Black Star Riders - Overkill - Michael Schenker Group/Temple Of Rock - Refuge - Channel Zero - Sinner - Spiders - Air Raid
:: pics ::
[BRT] The Sunday was kicked off by :: AIR RAID ::. Those Swedish youngsters of course celebrate classic Metal to the max and didn’t seem to be scared by the sparsely taken seats around. They play a mighty rock show as if the stadium would have been sold out. AIR RAID couldn’t hide who their idols are: Iron Maiden. But hey, who cares? It was a great performance, perfectly to get awake!
Setlist: Treason, Wildfire, Bound To Destroy, When The Sky Turns Red, Victim Of The Night, Flying Fortress, Madness, Midnight Burner, A Blade In The Dark
[BRT] Next up are once again Swedes. This time playing Hard Rock. The :: SPIDERS :: rocked straight with a hint of a Garage sound but have not that much to do with the current wave of retro Rock sound. So NO Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin worship. Regarding guitars it wasn't that spectacular, but SPIDERS singer Ann-Sofie Hoyles is blessed with a great voice. Need to listen to their music on CD.
Setlist: Hang Man, High Society, Mad Dog, Control, Hard Times, Only Your Skin, Give Up The Fight, Rules Of The Game, Shake Electric, Fraction, War Of The World
[Dajana] The rest of the crew needed more time to check in again rebuilding Gelsenkirchen. At the end… for nothing. But first we welcomed :: SINNER ::. Third band of the day but still an empty Amphitheater. Well, compared to the other days, the Sunday offered the weakest billing in my opinion.
[Psycho] Same feelings here. And it was not due to the last-day-exhaustion-syndrome. Yes, there are situations, where I like classic Metal with Hard Rock influences. SINNER was not such situation. I had hard times with that kind of music. SINNER had three guitarists and a really powerful sound but I wasn't satisfied with the song selection. I expected more.
[Sui] Sissies. I would have loved to see AIR RAID and SPIDERS. But at so many retro bands on this festival (no matter if 70s or 80s) I somehow understand the wish to sleep a bit longer instead. And after the gig of SINNER I wish we would have arrived even later. The show was anything than bad, but the songs didn't get stuck and felt kind of outdated. For the ones already awake and willing to sing along, a well-done cover version of Billy Idol's Rebel Yell was played.
Setlist: Crash & Burn, Cummin‘ Out Fighting, Bad Girl, Born To Rock, Concrete Jungle, Knife In My Heart, Danger Zone, Rebel Yell (Billy Idol cover), Germany Rocks
[Psycho] I'm absolutely no fan of show-off-metal but :: CHANNEL ZERO :: didn't have anything else to offer. And I wasn't the only one noticing that this show was the one with the weakest crowd feedback during this festival. Not even the new and berserk-like drummer (the beast?) and the really great frontman could change that, who in between looked on the misery from the other side while strolling through the crowd. By the way, it's nothing but a cheat when no song from the first album gets played, although everyone would especially have liked to hear those…
[Sui] At the first beats of CHANNEL ZERO I was still wondering why everybody was so skeptic. They started great. Sound was good and the singer first class. But with second track I felt to have heard all this already better anywhere else. Too bad that such obviously great musicians offer so trivial song material. If there was a change in pace, leaving the mid-pace-monotony, than CHANNEL ZERO got even slower without getting heavier. So, nothing will be remembered here, except the short trip of the singer through the Amphitheater.
[BRT] Only saw the last two songs. There was a lot of action on stage. Musically it was a no-go. But I only liked the first record they shamefully neglected
Setlist: Dark Passenger, Ammunition, Unsafe, Bad To The Bone, Kill All Kings, Electronic Cocaine, Duisternis, Suck My Energy, Black Fuel
[Psycho] How it sounds like to get classics an masse :: REFUGE :: shown, who knowingly rehash the very old Rage hits. I was wondering what the whole purpose of such band is, but at the end, those songs are worth it to be played live. Despite some technical issues the old staggers played a great show in front of many more fans. Let's see what the future holds for those guys.
[Dajana] Yep, let's see. It was announced to go on with Rage, with a new line-up, till then they play the old songs as REFUGEE ;) By the way, many thanks to Peavy Wagner, who also remembered Jörg Litges and raised a beer to cheer him.
[Sui] The difference between Sinner and REFUGEE not only lies in the heaviness of the songs. Most of all the Rage material grew old the better way. However, the classics went down well, as the good chemistry between Peavy and Manni Schmidt is back.
[BRT] Same game. Only saw a few minutes. Peavy isn’t a charismatic frontman (huuuuh? – Psycho), his announcements were rather stiff. A few old songs were great but nothing to write home about.
Setlist: Firestorm, Solitary Man, Nevermore, Death In The Afternoon, Enough Is Enough, Invisible Horizons, Certain Days, Light Into The Darkness, Shame On You, Baby, I'm Your Nightmare, Don't Fear The Winter, Refuge
[Psycho] Who'd have thunk to see Michael Schenker back on stage in such a good shape? I first believed it when I watched him play his solos. Regarding songs, :: TEMPLE OF ROCK :: focused on classics of U.F.O. and the Scorpions – there you can’t do anything wrong. The band itself was exquisitely staffed and the gentlemen had fun playing. Only the lengthy solo part in Rock Bottom was bothering. But that’s nagging on a high level.
[Dajana] Yep! Nothing against virtuoso solos, but such excessively fret wanking was too much. Besides, I was positively surprised too. Here I had no expectations.
[Sui] Ok, the solo was long. But that was the only moment (admittedly a long moment) I was impatient. Apart from that it was a cool show with tons of classics and an audience celebrating every one of them from the first minute on. Yes, guitar god Michael Schenker has recruited excellent musicians. With Herman Rarebell and Francis Buchholz you have almost more Scorpions on stage as in the Scorpions. Much astonishing was multi instrumentalist Wayne Findley, playing guitars, keyboards and doing backing vocals, sometimes everything at the same time.
[BRT] Respect! That was indeed amazing. Mr. Schenker was in best mood, singer Doogie White is beyond any doubt anyway and the backing band excellent. They started with Doctor Doctor and let a firework of old smashing hits follow, complemented with surprisingly strong new tracks. Yes, that was a real pleasure!
Setlist: Doctor Doctor (UFO), Live And Let Live, Lights Out (UFO), Where The Wild Winds Blow, Natural Thing (UFO), Victim Of Illusion (MSG), Lovedrive (Scorpions), Coast To Coast (Scorpions), Vigilante Man, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead, Lord Of The Lost And Lonely, Rock You Like A Hurricane (Scorpions), Rock Bottom (UFO)
[Psycho] And here we go with :: OVERKILL ::. Again. Meanwhile feels as if they play every second year at ROCK HARD FESTIVAL. But as long as the New York boys are that great (even more crowd surfer than at Kreator) is it rather a shame that they are still not play this festival as a headliner. This year we got some surprises in the setlist: Horrorscope for example, or the Judas Priest cover Take On The World during the “Fuck off” encore. Only thing to nag about is the fact, that the band tries for years to break every record in pace - even when it is not possible anymore - and pass themselves when trying. Nothing more to complain about.
Dajana] In contrary to Kreator I like to see OVERKILL again and again and enjoy every single show. I was just worried about Bobby Blitz, because he ran behind the stage every time possible to do… what? Gasping for breath? He said, he’s 57 and an old stag, BUT: “grandpa’s fucking kick your asses!”! Hell yeah!
[Sui] OVERKILL can’t do anything wrong. And they didn’t disappoint me. Bobby Blitz is not only an excellent shouter but also a much likeable frontman who gives everything up to total exhaustion. With all their own hits and classics there was no need to play a cover version, but it somehow suited the set perfectly.
[BRT] Yes! OVERKILL! Great show, great songs. And a crowd perfectly mastered. But it works better in a club, I think. Maybe I have seen them too often and am kind of sated or the last shows were too great to be topped respectively. Don’t get me wrong… I was great!
Setlist: Armorist, Hammerhead, Electric Rattlesnake, Powersurge, In Union We Stand, Rotten To The Core, Bring Me The Night, End Of The Line, Horrorscope, Hello From The Gutter, Overkill, Ironbound // Bitter Pill, Elimination, Fuck You, (The Subhumans cover), Take On The World (Priest cover)
[Psycho] 3 years ago, when the :: BLACK STAR RIDERS :: were still called Thin Lizzy, they enormously surprised as supporting act on one of the Judas Priest farewell tours. After diverse line-up changes and renaming the band, there is hardly anything left that reminds of those old days. It was a solid show, but nothing more and definitely not enough for a headliner position. Realizing that the tracks written by Phil Lynott still work best, they could have kept the old band name. A rather comfy finale of the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL 2015.
[Dajana] I principally agree. I found the show utmost boring. Only the old classics let me not fall asleep. The Amphitheater had visibly emptied. Many used the lame headliner show as an excuse to get early on the way back home.
[Sui] Yes, the arena emptied noticeable. Many fans were just exhausted and the level of heaviness significantly declined. The BLACK STAR RIDERS do not play Metal and Thin Lizzy never did either. And to play after Overkill is always ungrateful. But to say that BSR were only solid or even boring I definitely do not agree with! The mix of new songs and Thin Lizzy classics actually displayed two things: 1.) Thin Lizzy get finally adequately valued again and 2.) The new songs don’t fall any short of the classics. I found this show extremely great, from the first to the last second. And to see Scott Gorham once again playing live was a great experience I won’t forget that quickly. And those who didn’t get goose bumps at Whiskey In The Jar were either dead or already off.
[BRT] I like Thin Lizzy and also both BLACK STAR RIDERS records. There are great songs to find. So I was extremely excited to see them playing live. The band was in great mood, keen to play and have a great front man with Ricky Warwick. We got a fantastic mix of old Thin Lizzy hits (The Boys Are Back In Town, Emerald, Jailbreak etc..) and new smashing hits from the two BSR albums (e.g. Killer Instinct, Bound For Glory, All Hell Breaks Loose etc..). To me a great finale of the festival!
Setlist: Bound For Glory, Jailbreak (TL), Kingdom Of The Lost, Are You Ready (TL), Bloodshot, Charlie I Gotta Go, Bad Reputation (TL), Soldierstown, Suicide (TL), All Hell Breaks Loose, Through The Motions, The Boys Are Back In Town (TL), Finest Hour, Emerald (TL), The Killer Instinct, Rosalie (Bob Seger cover), Whiskey In The Jar (TL)
Summary:
[Psycho] And there it’s already over again, the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL 2015. Two strong days and an average last one. My highlights were VOIVOD, KREATOR, DORO and FLOTSAM & JETSAM, but also the youngsters DESERTED FEAR and SPACE CHASER played remarkable shows. The band mix was great, as always, there are highlights for everyone and every taste. This year we did not have sound failures this time (big thanks to the mixing crew!) and also the weather was fine. As long as they don’t book the Onkelz I’ll always come back to the Amphitheater. There is just one question that drives me nuts: Why the hell are there every year men in bathrobes running around?
[Dajana] I think it is because of the towel day, always happening on May 25 (Ok, would have been the Monday. You know, Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy).
[Sui] To me it was the best ROCK HARD FESTIVAL of the last couple of years. No disappointments, many highlights. My personal faves would be: FLOTSAM & JETSAM, VOIVOD, DORO, OVERKILL and BLACK STAR RIDERS. Many thanks to the stage crew, which started the change over when the band really had finished its set (and not while still playing as in the last year).
[BRT] Great festival, great bands, and even more great people. Sound was good, no cancellations, no drop outs, pleasant audience. Yes, I’d love to comeback!
[Dajana] I agree and follow. Of course, we are back next year! And I’m already much looking forward to the first band announcements. In this spirit… Rock hard!
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