Normally, we stay clear of mentioning all the backstage nonsense which goes on at festivals, and focus on the goodies that everyone can take part in, but for once we’ll make an exception as we thought this little titbit was too good to pass up.

You see, while it was raining cats and dogs outside, we snuck into the press-tent and didn’t really feel like seeking out entertainment for a while. In a good twist of fate though, entertainment came and found us instead – you see, we had entered just in time for the German band Drone, an earlier Wacken metal battle winner (2006), to have a showcase for their latest album, For Torch And Crown.
This was conducted in the manner that the band came in and played a few songs off of the album live in front of a bunch of press people and other musicians. Nothing unusual about this, this type of thing goes on all the time, but what was unusual about it was the way they did it; you see, Drone decided (or maybe they just don’t know any other way, what do I know) to treat this like any other, “normal” gig they would play, coming out with guns blazing!

After opening with a joke, where vocalist/guitarist Moritz ‘Mutz’ Hempel said that it about to get wild here in the mosh-tent, the joke being that in front of him a lot of press-people were lazily sitting on benches and the floor and were definitely not up for doing anything, he then went on to introduce the first song of the day, Deepest Red, as a song about vampire sex, or as he put it; ”…sucking blood and cock.”
The song was hard-hitting and fast, a good way to open any show, and soon there were even a few heads in the audience nodding along. The band was not sticking to nodding though, they only had a few minutes of time, and they were going to squeeze everything out of them that they could! There was headbanging, wide-legged posing and a lot of movement as the band-members, especially guitarist Marcelo Vasquez Rocha and bassist Felix Hoffmeyer, often changed places with each other. You should know that they only had a stage which was about 3-4 metres wide, and calling it a stage is really too much as well, as drummer Felix Hoffmeyer was the only one who was raised up on a podium, and the rest of them were just standing on the floor, same as the rest of us.

Next up was Making Believe, which we were told had had a music video made for it, which would probably be available online one of these days, or so the band hoped at least, but they didn’t want to say anything for sure at this point.
The song was also fast, but had a little bit more of a laid back feel to it without losing the rocking feeling.

Third song was first introduced as the title track, but then the band had to correct themselves by saying that it didn’t actually have the same title as the album, but it was the first song of the album (maybe, they were still a bit fuzzy on the details). At last they decided it was Format C they were going to play, which in fact is the first song of the album. The style was similar to the first one, and anyone who has heard this band before should feel right at home. I remember comparing these guys to Machine Head the first time I saw them, saying it was very close indeed to the American band, and while the overall genre hasn’t changed since then, I would like to point out that in the songs we were subjected to here this day, it felt like the band had come a lot closer to finding their own voice.

Well, the band played on, delivering the actual title track next, which began with a slower riff before kicking into the high-tempo post-thrash (or whatever you want to call it) that they do so well. This time Hempel found it appropriate to let Hoffmeyer introduce the song, as he in Hempel’s opinion had such a good radio-voice which was ever so sexy (a half-whispered growl it turned out).
Hempel also wanted to check out what his band-mates looked like during a show in this song, so at a time where he didn’t have to shout lyrics at the mic, he went a bit out on the floor and stood with his back to the audience and became a spectator himself for a while. It looked like he enjoyed what he saw, as I can assure you that the rest of us were as well – at this point, people had begun applauding and even shouting between songs, bringing this even closer to a regular concert.
If there was one thing that kept that notion away from becoming reality however, it was the timeframe, and after the title-track was done, the showcase was over.
Now we were all warmed up however, and in evidence of how popular the short performance had been, Drone was called in for an encore! This was certainly unexpected for a thing like this, and the band was happy to deliver one more thrashy number, even if they looked a bit unsure whether they were allowed to or not.

The encore of the show was Croak In Your Waist (or Cock In Your Waist as it was called here), and was lovingly dedicated to Doro Pesch, metal-goddess extraordinaire, who could at the time be seen on the large-screen TV’s in the tent as she was performing a duet with Udo Dirkschneider outside on one of the main stages, as Hempel claimed that the female vocalist and himself had something going on...
Yes, the reason why Drone call their music sex metal was quite apparent from the humour displayed here today, but as you know “a rose by any other name”, this was music to kick ass, simple as that, and it delivered just what it promised.

In fact, this showcase could aptly also have been named “Buy our album, daddy needs a new pair of pants” (not that I actually think it had a name to begin with), and from the songs we got to hear I can’t imagine For Torch And Crown (out June 29th) not being a hit with the target audience.
For anyone not interested, or in doubt about buying the album, at least do yourself the favour of checking this band out live next time they come round; I guarantee they’ll make your time worthwhile!

Setlist:

Deepest Red
Making Believe
Format C
For Torch & Crown
Croak In Your Waist