Written by:	omne metallum
Published:	July 28, 2024
Event:	Klash Of The Ruhrpott
Location:	Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Klash Of The Ruhrpott – Gelsenkirchen, 20/07/2024




In all my years as a metalhead, I had yet to experience a proper show outside of the borders of the UK, despite many years of wanting to. While the UK has a lot to offer, I've long been jealous of what our continental metalheads get to enjoy, be it shows by bands who don't venture across the pond on European tours, or festivals like Hellfest and Wacken that are Meccas for metalheads. When it was announced that the big four of Teutonic thrash were to perform their first show together, I knew I had to dust the passport off and get myself over the channel to see four German bands in Germany sing in English. Luckily, I had a few friends who were also interested. so I had no excuse not to go. Making a small holiday out of it, I packed my bags and headed to the airport. Das ist wunderbar? Ya!

Friday

With the world in chaos over malfunctioning IT systems, it seemed as if fate was intervening and deciding I was not to leave the country; thankfully I had a rather uneventful trip over. I won't bore you with the details as you're here for the music, but I will say that if you ever get a chance to visit Köln, take it! A beautiful city with plenty to do, from its historic cathedral (though did find Rammstein's point of rampant Americana in "Amerika" poignant, as there were two street performers dressed as Micky Mouse and a McDonald's only a few metres from the historic site) to its museums to cheese and chocolate and, of course, food and bier! Dusseldorf, Essen and Gelsenkirchen all have their own unique charms, and I would certainly visit them again.

Saturday




The weather had been a constant 35 degrees so far, and showed no signs of abating as we arrived in Gelsenkirchen. Shorts, t-shirt, sunscreen and hat in hand, we headed towards the amphitheatre that was located a good thirty-to-forty minute walk from our tram stop (hint: keep these bits in mind for later) in the middle of a park; it seemed a secluded area for a venue. Once you had made your way through the park and across the metal bridge, the amphitheatre appears as if as out of nowhere; a small and crowded venue, it was not the most ideal in terms of layout, as it crammed in as many bars & vendors as possible into such a small space (indeed, the lack of toilet facilities and placement right by a main bar queueing area led to unnecessary congestion). Still, once you made your way through to the stage area, the charm of the venue hit you and minimised these inconveniences, as you had a stage that was easily viewable from any location in the arena and had a serene backdrop of the river and green landscape behind it.

Tankard 17:00-17:45




Taking a seat upon the hot stone, you could feel the elation across the crowd as the moment had finally come for the gig to begin. As with its American counterpart, this big 4 had the "fun band" open proceedings; having never seen Tankard before, I could now check the band off my list by being able to watch them with beer in hand. While the band didn't have much in the way of stage presence, they made up for it by way of whipping the audience into a frenzy of chanting, beer bashing and moshing. The band's unfairly short set meant that they could not cram in all the hits, but what they did play they delivered with conviction and jovial attitude, as Gerre's light hearted antics offered the perfect way to ease into the show.

With my rather limited knowledge of the German language, the few sentences I did pick up largely saw Gerre praise beer and thrash metal (one of the best combinations around), which pretty much summed up my plans for the weekend. Hearing "The Morning After" live highlighted just what an overlooked gem it is, while the closing classic of "(Empty) Tankard" with Thorwart playing bass with a beer bottle showed that the band were more than mere jokers, but had tunes that could their own against the three successive bands.

Tankard setlist:

01. One Foot In The Grave
02. The Morning After
03. Ex-Fluencer
04. Alien
05. Chemical Invasion
06. Zombie Attack
07. Beerbarians
08. A Girl Called Cerveza
09. (Empty) Tankard

Destruction 18:15-19:15




Like Megadeth, Destruction are the underrated band in the Teutonic grouping; on the day, it felt like a gauntlet had been thrown down for Schmier and co to rise to the occasion. After catching them last year in London, I knew that beyond circumstances intervening, the band were going to give a showing that would make choosing the best performance of the day a hard decision.

After a brief intermission, Destruction emerged to healthy applause before wasting no time and launching into a scathing "Curse The Gods"; the band proceeded to take the gauntlet and hoisted it high with ease. The early tandem of "Nailed To The Cross" and "Mad Butcher" loudly proclaimed the credentials of the band, with the audience hanging on every word, and the crowd in front becoming a sea of flailing limbs and hair. I don't know whose idea it was to use the smoke machine this early, but it was about as effective as a chocolate teapot in the bright sun and breeze.

Destruction were the only band to acknowledge the non-German metalheads in attendance, urging them to raise the horns; it highlighted the large contingent that had come from abroad to see the show. Slotting in at the end of the set were two newer cuts in "No Kings No Masters" and "Diabolical" that did not feel like merely obligatory new tracks, but worthy to stand next to the classics that made up the set.

A strong showing and one that underscored that the big four of Teutonic thrash was a grouping of quality, rather than merely being a marketing gimmick.

Destruction setlist:

01. Curse The Gods
02. Invisible Force
03. Nailed To The Cross
04. Mad Butcher
05. Life Without Sense
06. Total Desaster
07. No Kings No Masters
08. Diabolical
09. Thrash 'Til Death
10. Beastial Invasion

Sodom 19:35-20:35




Up next after an intermission were the extreme band of the grouping, an act that I wish played the UK more often than they do, and was the band I was most looking forward to seeing again. With the crowd chanting "Wodos", which took me far too long to get the joke (I blame the beer and sun), Angelripper and co just laid to waste to all that was before them, as the crowd managed to find another gear of energy and insanity. Even with the sole small sound issues of the day to be found during the band's set in the form of an odd bit of feedback and speaker pops (the sound was crystal for all the bands otherwise, so props to the sound crew), Sodom put on a lesson in violence that was one of the best thrash performances I have ever seen.

With the sun mercifully starting to abate, a scorching version of "S.O.D.O.M" made me realise I too often overlook it, before an early airing of "Nuclear Winter" managed to give me goosebumps despite the temperatures by now being in the high twenties. Managing to somehow get even faster, "Blasphemer" belied the band's years as they tore through the track at a high rate of speed. Although Sodom played for an hour, it felt like barely twenty minutes had passed given how engrossed I was with the show; from the call and response of "Remember The Fallen" to the punky brilliance of the closing "Bombenhagel", it had all you could want from a thrash show.

Kreator were going to have to pull out an otherworldly performance to have any hope of matching, let alone exceeding what Sodom had just put on.

Sodom setlist:

01. Procession To Golgotha
02. S.O.D.O.M
03. Get What You Deserve
04. Nuclear Winter
05. Blasphemer
06. Sodomy And Lust
07. Napalm In The Morning
08. Agent Orange
09. The Crippler
10. Remember The Fallen
11. Bombenhagel

Kreator 21:00- 23:0022:00




As the light slowly began to fade and a curtain descended from the stage while the crew rushed everything in its place, the scene was set for Gelsenkirchen's heroes to return and claim their crown as kings of Teutonic thrash. With the DJ putting on Iron Maiden's "Run To The Hills" at a high volume, it resulted in a response from the crowd normally reserved for headliners, signifying that the time was nigh for said headliners to take to the stage.

With an almighty roar, Kreator were revealed as they blasted through a determined performance of "Hate Über Alles" that tore through speakers at an almighty volume. "Phobia" saw the crowd up their own volume as they eagerly sang along to the classic. It was then during "Enemy Of God" that some drops could be felt: someone throwing (and wasting) beer? One drop became two, then two quickly became three and four and before long the skies opened up a deluge so heavy that everyone was soaked to the bone within seconds. With the winds matching Ventor's speed on the drums, one of the demon head inflatables threatened to come loose from its moorings. Still, Kreator held your attention and made the surprise early bath worth it, ripping through "Horders Of Chaos".




It was then that the unmistakable flashes of lightning caught your eye; there could have been thunder too, but good luck hearing anything over Kreator! As the rain continued to find a way to get heavier, some sought shelter as a screen once again descended on the stage and played a history of the band video before the band came out to play the "old school" part of the set. The band tore through "Ripping Corpse" and "Riot Of Violence" with a purpose and power that belied their years and made sitting there in the downpour worth it. However, at this point the flashes of lightning became more and more regular... and then it happened.

Show cancelled.

Yep, my first foreign adventure for a concert ended early as the storm somehow managed to only grow worse. The band came out to apologise, but this did little to mollify those who had clung on until the end, making it ironic the band had ended on "Riot Of Violence"; the crowd roared their disapproval as the house lights went up. Remember that forty-minute walk I mentioned earlier? Yep... forty minutes through dark paths of mud and puddles, with only the regular flashes of lightning to illuminate the route ahead through the screen of rain with only the shirt and shorts. It was... an experience. As described by a fellow show attendee on the tram, it was "the worst Wacken weather I've had", so guess I've earned my German stripes then!

Kreator setlist:

01. Hate Über Alles
02. Phobia
03. Coma Of Souls
04. Enemy Of God
05. 666 - World Divided
06. Hordes Of Chaos (A Necrologue For The Elite)
07. Hail To The Hordes
08. Satan Is Real
09. Ripping Corpse
10. Riot Of Violence

[The purported rest of the setlist was to be:

11. Extreme Aggression
12. Renewal
13. Terrible Certainty
14. People Of The Lie
15. Betrayer
16. Endless Pain
17. Phantom Anthichrist
18. Strongest Of The Strong
19. Flag Of Hate
20. Violent Revolution
21. Pleasure To Kill]




Sunday

After a futile night of hair-drying my clothes, I headed to the airport where fate would give and take in equal measure. The IT failures that hit the world this weekend did eventually catch me, as my return flight was delayed; however, this led to me unknowingly bumping into someone at the waiting lounge who turned out to work for Kreator, who happened to spot my event t-shirt (ironically the driest shirt I had left) and proceeded to hand out several bits of merch left over due to the event cancellation as way of saying sorry. Mille, you are forgiven!

Conclusion

Despite it ending early, the Teutonic four show was well worth travelling for and highlighted the merits of the European brand of thrash. While Kreator could have stolen the show had they managed to roll out the old school part of the set, it was Sodom that took the honours as band of the day, with a tight set that just hit like a wrecking ball. Hopefully it won't be too long before I venture back over for a show or two... or for more pretzels and currywurst!