2012 - The Final ChapTour part 6 - (Emptied) Tankard

8/11 - Schlotheim

There weren't a lot of bands im Lauf for today -- Rompeprop had member issues and were playing as Rectal Smegma, so it was easy to get stuck in camp, drinking, hanging out, drinking, drinking, playing Dosenfußball, drinking, and also drinking along with more drinking.



242. Spiel geht hoch.  This was our second keg -- as before, dudes dribbled off with the first one.

The keg took a big dent, so guys were getting their shoe under and flipping it up in the air to do tricks, and Andi got hit in the gut/balls from like 10 yards away and had to take a time-out.  If you want to teach your team to play on the deck like Barca, forget "down the shops with the ball at their feet", just play triangles with something that's going to do some damage if you put some lift under it.



243. Fiesta.San; Subcommandante Tjorven gets his south-of-the-border on with cigar and straw bandito hat.



244. Typical; Oliver and Laurent from (French death metal act) Death Agony and some good red wine.



245. Aussi-Assis; me and Oliver make faces for the camera.

Warbringer [5/7]
The running order had gotten a little messed up -- Ragnarok were a little late or something -- so it was a little surprising to hear John announce his band as Warbringer from the stage.  There was a lot more black metal in their sound than I recalled from previous samples, and it'll be interesting to see if this was a one-off conditioned by the festival soundboard, or if they continue to develop in this line rather than stay stuck on the off-brand Kreator they've relied on to this point.

Toxic Holocaust [5/7]
With Toxic Holocaust, though, the sound veered back in a more traditional/punk-driven direction.  On the whole, this was a slight step up from Warbringer; I've seen better, but this was another strong TH set that made for great feeling in the infield.

Somewhere in this set, I set out my last buttons.  Buttons.  Dead out.  This was a new high; if you have a band or your friends have a band, and you go to this festival without bringing stuff to pass out or trade, you are kicking yourself in your own balls.

Ragnarok [5.5/7]
Bam!  This band was, somewhat more for me than for other people, one of the bands I absolutely had to see.  I first heard them more than ten years ago, and was immediately taken with their direct and violent brand of black metal, but this was the first chance to see them live, and they didn't disappoint.  Still direct, still ceaselessly aggressive -- hopefully, it won't be another ten years until the next look.  IT'S WAR!!!!

For some reason -- probably food and booze -- we took a break, and ended up missing Incantation.  Rough, but with a lineup this good, missing good bands is relatively impossible, and they do come from the same country that I do, so another chance to see them is not out of the question.



246. Back to the music; Insomnium get going.

Insomnium [6/7]
It had been a while since I'd seen these guys, and they followed that with another class performance.  Their style isn't a 100% match for this fest, but they won the crowd over, even as everything was filling up for Tankard.  I'm looking forward to seeing them inside in the fall, but this was pretty damn cool as a break from the thrash avalanche.



247. And there we go -- Tankard im Einsatz.



248. ...and gone again.  Fucking light.



249. A little better, Gerre behind a cloud.



250. Stop the Chemical Invasion!



251. Gerre runs over to the short side.


video5: about the first 30 seconds of "A Girl Called Cerveza".



252. Later in the song; smoke holds up the light.



253. Gerre on the far side of the DVD camera.



254. Frank and Gerre jamming.



255. Empty Tankard!



256. Diving in to greet the fans.

Tankard [7/7]
Yes, I did slap hands with Gerre about 30 seconds after the above pic.  I'm no longer so young or starstruck to make a huge deal out of that, but front row for 45 highest-class minutes of Tankard is a pretty damn big deal.  "Chemical Invasion", "Freibier...", "Empty Tankard" to close, and new stuff nearly as good as the old; this can only be a top mark.  With this highlight, I've now seen just about all of the bands I've wanted to see live....but another Tankard set like this one certainly wouldn't go astray.



257. Naglfar from the back.  This was a good set, with a lot of good material, but I was too drunk to take scores down.



258. Behemoth.  See above -- this is kind of how it looked, as I gave away some drinks and came up a little closer for a bit.

Bands to the end, I went back to camp, and ended up going up with Müller and some girls from the neighboring camp to the disco.  Aftter about a half-hour or so of after-party, it was mit mir zu Ende, and I ducked out for real.  Party.San'd out complett.


8/12 - Schlotheim

Waking up was hard.  Breakfast was leftovers.  But after giving Sam my Sauriel shirt, and handing Müller the black Herugrim one, my pack was ready to go, with like 5-10 pounds less than I shipped out with.  Sam and I split on the platform in Mülhausen, and from there it was out on the long, slow, drag back to Erfurt.  This sucked hard; festival mode is great for festivals, but coming down involves an hours-long liver cramp and streams of sweat.  Fortunately, the hotel was right by the train station.

- Erfurt -

259. ((not germane))

I couldn't find a laundromat, so I washed a week's worth of festival laundry in the sink and hung stuff up all around the room, then went to sleep.  Rough day, period.


Final scores and such:
day 1: 6 bands, 34.5 total points, average 5.75/7
day 2: 5 bands, 27 total points, average 5.4/7
day 3: 5 bands, 28.5 total points, average 5.7/7
total festival: 16 bands, 90 total points, average 5.63/7

This is down from last year in terms of average, but I saw twice as many bands, and due to drinking a lot at night to the point of not rating a lot of the headliners, the lower average was kind of coming.  The fact that this is here instead of the last post is a little bit of foreshadowing about the hike, and what happened with the Summer Breeze plan after that.

2012 - The Final ChapTour part 5 - It's Dark And Totenmachers Are Hot

Brekkie down and recap done, I've got a little time for beer and so before Malignant Tumour go on.  After that, it's in and out until General Surgery....and maybe asleep after Immolation.  Immortal remain killer, but Ghost Brigade is an iron wall of bad, and that late, leaving the infield means ruthless drinking and no return.  We'll see -- hanging out with so many people means little time to score, let alone write, and then longer morning recaps.



223. Early-round flunkyball action, France versus Germany.



224. In action, out of focus.

There are a lot of French folks here.  Not sure why, but French this year is the 2nd language of the festival, way behind German but slightly ahead of English.



225. Flyer for a minifest in Görlitz.  "EGDM" is not so much a real thing yet, but you gotta start somewhere.



226. Malignant Tumour, a ways out.

Malignant Tumour [5.5/7]
The dudes I was with didn't know what to make of this band from the program; the description was really bad, but you can't really write "crustier Motörhead vs. Entombed" in something for actual publication.  Regardless, that feral blend of metal and crust'n'roll is what we got, and it was a pretty damn cool start to the day.



227. Bilos and Robert in his silly wig.



228. Full band, close up.



video4: Real festivals, part 2.  A slow pan across the infield as dudes hang out and watch Assaulter.



229. Assaulter from the back.

I spent the first part of this set making connections, and only later went up to the rail.



230. It's not just me who carries New England.



231. Srsly, why do I even bother?  If Germany can get Sevared stuff, my work is done, and I can lie my bones down among the rocks and roots.



232. Assaulter nice and close.

Assaulter [5/7]
A good time with a lot of lightly blackened thrash metal, but they're still thoroughly in the shadow of D666.  It's a tall wall to climb but hopefully these Aussies will continue to develop and get more separation.  Good stuff, but they've definitely got room to grow.



233. Thrashing in close formation.

It's a long break till General Surgery; time enough to crap, hike a bit, unwind my back -- and catch up on these notes.  More promo, little by little, but mostly taking it slow.



234. Promo works -- dude with a Rampant Decay sticker pasted to his hat.  About half the stickers are also gone, and I have my entire button stockpile in the jacket as well.  Shirts will go on Sunday if not sooner.

.....

This was the last chance to write up of the festival; lots of bands, lots of party, and also my pen cap got lost and the pen died.  Accordingly, the last half of this section and all of the next one had to be done from memory in Erfurt.

.....

The TerrorBlade crew came by, and so it was back to their camp to drink, then a bit of shopping, at least for folks like Maite and Bernd who weren't obsessing about pack weight due to an impending challenge-mode hike.



235. Skalmöld from a way back.

Skalmöld [5/7]
The sound wasn't so good from the edges, but the band still put in a decent shift; good, but definitely the second-best Icelandic band on the program.



236. Clear views over the stands.



237. Me (left) with Bernd (right) and one of the TerrorBlade gang whose name I didn't get.  Picture by Maite.



283. Amazing weather and the back of Jens' head.



239. Dark Fortress kick it up.



240. Closer up.

Dark Fortress [5.5/7]
I'd heard a little of this band before coming, but was not especially inspired; the band on this outing, though, easily impressed with a sharp and aggressive performance of still melodic but also death-tinged black metal.  Festivals are not always the truest lenses, but this set gave a strong argument to go take another look at Dark Fortress.

Between in here was a bunch of drinking and, finally, the end of the stickers.  I was down to buttons, again; the P.SOA appetite for DIY stuff is not to be underestimated.

This was also a dinner/drinks/crap break...and a "deliberately don't see Ghost Brigade" break.  I'd've rather seen Immolation, but that's part of hanging out at festivals.  You see bands you might've passed up, you miss bands you'd rather have seen.  Things balance out.

Nile [6/7]
Back in and back paying attention, and just in time, as Nile laid out a typically crushing set that cut through not just the occasionally-inconsistent deep-field sound, but also the self-imposed fog of several "Paar inna Fresse".  I've seen better from Nile, and remembered more of those, but this was a killer performance at just the right time.



241. Nile in Festivision.

I have a score down for Immortal, but between time -- this was written, as noted above, on Monday -- and an almost unimaginable amount of alcohol over that time, I can't give a true description of what went into that score from the actual set....or, with any great accuracy, what happened between then and the next morning.  No biggie; I'm not a journalist, just a bum with a notebook and inflated ideas of what is generally interesting.  And this, too, is Festivalbericht -- doing shots of Totenmacher till you can't remember the headliners is also an important part of Party.San.

2012 - The Final ChapTour part 4 - Warriors Of The World Unite

-- Special: K's Craft Tips For Festivals --

Hey leutz!  Are you going to a festival, but can't find any good booze in plastic bottles?  Are you sick of the usual distro-stand booze?  Are you a wannabe Brutz & Brakel impresario?  Or do you just want a neat conversation piece, to try to get into people's camps and/or pants?  Whatever the reason, this special section will help you get from a glass bottle that will get taken at the gate to plastic-walled booze to get the party going.



189. First, get these together.  From left to right, 750ml booze, 1L plastic (stuff in it for now), 2L empty plastic.  You only need the last if you plan to save whatever's in the one-liter bottle.



190. Take a plastic bag -- like your spare max-compress shirt bag -- and cut off the corners.  If you don't have a heavy-duty plastic bag like this, the one from the doner shop that your lunch came in will probably work, and likely already has a hole in it.



191. Shove the cut corner into the empty bottle.  You now has a field funnel (inspired by Qingdao).



192. Pour the stuff from your 1L bottle slowly and carefully into the bag, and let it drain down.



193. When this process is done, wash out the bag.



194. Now, wash out the 1L bottle.



195. Take off the lame factory label and put a cool death metal sticker on it.



196. Stuff the bag into the 1L bottle.



197. Pour your booze slowly and carefully into the bag, and let it drain down.



198. Finished! Take a picture so you can prove what this even is, in case security asks.  (They usually don't.)



199. Final finished article, with the pretty crimson and saffron ribbons from the original Mehkong bottle.

This ends the craft portion; next is the festival, and the drinking portion.


8/8 - Leipzig

The camera's fully charged, the leftover cheese from breakfast has been taped shut, and in nearly all respects, I'm ready to head off to Mühlhausen.  The weather looks ok, and there's enough train time to wait that out as well if needed.  A little longer to make sure the rush hour clears, and off we go.

Since I have both provisions and merch still loaded up, my pack is at about its high-water-mark for weight.  I still have some quad damage from yesterday, but if I can handle this stretch, I can handle it on the hike.  Losgehts.

After some uncertainty about what the fuck train I was actually supposed to get on, I headed out of Leipzig towards Erfurt, where I have then have to backtrack on the pokey Erfurter Bahn.  Arrival in MHT is planned about 1pm or so.  Probably.  Enough time to catch the bus and get a decent campsite, then hide shit and go buy beer.  We'll see who I can attach to, meet up with, or fall in with presently.

- Erfurt -

The damage to my left quad is more severe than anticipated, but due to a train-slotting screwup -- I could and should have gone on to Gotha with the IC -- I have some extra time to stretch it out here on the platform.  Half an hour for the train, half an hour to Gotha, and then who knows how long with the RB up to Mühlhausen.

.....

8/9 - Schlotheim

There is really nothing like Party.San's ham'n'scram and a fresh brötchen on a cold morning.  "When this is all over, I will miss this time very much -- I do not mean the touring."  Once I finish the eats, a short recap that mostly covers yesterday.

.....

So I washed up at Mühlhausen, and while waiting for the shuttlebuses, traded Mehkong for some beers, did some distro, and made friends with an Aussie dude from Glasgow.  I ended up introducing this guy, once we'd gotten on to the gelände, to the Erfurt crew from last year, which led to some free beer and brats after making camp, and then it was off into town for some cases of 29er to hold up our end.  The Edeka was not out of beer, having learned from the previous year what it means to have a metalfest in your town (short version: cheap beer = big bucks), so Sam and I were able to get provisioned between buses, and I was able to kick out some Darkwor CDs to some French GBK fans I met while transferring my Tullamore into a plastic bottle.  Sam wasn't able to do the same with his Nutella, but fortunately we met up with some guys from Cornwall with deep shopping bags, and made all our Bluff rolls to get through security.  Back at the camp, it was drink, drink, drink, until I went to bed shortly after sundown (tough day)...and then woke up at sunup to the sounds of Demolition Hammer.  The short version, basically, is that P.SOA remains the repository and center of all good things -- even if beers at the beer stand are now a less convenient 2,50e.  I've got some more promo to so, and more folks to try and find, but for now, it's just good to be back.



200. Here we go again.



201. Empty landscapes, Thursday morning.



202. Dennis wearing the Helge mask to ambush Müller out of his tent.

Draw a line under 12:30, Thursday.  At that point, I was completely out of CDs.  Having a pro barker (Sam used to sell nightclubs in London) and a street festival helped a little, but this is mostly the insatiable P.SOA appetite for everything DIY.


video2: how it really is at festivals.  You can see all the stage footage you like; this is the real shit behind the scenes.



203. Dennis and the Helge-Faß.



204. This is DIY -- right over the running order, a "drummer wanted" ad.



205. Dead Congregation kick things off.

Dead Congregation [5.5/7]
I missed about half the set due to delays getting in the gate, but this was still a kickass barrage of old-school death metal.  Very good stuff, and if they and their country can hang around, they won't be playing this early much longer.



206. Poster on the rail.

In Solitude [5/7]
Not that much better than Worcester; at the time, I was hanging with the TerrorBlade folks, and the band wasn't doing a lot to hold the attention.  Good enough, but kinda nachlässig -- and still GFM.



207. This looks like a reliable van.



208. Sara and Sam fucking around with the French porno bus.



209. On the way back in -- Revocation getting festival slots.  As implied, this is the tour, with Dying Fetus, that Europeans should be looking out for, not just in fall festivals, but in halls near them.



210. Nifelheim smash the crowd.



211. Storm of Satan's Fire!

Nifelheim [5.5/7]
Again, difficulties getting in meant that I missed like half the set, but what was left was choice.  Uniformly killer, and a set that built on itself steadily, song after song.

Solstafir [6.5/7]
Like a lot of third-wave, it isn't that far to hipsterism.  Fortunately, the band still keeps it together to awesome, awesome effect.  Third-wave is still third-wave, but when it's done well it can be amazing, and it does not get much better than Solstafir.



212. Moar liek Hipstarfir, lolololol.



213. Better light for the whole band.



214. Pan across the crowd, waiting for Sodom.



215. Lust auf Sodomie?

Sodom [6/7]
There's only so much Sodom you can pack into a 45-minute non-headlining set, but this was 45 pretty damn good minutes of Sodom.  No "Bombenhagel", and nicht "Ausgebombt", but with classic shit like "Blasphemer", "Agent Orange", and "Sodomy And Lust", they bombed the hell out of the audience pretty damn well.



216. Little kids put the horns up for Onkel Tom.



217. Bolt Thrower blasting the night.



218. In actual light.



219. Karl banging.

Bolt Thrower [6/7]
The wait was worth it; I'd never seen Bolt Thrower live before, but this wasn't just a list checkoff.  Despite being significantly the worse for wear at that point -- hit up Brutz und Brakel with Irish dudes and you'll also have trouble putting shit together -- this was a lethal, bulldozing set from first to last, over the whole of the hour.  Just flat killer, and a class musical conclusion to a simply killer first day.



220. Good band, bad light.



221. More "Bolt Thrower out of focus".



222. Karl hails the crowd for the last time.


video3: Dennis dancing around to "Hauptschule" at like 1AM.  This is echt Festival: weird weird weird shit happens in the middle of the night.  Müller and I left the site shortly afterward, wandered around, met drunks and Irish dudes, sought and dispensed wisdom, and drank quite a bit of beer in the process.  And then you go to sleep, you wake up, and you set up to do it all over again.