The good thing about indoor festivals without camping areas is the lack of drunken people crawling around with toilet paper under their arms sneaking to the next best Dixi Toilet in the morning. Therefore, everyone seemed wide awake and not too hungover on the second day of Rock Im Revier.
Friday, May 27, has long been sold out and metalheads from all over Europe headed to Dortmund to see one of the greatest legends of the last three decades: Iron Maiden. Of course, the British Eddie tamers didn’t just sneak through the backdoor, giving many of the fans the chance to visit the huge Düsseldorf airport where the world famous private plane of Iron Maiden, Ed Force One, landed on Thursday to bring the band on German ground.
At 2:15 PM, the newcomers from Wild Lies entered the stage and started with a somehow Nickelback-esque hard rock sound. The audience was not completely awake yet, but still did their best to support the young British quintet that has only been around for three years.
The Raven Age were quite new to the game as well, but as the official support act of the current Iron Maiden tour, they managed to get a well-deserved load of attention for their mix of classic guitar riffs and modern vocals. With George Harris (Maiden’s Steve Harris‘ son) on bass, the audience immediately showed some respect, even though not many seemed to be familiar with their music. Old-school met new fresh air, and it took some time to get used to the vocals, but in the end, these youngsters proved that the new generation of metal is ready to take over.
Suddenly, lots of girls hurried to the stage – not a surprise, since heartthrob Mark Tremonti was here to charm Dortmund. As the guitarist of Alter Bridge and ex-guitarist of Creed, Tremonti has been living inside his own little house on the hard rock Olympus for many years, and with his deep and haunting voice, seduced the German fans. This unfortunately lasted only 50 minutes, but this was long enough to make tears of joy roll down some faces in the audience.
It’s hard not to love Ghost. Those wonderful creatures from “Vatican, Sweden” know how to put on a memorable rock show in the year 2016, when most fans just shrug since they saw it all before. Not so with Ghost. Led by Papa Emeritus III, the masked Ghouls created a satirical-satanic orgy, mixing old-school heavy metal with soft vocals that almost sounded like good old Depeche Mode. Everything about this band is just so over the top that you just have to follow their weird and somehow funny path and say a little prayer.
After this haunted moment in Dortmund, the Swedish Panzer Alliance alias Sabaton was back to promote their new album ‘The Last Stand’! Wherever Joakim Brodén and his soldiers show up, it’s time for battle hymns and strong melodies. They gathered a community of truly devoted fans, who didn’t just scream along to every song, but also knew how to get their favourite band drunk by requesting “Noch ein Bier!” (“Another beer!”). Luckily, the Swedes were in possession of strong livers and managed a precision landing even after several bottles of their own new beer brand. After the attack of the “Night Witches”, Sabaton celebrated their “Primo Victoria” and didn’t take any prisoners. What a show, and definitely the best party atmosphere of the evening!
This only seems to be surpassable by the one and only Iron Maiden. With their monumental stage setting of ancient ruins, Bruce Dickinson conquered Dortmund like no other, running, jumping and invoking the mighty Eddie by spinning his microphone stand through the air. Their old-school heavy metal sound never gest old, and even though some of the fans might have gotten thinner hair and now drink a little less, they still knew how to celebrate. During “The Book Of Souls”, their giant mascot Eddie invaded the stage and caused some typical chaos, before Iron Maiden left their fans speechless with “Hallowed Be Thy Name”. Those wild British gentlemen still know how to rule, and it’s always a pleasure to have them on German ground – especially here in Dortmund, where the band played a two-hour long set, and still, The one-day-ticket of RockFESTIVAL REVIEW: ROCK IM REVIER 2016 [Day 1] Im Revier was cheaper than a normal Maiden show. No wonder the arena was packed and completely sold out.
The second day of Rock Im Revier came to an end with a giant bang, and fans of all different genres celebrated the survival of the evil Eddie attack, Ghost’s religious ceremony and Sabaton’s war cries, by hurrying to the next best catering stall to enjoy hot dogs and beer. But they needed to be ready… because the third day promised to be the heaviest one of them all!
