Now then, when people had had time to warm up properly, Wacken felt it was time to bring out the big guns...

…and out comes Soulfly, livelier and in a more kick-ass mood than ever before!
I must admit, I have not always felt that this band can deliver the type of show the music promises. Sure, they’re great shows, but sometimes the energy and nerve lacks a bit, especially in frontman Max Cavalera.
This show was something completely different though; guitarist Marc Rizzo and bassist Johny Chow were kicking up a storm with their aggressive performance, heck, even Cavalera himself looked alive there behind his microphone. The only one I couldn’t get a good look at was drummer Joe Nunez, but my gut instinct tells me he was working hard as well…

…and so was the massive crowd which had gathered!
It seemed as though that now that the circle-pit and wall-of-death had been forbidden, people were looking for another activity to get their kicks on, and the popular choice seemed to fall upon crowd-surfing. There was such a constant and wild stream of people flowing by, it was all I could do not to get my neck kicked in! Luckily, said neck was dodging most of the soles due to constant movement caused by headbanging.
Cavalera proved a bit of a rebel though (who would have thought?), and screamed loud and clear; ”Keep those circle-pits going!” at the same time as the large video screens around the place was broadcasting the ‘no circle-pits’ sign. I wonder if this went down well with the festival management…

…and you’re probably wondering what the band was playing on such a fine day as this was?
Well, there were the obvious classics such as Back To The Primitive (no surprises here), assorted Sepultura covers like Roots Bloody Roots (no surprises here either), and various newer songs like Blood Fire War Hate, which proved an excellent opener for the show.
There was also the mandatory drum-jam where every member of the band got their own piece of skin to beat on. And the set wouldn’t be complete without a few medleys either, now would it? So, all in the name of good taste (or something like it), Cavalera and the boys got great cheers for mixing Pantera’s Walk in with L.O.T.M., and when the end was drawing near, Soulfly mixed two of their own songs; Jumpdafuckup and Eye For An Eye. Throw a little “Olé olé olé, Soulfly, Soulfly” chanting in there, and we had ourselves a winner…

…and that was my thought?
Yes, it certainly was! This was far better than the show I had seen with them only a short time before, at Metalcamp. If only all of their shows were like this…

Setlist:

Blood Fire War Hate
Prophecy
Back To The Primitive
Seek ‘N’ Strike
Babylon
Kingdom
Refuse/Resist (Sepultura cover)
Bloodbath & Beyond
L.O.T.M. / Walk (Pantera cover)
Porrada
Drum-jam
Troops Of Doom (Sepultura cover)
Rise Of The Fallen
Roots Bloody Roots (Sepultura cover)
Jumpdafuckup / Eye For An Eye