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The Main Stage

An Arial view of the madness!

Barcode

Brujeria

The Business

Coldlitz

Dropkick Murphy's

Earth Crisis

Jumpers

Neville Staples

Onkel Tom & Crowd

Terror

This big 3 day festival has eluded me for many years. Although its line-ups have been excellent in terms of quantity and quality of bands it’s location in East Germany right near to the Polish border previously meant it was difficult and expensive to get to (Leipzig is the nearest major city). However, with the advent of low cost travel opening up cheaper airports like Altenburg, and coupled with WFF having this year’s killer line-up meant that a trip behind the iron curtain was definitely on the cards - and what an adventure it was to be! Firstly, we missed our flight and so had re-route via Frankfurt (Main) which meant a 600 mile detour across Germany! Our first stop was at Colditz castle, made famous during WW2 as it housed famous allied prisoners like Douglas Bader. As it turned out, we stayed with coupla nuts from the Colditz 'Appreciation Society' who we suspected had broken into the castle not two weeks earlier to re-enact one of Bader's escape attempts! Seems there’s still a bit of a war going on in the little town of Colditz between Saxony Council who want to turn the castle into a renaissance castle and the 'Appreciation Society', who want to preserve it as a war memorial. Back on the road, we noticed that far from being a desolate post war industrial wasteland, the east had a simple, down to earth way about it - the people didn’t speak much English but they were sure friendly enough. And it was cheap with good beer and food! Also, the east seems to be littered with WW2 and cold war sites like bunkers, prisons etc, all kept well preserved - if you can find them - thanks ironically to the communists. So what would the festival be like?!?!

WFF is sited on a airfield - indeed there were gliders flying around during the whole festival - with the closest town called Roitzschjora (pronounced Roy-jitsch-jora). 2007 was the 14th year of the festival happening and around 50,000 people attended it. What stands out most about this festival when compared to other festivals was its 50:50 split between metal and hardcore / punk bands, given the latter is extremely popular in the east. It’s also a well organised festival where the promoters have clearly taken the trouble to sensibly space out bands with afternoon starts so everyone can rest after a good nights partying - good thinking! After checking into our hotel - also made famous by the fact Napoleon had stayed there on his way to invade Russia - we made our way to the festival site which had one main stage and a marquee thankfully located just a close distance from one another. Another thing that was different was that everyone was really laid back, not like at other festivals where there is just chaos! Even though there was only one narrow road into the site, cars and people were really civil to each other. The staff and security were also really friendly and tolerant which was quite different to the stories of the east being fulla neo nazis. And we only saw one police car the whole time we were there.

I guess its reasonable to say that if Germans drink a lot, then East Germans get fuckin loaded - cripes, how much did these guys - and gals - drink?!?! And what kinda cigarrettes did they smoke, they could’ve been on the same list as Saddam’s WMDs they stank so badly and gave off clouds of dirty smoke ha ha!

Fri 28th June

Today’s adventure began with trying to find our way into the arena! Everyone seemed to be giving us different directions until I finally got pissed off and worked one of the fences loose just as Finland’s Swallow The Sun were hitting the mainstage. I’d met these fun guys before on London and they still play their style of dark, gothic metal although in the mid afternoon sun it took a lotta that melancholy away so I wished they’d worked the crowd harder. Still, it was a laid back start, not that Zuul FX from France would allow that to continue for long. With a rasta guitarist, these guys were were clearly up for a blast and literally blew off the tentstage with their brand of extreme metal. It didn’t matter that vocalist Zuul couldn’t be understood with his thick French accent, cos you could see it in his eyes which said ‘let’s fuckin rock’ and everyone started heaving around especially when they played ‘I Hate You’. They left to a huge roar having done a job well. Next up were a range of bands from Venerea, who were hardcore (and played an Iron Maiden cover) and Maroon, whose vocalist was dressed like a priest and played what I’d describe best as black punkcore! Whatever the image or style I have to say that none of the bands were crap or without talent, even if a few of the local ones were unknown to me. Next up were one of the bands I’d come to see - Brujeria. While some people in the underground years ago considered them to be too commercial that certainly wasn’t noticeable on the huge crowd who gathered at the mainstage. With Mexican flags flying the machete wielding, Peto Wilson cussing meztizos set about their death metal rap gettin’ the pit goin’. The only setback was the language barrier cos no one understood Spanish so when Brujo asked the crowd ‘Do you wanna be Mexican’ it provoked a confused response. Still, Brujeria were a sight to behold with their whole Tarantino Mexican bandido look - viva Pancho Villa! Back in the tentstage, another band whom I’d come to see were Earth Crisis, who were easily the most fast and aggressive band today playing their old school hardcore and taking it right to the crowd - who responded with a raucous pit - not bad for a buncha old dudes! And the grandad trip continued with Oi! faves The Business, resplendent in their England footie gear and a Royal Navy flag backdrop, gettin' the punks and skins moshing and pogoing, proving that old punks can never die. Although on a German label, they were still bulldog enough to ask ‘Are there any British ‘ere tonite?’. We responded with our Heinekans! Closing off the day for us was Korn, who brought their full stage show and set to WFF, with Jonathan Davis and his bagpipes and my fave rhyme ‘nick, nack paddywack, give tha dawg a bone', although Fieldy is lookin a little thin nowadays ha ha! Although that brought the festival to a close, for the insomniacs - or those that had nowhere to stay - it was time for the Knuppelnacht: non stop black metal throughout the night beginning with Satyricon and ending with Vomitory, although there was a mystery closer who we later found out (cos we saw their keys at out hotel!) were Pungent Stench who finished at 5am!!

Sat 29th June

Today we made a side trip to a nuclear command bunker prior to the festival. Officially known as the Kossa Museum, we joined a German speaking tour for two hours that took us through the labyrinth of tunnels and rooms that was designed to survive a NATO first strike. Fortified by the local 51% proof liquor (Bunker Kreit!) we were both impressed by the full working order of all the equipment and also concerned as to why it was being kept operational! Thankfully, we reached the surface to a Trabant fair with almost 50 of these weird looking vehicles and icons of East Germany in the field grounds: they had everything from a dragster version to one with a tent on the roof, showing the versatility of this ‘people’s’ car. Still buzzing from the booze and the awe of the bunker, we arrived at the festival to the insanity of Lamb of God. If ever there was a band to mosh to, these were the guys. As vocalist Randall Blythe (related to Cap'n Blythe?!) roared into his mike, the circle pit grew like a tornado until people were being flung out by the sheer energy - with full force indeed! Then suddenly the crowd parted and a strange stand off took place. As I was wondering what would happen next, the crowd then charged each other - it was like something outta ‘Braveheart’. Lamb of God left the place in tatters but sadly Static X had cancelled so it was left to Zuul FX from the previous day to fill their slot. This was followed by a coupla hardcore bands Strung Out and Sworn Enemy, and Caliban, a sorta German nu metal band complete with a frantic look of blood soaked shirts and cut throats! Having seen the viking metal of Amon Amarth a coupla times before we caught half of the chick fronted of Walls of Jericho which I found a strange metal name for a hardcore band. A massive crowd that spilled outta the tent had already gathered to bear witness to LA crew Terror. And what terror they brought. It was a fuckin riot! Frontman Scott Vogel was actually inciting the crowd to storm the barrier and get onstage whilst other people were climbing the massive support rafters of the tent and then dropping down onto the hapless crowd below - talk about death from above! At one stage, one guy climbed almost all the way to the top - about 100 feet - but thankfully he came down to about 30 feet when he realised someone was gonna get killed sooner of later. Some fat dude was having a fit on the floor in front of us but Terror didn’t give a rats ass fer no one. It was just 1 fuckin hour of brutality! After that I was actually thankful of the more controlled sound of Sick Of It All. Its been a while since I saw Arman, Craig Setari and the Koller bros but they’ve lost none of their attitude, giving the finger to everyone and stomping around the stage like it was their NYC playground, still angry at the world. Despite being only the second day, the highpoint of the festival was Children of Bodom’s set, which brought out everyone. Alexi & co playing all our fave tracks, although annoying me a little with his American style audience raps. Oh well, I guess that means that they’re truly professional. The night ended with a massive fireworks display which is more than can be said of Mambo Kurt, who was playing in the VIP tent backstage. Clearly a joke, the media types loved this nerdy looking college professor playing on his organ the likes of ‘Genghis Khan’ or ‘Colder Than Ever’. I gotta admit, he had me in hysterics for about 10 minutes but then it began to wear off and become annoying. Thankfully, the evening ended back in the tent stage to the classy sound of SKA legend Neville Staples - formerly of 80s two tone Brit band The Specials back in the tent stage. Skinheads and punks moonstomped together with metalheads to the sounds of The Specials and it was great to see this crowd appreciating their musical roots from the Caribbean, making up for the cancellation of Bad Manners. Again, it also showed the healthy diversity of this festival.

Sun 30th June

Another side trip today - this time to the town of Torgau, made famous in my mind from all those Sven Hassell novels I read as a kid. Part of the German military prison system during WW2, Torgau also had the infamous Fort Zinna, which today is still a prison! Not even the cute brown bears in the castle gardens could cheer us up as we saw the fotos and grimly read of the million soldiers that passed through the system, 20,000 of whom were executed. However, the prospect of catching another elusive band, Barcode soon perked us up. With some irony, these Danes - whom I’d been wanting to see since their 90s debut ‘Hard Jet Superflash’, had a new vocalist called SS Graveyard and thankfully they didn’t disappoint! Playing material from all their albums they gave the crowd - by now starting to look a little punch drunk after 3 days - a good kick in the nuts to wake everyone up. By now the sun had come up and I’d drunk a little too much viking wine myself so the bands whizzed by from the punk of The Bones to the hardcore of Fear My Thoughts to the crossover of Pro Pain. By the time my head cleared it was time for Il Nino, a latino ethno metal mixture that gave me the impression they were trying to take off where System Of A Down left off. With the second sound of bagpipes filling the air, probably my fave band of WFF the Dropkick Murphys took to the stage, slightly worse for wear either from the night before or a long flight. I know these Boston lads like to ‘sing loud, sing proud’ and many in the crowd obliged, but again the language barrier may have come into play. Also, it was possible there were less people there confirming my belief that Sat was indeed the main day and not today. Still, it didn’t stop Al Barr from working the crowd and when he stepped offstage he was soaked in sweat - thankfully his own! With the onset of Slayer, the crowd had returned and were piling up at the barrier with some people so drunk that they were already being pulled out - all the healthy signs of a Slayer show! There was so much dry ice everyone was coughing and all the side stages were filled with people - it was Slayer time! Some people have indicated that Slayer have lost it but having seen the band right from the 80s (although I wouldn’t nominate myself as a Slayer fan) I haveta say that they are still delivering the goods with the same ferocity and brutality - Lombardo was hittin it so hard that during ‘War Ensemble’ one guy’s earplugs fell out and he ran off cos it was so damn loud! That’s what makes Slayer such a festival favourite! Having found out that Crematory had also cancelled we decided that this would be the end too - but not before going out with a bang with Onkel Tom! Resplendent in his own football shirt: great idea until he tried to tell everyone it was the best team - I’m guessing it was Essen - and here we are in East Germany so he got a few boos ha ha! However, he was handing out beers to the crowd so it was soon a party mix of football and beer songs - the perfect fun way to close off 3 days of festival.

Looking back, this is an excellent festival especially if you like punk or hardcore. Its well laid out and organised and everyone is really friendly from the people at the festival right down to the cops! Its also reasonably cheap compared to other festivals and there’s plenty of other things you can see around the area although you will need a car for that. The 1 hour plus sets also made it easy on the crowd and probably the bands too so that’s another excellent idea. The only downside were the cancellations which happen elsewhere too but if WFF can work on this then I can only see great things for the next year. Check out the festival DVD on www.withfullforce.de

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Sick of it All ----------------...................................-----------------the bunker