get in the way of this experience playing at Wacken”. True rockstars that share a heap of passion for what they do indeed!
Their tech had all issues resolved in time for their closing song of the night and a fan favorite, “On the Run”. Hitten had many fans from all over the world in the crowd chanting for more and more, but unforetunelty their 45-minute set had to come to an end. I really look forward to seeing these guys in the future with a longer set!
As the day went on, after all the travelling and excitement involved within a jam packed day of metal, I was starting to feel it and get quite tired… But that all changed immediately as the adrenaline filled, Thrash attack that is Hellripper hit the Wasteland Stage! At the moment the first note was hit by frontman/mastermind of Hellripper – James McBain, the packed crowd ignited! Hellripper for me have prominently a distinct old school Thrash Metal sound, infused with a very tasty amount of Black Metal/Black n Roll elements. Black beats, smashing riffs and screams… Hellripper really brought the pit alive on day 1 of Wacken, showing no rest for the wicked.
There were bodies flying in all directions and every metalhead in that pit was running on all cylinders with the band being no exception. The pure speed and accuracy of every note and hit to the drumskins, Hellripper were on FIRE!! A definite highlight and perfect summary of Hellrippers awesomeness, was during the last song of the night – “Nunfucking Armageddon 666”. Just as the band gets the crowd going at absolute full throttle, Mcbrain jumps into the crowd equipped with his axe! Thrashing out at a million beats per minute whilst crowd surfing and then soars into an absolute mammoth of a guitar solo! (All whilst the crowd was moshing like crazy and not missing a note must I add!) Sums up Hellrippers performance at Wacken 2024 perfectly… Absolute chaotic excellence!
Hellripper are indeed a difficult act to follow, but the Wasteland Stage crowd were in safe hands as Swedish heavy hitters Portrait were up next to hit the stage! Portrait are a Speed Metal/NWOTHM outfit infused with tasty guitar melodies, massive vocal range and amazing song writing. Their performance at Wacken 2024 was nothing short of amazing. Portrait delivered a fantastic set and had the crowd engaged the whole show. It was getting dark as the night was upon Wacken, which really set the atmosphere with a great light show. Portrait played a jam packed 45-minute set, taking full advantage to showcase their impressive catalogue. Including some of my personal favorites “The Blood Covenant” and “The Sacrament” off their brand-new album The Host! Definitely an album to check out!
Headlining day 1 at Wacken 2024 was non other than legendary Medieval German Metal act – In Extremo! I’d be lying if I said I knew a bunch about In Extremo, but man… did they absolutely blow me away! What a great introduction to such a band! They had the party vibes flowing and made me feel right at home in Germany! Haha
The infield was completely FULL and In Extemo had every single metalhead jumping up and down, all having the best time of their lives! In Extremo put on an amazing live show with one of the most impressive pyro shows I’ve ever seen. Accompanied by absolutely great party rock/metal tunes, they were the perfect choice to be the first headliners of the week!
Full set-list:
- Wintermärchen (Intro version)
- Troja
- Feuertaufe
- Vollmond
- Küss mich
- Wolkenschieber
- Villeman Og Magnhild
- Ai Vis Lo Lop
- Unsichtbar
- Weckt die Toten
- Liam
- Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein
- Unser Lied (with Björn Both) (Live debut)
- Mein rasend Herz
- Sängerkrieg
- Kompass zur Sonne
- Sternhagelvoll
- Frei zu sein
- Störtebeker
- Spielmannsfluch
- Pikse Palve
After In Extremo, it was time to catch some must needed rest and get ready for Day 2! As I was walking back to collect my belongings and make the trek back to camp, I was struck with the stunning view of approximately 85,000 metalheads clearing the infield… I can not put into words how surreal the feeling was… I was left absolutely speechless and it is definitely an experience I will not be forgetting anytime soon! One for the memory book!
Stay tuned for an even bigger day at Wacken for day 2 and the opening of the Harder Stage!
Review by Tom Nugara
Photos below by Peterson Marti/Unraveled
The Darkness
Butcher Babies:
Tina Guo
Photos below by Michael Lueders
Girlschool:
Portrait:
Hellripper:
Hitten:
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