After a hot night with Rammstein, it was up to the Armenian werewolves of Powerwolf to get us and the True Metal stage back on track, as our first band of the day on a hot Wacken Friday…

“Wacken, habt ihr den spaβ?”
- Attila Dorn (vocals)

Seeing as how they were in Germany, it was sadly not surprising that Attila Dorn (a.k.a. Karsten Brill) chose to speak in German throughout the show, but it also meant that I was left in the dust regarding understanding of what he talked about between songs. Apart from the question above about whether we were having fun or not (to any Germans out there, sorry if the spelling and/or grammar is completely off the wall), basically all I could understand was a delightful, short comment about liebe bier (love beer that is) and not much else…
What was not lost in translation however, was the wondrous world of Powerwolf’s music performed live! Surely, it was pretty much the same procedure as every year James, but as you hopefully know, that procedure kicks rather a substantial amount of behind!
As usual, the show began with an intro where the band walked out onto the stage to loud cheers from the crowd, but I must admit that the communion feeling works better when Dorn walks in with the incense instead of having it standing on the stage from the beginning. Little details aside, the crowd was showing a lot of love, and with great energy in the blistering heat the band wasted no time in kicking the show off with Sanctified With Blood. If there is one thing that can be said about this band, it is that they are well aware of what to put on a setlist, and thus the show was yet another display of how a future best of album will look with a nice mix from all albums except for the first one, Return In Blood Red, an album I have yet to hear anything from played live.

“Wacken, erste Mittelpunkt der Welt!”
Dorn (vocals)

Of course, the deliverance of the songs left nothing to be desired – the Greywolf brothers, Charles (a.k.a. David Vogt) and Matthew (a.k.a. Benjamin Buss), on guitars ran from side to side and headbanged wildly all the time, keyboardist Falk Maria Schlegel spent more time at the front of the stage engaging the crowd than he did working his instrument (it’s impressive he ever gets anything done musically) and drummer Roel Van Helden spent a considerable time standing up and cheering even during songs.
Dorn managed the crowd masterfully even though I’m sure I wasn’t the only one not understanding what he said, and he led us into several sing along sections and also held his usual girls against boys scream contest.
In said crowd, applause and crowd surfing was the name of the game, although singing and a small moshpit also held prominent places in the general life of the sweaty Wacken fan. The weirdest part was probably when an empty wheelchair crowd surfed by – hopefully its former inhabitant didn’t mind and was relaxing elsewhere at the time...
It was probably the aforementioned heat and the early hour that kept mosh and circle pits to a minimum in the crowd, but it wasn’t enough to stop Dorn from donning his thick robe before the final song of the day, Lupus Dei, and neither was it enough to drive the band off the stage when they were done – even though they were sweating and panting heavily, they still all stuck around during the outro music to part ways with guitar picks and drum sticks, and finally pose for a Facebook photo together with all their fans.

Mostly everything I saw today, I have seen before from these guys, but the thing is that they deliver it so convincingly every time that I haven’t grown the slightest bit tired of it yet. It was a nice touch to change the backdrop in the middle of the set, but honestly, I don’t mind watching this same concert over and over again at least a few times more. This is how entertainment is delivered, and we were off to a good start!

Setlist:

Sanctified With Dynamite
We Drink Your Blood
Amen & Attack
Resurrection By Erection
In The Name Of God (Deus Vult)
Werewolves Of Armenia
Kreuzfeuer
All We Need Is Blood
Coleus Sanctus
Raise Your Fist, Evangelist
Lupus Dei