Of Tetris Transporters and Super Sonic Samurais: A Day with VICTORIUS

Zur deutschen Version gehts hier. 

One of the big factors that moved me to write this blog was that I wanted to illuminate the background of my favorite music. But after all the material about Rockharz and Helmfest, I realized that you guys out there only ever get to see and read one particular aspect: By the time you read my posts, all the behind-the-scenes stuff has already happened. You only get to see the polished version of a performance. Of course I can’t let such an imbalance prevail and fortunately there are people who give my funny ideas room for realization! So look forward to the somewhat different look behind the scenes and be curious how VICTORIUS prepare for a performance, which interim steps they take and how they round off their performance at the end!

Huge thanks to lightinmirror.de for the awesome pictures! You really outdid yourself!

Let’s travel back together to September 2nd (aka last Saturday!), the day VICTORIUS were booked for the 11th Merseburg Rock Night. The day before they had already performed at the Bockwood Festival in Nordhausen. That made things a little easier, because they didn’t have to load the trailer with most of the needed stuff especially for the gig on Saturday.

David, Frank, Andi and merch fairy Max arrived together with the fully loaded trailer in Merseburg in the early afternoon to position the merch accordingly right away. And guys, believe me when I say: You don’t want to play Tetris with VICTORIUS (or maybe musicians in general)! This is of course due to the five’s affinity towards everything that was popular in the 90s, but first and foremost I would advise against it, because this trailer was so incredibly fully loaded that I wondered if they had put a black hole in there somewhere. I can’t believe they got everything in there!

Hardly parked, the merch was directly unloaded and brought to the sales area with the help of the event team. Judging by the number of boxes, VICTORIUS definitely had the largest number of sales.

After Frank had repaired a small problem with the stage pedestals, we decided to check out what the merch stand looks like now. If you’ve ever seen a VICTORIUS show, you know that you simply can’t do anything with simple black and white designs. The more colorful and weird, the better! My personal highlight was a doll, which I will call Velo-Girl in the following. This female torso with VICTORIUS shirt and velociraptor head was simply the eye-catcher for me! Velo-Girl for permanent VICTORIUS mascot!

In the meantime Flo and Dirk had also arrived and brought a few more pieces of equipment and so slowly but surely we could start preparing for the gig. At this point the event was about 30 minutes behind schedule due to various factors such as technical problems. Such a delay is always difficult to catch up, especially if you have also planned 30 minutes as change-over time. But as a band you have to make the best of the situation and see how best to organize yourself efficiently.

In the case of VICTORIUS means that about 1h before the gig the hot phase of preparation starts. On site there was no real private possibility for the bands to change, except for DESTRUCTION and ENSIFERUM. They had set up a beer tent and that was the „changing“ area for the bands… The guys had then put another beer tent bench, which was unused near the stage, into the tent as a place to sit, but more „comfort“ was not available here. In addition, they were also able to organize a mirror for their make-up from another band.

I have to be honest and say that I found this pretty boundary-pushing. Nobody needs a super luxurious dressing room area, but it’s only appropriate to create a place where bands can prepare for their performance somewhat discretely, without having the feeling of constant observation. Especially since I don’t think a fixed mirror and a few chairs or benches is an excessive demand either….

But well, it just wasn’t there and VICTORIUS made the best of it!

It’s fascinating to see that five people who arrived at the event in the afternoon relaxed and dressed in band shirts can change so completely! The uniform black basic outfits in combination with the really cool looking armor and the partially used make-up makes the five band members look entirely different.

From my point of view, there is also something meditative about everyone helping each other get dressed, while the guitars are still being tuned or the final touches are being made in general.

On days like this, it’s always amazing how quickly the time until the gig actually flies by. Before you know it, stage decorations, such as shields with a mammoth head, are out of the stage, everyone is in the starting blocks and the first notes of Dinos and Dragons make the audience aware that a very special Power Metal show  awaits them! Unfortunately, the additional mics on stage were missing, but this was quickly fixed after the first song.

The set was unfortunately scheduled way too short with 40 minutes, but VICTORIUS got everything out of this warm evening, despite the still existing delay! The set played was well put together to make everything out of the short stage time and still give the audience the full VICTORIUS experience. The last song, Super Sonic Samurai was a perfect ending, which certainly had the effect of motivating people to come to the upcoming shows in the fall!

When a band leaves the stage, the day doesn’t end there, of course! In the case of VICTORIUS, the in-ears are quickly stowed away, a little sip is drunk and then it’s off to the fans. I don’t really have a comparison now, but the guys made it a whole five steps out of the backstage before they were stopped by fans. So it’s no wonder that they hardly ever make it to the merch stand together!

It’s moments like these when I just love the Metal scene. The closeness that the bands display is rewarded with great encouragement from the fans, which is expressed especially in long conversations, anticipation of upcoming concerts and countless requests for photos and autographs. So everyone present can get a piece of VICTORIUS. Not all requests can be easily fulfilled (or have you ever tried to sign on a drum stick??), but VICTORIUS give everything to satisfy every fan.

While the sun slowly but surely sets over Merseburg, VICTORIUS can also relax. At dinner in the backstage they talk a bit about the gig, joke and network with the other musicians. You can literally feel how a certain tension has now fallen away.

For instance, David had to change the batteries of his brought microphone still on stage, although the charge level of the original batteries should still have been sufficient. As a result, there is a lively discussion about a certain battery bunny and whether you can’t somehow incorporate it into the album stories. So if you ever see this in future VICTORIUS albums, remember that you read it here first!

The only thing that finally remains to be done is to load the trailer with the equipment we brought along, including merch and Velo-Girl, in this skilful Tetris style. That we would later unload and reload everything again to look for a few things, we could not yet foresee…

At the end of the day there is a good gig (despite organizational problems) and a satisfied band that could inspire many people with their music again. While you are reading this, VICTORIUS are on their way to Japan to play three shows in Tokyo. If you also want to enjoy the Ninja Laser Dino Stories, then check out the tour in autumn! A little tip from me: They will play in Leipzig on November 4th!

And to those who are now grumbling because there are no „real“ live pictures to see here: Saturday there will be the obligatory interview!