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- Bang-Your-Head 2004 - June 25th & 26th - Balingen -
Cage, Ruffians, Shok Paris, Kingdom Come, Blaze, Primal Fear, Anthrax, Children Of Bodom, Gotthard, Queensrÿche, Alice Cooper, Ballistic, Angel, Omen, Lillian Axe, Death Angel, Magnum, U.F.O., Sebastian Bach, Testament, Iced Earth
This is the 9th year Heavy, oder was?! is presenting the Bang-Your-Head festival. For me and my colleague it's the first time, but we had a good time. Some said that last year the billing was better, but well... For us it was great. There were almost 20,000 fans to party at that sunny weekend. Everybody was in a good mood. As usual there was a warm-up show on Thursday night, but we arrived early Friday. I came Thursday down to Hamburg and late that night we started our trip down to Balingen... A long drive!
When we got on the festival site to see the American band Cage we both were tired, but online I found a few very good live reviews from their US shows, so I wanted to see them. I like power metal with a lot of melody and that's what they offer. My favorite album of Cage is still Astrology, but unfortunately they didn't play much of it. And only one song - Shoot To Kill - from their debut Unveiled. But due to the short set I expected that they will focus on their last release Darker Than Black. The band of singer Sean Peck did a good job and the few hundred metal fans saw their set. Singer Sean Peck seemed to be not in best shape vocally... And the guitars were not loud enough... But that's what happens on festival quite often. Their performance at BYH didn't match the reviews from the US I saw, but they did good. (AP)
Ruffians came next. In 1985 the band released their now legendary EP, now 19 years later they came over to Europe for the first time. Many might know the band name coz their first singer - on the EP - was Carl Albert who got known through his work with Vicious Rumors later and died much too young in a car crash almost 10 years ago. Singer Rich Wilde like he came straight from 1985 to BYH with his spandex pants, old Dio shirt and hand-cuffs. Songs like Fight For Your Life, Run For Cover and Eyes Of Fire sounded very good and still fresh after all this years. Something special was Do Or Die from their 1987 demo tape. Guitarist Chris Atchinson was amazing and pretty happy about the fan reaction. The band was very authentic, only the bassist seemed to be from a NU metal band with his dreadlocks and baggy pants. Ruffians been a positive surprise to me. And I think to many others as well. (AP)
Another 'old' band - Shock Paris. Frontman Vic Hix had a few pounds too much, but was always in motion. Entertaining and talking with the people. Unfortunately they never become known here in Europe, just in the underground the melodic US power metal band make themselves known. Classic albums like Steel And Starlight should have got more attention. During the short stage time they had no time to play all their classics, but all the songs they played were great incl. Go Down Fighting, Steel And Starlight, Go Down The Throat and Chosen Ones to name just a few. Never thought that I'll get the chance to see them. Great show, just too short. Please come back. (AP)
The first band I really wanted to see were Kingdom Come. I still think - like most others - that the first 3 albums been the best. Newer albums aren't bad, but can't keep the class of their early work. Unfortunately mastermind Lenny Wolf decided to play mainly new stuff and only Should I and Living Out Of Touch represented the early days. Beside that Mr. Wolf was suffering from a cold and had obviously problems to sing. He was very unhappy about that and showed that he was sorry for the fans, but it was not in his hands. The band looked good... musically - everyone seemed to be a from a different world outfit-wise. Perhaps they should think about a more homogenous outfit for the show... Well, I saw better shows of Kingdom Come. For someone who never so them live it must be even more disappointing. Hope next time Lenny is in better shape. (SB)
Then it was time for heavy metal - Blaze. The former Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley came with new band member - ex-Pitchshifter drummer Dave 'Kite' Knight and bassist Wayne Banks (also ex-Pitchshifter) - and guitarist Steve Wary got supported by Oliver Palotai (Doro). Even if the songs of their debut Sillicon Messiah are most welcome the fans appreciated Ten Seconds and other songs. The last track was the Iron Maiden song Man On The Edge and it seemed that every metal fan was singing along. Good as ever. (SB)
The last German band of today were Primal Fear. The opening song of their last album Devil's Ground is called Metal Is Forever and that seemed to be the motto of the festival. Surely they played this one, but they started with Angel In Black and Chainbreaker. Even if there are still fans who call them Judas Priest clones, but they had developed their own style. Singer Ralf Scheepers was one of the last four candidates when Judas Priest were looking for a replacement for Rob Halford years ago. As all the other bands Primal Fear had some sound problems, but that doesn't do them any harm. Mat Sinner and companions played mainly songs from Devil's Ground and added with Nuclear Fire and Final Embrace some older tunes. I should mention that former Annihilator drummer Randy Black gave the band a more heavy and kick ass sound. (AP)
Time for some thrash. With the New Yorker band Anthrax another 'old' band were on the billing. I know that they are around for almost 20 years and that their last album was quite successful, but I never been a big fan of them. Anyway, they played a lot of classics including Caught In A Mosh, Got The Time, Madhouse and the Trust cover Anti-Social. I heard that a few weeks before the festival bassist Frank Bello left the band. He was replaced by Joey Vera of Fates Warning / Armored Saint. Family business in a way, coz singer John Bush is also the frontman of Armored Saint. The thrashers ended their set with Indians, one of their biggest hits. Okay, I'm still not a big fan, but live it seems that I shouldn't miss them again. (AP)
Another harder act came on next - Children Of Bodom. The Finnish band started as a melodic death band and is now playing some death'n'roll. Their latest album I like, but the early stuff is to hard for me. Even if they played a kind of best-of set they were focused on Hate Crew Deathroll - their current album. Songs like Sixpounder and Needled 24/7 were not just welcome by their fans. They have a new guitarist - Rope Latvala - but he was already integrated and it seemed that he was playing with the band for much longer. Singer / guitarist Alexi Laiho is a great frontman who entertains the fans, sings and plays. He's a power pack. Amazing show. I hope they continue the way they chose with Hate Crew Deathroll, coz more people will be open for that sound. Highlight of the set was Silent Night, Bodom Night - even if this is an old one, it seems that everybody loves that one. (AP)
Finally another band of my taste! Gotthard! This year the billing had more heavy bands and 'old' bands, for me as a melodic metal / hard rock fan the festival was interesting because of Kingdom Come, Gotthard, Queensrÿche and Alice Cooper - talking about the first day. The Swiss rockers are known for their ballads, but have a lot heavier songs as well. And today they came to play the harder ones like Firedance, Human Zoo and Top Of The World. With Let It Be they played a ballad, but did good to chose their hardest songs. During the cover version Hush the fans got really loud, but with this Deep Purple song you can't do any wrong. Singer Steve Lee's voice was great, but it seems that the band wasn't in the best mood... Only guitarist Leo Leoni was always in motion and seemed to be happy to play. Oh, I should mention that new guitarist Freddy Scherer - known as Freddy Laurence for their time with China - fit into the band quite well. (SB)
I was curious to see Queensrÿche again. I saw them on their first tours and I was also one of the fans who wasn't pleased with everything they released after Empire. Okay, there have been decent albums and a few good songs, but nothing in comparison with Empire! Also I have to confess that I was always a big fan of Chris DeGarmo and miss him since he left. Beside that the line-up was stable. The rumors that the Seattle progsters will play almost every tune of Operation: Mindcrime become true. The band play only songs from that album and singer Geoff Tate got joined by singer Pamela Moore. Songs like I Don't Believe In Love and Breaking The Silence sounded almost as on the album. But Mr. Tate had problems with the high notes here and there. Beside that it seemed that the band was tired of playing the classics... New guitarist Mike Stone didn't really fit into the band - I'm not talking about his outfit. And so I was a little disappointed. I saw them at the Operation: Livecrime tour and they weren't as good as in the old days. The encore was Take Hold Of The Flame, but also sounded weaker then usual. For metal fans who never so the band live this was a great experience, for me as a long time fan it was disappointing. Is this legendary band close to their end? (SB) Tonight's headliner was the legendary Alice Cooper. Mr. Furnier is currently on tour in Europe and agreed on crowning the BYH on night with his performance. On a festival I don't expect the same show as on a tour, but the guillotine was missed. Alice Cooper concentrated on songs from the early days like No More Mr. Nice Guy, Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out. Even with this young backing band the master didn't look old, even if he pretended that during I'm Eighteen. The 80's he almost left forgotten - Poison was the reminiscence to the 80's - and choose songs from his latest releases like Dragontown and Brutal Planet. This time he hadn't a big show to present, but little show effects here and there made the 90 minutes go by too fast. Perhaps not his best show, but more then decent. The master of shock rock is still alive and kicking. (SB)
Day no. 2 started for us with the 2nd band - with Ballistic. Another US metal band on the billing. Tom Gattis is well-known in the metal community for his work with Deuce, Tension and Wardog. The album did well, only the changed line-up made me doubt. Especially that I didn't know who would be in the line-up. When I heard that Jag Panzer drummer Rikard Stjernquist would deliver the drum rhythm I felt a little better. Twisted Tower Dire singer Tony Taylor had took over the microphone. I'm not that familiar with his main band, but I had my doubts... Soon it was obvious that Mr. Gattis did right to hire these guys, coz songs like Collision Course and Call Me Evil sounded as good as on CD. For the Tension classic Wrecking Crew Tom Gattis took over the microphone again - amazing! Soon the 40 minutes were over and Ballistic had to leave the stage for Angel. (AP)
I would bet that 90% of the people in the audience never heard of Angel before. The band started in the 70's and was partly seen on the same level as Kiss, just that Kiss had more luck... Perhaps also the better songs... Anyway, Angel died - more or less - when their record label went bankrupt. This is AOR / hard rock. Perhaps not heavy enough for the majority. From the original line-up only frontman Frank DiMino and drummer Barry Brandt are in the 2004 line-up. Their former keyboarder Greg Guiffria some might remember from his work with House Of Lords. The Angels entered the stage all dressed in white. They are hard rockers knights in white satin and they offered songs like Broken Dreams, Fortune and Feelin' Right before they ended their set with Angels Theme. It was interesting to see this band, but I think that most of the headbangers would have preferred another act instead of them. A decent show, but probably the wrong festival. They fit more to Sweden Rock festival, Arrow Festival and Earthshaker festival.... (SB)
Again it was time for US metal. This time Omen were the one to play. Their first albums been classics and the re-release as a box-set last year was a gift to all the fans of US metal. Unfortunately their reunion album - late 90's - couldn't keep the high level of Battle Cry. Mastermind Kenny Powell promised the fans weeks ago to play mainly old songs and he kept his promise! The band played only the title track Eternal Black Dawn and 1000 Year Reign from their current album. But songs like Battle Cry, The Axeman, Death Rider and In The Arena made the fans go wild! Singer Kevin Goocher did an amazing job, but still J.D. Kimball isn't forgotten and so the band paid tribute to the legendary singer who died last year. Great show! Hope you come back soon! (AP)
It's been 11 years since Lillian Axe toured Europe the last time. They opened up for Judas Priest in that days. Unfortunately I never had the chance to see them, so I was really curious. Well, they looked much older then I expected, but musically nothing had changed. They played classics like The World Stopped Turning and All's Fair In Love And War. Guitarist Steve Blaze smiled all the time, he was happy about the reaction of the audience. And more and more fans came to see the Americans. Their die-hard fans were there from the first second, coz they didn't want to miss a moment of the last show with singer Ron Taylor. The band sounded pretty tight and acted quite professional, I hope they continue, even if they never really made it big... (AP)
Then it was time for Death Angel! It's been about a year since they returned to the stages. Late last year their 4th album - The Art Of Dying - was released and now they came to play in front of some more metal maniacs. They opened with Thrown To The Wolves from their latest release. Live the band is an unstoppable force. Singer Mark Osegueda and his Death Angels offered songs like Evil Priest, Disturbing The Piece, Stagnant, Bored and Seemingly Endless Time. Another new track they offered was Thicker Than Blood and finally Kill As One. The San Francisco thrashers made the crowd go wild and so the fans shouted for more when the band left the stage. Due to the tight schedule they couldn't return for some more, but I would bet that many of the fans who saw that show will go to see them next time they hit the clubs. Phenomenal! (AP)
Time to relax for fans of thrash and US metal, now it was time for some hard rock! Magnum came to rock the place. The British quintet started with All Englands Eyes. Singer Bob Catley sounded good as ever and haven't changed much during the last 2 decades. The band played a kind of best-of show including Les Mortes Dansant, Wild Swan, How Far Jerusalem and ended with Kingdom Of Madness. They also played 2 new tracks from their coming album. I guess that they will come on tour later this year... If you like hard rock, then you shouldn't hesitate to go and see them live. (SB)
Time for a travel back in time. The U.F.O. has landed at BYH. After 35 years the mainmen Phil Moog and Pete Way still have fun playing live. On drums Jason Bonham - the son of the legendary Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham - and on guitar the original U.F.O. members got help from Vinnie Moore who musically stayed in the back. Only keyboarder Paul Raymond seemed to be less motivated... With Daylight Comes To Town they played a new track, but this was a best-of setlist. People want to hear songs like Rock Bottom, Only You Can Rock Me, Lights Out, Too Hot To Handle and Doctor, Doctor. I saw them before and they never disappointed me. This was another great show from Moog, Way and companions. Great! Hope to see soon more then just an hour long set! (SB)
This was the band I was waiting for. For some reason I never saw Skid Row live and now I got the chance to see Sebastian Bach live! He started the set with Slave To The Grind. The years Bach was at the Broadway did him good, his voice is better, stronger these days and so Skid Row classics like Youth Gone Wild, 18 And Life, Monkey Business, Piece Of Me and I Remember You sounded better then ever. Wow! With Always & Never The Same they presented a new song and then they covered Rocky Horror Picture Show classic Time Wrap. Something nobody expected. And nobody expected such a great performance! Hopefully Sebastian Bach will find a line-up which lasts and that he'll come back on tour soon. (AP)
This year the BYH offered a lot for thrash and US metal fans. The Bay Area thrash legend Testament were the co-headliner tonight. For some reasons the break took much longer then scheduled and due to the strict curfew - 23:00 they have to be finished - the band of singer Chuck Billy had to cut down the set. But it seemed that nobody told them! The sound was so bad, you could hardly identify the songs. A few songs they added to the old Testament classics. After 45 minutes it was time to leave, but the band didn't want to leave. The organization had to turn off the power, but Chuck Billy & co. stayed for some unplugged stuff. Finally they left. Well, I saw some good shows of the band, but this definitely wasn't one of them. (AP)
Last, but not least - Iced Earth. For the first time Iced Earth play in Germany with Tim 'Ripper' Owens and so people were hot to hear the new Iced Earth. A huge backdrop and 3 canons on every side of the stage should create a special atmosphere. No intro. The band entered the stage and started off with Declaration Day. Not bad, but is Owens able to sing the Barlow hits? He did a good job singing Vengeance Is Mine, Melancholy, My Own Savior and the Something Wicked trilogy. I have to confess that he is doing an amazing job, but I miss Matt Barlow. As the encore they chose Gettysburg. This musical piece takes almost 20 minutes and not everybody is happy about that pick. Jon Schaffer and guitarist Ralph Santolla entered the stage in the different uniforms of the civil war. And the back was decorated with the 2 old American flags... This will start another discussion, I guess. And the performance as good as it's been will split the fans even more. It'll take time - probably years - until the Iced Earth fans will be united again. (AP)
And so the BYH 2004 was over. Many interesting bands, lot's of music and many fans who will come back next year to celebrate 10 years of BYH. See you then! (AP)
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