[Sui] What? Do Iron Maiden play a “Forgotten Jewels” set? Um… no! But :: MONUMENT :: are musically very close to it. Again, we had to make cutbacks in originality as the Londoner exactly follow the footsteps of their NWOBHM idols. So, familiar sound yet played with enormous power, skills and enthusiasm. What more you want? Additionally there were some randomly pyros shot and the crowd was happy. First little highlight of the day.
[Dajana] Yep, also the Saturday was kicked off with raw power and energy. Regarding the opening bands, the RHF team has made excellent choices. And the Brits immediately scored with their “good evening” opener and the “last song for tonight” closer ;) Pyros and CO2 jets are always an eye-catcher (or photo-catcher), if used properly. Here it was used too randomly and didn’t highlight refrains, breaks or special Moments in the songs.
[Psycho] Compared to the just seen originals (Iron Maiden show in April), MONUMENT went down way more powerful – no wonder! They actually could be the illegitimate kids of the iron maidens. Despite of all the great reminiscences, do they have to copycat them so unashamedly? The band has enough potential to do their own thing with self-reliance. Here at the Amphitheater, the show in front of an already well-filled house was a huge success.
[BRT] Strong show of the British hopefuls and so close to the originals that the elder gentlemen may hang it up, at least stage-acting-wise. Yes, there is no originality but strong songs and an overwhelming delight in play. Great opener, likeable band!
Setlist: Welcome To The Night, Full Speed Ahead, Maiden Hell, Curse Of The Damned, Ritual, The Chalice, Screams In The Night, On Your Own, Night Demon, Wasted Years
[Sui] :: KETZER :: I saw at the Party San 2010 for the first time, where they supported their Thrash/Black Metal debut album. Aside from some weaknesses in the performance, the band played a great and uncompromising show. Since then the band has come of age, developed and have a rather different sound nowadays, partly rocking, partly very atmospheric, and with some quieter passages. Standards are higher and they do them good. Unfortunately, the singer can’t meet them. His vocals lack of depth and variability to fit the complex moods of the new material. Altogether, a respectable show that went down well.
[Psycho] I have seen KETZER several times during the last years. The enhancement of their musical spectrum does them good, sounds organic and not constrained to be hip. But I also see the problems with the vocals, especially live. The audience responded restrained, which might be due to the overpowering presence of the band.
[BRT] These days, KETZER can’t be missed on German stages. As for that, the quality of their live shows was… rather mediocre. Unfortunately, the atmosphere of the strong new record, Starless, wasn’t nearly reached. Singer Gerrit just can’t keep up. A topless-posing is of no help either. But, compared with their last couple of shows, the one at the RHF was a much better one. They played a set of old and new songs that provided a more dynamic show.
Setlist: Satan's Boundaries Unchained, Starless, The Fevers Tide, When Milk Runs Dry, Godface, Neuer Song, He, Who Stands Behind The Rows, The Fire To Conquer The World
[Sui] BRT in advance already called my attention to :: THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA ::. Or was it a warning? So, I was looking forward, if flawless 80s AOR would work at the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL. My answer: Yes, it did! Journey and Toto I passed unattended and I didn’t miss anything. But THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA here and now, under a sunny blue sky and comfortable temperatures just made fun. The musicians (of Soilwork and Spritual Beggars among others) were deeply relaxed and threw one hit after another into the crowd, supported by two background singers in a proper stewardess-style. And the crowd rewarded them, well-deserved, with the first encore chants.
[Dajana] To me, THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA was THE surprising act of the entire festival! I never heard of them before and was immediately blown away. What a great fun! It felt like being sent back to the 80s and couldn’t stand still for a second. And so it did not happen to me only. It was unbelievable to see so many hard-boiled die-hard metal fans dancing and swinging hips. Pure awesomeness! ♥
[Psycho] I missed that band but it sounds like as if their show was more an eye-catcher than an ear-catcher… ;) I actually wanted to miss 80s Rock in the 80s. Nowadays it is just way easier to do so ;) Good evidence that not everything was better in the past...
[BRT] THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA is the most current version of 80s melodic Rock, AOR, or however you want to call this kind of stadium Rock. They hail from Sweden and are the hottest shit. There are just people out there who didn’t realize it yet. The tracks of this little supergroup are catchy without being cheesy, they rock as hell and are edgy though. And the band played them with much delight. Frontman Björn Strid failed here and there at higher pitches but the stewardesses outweighed unobtrusive. Perfect entertainment at the coffee and cake time. And yes, there were butts to see swinging in time with the music.
Setlist: Midnight Flyer, Gemini, Stiletto, Domino, Living For The Nighttime, Star Of Rio, Something Mysterious, West Ruth Ave
[Sui] Another band name that raises good memories and high expectations: :: SKYCLAD ::. The band’s brand of Heavy Metal and Folk was revolutionary in the early 90s. There have been other bands before but hardly ever that uncompromising and on such a high level of quality. Unfortunately, this level the Brits couldn’t keep up at the RHF. Maybe it was due the bad sound? Or perhaps due to the song selection? Or because the fiddle was missing? The first tracks sounded like heavier Irish drinking song. That was indeed entertaining but did not represent what the band was capable of doing musically in the past. They became better during their set, but the cover version of Thin Lizzy’s classic Emerald made clear where the difference lies between good and top-notch songwriting. Bummer!
[Psycho] Unfortunately, I have to follow. Maybe my expectations were just too high. I already had my problems with the (not so) new singer on SKYCLADs new album, Forward Into The Past, and this continued live. The biggest crux to me was that the band now presents themselves like any. To me, the band was always special and proved that at their live shows in the past. Nothing remained of that image. Their music sounds like coming from a randomly chosen Irish Pub from anywhere in the world. However, the song selection wasn’t any bad as SKYCLAD also considered tracks from not so known/successful records. Though, the show was disappointing. The band has lost its magic. Forever.
[BRT] I didn’t had such high expectations, because I didn’t deal much with the Mark Kevin Ridley era. Sure, to replace Martin Walkyier is a thankless task, which Ridley outweighed with his very own charisma, a lot of sympathy and good announcements. Compared to earlier material, the metal part got reduced in favor of more Folk’n’Punk. But the lyrics are still profound and critical. The Parliament Of Fools is, almost 15 years old, is more relevant than ever. I liked the show and I didn’t miss much the fiddle of Miss Georgina Biddle. Life's really a chocolate box - some do without - others have plenty.
Setlist: Spinning Jenny, The Declaration Of Indifference, Change Is Coming, Another Fine Mess, Starstruck?, The Parliament Of Fools, Penny Dreadful, Anotherdrinkingsong, Inequality Street, Emerald, Thinking Allowed?
[Sui] Also :: ASPHYX :: I know from the Party San 2010, but my memories are, however, sort of rainy and my notices cryptic. There, keywords such as “secret headliner” and “great music” appear and are closed with “To all those who don’t know what Death Metal is about: stop fucking and retire”. The first two quotes still apply. The Death Metal wrecking ball from Holland still kills and does it is as brutal as musically flawless. I never could do that much with Death Metal vocals, but here I like it. No wannabe-guttural-growls and barks but pure aggression and the perfect attunement for the next band.
[Dajana] That ASPHYX is a force live on stage, is no secret. But that singer Martin van Drunen is such a comedian, I didn’t know. Much in the way of a Mikael Åkerfeldts he launched one joke after another. As dry as a bone and damned funny. His slogan: “drink with wisdom” (regarding sun, dehydration etc.) should be legend by now and quoted umpteen times. But also his battleship-boobs-comparison (MS Bismarck) scored, just to name a few (not mentioning things about naked drummer and stuff). More brownie points he gathered by thanking the band’s crew, the roadies, merchandiser, managers and who else is bustling around the band. That’s something you hardly ever hear from a band on stage. Respect! He also made a clear statement towards the (alleged) terror shit occurring at Rock am Ring festival with Deathhammer and couldn’t help but had a dig at the band’s label Century Media (which got sold to the major Sony and where they apparently have started to pick over the bones as the most recent publishing sale proves).
[Psycho] Good Death Metal always works live. And here we got with the rating A+++. ASPHYX came, saw, and conquered, thanks to a great song selection, a likeable habitus and finally an acceptable sound. And the crowd went wild. Hmmm… actually, the ingredients for a festival highlight ain’t that difficult, right?
[BRT] ASPHYX were as brutal as we know them, but Martin van Drunen’s front man qualities indeed appeared in a new light, even if some of his jokes were really flat.
Setlist: Vermin, Candiru, Division Brandenburg, Wardroid, Death The Brutal Way, MS Bismarck, Deathhammer, Scorbutics, Der Landser, Forerunners Of The Apocalypse, The Rack, Last One On Earth
[Sui] With a weak sound (“thanks” to the slow-witted sound engineer) but brute force Bonded By Blood thundered out of the speakers: :: EXODUS :: kill! The return of Steve "Zetro" Souza did them really good. His vocal performance was not only flawless he’s also much more likeable than redneck Rob Dukes. And so the “good friendly violent fun” got started. The mosh pit including the wall of death is brutal and the mix of old and new songs perfect. To me the headliner of the second day.
[Psycho] I totally agree. EXODUS caused the biggest chaos in front of stage during the festival. Hundreds of fans moved; such a huge mosh pit that likewise pleased fans and the band! Nowhere else people like to run against (human) walls. I salute them for this effort, especially, since the band had probably the worst sound of the festival. Guitars were not heard down in the arena and way too quiet up the seat rows. Does the sound engineer know that Heavy Metal guitars ain’t the most unimportant things? Zetro Sousa anyway proved to be the real deal for EXODUS. A good frontman can be indeed the half battle. Of course, the classics went down much better than new material, but thus all generations had its fun ;)
[BRT] I admit I saw EXODUS… I didn’t find them that boring as I usually do. Might be due to Zouza, who knows. And there were some hits that got the pit going…
Setlist: Bonded By Blood, Exodus, And Then There Were None, Blood In - Blood Out, Pleasures Of The Flesh, Fabulous Disaster, Body Harvest, Children Of A Worthless God, Blacklist, The Toxic Waltz, Strike Of The Beast
[Sui] Every time :: D-A-D :: play the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL I wonder: why this band again? And every time the Danish lunatics promptly deliver the answer: Because they are pure Hard Rock entertainment! This year, they brought their entire living room interior to the RHF. The oversized sofa as drum-raiser, where the bass player used to scramble, was surely a never seen before eye-catcher. The songs aren’t really special but it all fits perfectly together and the songs ignite. It was really a pleasure to see them performing again, before the Amphitheater got blackened.
[Psycho] yep, finally the sun set… D-A-D are indeed a phenomenon. They are actually a relict from the 90s but create their own legitimation by not meeting people’s expectations. While classic Hard Rock is extremely conservative and conventional, D-A-D do exactly the opposite during their live shows. As for that, I still see no reason to listen to them back home, but live D-A-D work superb. And although they already reached the pole position as the “most running band at RHF”: how entertains that excellently may return again.
[BRT] When it comes to Hard Rock you won’t get any better entertainment! Danish dynamite D-A-D is an incredibly awesome live band and manage to rock out the last doubter’s doubt. Freakily awesome show! Jesper Binzer is an outstanding frontman and damned funny with his German-spoken announcements. Not to mention Stig Pedersen, the man with the 666 basses and 423 outfits… This show was huge!
Setlist: Riskin' It All, Written In Water, Monster Philosophy, Girl Nation, Soulbender, A New Age Moving In, Riding With Sue, Everything Glows, Scare Yourself, I Want What She's Got, Bad Craziness, Sleeping My Day Away
[Psycho] Didn’t we talk about variation? So, why not place a downright extreme act on the headliner position? There, the extremely successful :: BEHEMOTH :: lent itself to the RHF. They offered quite a big stage decoration but if their set was embarrassing, boring or atmospheric, is probably a matter of taste. Great musicians they all are, even if you couldn’t hear anything of it due to the bad, bad sound. In the strict sense, this show was an advertisement for the band’s latest record, The Satanist, they played in its entirety, before they played at least three classics as an encore. There could have been more variation in the setlist. Besides, the whole show was too choreographed. Didn’t Black Metal stand for chaos, lust and renewal? And again we were able to observe that the headliner wasn’t able to bind the audience.
[Sui] No, in this life I won’t become a Black Metal fan anymore. And the Saturday-headliner, Polish extremists BEHEMOTH, won’t change it. The sound was utterly shit and I’m not sure if that was boon or bane. While I found the guys with the panda-faces cute in the 90s, it seems that Black Metal grown stiff to a hollow pose is 2017. Musically, however, BEHEMOTH ain’t any bit world-shaking. The best moments they had when they slowed down and became downright heavy. But there is already the next blast attack and undoes everything. How this band could secure the headlining position is a mystery to me.
[BRT] Unfortunately, the power of BEHEMOTH did not unfold. The sound guy completely ruined the the first couple of songs. Especially the opening track Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel suffered. Well, I have already seen better BEHEMOTH shows, regarding both, show and stage-acting. Maybe it is just about time to release something new and thus to inject fresh blood into the live shows. Nevertheless, it wasn’t bad at all, just predictable. But Ov Fire And The Void was, is and always will be the smasher to the Lord of darkness.
Setlist: Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel, Furor Divinus, Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer, Amen, The Satanist, Ben Sahar, In The Absence Of Light, Ojcze Nasz, Ov Fire And The Void, Conquer All, At The Left Hand Ov God, Chant for Eschaton 2000
[Psycho] So, the hottest festival day came to an end, and this, not because BEHEMOTH shot the most pyros its heat you still could feel on the upper echelons. The sun was blazing the whole day and thus boosted the beer consumption despite of increased prices. The second festival day was again distinguished by a large amount of variety and surprises. If you are not a die-hard fan of just one genre, you can’t have it any better :)
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