03.08.2012 HammerFall

Wacken Open Air XXIII

Wacken (Germany)

(Pentax K-5 with Sigma AF 70-200mm 2.8 EX DC APO HSM II)

The weather was really the worst on whole Wacken. At least it stabilized for the rest of the day and so the sun was shining when the guys of Hammerfall entered the True Metal stage in the evening. The Swedish had finest power metal with them and just from the start there was no holding back anymore.
Loudly song by song was sang along. The guitarists permanently tried to trump themselves in posing and singer Mikael Stanne was giving everythig which was honored by the audience with loud cheers. Also this band can look back already on a long history of nearly 20 years and was presenting on Wacken Open Air a cross section of great songs out of this long period of time. During "Bang Your Head" not only on stage the hair was waving through the air but also in front of it. "Any Means Necessary" is from atmosphere point of view really the highlight of this evening but the oldie "Steel Meets Steel" did not need to hide. Of course the usual question-response-games may not be missing and generally the interaction between band an audience was quite successful. Optically a lot of flame effects could be admired so that you could only state to HammerFall: Absolutely well-made show!
I had a lot of fun. Fast riffs, great chants, terrific show and an outstanding atmosphere in the audience, is there anything you could want more? At least the band was obviously completely satisfied!

Setlist:

• Patient Zero
• Heeding The Call
• Any Means Necessary
• Bang Your Head
• Blood Bound
• Steel Meets Steel
• Last Man Standing
• Renegade
• The Dragon Lies Bleeding
• Let The Hammer Fall
• One More Time
• Hearts On Fire

Weblinks:

	HammerFall Homepage of the Swedish band HammerFall.
	Wacken Open Air Homepage of the Wacken Open Air Festival at Wacken (Germany).

Map:

Pictures: