My second day at Wacken kicked off with a high level of excitement and anticipation for what the epic day Wacken had installed for us. I was of course still quite exhausted from the massive day beforehand, but the excitement of the epic line-up of bands and festivities overrode everything for me.
I knew that day 2 would probably be my biggest and busiest, with a massive day ahead of myself at the mainstages (Faster, Harder & Faster) so I had to fuel up on some tucker. Although I did manage to get a sleep in, so I was in quite a hurry to get to the first band on my list at 12:00. A food truck serving Chinese food was first in sight, so Chinese food for breakfast it was! It was not only convenient, but very tasty also and a new Wacken food favorite of mine.
I grabbed my chicken and noodles and sped off too the Louder stage to find a good spot in the pit to catch my first band of the day. A tribute to my all-time favorite vocalist and the man all Metalheads pray to at night – Ronnie James Dio. Dio Disciples is an official tribute to Ronnie James Dio consisting of Joey Belladonna, Oni Logan, Simon Wright, Scott Warren, Ira Black, Björn Englén and managed by Ronnie’s wife Wendy Dio.
Standing in the pit in the scorching sun with my noodles and beer, the PA volume rises and the generic Wacken band introduction started playing on the screen. Followed by the official Dio Disciples intro. The intro really was an experience on its own. The intro video on the screens played a tribute to Ronnie, with a collection of amazing footage from all stages of his career spanning from the early ELF and Rainbow days till the very end with Heaven & Hell. Along with a heap of interviews featuring many legendary rockstars talking about their memories of Dio. It gave me goosebumps….
The set began with Scott Warren on the keys and the infamous Holy Diver. Arguably Dio’s biggest hit as a solo artist. Joey Belldonna of Anthrax took the microphone and sung it with glory. His range really sat well with this track and it was clear that the song had a special place in his heart as he sung it with everything he had.
The group then went into a few of my personal favorite Black Sabbath tracks Mob Rules and Children of the Sea. Legendary vocalist Oni Logan of Lynch Mob & Racer X fame took the stage for Children of the Sea and my god did he do it justice! Very impressive vocal performance indeed! Following a couple Sabbath tracks it was time for a few Rainbow classics with a mash up of Catch the Rainbow and Stargazer going into Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll and Man on the Silver Mountain. One more Sabbath classic for the remainder of the set with Joey and Oni teaming up on vocals for the title track of Ronnie’s infamous debut album with Black Sabbath – Heaven & Hell! Followed up with Rainbow in the Dark and fan favorite We Rock to conclude the set. I was impressed as a whole with the band. It is of course a difficult task to emulate such legendary material, but with the team of talented musicians and previous Dio members, Dio Disciples bought an excellent show!
I ended up catching up with a few of my Aussie mates after the D.D set and took a walk through the festival grounds and enjoyed a few cheeky beverages. A few hours passed and the infield opened up with Skyline on the Faster stage.
Skyline are a Hard Rock/Metal outfit and probably the most local band at the festival being from Wacken! Skyline is the band of Wacken founder/manager Thomas Jensen who plays the bass guitar and joining Thomas is a really talented group of musicians. I was really impressed and enjoyed the musicianship of Skyline. Definitely seasoned musicians and know how to get the crowd excited as well.
Skyline played a pretty even mix of original and cover songs which I think worked well as the opening band of the infield, as they got the crowd excited with their own tracks as well as known hits from bands such as: Journey, Airborne, Dokken and more!
I caught roughly half of Skyline’s set, but I had to race off unforetunelty, as a didn’t want to miss the next band on my list – Armoured Saint at the Louder stage! Armoured Saint are a band that I hadn’t had the chance to see live yet, but ended up seeing three times on my trip to Europe this year. I was stoked with this as Armoured Saint are one of those old school Heavy Metal bands from the 80s that really got me into the genre!
I really enjoyed Armoured Saint’s set list as it included a perfect mix of all their back catalogue. From classic’s off of their debut album “March Of the Saint” to their latest album “Punching The Sky” which was released in 2020. They opened their set with End of the Attention Span, which is a single from their latest album. Armoured Saint really let the Wacken crowd know their presence with fist pumping energy throughout the entire set. Legendary vocalist and A.S frontman John Bush does a great job including the audience throughout the show with great banter and crowd participation. Not to mention his phenomenal vocal performance… wow! There is a reason the guy is well known as one of metals greats. John sounds as if its 1984 all over again recording March Of The Saint!
Following the explosive opening track of the set they busted into one of my personal favourites off of 87s Raising Fear album – Chemical Euphoria! This is a perfect example of how Armoured Saint can seamlessly go from recent tracks to classics from the 80s live. Now I hadn’t had the privilege of seeing the band live back in the day, but they play and perform just as I’d imagine they would have in the day! Really impressive!
Armoured Saint crafted a super impressive set including The Pillar, March of the Saint, Last Train Home, Can U Deliver, Reign of Fire and many more. One thing that stood out for me after seeing them three times on this tour, was that their set was different at each festival I saw them at. I really like when a band puts in a little more effort in making each individual set that little bit unique!
My setlist highlights for Armoured Saint at Wacken 2024 would have to be Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, Can U Deliver, Chemical Euphoria and Reign of Fire!
Next band on the agenda was exciting! I had roughly an hour after to get some cold refreshments and find my way to the front of the Faster stage to see the mighty Axel Rudi Pell! Axel Rudi Pell only just recently released an album in June of 2024, titled Risen Symbol. I had saved the album to listen to on my plane ride to Germany from Australia and I am damn glad I did. I really enjoyed it a lot. So much so, I think I listened to the entire album 4 or 5 times in complete on one plane ride alone! I was very excited that A.R.P included a bunch of tracks off of Risen Symbol in the setlist at Wacken. Including the opening track of the Album and live set Forever Strong. The crowd went wild and so did I. The energy this song and the band poor into the audience is just second to none. I will just straight out say this now… Vocalist Johnny Gioeli is 100% the best frontman/vocalist I have seen live, end of story. I have been a big fan of his work for quite some time now, with Axel Rudi Pell and his other band Hardline and crush 40. But to see him in action live was something else. The way he ran around stage and interacted with both the audience and band mates kept you engaged with the band from start to finish. Not to mention his vocals… fkn hell is his voice something else. I never had the honour to see Ronnie James Dio live, but Johnny reminds me a lot of Dio’s vocal style. I wide powerful range with the growl of a muscle car. Truly amazing!
Johnny’s vocals were really showcased when the band covered Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah”. It really left the crowd speechless with goosebumps.
Axel Rudi Pell played an excellent setlist including a wide range of material. Including Forever Strong, Wildest Dreams, Oceans of Time, Darkest Hour and more.
The band closed the set with A.R.P hit “Fool Fool” and concluding with the crowd clapping and strong crowd participation to Rock The Nation. Really something to watch! The footage is on the official WackenTV YouTube channel! Axel Rudi Pell’s set at Wacken 2024 just left me wanting more and more and I really can’t wait to see them again!
Directly after Axel Rudi Pell, I had no time rest to spare as I move directly over to the Harder stage. Next up… KK’s Priest! The crowd is buzzing with excitement and the anticipation is high. And respectably so!
KK’s Priest is an English Heavy Metal band formed in 2020 by legendary metal guitarist and founding member of Judas Priest – KK Downing. Joining KK is none other than ex Judas Priest vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens and a collection of top-notch British musicians, including Tony Newton, A.J. Mills and Sean Elg.
KK’s Priest included a good mix of both KK’s Priest original material and Judas Priest deep cuts and hits. Their set begins with a long intro track which includes an introduction to each band member, allowing the fans to cheer for each member. The intro sets a great atmosphere for the show to come as the stage fills with smoke and Downing appears on stage on a podium punishing his whammy bar. An explosion of rockets explodes into their metallic filled hit “Hellfire Thunderbolt”. The band filled the crowd with adrenaline and Ripper Owens howls the lyrics with his infamous powerful screams. This track really is a good definition of Heavy Metal with blasting double kicks and powerful riffs and vocals. Heavy and cheesy metal awesomeness!
The band continues into two more original tracks Strike of the Viper and One More Shot at Glory. Where there follow up with famous Judas Priest hit – The Ripper! The fans welcoming the song chanting along! KK goes on to continue the set alternating between KK’s Priest and Judas Priest tracks tastefully with an excellent set list and Judas Priest deep cuts including: Night Crawler, Burn in Hell, Sinner, Breaking the Law and more!
KK’s Priest also included two classic covers which translated very well live. They included Diamonds & Rust – Joan Baez, which was a good throwback to Judas Priest’s 1977 album Sin After Sin where the band originally covered the song.
Along with another cover Judas priest included on their 79 album Killing machine, The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown) originally by Fleetwood mac.
KK’s Priest closed their set with two more Judas Priest covers Breaking the Law and Sinner! KK’s show was quite the spectacle with an amazing stage show with the inclusion of pyro and visuals on the massive LED screen behind the band. My highlight of the set would have to be when they played Burn in Hell which is from Tim ‘Ripper” Owens first album with Judas Priest in 97 – Jugulator! The way Ripper sings this song live is just incredible, such a heavy riffing track!
Wacken showed no rest for the wicked as directly after KK’s show, it was time to scoot back over to the Faster Stage where German heavy metal legends Accept were set to hit the stage! I have seen Udo Dirkshneider live performing Accept songs before, but I hadn’t seen ACCEPT as a band live before with vocalist Mark Tornillo. Tornillo for me adds a whole new dynamic to Accept with a heavier vocal style and songwriting. I really enjoy the more recent albums including Mark as it’s a great example of old school heavy metal with a flash of modern production and heavy riffing. I was especially excited to see them live for this reason!
Accept had a very cool stage show set out for their hour and a half set at Wacken 24, with a massive drum riser covered in moving mechanical gears and components. Accept opened their set with two fresh songs off of their brand-new record “Humanoid” including The Reckoning and Humanoid. These two songs set a good benchmark for what was to come with heavy & fast riffs which got the crowd buzzing with fists in the air and hair flinging! Following up with two absolute fan favourites – Restless and Wild and London Leatherboys!
Accept included a great mix of songs from both Udo and Mark’s era. A four song medley was also included in the middle of their set, featuring songs from three Udo era albums. The mash up consisted of Demon’s Night / Starlight / Losers and Winners / Flash Rockin’ Man. Was surprise after surprise with Accept’s set at Wacken and kept all types of fans new and old on their toes!
Accept finished their set with fan favourite – Balls to the Wall featuring Tim “Ripper” Owens as a guest vocalist.
Accept brought everything and more than I expected with their performance at Wacken 2024. As I’m sure the entire infield can agree with me. The whole crowd was moshing, headbanging and yelling the lyrics at the top of their lungs. It was quite the experience watching such a large amount of metalheads crowd surfing at the same time over the wave of almost the entire infield at times! A Wacken highlight for me was watching an entire family crowd surf at the same time during Accepts set, with the parents leading the way and waiting for their young children at the barrier. The joy on their faces as they high fived the front row was spectacular and a good reminder of what Heavy Metal is all about!
Accept full set-list:
- The Reckoning
- Humanoid
- Restless and Wild
- London Leatherboys
- Straight Up Jack
- The Abyss
- Demon’s Night / Starlight / Losers and Winners / Flash Rockin’ Man
- Shadow Soldiers
- Overnight Sensation
- Breaker
- Princess of the Dawn
- Metal Heart
- Teutonic Terror
- Fast as a Shark
- Pandemic
- Balls to the Wall (with Tim “Ripper” Owens)
Following Accepts set, Wacken again saved no rest for the wicked as we had 15 minutes to prepare for the next band. I was feeling really quite exhausted by this point, I was tired and my feet and legs have had enough for the day, but there was no way I was going to miss this. Quickly refilling on some food and drink it was time to see the headliners of the second day at Wacken 2024.
German Rock gods – Scorpions! Scorpions are definitely a household name when it comes to Rock n Roll and most people, music fans or not, young and old will be familiar with their music in some way. This year marks almost 60 years as a band for the Scorpions, which is really quite astonishing. Scorpions have covered a lot in their 60-year career, being a staple in a vast range of genres from heavy metal to glam and psychedelic rock. Scorpions really are a legacy band of Rock and although there were lots of big influential names playing at Wacken this year, Scorpions really took the number 1 spot, flying far above them all.
The stage set was massive, being deeper than usual and an enormous drum riser up back for Scorpions drummer and legendary ex Motorhead/King Diamond, etc – Mikkey Dee to saddle up to drive the force that is Scorpions! Opening with an emotion filled Coming Home was fitting as Scorpions are definitely no stranger to Wacken and their home countries audience. Coming Home is a soft emotional start which explodes into a gasoline fuelled rock n roll freight train! Setting the scene for the hour and four five minute set to come, Scorpions jet into a newer track off of 2022’s album “Rock Believer” – Gas in the Tank. The song did exactly that, filling the audience’s tank with gas for a MEGA set, taking Wacken through many stages of Scorpions discography including many hits: The Zoo, Send Me an Angel, Wind of Change, Blackout and 14 more! Yes that’s correct, The Scorps played a whopping 18 song set!
Featuring a mammoth guitar solo from Matthius Jabs known as Delicate dance and a very impressive drum solo from the powerhouse Mikkey Dee!
Scorpions were also joined on stage by Germany’s very own Metal Queen Doro pesch for my personal favourite Scorpions song – Big City Nights. The crowd erupted and the band walked off stage as the crowd was chanting for more and more. Bringing the band back for a two song Encore featuring hit single – Still Loving You and rock n roll staple Rock You Like a Hurricane.
Scorpions really put on a great headlining performance, showing a real testimonial of the band’s legacy! Really, how could anyone be disappointed.
Wacken has a heap going on after midnight, with the party only just beginning for many. With many bands yet to hit the stage in the early hours of the morning and many afterparty activities on offer such as a nightclub and karaoke. It is no doubt that Wacken know how to offer a kickass rocking party!
With many like myself opting for the more relaxing option of heading back to camp to rest up for the next couple of days. It was great to see many shuttle busses into nearby towns and further campsites which run quite regularly.
Stay tuned for part 3 of the Metal-Roos adventure to Wacken 2024!
Review by Tom Nugara
Photos below by Peterson Marti/Unraveled
Dio Disciples
Mr. Big
Uada
Photos below by Michael Lueders
Axel Rudi Pell
Skeleton Remains
Skyline:
