By Michael De Los Muertos
Pictures and Commentary by Ice Maiden
This year felt different than all the others. This was my third trip
to Wacken for the greatest metal festival in the known universe, and as
the date grew closer I started to get the feeling it would be something
truly extraordinary. After all, the yearly pilgrimage to the quaint
farming village in northern Germany has become a trusted tradition, so
long as the finances hold out and the odd crew of metalheads from
Portland and various outlying areas (including Sweden and Italy) are
still up for another trip. But this one felt different. It wasn't just
the stellar line-up that included several of my favorite bands including
Edguy and Blind Guardian, neither of which I'd seen. It wasn't just the
jinx of fate that this was the 13th Wacken festival. On the long plane
ride to Hamburg I had an inkling that the metal gods, whoever they are,
were about to smile down at us. I didn't bring myself to hope that
Wacken 2002 might be the best one ever, because what if it didn't live
up to that expectation? But part of me was secretly expecting it.
Thankfully, the experience didn't disappoint. Not only was this the
greatest Wacken I have personally attended, it might well be the
greatest Wacken ever.
(Ice Maiden's Commentary: I arrived in Hamburg earlier in
the day than Muertos. True to their word, just as I exited the airport
gates, there were Black Goat and Skyklad, waiting with a welcoming
bottle of Jaegermeister to toast the beginning of our Wacken experience.
Black Goat made quick time of the trip to Itzehoe-that high speed
Autobahn business rules!-and we dumped our gear into the hotel. As we
neared Itzehoe, more and more cars were jammed full of metalheads and
their stuff, sporting all manner of metal banners and "Wacken or
Bust!" type signs in different languages. I couldn't resist
flashing the horns and waving as we passed.
Since we had a whole day in front of us, we decided we'd take a
day trip to the North Sea. Most of the "coast line" is really
"swamp line", but eventually we found a spot where you didn't
have to pay to park and where you could actually see the Sea. The
countryside was beautiful and we listened to some of the new Barbarian
Wrath and Witches' Brew metal releases-the trip was off to a fine start.)
We landed in Hamburg and made our way to Itzehoe--the nearest large
town to Wacken--without incident. Already we could see the exciting
signs of the metal invasion: several metalheads were already stationed
down at the bar of the Hotel Mercure as we checked in. Weary of our long
trip across the Atlantic, Ice Maiden, Nomad and I had a leisurely dinner
on the outdoor patio--until it was rudely interrupted by an epic
cloudburst. Hmm, an omen of things to come? I wondered. Unfortunately
the thunderstorm did not cool off the 85-degree heat. In order to get
any sleep at all we had to have the windows of our hotel room wide open.
Awakening to a faint high-pitched insectoid whine in the middle of the
night brought me face-to-face with the first of our official Wacken
Tribulations: mosquitoes. Getting up the next morning, already drenched
in sweat and dotted with itchy mosquito bites, I thought, things aren't
going too well, and we haven't even seen the festival site yet! Was I
wrong about the metal gods smiling at us?
(Ice Maiden's Commentary: My room, across the hall, was
totally cool and insect-free. I was, however, awakened at 3 am by the
sounds of serious partying downstairs and someone drumming. I don't mean
using drumsticks on furniture-I mean someone had set up their drums in
their room and was practicing at HIGH VOLUME. Under normal
circumstances, I probably would have gone to find out which band was
practicing-but after a bazillion hours flying and a day in the hot sun,
I just wanted sleep. Ear plugs did the trick, and I had a restful night.)
Read on....
Thursday, August
1, 2002
Friday, August 2, 2002
Saturday, August 3, 2002