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Germany, Wacken - Wacken Open Air 2012




The number 23 is to be found everywhere! Take a close look; not only is it the holy number of Discordianism, a song from Behemoth's album Thelema.6 and The Big Lebowski's favourite (and only) bowling lane, it is also the number of editions the Wacken Open Air has under its belt. And to celebrate this synchronicity the world's biggest metal festival has invited a whole slew of big names of the scene: legendary German hard rockers Scorpions will play their very last gig under German sky at the W:O:A 2012! Some go, others return: seminal industrial metal band Ministry just couldn't go cold turkey and are back to play a Best Of show with a side dish of their most recent output Relapse. Swedish power metal band HammerFall will celebrate their 15th Wacken anniversary - having played this festival for the first time in 1997 - with a special show, and so will heavy metallers U.D.O., whose eponymous frontman turned 60 earlier this year.

Other bands on the bill have already announced to bring some friends and special guests. Norwegian epic black metallers Dimmu Borgir, for instance, bring along an entire string orchestra. Moonspell are rather modest, bringing along "only" four cellists, three background vocalists and a percussionst for their acoustic show dubbed "Sombra". A special show has also been announced by Circle II Circle who will be joined by Chris Caffery to play the Savatage album The Wake of Magellan in its entirety. And while Amon Amarth will have to watch in awe as their neighbours Leaves' Eyes sail on stage with a Viking ship, Brazilian thrashers Sepultura will remind you of modern days again with their special guests, the industrial drumming ensemble Les Tambours du Bronx.

Don't care for either of these bands? Well, how about Opeth, Saxon, Volbeat, Machine Head, Cradle Of Filth, In Flames or one of the other 100+ bands then? Just scroll down for a complete listing of all the bands.

Wacken Open Air takes place in - surprise! - Wacken in Northern Germany, a small village with merely 2,000 inhabitants on 361 days of the year. The town is located 10 km north of Itzehoe and 50 km northwest of Hamburg. There will be shuttle buses from the festival site to the train station in Itzehoe as well as to the airports in Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck. For more info on getting there and away check the festival page here.

The festival is officially sold out since November already, but some tour operators (e.g. Metal Train for Germany, Bock Tours for the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Argon Events for the UK) still have some coach trip/festival ticket packages in store. More tour operators can be found here.

Another way to acquire your ticket would be the ticket exchange in the official forum which aims for eliminating the black marketing going on on eBay and other auctioning sites, and reducing the risk of acquiring fake tickets. In this exchange the Wacken staff supervises the ticket prices and acts as trust which means that the seller sends the ticket(s) to the staff who verifies the authenticity of the ticket(s) and reports it to the buyer. After the buyer has transferred the money to the seller, the Wacken staff will pass on the ticket(s) to the buyer. More information on this model can be found here (in English) and here (in German).

Further readings:
Wacken 2011 ? Wacken 2010 ? Metal Train 2010 ? Wacken 2009 ? Wacken 2008 ? Wacken 2007

Headliners


DAY 1 (01.08)

Bullhead City Circus

Inquisitor 11:00 - 11:20
Victims Of Madness 11:25 - 12:00
Rust2Dust 12:05 - 12:25
Danko Jones (spoken word) 12:30 - 13:30
Fateful Finality 13:35 - 13:55
Ravenblood 14:00 - 14:20
Gothic 14:25 - 14:45
Wrestling 14:50 - 15:45
Midnight Priest 15:55 - 16:15
Electric Hellride 16:20 - 16:40
Lord Shades 16:45 - 17:05
Ease Of Disgust 17:10 - 17:30
Cold Snap 17:35 - 17:55
Gone Postal 18:00 - 18:30
Helmut 18:35 - 18:55
Devil's Note 19:00 - 19:20
Mindthreat 19:25 - 19:45
Shredhead 19:50 - 20:10
Hamferð 20:15 - 20:35
Rain Shatter 20:40 - 21:00
Zygnema 21:05 - 21:25
Epsilon 21:30 - 21:50
Opifex 21:55 - 22:15
Frantic Amber 22:20 - 22:40
Disquiet 22:45 - 23:05
Corpse Garden 23:10 - 23:30
Warpath 23:35 - 23:55
Mambo Kurt 00:00 - 01:00
Metal Karaoke 01:00 - 03:00

Wackinger Stage

Wacken Slam 12:00 - 13:00
Russkaja 19:00 - 19:45
Saor Patrol 20:15 - 21:00
Vogelfrey 21:30 - 22:15
Santiano 22:45 - 23:30

Beer Garden Stage

Volksmetal 15:00 - 16:00
Mambo Kurt 17:00 - 18:00
W:O:A Firefighters 19:00 - 20:00
Blechblosn 21:00 - 23:00

Camping Main Street

Blaas Of Glory 15:00 - 15:20

DAY 2 (02.08)

True Metal Stage

Jim Breuer 16:50 - 17:20
U.D.O. 19:00 - 20:30
Volbeat 22:30 - 00:00

Black Stage

Skyline 16:00 - 16:45
Sepultura 17:30 - 18:45
Saxon 20:45 - 22:15

Bullhead City Circus

Russkaja 11:00 - 12:00
Danko Jones (spoken word) 12:10 - 13:10
Faanefjell 13:15 - 13:35
Dead By April 13:40 - 14:15
Exuviated 14:20 - 14:40
Wölli & Die Band des Jahres 14:45 - 15:20
Hone Your Sense 15:25 - 15:45
Kellermensch 15:50 - 16:35
The Falling 16:40 - 17:00
Wrestling 17:05 - 17:50
Winterstorm 17:55 - 18:15
Amaranthe 18:20 - 18:55
Hammercult 19:00 - 19:20
Keule 19:25 - 20:00
Chthonic 20:05 - 20:40
Channel Zero 20:45 - 21:30
Unearth 21:35 - 22:20
Circle II Circle 22:25 - 23:10
Mono Inc. 23:15 - 00:00
Metal Karaoke 00:00 - 03:00

Wackinger Stage

Santiano 12:00 - 13:00
Saor Patrol 19:00 - 19:45
Vogelfrey 20:15 - 21:00
Panteón Rococó 21:30 - 22:15
Torfrock 22:45 - 23:45

Beer Garden Stage

Wacken Slam 11:00 - 11:30
Volksmetal 12:00 - 13:00
Mambo Kurt 14:00 - 15:00
Blechblosn 16:00 - 18:00
W:O:A Firefighters 19:00 - 20:00
Volxrock 21:00 - 22:00

Camping Main Street

Blaas Of Glory 12:00 - 12:20

DAY 3 (03.08)

True Metal Stage

Sacred Reich 12:15 - 13:15
Kamelot 14:45 - 15:45
The BossHoss 17:15 - 18:15
HammerFall 19:45 - 20:45
In Flames 22:45 - 00:15
D-A-D 02:00 - 03:00

Black Stage

Endstille 11:00 - 12:00
Sanctuary 13:30 - 14:30
Overkill 16:00 - 17:00
Opeth 18:30 - 19:30
Dimmu Borgir 21:00 - 22:30
In Extremo 00:30 - 01:45

Party Stage

Betontod 11:00 - 12:00
Oomph! 13:30 - 14:30
Broilers 16:00 - 17:00
Coroner 18:30 - 19:30
Leaves' Eyes 21:00 - 22:30
TBA 00:30 - 01:30

Bullhead City Circus

FDJ 11:00 - 11:25
Yaksa 11:30 - 12:00
Warbringer 12:05 - 12:35
Liquid Meat 12:40 - 13:10
Crimes Of Passion 13:15 - 13:45
Henry Rollins (spoken word) 13:50 - 14:50
Darkest Hour 14:55 - 15:30
The Black Dahlia Murder 15:35 - 16:10
Graveyard 16:15 - 16:50
Masters Of Comedy 16:55 - 17:40
Decapitated 17:45 - 18:20
Red Fang 18:25 - 19:25
D.R.I. 19:45 - 20:20
We Butter The Bread With Butter 20:25 - 21:05
Jim Breuer 21:10 - 21:55
Gehenna 22:00 - 22:40
Wrestling 22:45 - 23:30
Aura Noir 23:35 - 00:25
Kobra And The Lotus 00:30 - 01:10
Insomnium 01:15 - 02:05
Ghost Brigade 02:10 - 03:00

Wackinger Stage

Wacken Slam 12:00 - 13:00
Saor Patrol 19:00 - 19:45
Vogelfrey 20:15 - 21:00
Eisenherz 21:30 - 22:00
Russkaja 22:30 - 23:30

Beer Garden Stage

Santiano 12:00 - 13:00
Volksmetal 16:00 - 17:00
Blaas Of Glory 18:00 - 18:30
Mambo Kurt 20:00 - 21:00
Volxrock 22:00 - 23:00

Camping Main Street

Blaas Of Glory 12:00 - 12:20

DAY 4 (04.08)

True Metal Stage

Gamma Ray 13:00 - 13:45
Axel Rudi Pell 15:00 - 16:00
Testament 17:30 - 18:30
Scorpions 20:00 - 21:30
Machine Head 23:15 - 00:30
Surprise Act 02:00 - 03:00

Black Stage

Delain 12:00 - 12:45
Napalm Death 14:00 - 14:45
Six Feet Under 16:15 - 17:15
Cradle Of Filth 18:45 - 19:45
Amon Amarth 21:45 - 23:00
Ministry 00:45 - 01:45

Party Stage

Suffocated 12:00 - 12:45
Paradise Lost 14:00 - 14:45
Sick Of It All 16:00 - 17:15
Dark Funeral 18:45 - 19:45
Schandmaul 21:45 - 23:00
Watain 00:45 - 01:45

Bullhead City Circus

Agro 11:00 - 11:30
Eschenbach 11:35 - 12:05
Manticora 12:10 - 12:40
Henry Rollins (spoken word) 12:45 - 13:45
Manimals 13:50 - 14:20
Massacre 14:25 - 15:00
Weto 15:05 - 15:35
Kylesa 15:40 - 16:15
Electric Wizard 16:20 - 16:55
Masters Of Comedy 17:00 - 17:45
Megaherz 17:50 - 18:20
Wrestling 18:25 - 19:10
Moonspell 19:15 - 19:55
Sylosis 20:00 - 20:35
Nasum 20:40 - 21:15
Djerv 21:20 - 21:55
Warrior Soul 22:00 - 22:40
Suicide Silence 22:45 - 23:40
Dio Disciples 23:45 - 00:45
Riotgod 00:50 - 01:25
Winterfylleth 01:30 - 02:05
Leningrad Cowboys 02:10 - 03:00

Wackinger Stage

Santiano 12:00 - 13:00
Ingrimm 19:00 - 19:45
Vogelfrey 20:15 - 21:00
Russkaja 21:30 - 22:15
Diablo Swing Orchestra 22:45 - 23:30

Beer Garden Stage

Wacken Slam 11:00 - 12:00
W:O:A Firefighters 13:00 - 14:00
BugGirl 17:00 - 17:45
Blaas Of Glory 19:15 - 19:45
Mambo Kurt 20:00 - 21:00
Volxrock 22:00 - 23:00

Camping Main Street

Blaas Of Glory 12:00 - 12:20

Who was there?

Nefarious (UAE) 100%
Promonex 100%
corrupt 100%
Koen Smits (Belgium) 100%
panchowl (Argentina) 100%
NLthrasher (The Netherlands) 100%
neonxaos (Denmark) 100%
In_tallica (Sweden) 100%
infernall (Romania) 100%
Born-2rise (Lebanon) 100%
Jack--- (Denmark) 100%
In Chaos (Norway) 100%
Inshushinak (Norway) 100%
Nattens (USA) 100%
Mink Aldhissla (Spain) 100%
hanfsud 100%
Elektro-Hexer 100%
Dewil Rituale (Bulgaria) 100%
pedders (UK) 100%
COBdeath666 (Portugal) 100%
Anastasia (Finland) 100%
Saltimbank021 (France) 100%
Metal Defender (UK) 100%
Fraja (Peru) 100%
Miquele 100%
SMAX (USA) 100%
Ch3m1c4lThr4sh (The Netherlands) 100%
DeathChrushed666 (Mexico) 100%
Kvae (Norway) 100%
Trust (Portugal) 100%
Oriôn (Belgium) 100%
Aquad 100%
Jvenned (Faroe Islands) 100%
Melodeathmetal (The Netherlands) 100%
rvrebane (Estonia) 100%
Doomhammer 100%
Necrozika (Sweden) 100%
Fjorten (Denmark) 100%
Nunslayer (Iceland) 100%
marialoseth (Norway) 100%
squirmno9 (Cyprus) 100%
ANArhia (Romania) 100%
frederik333 (The Netherlands) 100%
MorphineChild (UAE) 100%
Emperial78 (USA) 100%
1886 (Australia) 100%
JAS DANIEL'S (Switzerland) 100%
randgridhaleth@gmail (Spain) 100%
Bonesaw () 100%
Dunkelgeist (Spain) 100%
Rooste (Estonia) 100%
jotaass (Portugal) 100%
Aelitha (Russia) 100%
Jeotguy (The Netherlands) 100%
m@rtin (Belgium) 100%
Faithrys (Italy) 100%
haku86 (Spain) 90%
Gâsh (The Netherlands) 80%
c.metallerstein 80%
grecianearn (UK) 80%
Sang Dalang Abu (Switzerland) 70%
zaid mousa (Jordan) 70%
666eAvil666 (Syria) 70%
DeathRocker (Australia) 70%
machinefucknhead (Australia) 50%
Ozzy88 (Czech Republic) 50%
AXA () 10%
Bwastem (Mexico) 10%

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Comments page 3 / 3

Comments: 77   [ 1 ignored ]   Visited by: 561 users
02.08.2012 - 21:47
Angelic Storm
Melodious
I think it was the original UDO lineup who played the songs through Animal House to Break The Rules, except the drums were played by Udo's son!

Wasn't a flawless performance, but I enjoyed it very much still. Saxon up any moment now!
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02.08.2012 - 21:54
Valentin B
Iconoclast
Written by Angelic Storm on 02.08.2012 at 21:47

I think it was the original UDO lineup who played the songs through Animal House to Break The Rules, except the drums were played by Udo's son!

Wasn't a flawless performance, but I enjoyed it very much still. Saxon up any moment now!

Not that excited for Saxon as I saw them in concert less than a month ago. They are on home ground at Wacken and I'm pretty sure they will deliver as they always do.

Still nothing compares to their 2009 show, it was the best concert I've seen in the two editions I've attended so far, with Heaven and Hell a close second.
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02.08.2012 - 22:05
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Valentin B on 02.08.2012 at 21:30

Just watched the UDO stream. A strong concert, but I couldn't help but notice the fuckups on "Head Over Heels" and "Princess of the Dawn".



yet you don't notice bigger fuck ups with King Diamond and Judas Priest live
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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02.08.2012 - 22:46
Valentin B
Iconoclast
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 02.08.2012 at 22:05

Written by Valentin B on 02.08.2012 at 21:30

Just watched the UDO stream. A strong concert, but I couldn't help but notice the fuckups on "Head Over Heels" and "Princess of the Dawn".



yet you don't notice bigger fuck ups with King Diamond and Judas Priest live

I have yet to see a live stream from either band in such high quality anyway. Udo's fuckups were obvious, like vocals entering at the wrong moment, something that never happens with Rob or King.
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02.08.2012 - 23:00
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Valentin B on 02.08.2012 at 22:46

something that never happens with Rob or King.





now you sound like a total fanboy. Rob is totally horrible at it nowadays, a lot of the times. The way he tends to fuck up isn't even funny any more. He really should call it quits.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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02.08.2012 - 23:09
Valentin B
Iconoclast
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 02.08.2012 at 23:00

now you sound like a total fanboy. Rob is totally horrible at it nowadays, a lot of the times. The way he tends to fuck up isn't even funny any more. He really should call it quits.

I am not a fanboy of either of those bands (nope, not even Priest) but it seems that you are actually hellbent on bashing Halford and probably King Diamond too. I asked you to back up your words on the Sweden Rock Festival thread when you said KD lip syncs, and all you did was ask me to see the concert recording again and it will suddenly be "obvious", I think I have no more to discuss about this whole vocalists issue with you.
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02.08.2012 - 23:15
Angelic Storm
Melodious
The Saxon stream kept cutting out for me, and didn't come back after Battalions Of Steel, so I missed the last 25 minutes or so of the concert.
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03.08.2012 - 21:41
Valentin B
Iconoclast
Wow, "special show" my ass, what a ripoff. I'm glad I didn't have to pay to see the shit show that Hammerfall did. and those backing vocals, who the hell does Oscar thinks he's fooling when he lip syncs that obviously?
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03.08.2012 - 22:42
Angelic Storm
Melodious
^^ Woah, it wasn't THAT bad! They did look like they need to take a long break though, so I think they're doing the right thing by taking a year off.
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04.08.2012 - 23:52
Promonex
Cathemeral
Is the Scorpions gig getting streamed? I'd be curious to hear your opinions about it. Apparently Meine missed so many notes that even the heavens burst into tears
----
All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu... This is the truth! This is my belief! ...At least for now.
- The Mystery of Life, Vol. 841 Ch. 26
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05.08.2012 - 00:11
Angelic Storm
Melodious
No, The Scorpions' set wasn't streamed live, though if what you're saying is true, that might have been a small mercy! lol

I caught Testament's set earlier, and I have to say, I now think the new album's production is a bit too pristine and clean. The new songs they played at Wacken sounded way more venemous and intense than on the album, making them sound even livelier, and better. They gave a great performance! Here's the setlist:

Rise Up
The New Order
The Preacher
Native Blood
True American Hate
More Than Meets The Eye
Dark Roots Of Earth
Into The Pit
Practice What You Preach
Over The Wall
D.N.R.
Three Days In Darkness
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05.08.2012 - 04:15
Valentin B
Iconoclast
Apparently the "special show" from Scorpions featured just ONE song that they had not played on this tour and no special guests. Yet another ripoff. From looking at setlists and live streams it would appear that U.D.O. is the only band who did something special in their concert that also brought something new to the table, though I'm still wondering about Dimmu Borgir.

It does seem to me that this year's Wacken was a huge disappointment, and I'm completely underwhelmed, almost glad about not being there. Apparently it turned into a "mud desert" according to a German website. There's always next year (if the lineup is better that is).
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05.08.2012 - 23:27
Promonex
Cathemeral
The shows of Moonspell and Sepultura were quite special actually. Moonspell were interesting, but not overwhelming. Unlike Sepultura & Les Tambours du Bronx who sounded like an entirely different band than Sepultura alone.
----
All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu... This is the truth! This is my belief! ...At least for now.
- The Mystery of Life, Vol. 841 Ch. 26
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06.08.2012 - 00:11
Angelic Storm
Melodious
I've just watched Edguy's set, and out of all the bands I saw streamed, Edguy were clearly the best. U.D.O. were great too, but Edguy were truly in their element with that late night time slot, and commanded the stage as if they were stadium headline veterans like Iron Maiden or something! The sound was awesome, and they themselves sounded absolutely massive! Great performance.
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20.08.2012 - 03:06
Valentin B
Iconoclast
Written by Angelic Storm on 06.08.2012 at 00:11

I've just watched Edguy's set, and out of all the bands I saw streamed, Edguy were clearly the best. U.D.O. were great too, but Edguy were truly in their element with that late night time slot, and commanded the stage as if they were stadium headline veterans like Iron Maiden or something! The sound was awesome, and they themselves sounded absolutely massive! Great performance.

Edguy are always like that, Tobi just wouldn't be himself on a small tiny stage somewhere. I also saw some bits of In Flames' show, which was absolutely great, and even the setlist was awesome:

Jester's Door [intro]
Cloud Connected
Trigger
Where the Dead Ships Dwell
Only for the Weak
Reroute to Remain
Crawl Through Knives
Delight and Angers
The Quiet Place
The Chosen Pessimist
Fear Is the Weakness
Alias
The Mirror's Truth
System
Deliver Us
Take This Life
My Sweet Shadow

I mean seriously, "Crawl Through Knives"?? I have a few objections to this, mostly about the shitty "Chosen Pessimist" instead of "Come Clarity" but this, and their GREAT live show which was even better according to what I saw on the ZDF website, would have definitely made for the best show of the whole fest for me.
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22.08.2012 - 11:03
Angelic Storm
Melodious
^^^ Woah, there's not a single song pre-Clayman in that setlist! Not a single Jester Race/Whoracle/Colony song? I'd be disappointed if I saw them live and they played that setlist.

Okay, I do like some modern In Flames stuff, and I love some of the songs in that setlist. But others... "Alias" is terrible, they should have ousted that and played an oldie instead! It's almost as if they are trying to distance themselves from their melodic death metal past, which is very sad.

And I agree with what you said about Edguy. That band really are made for the big stage. Tobi is definitely in his element in that type of live situation.
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25.08.2012 - 13:11
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Quite a shitty setlist indeed.
----
Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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