Wacken, come rain or shine!
Well, at this years’ Wacken it was shine, shine and shine all the way. Well, close enough at least. A few lonely drops decided to gently fall during the end of the last day, but this meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

This was a very special Wacken for me, as it marked my 10th anniversary coming here, and so the combination of nice weather and a line-up with some great bands and very special shows was perfect for the celebration.
There were of course some things I was looking forward to more than others, like Tiamat’s special Wildhoney show, and Týr performing at the Wackinger stage in the medieval village. The really large headlining acts were held by bands like Iron Maiden, Slayer, Immortal and Soulfly, so there should be something for everyone, no matter which particular flavour of metal you happen to prefer.
With the many stages of Wacken, a few mighty clashes were inevitable I suppose, but I wasn’t happy when I noticed that Fear Factory was punishing the Black Stage at the same time as Tiamat was weaving sweet dreams at the Party Stage, so I tried zoning it out and pretend that the former just didn’t play... After all, I was supposed to see them twice only the week after.
The same problem was seen a few hours earlier as well, as both Stratovarius and Edguy were placed on top of Týr, Stratovarius in the first half and Edguy in the second. Sacrifices had to be made, but it wasn’t a fun choice at times. Oh well, that’s the way it goes with festivals above a certain size, it can’t be helped, and there is no reason having any regrets either.

Like previous years, Wacken was really good at offering a cornucopia of different activities for those weary of the constant bombardment of music. The medieval village was there again, and with a slightly remodelled layout it was offering all sorts of entertainment fitting its surroundings, like Viking, knight and roleplaying battles and fire shows.
If your liking fell upon a bit more current fighting styles, there was the Bullhead tent, where large men were wrestling it out in true WWF style, and girls rolled around in oil, and held wet t-shirt contests.
Lots of other activities included movie-nights, the Metalmarket which held such diverse things as drum-clinics with Mike Terrana and bondage shows, and a soccer goal shooting contest where the top prize was 2 VIP tickets for Wacken 2011.
Due to a very busy schedule for the music, I had little time to partake in these activities however, except for a short glance around the Metalmarket and also for some good times with the Metal Karaoke during Wednesday night.
I think it is great to see the multitude of pastime activities Wacken offer up for its many visitors, the only problem is that no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to reach it all before the festival is over, time is simply too short. Then again, that is one way to keep people coming back year after year isn’t it? At least I heard that the 10.000 special X-mas tickets for 2011 were sold out in less than five hours after their release!

Time flew by, as it always does, and yet we managed to see a heck of a lot of concerts, have some nice beers (which didn’t seem to have any effect, but they seldom do at open air festivals) and run into a lot of friends from all over. We were camping with some Italian friends, and although completely unplanned we managed to camp just next door to some Germans we knew, and also just across the street from an Austrian photographer we run into from time to time.
Still, there is not a classic like the one where you go abroad to bump into your next-door neighbour from home, and true to form we somehow saw and heard Danes all over the place no matter where we went. Then again, with an attendance of about 75.000, it seems unlikely there wouldn’t be at least someone you knew there as well. But to keep bumping into each other, in a crowd this massive, it is somehow impressive and a bit weird all at the same time.

For my personal highlights of Wacken 2010, I would again have to bring up Tiamat with their Wildhoney show as shining star above all others, it was simply great! Other cool stuff included a jam-packed but intense show from Týr and a tight and impressive concert by Rotting Christ, who for some odd reason was playing the W.E.T. Stage. Like last year, I would also like to give a standing ovation to whoever was in charge of traffic control; neither going in nor going out we experienced any lines at all! Amazing piece of work when you consider the vast amount of visitors.
One of the best surprises I can remember was Atrocity’s Werk 80 show. This wasn’t really anything I had any expectations for, mainly because I haven’t really listened to this band, but they pulled of quite a show, I must admit.
The biggest disappointment of all was without a doubt Subway To Sally’s closing song for the festival. It was announced in the program and at Wacken’s website that this massive German folkmetal band would play a cover of D-A-D’s song It’s After Dark after the last band had left the stage, and as this seemed really cool both Lunah (Lauridsen, our photographer) and I was really looking forward to this show; so much in fact that we struggled to stay up just for this, and as the time drew near, we made one final trip from our camp up to the stage. Imagine our surprise, and how stupid we felt when it turned out they weren’t playing at all, and all we were given was a video-recording from their show the year before! This simply isn’t good enough, considering the way it was announced!
Other things I would like looked at is the placing of the bands. I do appreciate the fitting idea of making the medieval village and the Wackinger Stage a concept stage for folk and Viking metal bands, but I saw three bands there; Svartsot, Equilibrium and Týr, and they were all ridiculously overcrowded. I mean, if even the slightest thing would have gone wrong, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if deaths would have followed...
Also the W.E.T. Stage should be reconsidered; it is good enough for the Metal Battle bands, and others who have not attracted a very big following yet, but putting high-profile names in that tent, like Rotting Christ and Ihsahn, is just wrong.

So, Wacken takes too many visitors in and overcrowds the festival area, and has done so for many years, but you know, this is all part of what Wacken is about. It can’t be helped.
Wacken is, and certainly will keep on being the world Mecca of heavy metal, no doubt about it, and with all its flaws, it is still the place to be that first weekend of August, if you consider yourself a true man, or woman, of metal.