[Dajana] Gosh darn it! Here we are already at the last festival day. It all went way too fast. After two wonderful days the weather didn’t play along this time. We hadn’t to face any of the announced thunderstorms but the rain got us and was a downer.
:: pics :: WOLVESPIRIT ::
[Dajana] I remember that I had :: WOLVESPIRIT :: in the magazine news some time ago. I remember a video and that I liked sound and voice. So I was looking forward to the opening show of the last festival day. And wow, they put a real Hammond organ on stage. Cool.
What followed… I don’t know how to describe it. Childish? Kitschy? Ridiculous? Music was great, sound too. But frontwoman Debbie Koye acted totally exaggerated in movement and announcements. And, did she was in need to read her lyrics? She always looked on something on the monitor speaker or even squatted behind it. She tried to be super sexy, but, honestly, the décolleté of new bass player Sylvana Lenzschau had more to offer. Oh, and the cover version of Dead Or Alive was a damp squib.
[BRT] I have their latest effort, Change The World, as an above-average Retro Rock album in mind. And, without frontwoman Debbie, this show would have been solid at least. Yes, her stage acting was so exaggerated that I first looked bashfully aside and then, it was just embarrassing. Debbie has a great voice but to watch her act killed all the good impressions. WOLVESPIRIT played solid Retro Rock, as said, nothing special, to be honest. I already have heard that kind of music and all its ingredients umpteen times. What got stuck in mind was, indeed, the décolleté of the bass player.
[Seb] When I heard what Dajana had to say about the show as I arrived, I was – for once – thankful that the Ruhrbahn and Bogestra are utterly incompetent. It really appears as though that saved me from some enormous amount of cringe, even though I had to miss out on that famed décolleté *g*
Setlist: Fire & Ice, I Want To Love, I Am What I Am, Knocking On Your Door, Change The World, Blowin' Up, You Spin Me Right Round (Like A Record), Don’t You Know, Hell‘s Bells Are Ringing, I Am Free
:: pics :: SULPHUR AEON ::
[Dajana] :: SULPHUR AEON :: came, saw, and got the tentacles out. It is always great to see the Cthulhuists playing live. They played kind of a best-of set through all three records, like their latest live album Unaussprechliche Kulte almost in its entirety.
[BRT] Highlight number three. Finally a proper Black/Death metal hurricane. Unfortunately, sound was suboptimal. Guitars were too low, while Daniels drums blasted everything away. But that's nagging on a high level. Weather perfectly suited the incantation of the great old ones. To me, only speaking of the energy and atmosphere, already a highlight. Now we have to wait for album number four.
[Seb] I would have been very mad at the public transport if even a 60 minute cushion hadn’t been enough to arrive in time for SULPHUR AEON, but fortunately it did (just) work out well. Not only are the guys basically “local heroes” (Waltrop), they did also impress me very much when I saw their show at the 2019 edition of the Culthe-Fest in my former home town of Münster: The show was that much of an success, that the whole thing has been released as live album the following year.
Matching SULPHUR AEONS Lovecraft-inspired backdrop (dark waves towering over fearsome and weird creatures), the weather turned to shit as soon as the band entered the stage and would refuse to get better until the end: Since the same would happen with the other black-ish band later on, one might think someone “up there” or better “down there” wanted to prove some sense of humor. Nonetheless, even though the sound suffered a bit from the conditions, the show was as strong as I expected it to be. Technically brilliant Black/Death-Metal with a lot of variety and a very powerful, pressing sound.
By the way: Anyone who is also into the lyrics and does not know the book series yet, might want to check out the “Laundry Files” by Charles Stross: Modern and gripping, yet at time hilarious adaptations of the old lovecraftian myths and horrors, and highly addictive.
Setlist: Cult Of Starry Wisdom, Yuggothian Spell, The Summoning Of Nyarlathotep, Onwards... Towards Kadath, Incantation, Swallowed By The Ocean's Tide, Gateway To The Antisphere, Lungs Into Gills, Devotion to the Cosmic Chaos
:: pics :: ARTILLERY ::
[BRT] :: ARTILLERY :: is a much likeable band with a really great singer, playing Thrash Metal with a very own note. What can go wrong? To be honest, running over one hour, the set was a bit monotonous. There was a point, where I shut off, something that happens quite often to me listening to Thrash Metal, when the band doesn't play "short & crisp".
[Dajana] That the old Danish geezers would play such killer show I didn't expect. I have seen many people freaking out down in the moshpit. Wow!
[Seb] Now that was a nice serving of good old Thrash Metal, delivered without any compromises or concessions to modern times. Only the slightly to high ratio of normal/clean vocals prevented it from hitting straight home for me. Unfortunately, the performance felt a bit dragged out near the end - maybe 60 minutes were a bit too much as the songs don’t offer a great deal of variety, maybe the fact that we were still trying to get dry played a role as well…
Setlist: The Devils Symphony, By Inheritance, Turn Up The Rage, The Face Of Fear, Bomb Food, The Challenge, In Thrash We Trust, 10.000 Devils, Legions, Khomaniac, Terror Squad, The Almighty
:: pics :: NIGHT DEMON ::
[BRT] :: NIGHT DEMON :: are a phenomenal live band, who have literally won their standing by playing. Well deserved, of course. They spread pure live energy. But sometimes I wish they would write songs with more recognition value. NIGHT DEMON is far away from playing "hits" and they are surely not yet ready to play (festival) headliner shows. Again, nagging on a high level. It was for sure a highly entertaining show.
[Seb] Even though NIGHT DEMON are very much into evilness and demons, the sun finally started to get out again when the band took to the stage.
The band displayed an astonishing energy level; you’d almost be surprised that they are actually only a trio as the constant movement on stage creates an illusion of more band members. A bit as is if they were the Immortal of “normal” Heavy Metal ;-)
[Dajana] Watching them running and jumping and running again, at high speed (must be miles during their show), the dudes actually should be slender as a reed and be top athletes ;)
Setlist: Screams In The Night, Empires Fall, Hallowed Ground, Kill The Pain, Overkill/Dawn Rider, The Howling Man, The Sun Goes Down, Heavy Metal Heat, Vysteria, Are You Out There, Flight Of The Manticore, The Chalice, Darkness Remains, Night Demon
:: pics :: MIDNIGHT ::
[Seb] :: MIDNIGHT :: were the third and last of the bands that I had been really looking forward to for the 2022 RHF edition. And I did particularly hope for better sound than the last time I got to see them (2019 in Essen during the tour with Mgla, in ancient and almost forgotten pre-pandemic times). And I should not be disappointed!
Even though the whole mummery-and-hoods-gimmick has worn off by now and can by no means be considered even remotely “original” any more, it was at least somewhat fitting today: As soon as MIDNIGHT started to play, the rain began to pour again and soon most of the remaining audience would be as hooded as them band themselves ;-)
However, the weather did neither prevent the band nor the audience from having a great time as we were treated with an hour of the finest Black/Speed-Metal (or whatever one might call their style, there’s also a bit Black’n’Roll in it) one can hope to find these days. MIDNIGHT did of course play the most popular songs from their first three albums, but the focus was, unsurprisingly, on the new long player Let There Be Witchery (released March 2022). In my opinion, the fourth studio album is – by some margin – MIDNIGHTs strongest effort to date, and many of the songs gain some extra groove in a live set. The hour was over much too quick and did most certainly cause a lot of wear and tear on the crowd’s necks. Very nice!
[BRT] I haven't seen the complete MIDNIGHT show. Sometimes I'm scarred if and how they make it on stage, or if they are able to leave the stage unscathed. But maybe that's exactly the special flair around them. That all perfectly suits the band's rude Black-Speed-Rock'n'Roll attitude, which should leave Motörhead and Venom fans grin from ear to ear. Even if I don't know the latest record, it is always a pleasure to see MIDNIGHT playing live.
Setlist: Vomit Queens, Poison Trash, Evil Like A Knife, Fucking Speed And Darkness, Rebirth By Blasphemy, Penetratal Ecstasy, Lust Filth And Sleaze, Satanic Royalty, Black Rock'n'Roll, Szex Witchery, Prowling Leather, Telepathic Nightmare, You Can't Stop Steel, Who Gives A Fuck?, Unholy And Rotten
:: pics :: MICHAEL MONROE ::
[Dajana] Hmmm. All in all I would say the :: MICHAEL MONROE :: show was quite bizarre, wasn't it? However, for one thing I have to give him the due: For his age, he was unbelievably agile and moved a lot. He even did splits several times, and playing the harp and sax alongside. Just wow! On the other hand, he acted so crazily that I'm not sure if there were not certain substances involved too ;) MICHAEL MONROE just released his new album, I Live Too Fast To Die Young, he lived up to the max. It perfectly reflects his life and lifestyle, so to say ;) Next to his own material, he also played songs from his era in Hanoi Rocks and Demolition 23, as well as some cover versions. By the way: Didn't guitarist Rich Jones look like Norman Reedus?
[Seb] Well, let’s say, that it was “special” ;-) MICHAEL MONROE was so entrenched in his own performance that he almost ran over his own musicians several times: at one point, his lead guitar player could just so avoid to be flattened by a fierce swing of the mic stand.
While the 80s hard rock scene isn’t exactly known for being a healthy environment, Mr. Monroe was both surprisingly agile and in good voice. Rumors had it, that there might have been some performance enhancing substances involved.
I am by no means an expert in this field, but to me the set itself felt like slightly above average, technically sound hard rock without, apart from MONROEs over the top acting and exaggerated vocals, many distinctive features. I won’t remember the show for the music, but for the weird outfit, the constant (six times or so) changing of head gear, MICHAEL MONROEs roaming through the crowd or at least the stage ditch, and several backward rolls that did hurt my (younger) bones even from watching them.
One of hard rocks last dinosaurs and worth watching at least once for that reason alone. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore ;-)
[BRT] Admittedly, I expected a half-dead coked up and spaced-out gaffer, rolled on and off stage by a nurse. I truly did not expect such impressive live show. No way! MICHAEL MONROE was lively, highly motivated, full of energy and hyper. That's the way I imagine a proper Rock show. Yes, that was awesome! And I think, no one was bothered by the fact that most of the saxophone came from tape.
Setlist: One Man Gang, Last Train To Tokyo, Murder The Summer Of Love, Nothin's Alright, Trick Of The Wrist, '78, Soul Surrender, Man With No Eyes, Ballad Of The Lower East Side, Not Faking It, Can't Stop Falling Apart, Old King's Road, Motorvatin', Hammersmith Palais, Malibu Beach Nightmare, Up Around The Bend, Dead, Jail Or Rock 'n' Roll, Oriental Beat
:: pics :: SODOM ::
[Seb] When the RHF crew member on stage announced a surprise guest (during what was dubbed the “promoters key note” in the running order), one girl next to me instantly said: “Considering my bad luck, it will be SODOM”. A few moments later she sighed and I couldn’t help but laugh, of course it was them.
Anyways, I didn’t mind as I hadn’t seen:: SODOM :: in quite a while and their surprise spot was only long enough for three songs. Despite only being on stage for 15 minutes, the Ruhr Area “old hands” had a lot of support and got their deserved ovations after they blasted through their three tracks (with Wachturm being the popular closer). I can’t say that I was overly impressed and the still shitty weather did certainly not help me to enjoy this surprise, but that does not mean that it was a bad show – I am not even sure if SODOM are capable of delivering a really bad performance. And, no matter if the band was or wasn’t anyone’s favorite possible surprise: It was certainly better than having to endure a 20 minute key note speech while it’s raining, haha.
[Dajana] This special set had to do with the most recent premiere of the Total Thrash – The Teutonic Story documentation. That's why (ex-SODOM) guitarist Andy Brings stood on stage (as part of the docu). This surprising feature might also be due to the fact that Covid has changed the line-up several times over the years and couldn't be fully refilled and left some time gaps. One reason, why other bands had such long playing times.
Setlist: Body Parts, One Step Over The Line, Wachturm
:: pics :: ACCEPT ::
[Seb] By the time the headliner was finally due to play, we were not only (still) wet like rags, but also quite “chilled” in the literal sense. Apart from never being a big fan in the first place, this was the main reason why :: ACCEPT :: were not much more than an also-ran in my books this time.
Personal taste and freezing aside, the everlasting group from Solingen (founded as “Band X”, ACCEPT are now, albeit with a short hiatus on a couple of occasion, active since 1968!) are most definitely a worthy headliner for the RHF and had the audience firmly in their grip right from the start. Alas, I just couldn’t muster up any energy any more. RHF 2023 will hopefully have us enjoy the headliner in a better and less wet state again…
[Dajana] Yeah, I agree. Fun and enthusiasm has gone. I didn't freeze but I was wet (as my rain cape didn't do its job anymore). I wasn't in mood anymore. ACCEPT surely played an awesome show. Sound and lights were great and the remaining crowd in the arena (many had already left) was thrilled, noisy and sang along. Nevertheless, on my way to the car with the old classics echoing, I realized that I love those songs more with Udo behind the mic.
Setlist: Zombie Apocalypse, Symphony Of Pain, Living For Tonite, Restless And Wild, Overnight Sensation, The Abyss, Objection Overruled, Shadow Soldiers, Princess Of The Dawn, Fast As A Shark, Metal Heart, Teutonic Terror, Pandemic, Demon's Night/Starlight/Losers And Winners/Flash Rockin' Man, Balls To The Wall, I'm A Rebel
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