3-Days-Festival-Ticket: 119.90 Euro (incl. fees)
3-Days-Festival-Ticket plus Camping: 152.40 Euro (incl. fees)

Friday: 49 Euro (pre-sale) / 54 Euro (bo)
Saturday: 59 Euro (pre-sale) / 65 Euro (bo)
Sunday: 59 Euro (pre-sale) / 65 Euro (bo)

5/26 • Triptykon - Benediction - Vicious Rumors - Holy Moses - Motorjesus - Screamer

5/27 • Testament - Sodom - Nestor - Brian Downey's Alive & Dangerous - Voivod - Depressive Age - Knife - Midnight Rider

5/28 • Michael Schenker Group - Katatonia - Tankard - Enforcer - Legion Of The Damned - Wucan - Undertow - Iron Fate

40 Years of Rock Hard Magazine and 20 Years of ROCK HARD FESTIVAL

[Dajana] If that wouldn't be a reason to party hard, what else would it be? And it seems, the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL team takes this anniversary serious. I can already see the mosh pits at legendary:: Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen ::. TRIPTYKON will play their only German show at RHF, a special Celtic Frost set. There is a massive Thrash Metal package, featuring bands such as TESTAMENT, SODOM (as replacement for Exodus on short notice), HOLY MOSES and DEPRESSIVE AGE, Death Metal cult with BENEDICTION, something cozy with KATATONIA and NESTOR, as well as all the other styles and genres of Heavy Metal, Rock and Punk. Be aware!
I, of course, would have also liked to see PSYCHOTIC WALTZ, who instantly cancelled all live activities due to health issues.
It surely is always a difficult task to put an anniversary line-up together, to consider every genre, style and era the magazine covered over the last 40 years. You cannot please everybody. It is the party around the festival, the "family" meeting that makes every RHF special, right? Though, since it even was a double anniversary, I missed bigger names as headliners. I understand that this festival is not made to book Metallica, Kiss and Maiden, but bands such as Machine Head, Meshuggah or Amon Amarth for example would have been the perfect league for such celebration.

[BRT] VICIOUS RUMORS! DISCHARGE! And for the Judas Priest fans (I heard there are a few) MIDNIGHT RIDER! Someone also recommended IRON FATE warmly to me, a hint for US Metal fans.
Well, I could excellently enjoy the festival without bores such as SCREAMER and LEGION OF THE DAMNED. Never mind!
The Celtic Frost old school set on Friday might raise the bar high; this also goes for TRIPTYKON leader Mr. Warrior himself and his changing moods. But it might be a killer show though. And I'm much looking forward to HOLY MOSES.

[Psycho] Who'd have thought? When I bought my very first Rock Hard Magazine issue (#16) in the 80s, no one could have guessed where the journey would lead to one day. On these grounds: Congratulations and much respect for this anniversary! The next 40 years in this always faster changing media landscape won't be easier…
Concerning my anticipation I'm more restrained than our chief editor. Of course, everything that goes with the festival makes the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL worth coming, but, except for the Friday, I find the line-up rather average.
And the fact that KATATONIA wasn't set as a headliner I can hardly stand…

[BRT] Well, as already said, the line-up is debatable matter every year. What's striking to me is that many of my friends cancelled their participation this year. Similar to the Bang Your Head Festival (which was cancelled again and put to rest forever – Dajana) also the RHF will have difficulties in the future to stay competitive with their "play it safe"-attitude and billings. Especially with increasing costs and prices. So called "niche-festivals" might have it easier in the future (which then wouldn't represent the Rock Hard magazine (fully) - Dajana), but also here I have already heard discussions of the opposite. It is… difficult...

[Sui] BRT indeed hit the nail on the head with his "play it safe"-phrase. I wouldn't say that the usual suspects are bad ones, but this year there is hardly any new band to be discovered. Well, it's nagging on a high level. I'm actually slaphappy to attend the festival again after a four years absence. And I'm looking forward to the Friday most. If only for the meeting of all those old metal geezers again before we go into retirement.

[Psycho] At the last minute, more line-up changes happened. DISCHARGE had to cancel due to health issues, VOIVOD stepped in and TESTAMENT's Alex Skolnick had to sit out the European tour, with Phil Demmel joining the gang on Sunday at RHF.

[Seb] To be honest, I am kind of surprised that Asphyx did not take the short notice replacement spot again ;-)
As per usual, the RHF isn't that important as far as the bands are concerned; regardless of how plays it is a great opportunity to meet a lot of friends and people. But also as per usual, there were a select few bands I was really looking forward to, especially the first day had two of my all-time favorites in BENDECTION and "CELTIC FROST" by way of TRIPTYKON.

:: Friday :: Saturday :: Sunday :: Summary :: Impressions ::

[Dajana] Generally saying, concerts and festivals feel much better this year. Everything and everybody is back to normal, corona is officially done, no restrictions anywhere anymore. Remember, last year we collectively got infected by the plague at RHF. Let's hope that we don't repeat this this year ;)

[Psycho] Right, it even hit us too, although we were on holidays in Greece at this time…

[Dajana] The weather forecast was promising: A lot of sun at moderate temperatures and no rain. Yes, we all got a nice tan and gulped a lot of dust (with the beer).
[BRT] I guess, bets for the nastiest sunburns can already be taken…
[Psycho] I join up for the first round…

[Dajana] It's no secret that costs and pricing have significantly increased. But, compared with some other festivals, you can still call the ticket pricing for ROCK HARD FESTIVAL moderate.
Regarding merchandise and pricing, I'd just like to repeat some headwords from earlier discussions to encourage you for a deeper search after the festival, coz it would go beyond the scope here and now: concession contracts, venue cuts, new shipping taxes and "licensing of sales packaging" since 2019… etc.
When it comes to drinks and food… well… it's a gladly taken chance by the operators of the venues to make cash or to even rip off fans. No secret either…

[Psycho] Yes, I'm curious about the pricing too. Perhaps we get 0.3l cups of beer for the same price, or the dinner in the two-digits…

[BRT] I'm curious if the beer garden this year will look like as its name implies. Last year's 3 or 4 sets of tables were ridiculous. One of the points of criticism I heard several times.
[Sui] To be honest, I'm much more interested in the Painted In Blood exhibition than the number of beer garden sets. The ROCK HARD FESTIVAL never lacked hard and uncomfortable seats, which were always a guarantee for dry asses. I'm curious about the merch and its pricing…
[Dajana] Actually, prices for beer/wine has been the same: 5 Euro for 0.4l, 3.50 Euro for water, plus 1 Euro deposit. Same goes for coffee and crepes. Pizza, pasta and co. were like 1 or 2 Euro more expensive than last year.

[Dajana] Of course, many things happened on the periphery of the festival too. There were readings by Kumpels in Kutten and Ernie Fleetenkieker of Krachmucker TV, the Painted In Blood Artwork Exhibition, markets, signing sessions, after show parties and much more.

[Dajana] At the end of our intro we once again would like to send out a BIG THANK YOU and thousands of hearts ♥♥♥ to the ROCK HARD FESTIVAL team and crew to up the festival season for us every year. We couldn't start any better :)
It is always our utmost pleasure to be part of this party. Much love ♥♥♥ goes also to all the helping hand, securities, toilet attendants, barkeepers, paramedics, and whoever else, who are there for us night and day, making us feel safe and welcome!

[Psycho] I absolutely agree. All these people are always super nice and professional. Kudos to them!
[Seb] The others said most of what I'd have said, hence only that much: I hope that the audience will get somewhat back on track as far as behavior is concerned. Last year, after the Covid-years, I had the impression that quite a lot of people went somewhat over the top even compared to what you have to expect at a metal festival. There's a level to drunkenness and aggression, and it wasn't OK at times. Maybe that's just me getting older, but it felt a bit wrong and I'm used to a lot after two and a half decades of this.
[Sui] Since I cannot draw a comparison to the last year, I at least can say that most of the metal heads had themselves under control. Since I cannot draw a comparison to the last year, I at least can say that most of the metal heads were in control of their temper. What indeed was striking was the increase in grey beards and hairs. That speaks for a huge amount of core audience but also reveals a huge deficit: there's no offspring. Might be due to the billing...

Stories • BRT, Psycho, Sui, Seb, Dajana • Pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography