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The Bang Your Head festival is quite known even outside Germany these days, but the BYH Revisited club shows aren't that much known. And so just 400 metal fans come to see tonight's show. Perhaps also ticket price of 30,- € was too much for many fans after all the festivals during this hot summer...
Actually we had some problems to find the Zollern-Alb-Halle and then the guest list wasn't at the entrance. We missed Goddess Of Desire, so I can't tell anything about the Dutch band which was booked to open-up the night. Due to the fact that Shakra singer Mark Fox had a heavy asthma attack - he had to go to hospital - the Swiss couldn't play and all the bands had a little more stage time.
Next in line were the German-Swiss cooperation Rawhead Rexx. The band of former Glenmore singer Jürgen Volk kicked off the set with Return Of The Dragon and the title track of their last release Diary In Black. The quartet present power metal, but with former Glenmore singer Jürgen Volk they have a singer who can add different shades to the Rawhead Rexx sound. With songs like Town Of Skulls, Sons Of Mayhem - a middle part with Black Sabbath's Heaven And Hell - and Rawhead Rexx - the bands anthem where their mascot chased them around on stage - they included some tunes from their debut album. The set of the four-some ended with the epic Six Feet From The Edge, but they returned for one more song - The Scream. In comparison with the last time I saw Rawhead Rexx which was on their tour with Annihilator the band developed. They got musically stronger and they no longer overdo the posing. Well done!
Then it was time for Circle II Circle! More fans came to see CIIC and so the Zak Stevens and his mates had about 350 fans shouting for them. The sextet opened up with Out Of Reach of their debut album Watching In Silence. In comparison with their first shows the band sounded even more like a union. Guitarist Shane French and bassist Kevin Rothney were always in motion. Both were switching sides while guitarist Matt La Porte used the platform which lead closer to the audience. Due to the longer set former Savatage singer Zak Stevens and his mates played some more Savatage tunes. Their focus was surely their debut album, but it was great to hear songs like Taunting Cobras and Edge Of Thorns which they already played at the festivals. After playing CIIC songs like Forgiven, Watching In Silence, Face To Face and Into The Wind they surprised the fans with Follow Me! They ended the set with another Savatage track - with Turns To Me. During the encore they played Sea Of White and the Metallica cover Welcome Home (Sanitarium). A great show! The club shows - I already saw them in Zaandam (Netherlands) in August - been even better then on the big festival stages. The fans wanted more, but the band had to leave the stage. While the fans were waiting for the signing session of CIIC I heard here and there "Great show, but the guitar sound during the Savatage tracks lacked the aggressiveness." But at all the fans were happy. Later fans had the chance to meet the guys in the foyer during the Krokus show to get more stuff signed or for a little chat with the boys.
Then it was time for the headliner to enter the stage. The Swiss band Krokus started about 25 years ago. In the 80's they were quite successful. Later they disappeared for awhile. A few years ago they returned to the stages and earlier this year they released Rock The Block. Singer Marc Storace is back. Guitarist Fernando von Arb and his pals kicked off the set with Long Stick Goes Boom. The right track to get the fans in the Krokus mood. The quintet presented old classics as well as new songs - see setlist below - and so they really rocked the house. It was amazing how this guys act on stage. Sure, there are songs which one or the other might missed in the setlist, but you can't fulfill all requests. After a musical trip through their history the Swiss rockers finished their set with the title track of their current release Rock The Block. Soon they returned for 2 encores which included Headhunter and Eat The Rich. Wow! What a show!
If you missed this BYH Revisited, shame on you! And I hope that next time more metal fans will come to the club events! I also should mention that the fans who witnessed this event left satisfied. Horst, thank you for this club show! And thanks to the crew of BYH Revisited!
Krokus setlist:
- Long Stick Goes Boom
- Mad World
- American Woman
- Fire
- Bad Boys Rag Dolls
- Tokyo Nights
- Down The Drain
- Screaming In The Night
- Stayed Awake All Night
- Rock City
- Rock'n'Roll Tonight
- Easy Rocker
- Back-Seat Rock'n'Roll
- Rock The Block
- Headhunter
- Eat The Rich
- Bedside Radio
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