Ill Niño stood for delivering the more modern beats to Wacken, and apparently that was very much appreciated, judging from the response they got.

Ill Niño’s vocalist Cristian Machado spoke a lot about how we were all a family and how we should look out for each other, and in an unrelated event I believe it was the first time I saw the new Wacken rules against circle-pits and wall-of-deaths be broadcasted on the big screens next to the stage; even so, the crowd managed to wreak a lot of havoc in front of the stage, or as Max Cavalera (Soulfly) once so elegantly put it; ”Fuck shit up in the moshpit!”
One would have thought that all the prohibitions and speeches of caretaking would have put a damper on the party, but this could not have been further from the truth, and there were a lot of people up to see the band as well, so the pressure and heat was enormous!

“All you metal-heads look beautiful out there tonight!”
- Christian Machado (vocals)

Apart from the fact that Machado obviously can’t tell the time, as Ill Niño played a little past 2 p.m. in the sunny afternoon, and that he just as obviously didn’t stand too close to the dirty, sweaty Wacken crowd, he and his band really knew how to give an insane performance. Someone once coined the phrase “a bag of fleas”, and that is a very good description of what we saw on the True Metal Stage; everyone was running, jumping and headbanging all over the place, and as several of the members of the band also wore long dreadlocks, it looked pretty darn impressive.
They weren’t all about full throttle action however, now and then they would bring some nice acoustic guitars into the fray, but as the soundmix was a bit messed up, we could hardly hear what they were doing…

I believe that this was my first ever meeting with Ill Niño, and I must admit that as a live-act they do have several good qualities, but musically I didn’t really catch on at this time, so the overall rating could only end on an ok.

Setlist:

If You Still Hate Me
Te Amo…I Hate You
Corazón Of Mine
I Am Loco
Lifeless…Life…
This Is War
The Alibi Of Tyrants
Rumba
My Resurrection
God Save Us
When It Cuts
Liar