Most of the time, I travel to get away from people. I want to wrap myself in solitude and scenery.
But I’ve been thinking lately about a little change of pace. Sure, I still love the outdoors and all the cool flora and fauna. So it might surprise you that I think it’d be really fun to go to the Wacken Open Air Festival in northern Germany.
Seeing Metal Mined the Right Way
See, we Americans rarely get to see the world’s best heavy metal bands. When they do visit, they’re often playing to crowds a tenth the size of what they’re used to in Europe. And the genre is really on life support here in the states, with most of the better domestic bands consigned to the underground.
But look at the Wacken lineup! Everything from classics like Doro and Anthrax to Epica, Gamma Ray, Hammerfall and Amon Amarth. And I’m leaving out so many! Let’s put it this way: Whether you screaming, singing, growling or grunting, there’s at least a few bands there to represent your metal sub-genre. The masters from the beginning will be there, too – all the original dudes from Black Sabbath, but fronted by Ronnie James Dio in their Heaven & Hell guise; this may seem like heresy, but I’ll take Dio over Ozzy any single day.
A Crowd to Remember
There’s something else I love about European bands: They exude enthusiasm. Most American metal bands act like playing a gig is about as fun as a difficult bowel movement.
The Euro bands are cut from a different stripe. They’re playing heavy music, but having a lot of fun doing it. Maybe the grunge era and its tendency toward self-importance never sickened Europe’s shores. Whatever the reason, when a band is having fun, so is it’s audiences. Europe’s bands seem to excel at that, even when visiting Phoenix in August!
I imagine the crowds must be similar, so I’d really like to take in the people-watching at Wacken. From some of the photos I’ve seen, Wacken looks like a collision between Burning Man, the Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco and … well, a concert, obviously!
A Little Music Travel for Me?
I do kind of wish Wacken was more in the fall, that way I could also take in some Bundesliga fussball action. But still, this is a trip I just might have to take sometime …
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