I have memories, clouded by sorrow

So we came to Thursday morning, arguably the first proper day of the festival, although still with fewer bands than on Friday or Saturday. The rain was coming down quite heavily in the early hours but I think it had mostly passed by the time I got up at 10am or so. But after the rain, came the wind. It fell to myself and a few others to attempt to hold down the gazebo that we'd put up behind our tent. This worked well... for a while. Just when we thought we had it under control, a massive gust came along and lifted it clean out of our hands and up into the sky, it landing on some guy's tent about 100m away (rudely disturbing his reading of a Star Wars graphic novel, or so I'm told). I refused to be defeated so went over with Pink and a couple of others to retrieve the errant outdoor furniture. With the help of the guy who's tent it assailed, we carried it back across the campsite, a considerably awkward task considering there were about 30 densely packed tents we had to go round or over in the process. But, we got it back, and put it up again, albeit with the legs shortened now to avoid catching the wind.

There was no rush to see anybody that day until the evening, so Lisa and I headed up through Wacken village to the supermarket and procure some supplies. This went largely without a hitch and I came back with a six-pack of Paulaner 'Hefe-Wießbier' which was about the most palatable thing to drink that they had. And just like last year I bought two pot-noodle style things (and just like last year I didn't eat either of them), and some fruit so that I could get my five-a-week that the Government recommend. (It is per week, isn't it? ;) ) I think the supermarket was my first opportunity to use my favourite German phrase, 'Ich spreche kein Deutsch'. The person rephrased his question in English and it turned out that he was asking if I was in the queue. I bet that wouldn't have been in my phrasebook.

Once we were back at the campsite, we found Pink cooking what looked like half a pig over a tiny barbecue. Lisa went back to bed for a bit and I think I spent most of the next 4 or 5 hours between either the medieval area or sitting around on the campsite with people as they drunk various beverages I'd never heard of. To his horror, Pink discovered that some of the beer he'd brought with him was alcohol free. Attempts to offload it onto local non-alcoholics met with limited success.

The evening approached and I made what I think was my first foray into the main arena to see Running Wild's final show. Although they seemed nice enough people I can't say I was grabbed by their particular brand of pirate-rock or whatever you'd describe it as, so before long I found myself back at the campsite. I wasn't staying long, as Lacuna Coil were down at being on at 9:30. "They're on at 11" said Lisa, Henrik, and a couple of the others. The consensus was that I was wrong... so at 9:20 I wandered off to the Party Stage by myself. I get there, find my position, and at 9:30 the 6 Italians come on stage and launch into 'Survive'. PEOPLE SHOULD TRUST ME! I texted Lisa to let her know to come over and watched the show. It was heavily weighted towards the last two albums, which unfortunately I think are pretty dire in their percussive monotone Korn-worship with the sole exception of the song 'Spellbound' which would have worked on any earlier album. After that I shuffled left a little way to watch Heaven And Hell. I've never been a big Black Sabbath fan because I find the 70s vibe unenjoyable and Ozzy's voice pretty awful, but what I'd heard of later Sabbath hadn't been so bad so I was looking forward to seeing this post-Ozzy Sabbath line-up perform. Despite knowing none of the songs, I wasn't disappointed by their show which came across as something between any other mainstream metal band and partly arena-rock. Could have done without the drum solo though. Drums should be rigged to explode if they are used for more than 10 seconds at a time without guitars being played simultaneously. I was impressed with Tony Iommi however, who I guess is ultimately to blame for this festival, my hair 'style', and various other things I am, hear, attend, or do.

Not much else of interest happened that evening that I can recall. I think we sat outside shivering under the abbreviated gazebo while it rained all around us. Maybe someone else can jog my memory? Anyway, sleep beckoned.

Friday brought the day with the most bands I'd wanted to see, though Vreid and SuidAkrA clashed in the 11am slot. I chose Vreid, which was wise because I later learned that SuidAkrA had moved to tomorrow - result! Vreid were pretty impressive although I have to say that they were nowhere near as extreme as I'd imagined they'd be. In that respect they reminded me a bit of Enslaved. I don't even know what kind of music Vreid played as it came across as... metal... without anything distinctive. But that's not a criticism; I remember enjoying it. Except for being mildly irritated that they had a backing track that included guitars on it. Why not just play that bit yourselves, hmm? Oh... and although the British are always exhorted not to talk about The War around Germans, nobody told the Norwegians, boasting that this song is about the sinking of the Blücher in the Oslofjord; "1000 German soldiers died that day" apparently.

Next up, Endstille. This lot were a bit heavier, faster, and more abrasive than Vreid, and but again were quite nondescript in a way. I think there are some bands you can enjoy live without knowing the material, but most non-mainstream metal doesn't fall into this category, so you're just left to pick up a general aesthetic. Again, this band generally pleased me but I couldn't tell you what they were like without hearing the cd. They also had a sample which mentioned Hitler dying at the end of the war, but I guess they're allowed to because they're German.

I was permitted a short break before heading over to see Tristania. This was one of the very few bands left on my list of favourites that I haven't yet seen. And they were a bit disappointing, to be honest. Not sure why; I think their two singers don't look right, for a start, although I gather that the male singer was a stand-in, and the new girl is never going to be a match for Vibeke Stene (although she's a great singer in her own right). They also had a pretty lady filling in on guitar, who turns out to be Gyri from Octavia Sperati. All in all it felt like a bit of a session band and since they didn't play much old stuff (and what they did play, they complained about having to play it) the event wasn't all that enjoyable. Oh well, still, crossed off the list.

I took advantage of a lull in the action to visit the cd market area, which was pretty packed full of stuff, but just like last year I had forgotten to bring my shopping list of obscure bands. Luckily I have it up online and I was able to pull off some internet-on-a-phone shenanigans to look at it (at a cost of something like £5, I think...) I could have bought much more but limited myself to picking up albums by October Falls, Darkspace, Agalloch, and Ataraxie.

After that I went back to the campsite and enjoyed the farce involving Emil and far too much Fisk, which is basically an alcoholic drink based on the Fisherman's Friend recipe. This culminated in Alex, Rasmus, and Allan attempting to walk him to somewhere he could go to relieve himself, which was apparently desperately needed. This failed, and Emil tumbled to the floor, ending up lying on his side. Not to be deterred by his incorrect position and orientation, in his almost comatose state he managed to start 'going' while we stood around both amused and horrified. Once that was all done he was carried to his tent where he recovered.

There was still plenty of time to kill so I wandered around the shopping area and beer garden and, because it had been pretty cold the night before, bought myself a Dark Tranquillity hoodie from the lovely girl working the same stall she worked last year. Maybe next year I'll say more to her than "This, please", but, it's very doubtful. I also happened to catch a bit of Bullet For My Valentine from a great distance (ie. without going into the arena proper). On the big stage with the same sound system as everybody else they sounded much like any melodic death metal band with the exception of the slightly nasal choruses. A lot of people didn't think they should be at a 'proper' metal festival but they sounded better than a lot of the AOR and thrash dross that the German audiences lap up.

As soon as I got back to the campsite I saw the Danes and Lisa were leaving to go and see Motörhead with a cup of remaining Fisk, so I followed after. Motörhead were ok - not my sort of thing but nothing offensively bad or boring either. Lisa had enjoyed a little too much of the Fisk though and was starting to rely on us for keeping her upright. Eventually she was sat on the floor being quite ill and I had to convince our Danish comrades that it probably wasn't wise to carry her the half-mile back to the tent, past various security guards. To cut a long story short we ended up getting the paramedics who whisked her off backstage. I then spent the next couple of hours or so trying to find out where they'd taken her, which wasn't working very well with all the paramedics backstage and the security people out front not speaking English (and me not speaking German, naturally). By the time I found the first aid place she'd already discharged herself and got back to the tent, and I'd 'only' missed In Flames or Epica, Sarke, and Amon Amarth. Grr. :) In fairness I caught a couple of songs by Doro who was on when I had planned to see Sarke, and she was amusing in a way, and also a couple of tracks from Amon Amarth who were sounding awful on this occasion anyway.

The temperature had dropped significantly and when I got back to the campsite, there was an impressive mist over the lower-lying areas. My tent had dropped from being 40ºC inside during the day to 10ºC now. I wrapped up in my sleeping bag, inserted the most comfortable earplugs I'd ever used, and slept until Saturday...