Rockharz Day 2: All inclusive?!

Zur deutschen Version geht es hier.

Find the report on Day 1 here!

Welcome to my report on day 2 of the XXXXXL birthday party that Rockharz has organized this year! Besides musical highlights, you can also expect a little insight into the inclusion strategies that the project „Kultur für alle“(Culture for all) wants to establish at Rockharz in the future or has already implemented this year!

Huge thanks to lightinmirror.de for the wonderful pictures!

And this much in advance: If you have any questions or concerns about inclusion at Rockharz, please feel free to contact inklusion@rockharz.de at any time!

A Festival for all?!

Short Disclaimer: English is not my first language and while I try to write as inclusive as possible, it’s entirely likely that something might slip by. If you feel like certain phrases or words could be improved, please do not hesitate to contact me via the Shieldmaiden’s Voice Instagram or Facebook page or via the E-Mail address listed in the imprint!

One fact that people without disabilities are  too seldom fully aware of is how good and easy they actually have it. Your favorite band is playing in your city? No problem! You want to attend a festival and camp out? Nothing could be easier! Things that are no problem at all in the everyday lives of non-disabled people can lead to insurmountable barriers for people with disabilities. Even the basic question of where one could actually go quickly melts away the possibilities. 

In order to be able to make a further contribution to a more inclusive society with the Rockharz, the project „Kultur für alle“ was founded after COVID, which brings all those affected to the table with the event team. For example, organizer Dani is part of the team, as well as photographer Björn Schulz, who you may have seen on the infield from time to time.

This year, for example, the camp for people with disabilities has already been doubled, after being separated from the VIP camping area for the first time in 2022. But the fear of potential problems at the festival is still a major obstacle for many. The biggest difficulty is to dare, says Björn Schulz in conversation. The camp is open to everyone and together with the Lebenshilfe Braunschweig, every level of care can be covered so far. As part of the effort to make the festival as barrier-free as possible, holes were filled with solid tailgating material and paths were made of non-slip hard rubber. In addition, a dedicated reception area has been set up where campers can pick up their wristbands so they don’t have to climb the long hill to the regular wristband drop-off. There are also separate shower containers and barrier-free flush toilets. For the first time, a medical supply store from Goslar, Werner und Habermalz, was also on site to offer repairs and provide replacement equipment if needed. Although there was a charge for their use, in many cases they can be settled with the nursing care insurance funds.

Despite all the euphoria about the changes that are already noticeable, however, a bit of caution is also called for: This year, the focus was still on people who were dependent on the use of a wheelchair or a walking aid. For people who are visually impaired or hearing impaired, solutions are currently still being worked on at full speed. For example, the engagement of a sign language interpreter for the music is a problem due to the length of the day or due to a lack of scene affinity. Furthermore, as so often in life, there is also the question of financing. The aforementioned medical supply store is also only involved on a sponsorship basis, so the continuation of this offer is also far from being assured.

Nevertheless, the run on the festival and the corresponding camp was as big as never before, which is definitely an indication that there is a significant need here. So it remains exciting to see how this wonderful and important project and matter will develop in the coming years.

You have questions, problems, opinions and suggestions about inclusion at Rockharz? Feel free to contact the team at inklusion@rockharz.de

Light and Shadow

My musical goal on the second day of the festival was to be in the front row for TRIBULATION. An intention that I also fulfilled. I started this day a bit later, so I only caught a rest of THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, another band project of Melissa Bonny (AD INFINITUM).

The following UNZUCHT I then only peripherally noticed, but found it quite ok. But it couldn’t keep up with TRIBULATION, who were definitely my highlight of the day. The Swedes play a very detailed Death Metal, which reminds me of MORBID ANGEL in some parts. The fast chord progressions combined with Johannes Andersson’s vocals and the precise guitar sound, especially from guitarist Adam Zaars, just completely hooked me. TRIBULATION offered a good mix of their releases, such as Hamartia or Where the Gloom becomes Sound, which also included my personal favorite song In Remembrance. On this day they were probably the most underestimated band, which might have been mainly due to their position in the line-up. Against the fan favorites FIDDLERS’S GREEN and MR. HURLEY UND DIE PULVERAFFEN, who followed them, they had absolutely no chance. Whoever put such a technically good Death Metal band in front of two Folk bands did TRIBULATION really no favors…

For the party-hungry Rockharzers, FIDDLER’S GREEN and MR. HURLEY UND DIE PULVERAFFEN were just the thing. Especially the latter thrilled with their evergreens, such as Blau wie das Meer. Also new songs like Achterbahn am Achterdeck were enthusiastically received by the audience. A young woman did not miss the opportunity to take crowdsurfing to a new level by doing just that on a man…Respect for that!

Due to the fact that I had an interview, DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER have unfortunately completely slipped by me.

I was a bit confused by the set of HÄMATOM. It felt like it consisted only of covers, like Kids (2 Finger an den Kopf) by MARTERIA, which is something you have to like… The set was then finished with the help of Alea (SALTATIO MORTIS).

In the run-up I was also looking forward to PARADISE LOST. The Brits are an uncanny scene giant and their songs have such a profound emotionality about them that you just have to love the music. I was even happier when they played Hallowed Land, a song that is almost as old as I am, but for me still belongs to their best works.

But I found it a bit unfortunate that PARADISE LOST was directly followed by FEUERSCHWANZ. If they had swapped the two, the daily schedule would have been a bit more coherent from my point of view and the break between PARADISE LOST, FEUERSCHWANZ and then IN FLAMES would not have been so big. 

Nevertheless FEUERSCHWANZ played a wonderful show. Even if I’m not so familiar with their other songs, I find their covers absolutely brilliant and was very pleased that they also took my sensitivities in this regard into account in the set! For example, the fans could hear the catchy cover of Dragostea Din Tei! Melissa Bonny, who had already been on stage earlier in the day with THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, was also part of the set.

But now to the, from my point of view, best act of the day: IN FLAMES! Who follows this blog here, may have noticed that I love Melodic Death, and here especially the Gothenburg school, enormously. IN FLAMES therefore belong for me regularly to the musical rotation at home and in the car!

And I was absolutely not disappointed! The show was simply bombastic! These powerful and powerful vocals of Anders Fridén chase me every time again a goose bumps over the body! The brilliant guitars pierce through marrow and bone and that perfect punctuation by the drums helps make an IN FLAMES show feel like a holistic experience. This headliner slot was more than deserved! Musical highlight of the show was clearly the song Only for the Weak.

Only criticism on my part: I would have liked to hear Meet Your Maker live… But as we all know, you can’t have everything!

Just now I talked about style breaks and apparently that was also a bit the motto of the day, because next the French from SKÁLD performed. The band name is derived from the name for the Scandinavian court poets (Skalden) and the lyrics of the band are mostly in Norwegian. Accordingly, they also use traditional instruments for their music, such as the shaman drum. The stage design was enormously impressive and the music has a deep spirituality. However, I was somewhat disappointed to find that a significant portion of the music was not played live, but played from tape. This somewhat diminished this acoustic experience for me. Regardless, the gig was a good end to the day for me, as I had absolutely no nerves left to watch ONSLAUGHT.

But don’t be despondent, Friday was all the more intense for it!