Whether the Storm – Rockharz 2024 Day 4

Zur deutschen Version geht es hier. 

Don’t forget to check out the reports on Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3!

Guys, how crazy is it that we’re already on day 4 of Rockharz 2024? Somehow everything went by much faster than usual this year… But well, let’s make the best of it: Look forward to evacuations, my problem-solving skills, disappointments, joy and the proof that some people can simply be counted on!

As always, the picture credit goes to lightinmirror.de, who simply knocks out one thing after another photo-wise!

F is for Festival Evacuation

What I really appreciate about Rockharz is that they bring many of my favorite bands to my immediate area and do so at regular intervals. This gives me the chance to do wonderful interviews and meet great new people. To give you a bit of a spoiler: On Rockharz Saturday, it was all about AVATARIUM, SOILWORK and DRACONIAN. I hadn’t seen any of them live for a long time or never before, so of course the anticipation was enormous! I was especially happy about the fact that I also had an interview with all three bands. 

The plan was that the interview with SOILWORK should take place at 16:00. Well… at 15:30 something happened that I had observed at other festivals and had always forgotten about at Rockharz. A thunderstorm moved in and the festival was evacuated as a precaution. Before we get to the problems and consequences that this caused for me, let me say the following: You have to give the event team the greatest respect for deciding against pushing through their own interests and for the safety of the guests in an unclear situation. It couldn’t have been an easy decision! 

But what did that mean for the bands? NESTOR, AVATARIUM and DRACONIAN couldn’t play and the program continued regularly with ORDEN OGAN. When I say I was devastated, that’s not an exaggeration… I’ve been trying for YEARS!!!! to see AVATARIUM live and it NEVER worked. It was just unbelievably sad… It was no different with DRACONIAN, except that they were supposed to play last year and then had to cancel at short notice and were replaced by EINHERJER. The frustration was almost physically palpable, that’s how real it was for me! At this point, however, I can reveal that we have found alternative solutions for the photographic background to the interviews. I have to take this opportunity to thank the bands and promoters once again for the fact that we were able to manage everything despite the adverse circumstances!

At this point, perhaps a little backstage story for a change: What do you actually do when the festival is evacuated, you can’t get to the bands, but it’s foreseeable that the storm will pass and it’s already stopped raining? You hope that you will be helped somehow. My help was Johnny and Johnny literally saved my butt and made it possible for me to meet SOILWORK! A huge mega thank you for that! I think I’ll definitely have to bake something again to say thank you! Sorry also to the people who stood with me at the gate to the way to the day guest entrance and must have been super frustrated that I was allowed to go on because of my escort and they weren’t…

Music? Music!

But let’s rewind a little and take a look at the bands that played that day! The stress of the last few days is still in your bones and so I had a really hard time getting out of bed on the fourth day of Rockharz. But there was a bit of PARASITE INC. after all! Melodic Death Metal is always good and so it was an excellent start to the day!

After seeing them on their tour in Leipzig in March, it was high time for us to indulge our STORM SEEKER addiction again. In glorious sunshine, there were nautical sounds with lots of fun, dancing and rowing sessions. With songs like The Longing or Row Row Row, the musical course was quickly set to “joy”. It’s just wonderful to see that this great band was so well received, because the infield was exceptionally well filled! Especially when you consider that it was only the third band of the day!

I only caught KNIFE and COPPELIUS on the sidelines because they’re not really my kind of bands and I used the time, in anticipation of a stressful afternoon and evening, to write down a few things and prepare for my interviews.

MYSTIC PROPHECY were an absolute must for me. Less for musical reasons than for the fact that they were one of the first bands I ever interviewed. The set was, typically for this band, very powerful and their style of power metal with slight thrash components is recognizable everywhere. As songs like Metal Division echoed across the Rockharz festival site, you could tell that something was brewing…

As you could already read above, the disaster was not only brewing, but also came to full bloom in the form of rain. In hindsight, we can only be glad that it wasn’t worse! The consequence, however, was that NESTOR, AVATARIUM and DRACONIAN were unable to play. 

If you like conspiracy theories, you even have two to choose from for this occasion: Did the storm come because STORM SEEKER brought it on? Or is Rockharz doomed to book DRACONIAN forever, only to not let them play in the end? After all, they were supposed to play last year… Questions upon questions… If you ever run into Jonathan Frakes, ask him which of these stories is fiction!

The program then continued at the regular playing time with ORDEN OGAN, who had brought their latest album The Order Of Fear with them. I found the atmosphere to be somewhat subdued and dampened due to the previous evacuation, but ORDEN OGAN did everything they could to alleviate this somewhat. After all, who can be in a bad mood with the first lines of FEVER?

My personal Roman Empire was then SOILWORK. I admit that I was still on a bit of an endorphin high from the whole situation and the interview with the band, but it was simply the gig of the day for me! Singer Björn is just so engaging live and then this music? I’ll take it! When they played my favorite songs The Ride Majestic and Stålfågel, it was over. Pure love!

At this point we just have to talk about SCHANDMAUL. How amazing is it that singer Thomas survives cancer, goes back on stage but doesn’t sing because of the radiation, but plays guitar and invites guest singers instead? If that’s not dedication, then I don’t know what is. Something like that demands complete awe from me!

Observant people will have noticed that the iconic JUDAS PRIEST logo had been hanging above the Rock Stage all day. It was time for the legends, the movers and shakers, the band of the festival. You can only pay tribute to the event team for making this possible. In 90 minutes, the audience could see and hear everything that belongs to a classic JUDAS PRIEST show. From You’ve got another thing coming to Breaking the Law, Painkiller and Victim of Changes to Hell Bent for Leather, this was simply the fitting headline for such a wonderful festival. And before you ask: Yes! Rob Halford did ride his Harley onto the stage! 

As we’ve already established, Rockharz seems to be all about contrasts and so HYPOCRISY were next in the starting blocks. So while we were getting something to eat, the sounds of songs like Children of the Gray or Roswell 47 resounded across the festival grounds. I had something to eat, I was comfortable and there was good music. What more could you want?

The penultimate band at Rockharz 2024 was LORDI. If you’re thinking: “Wow! They’re still around?”, then let me tell you that was my first thought too. I have no idea what this band has done since they won the ESC, I don’t know the songs and I was totally confused when I read that they had recently been on tour in Europe. It was a bit of an alternate reality… But hey: they played Hard Rock Hallelujah at the end of the set!

The final act was FAUN. As a teenager I listened to them up and down, but somehow I never saw them live… It’s worth staying awake for once! The set included one song, Diese Kalte Nacht („This cold night“), which I couldn’t quite figure out if it was a regular song on the setlist or if the band played it spontaneously because it had gotten very cold in the meantime. They also played songs like Gwydion or Walpurgisnacht and thus brought the festival to a contemplative end. 

All in all, this day was simply a festival day that you won’t forget in a hurry! Thanks to the team for the great festival, thanks to you visitors for the great atmosphere and thanks for reading all this! 

It was another very special (family) festival and I’m glad that we were able to create so many great memories with so many wonderful people. 

Check back soon for the rest of the Rockharz interviews. Stay tuned!