I would easily categorise Pretty Maids as Denmark’s most reliable, solid, and internationally recognised rock/metal band.
I would as easily categorise Copenhell with those same words, exchanging band for festival, of course.
Is it not strange then, that it would take a whole six years for them to cross paths? And then only because another band cancelled on the festival at the last minute.

“We hope we’ll have a very pleasant afternoon with you. Are you ready for a good time Copenhell? Are you ready for some rock ‘n’ roll?!”
- Ronnie Atkins (vocals)

Yes, the band that was originally booked for this time was Black Stone Cherry from the US of A, but apparently they had been involved in some sort of car accident, which forced them to cancel part of their tour, including Copenhell.
Well, what to do in a sticky situation like this? The only thing you can do - call the grand ole men in from their vacation, and then sit back and see them fire up some classic tunes and a performance that blew so many younger bands out of the water. That’s exactly what Copenhell did, and that’s, in short, exactly what happened.

Pretty Maids wasn’t the first band of the day, but this was where the party really started.
They opened up in their familiar way with their presidential intro leading into Mother Of All Lies, a song that has the sing along choir in the crowd going nuts even on a bad day. The sound wasn’t completely with the band as some of Ken Hammer’s guitar work was lost somewhere along a technicians wire to begin with, but this mistake was quickly rectified, without the band losing their momentum.
Having Pretty Maids, or any band for that matter, recruited in such a way as this, meant of course that the setlist was purely made up of live staples which the artists know by heart, but when playing for a festival audience that had shortly before begun their drinking of the day and were ready to raise some hell, this is the perfect sort of setlist. If the band knows the material by heart, you can be damn sure their fans does as well!

“Copenhell, we’ll play you some old ‘Eighties songs, because we’re an old band. You can tell by looking at us.”
- Atkins (vocals)

Not surprisingly, the band was running on full steam, and especially drummer Allan Tschicaja was something to behold, as he was up to many of his tricks, like standing on the drums. Atkins was also at the top of his game, his voice was good and he was highly entertaining between songs as well.
Also not surprisingly, this sort of behaviour went straight into the hearts of the Copenhell crowd, which welcomed the band without hesitation. I’m sure there were disappointed Black Stone Cherry fans around, but they sure as heck didn’t disturb the awesome atmosphere at the Pretty Maids show!
As mentioned, the sing along got off to a good start already in the opener, and soon raised fists and headbanging followed. A good old heavy metal crowd for a good old heavy metal band.

As you can imagine, we were well pleased with the change in bands. We wish no harm to Black Stone Cherry of course, but when given the choice, we’ll pick Pretty Maids any day of the week. Even if it brings them out of their vacation.
So man up Copenhell, this is one band that deserves a spot actually made for them!

Setlist:

Mother Of All Lies
Nuclear Boomerang
Rodeo
Red, Hot And Heavy
Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 (Pink Floyd cover, snippet)
I.N.V.U.
Pandemonium
I See Ghosts
Yellow Rain
Little Drops Of Heaven
Back To Back
Future World