Spontaneously the best band in the world announced mid of August to go on their tour “Herbst Ihres Lebens” through smaller venues of the republic. Two weeks later it already started, and I was able to get tickets for the final concert on 14.10.2023 at the Turbinenhalle at Oberhausen. As it could be expected the tickets were out of stock in no time and this appointment sold out. Luckily, they did not sell that many tickets for this location as they did when I was there the last time for a concert as at Saltatio Mortis it was that crowded that you could hardly move anymore. This evening it was a lot airier and more agreeable. As often, so also today Die Ärzte played without any support acts which can be gotten over taking the normal length of their sets into consideration.
At 20:45 it finally was the time and Heaven Shall Burn entered the stage to the sounds of the intro “Awoken” from the 2008 released album “Iconoclast (Part I: The Final Resistance)”. When they were over it seamlessly went into “Endzeit” and with the first words sung the crowd in front of the stage directly started moving. Already during the winter they toured through the bigger venues together with Trivium and now they continued this during the Summer Battles Tour 2023 also in smaller locations. Due to that there was no big show on stage with fire and the usual hoo-ha but that was also not needed at all. The band on its own already put across so much energy that there was no limits in the audience and in such small locations where you are really close to what is going on the concert experience is anyhow much more intense.
The sun was still shining brightly from the sky and so did the jacket of Matt Heafy. After the intro “X” of the album “In The Court Of The Dragon” faded out the identically named title song directly boomed from the stage. The backdrops and covers were just as colourful as the front man and he made straight clear that he was really bent on playing this evening. The tongue was again and again sticked out and permanently he swirled from one end of the stage to the other.
After it had been quite changeable across the day it was getting sunny towards the evening and so the guys of the Scottish band Bleed From Within could enter the stage at best weather. The Junkyard provided a worthy setting for the upcoming hours due to its unusual setup of the location (everything outside was built from old containers and scrap). Because also Trivium and Heaven Shall Burn were on the agenda it unfortunately had to start very early at 18:15 in order to satisfy the noise protection requirements for the open-air concert.
After Gojira had already torn the place apart, the third headliner of the evening took the stage being none other than Machine “Fucking” Head. Even before the first notes were fully audible, while the large Machine Head logo banner still covered the stage, massive cheers erupted. The moment the banner dropped and the band launched into “Imperium” from the 2003 album “Through The Ashes Of Empires”, several pits opened instantly.
From one highlight to the next. After Disturbed, it was time to head over to Gojira. The French band has steadily continued their ascent over the years, and after numerous mid‑tier slots, they finally landed a headliner position at a major festival. The area in front of the stage was packed, and anticipation was high for what was about to unfold.
Directly after Amon Amarth came another repeat act: Disturbed, whom I had already seen at the same spot in 2019. And once again, a new album “Divisive” from last year had joined their already long list of releases. With the sun slowly setting, the four guys from Chicago, Illinois stepped in to fill the coveted early‑evening slot once more. And they absolutely delivered!
Amon Amarth weren’t actually high on my list for today’s festival schedule. I had already seen them here in 2019, and although they released a new album, “The Great Heathen Army” in 2022, it didn’t particularly excite me. Still, the timing worked out nicely, and Amon Amarth are always a guaranteed good show. So off I went into the crowd in front of the North Stage.
From the big stages, I moved back to the small Metal Dome in the early evening. Here, the four guys from the island were getting ready for their show. I had already had Orange Goblin on my list at Graspop in 2019, but back then I didn’t manage to catch their set. Today it finally worked out, and I was looking forward to 45 minutes of finest stoner metal.
After Asking Alexandria delivered a rather unconvincing performance, I headed back over to the South Stage, hoping to encounter a reliable crowd‑pleaser from Australia. Airbourne were once again guests at Graspop, by now already for the fourth time, and for me personally, it was the third time seeing them live. The opener “Ready To Rock” from their 2013 album “Black Dog Barking” was essentially a rhetorical question. Of course everyone in front of the stage was ready to rock!