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WACKEN IS HEALED BY METAL AS TRIVIUM STEAL THE SHOW
Wacken Open Air 2017, Friday


5th August 2017

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Wacken Friday brought an improvement in weather conditions and some epic performances from Marilyn Manson, Megadeth, Candlemass and Paradise Lost, to name but a mere handful.

However, the day belonged to Trivium and Grave Digger who blew the main stages to bits with powerful and memorable performances that were equally remarkable.

Sonata Arctica and Sanctuary had both set the bar high for the day with blistering displays that almost made the sun die. The Americans sound just as fresh and exciting today as they did when they first made a wave in the eighties while the Finns represent all that is good from the generaton that followed.

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Grave Digger started with the song that became an instant anthem when it was first heard last year, the title track of thier newest album 'Healed By Metal', and that set the pace and tone for a resounding set of Heavy Metal mastery.

The veteran German Metallers were once again a Wacken hit as frontman Chris Boltendahl led his troops through a scintillating set that contained great tunes from throughout their thirty-seven year career.

This was a masterclass in Heavy Metal and for the umpteenth time in their history they once again conquered Metal's biggest stage as Wacken was well and truly healed by Metal.

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Trivium bass player Paulo Gregoletto told us before the band hit the stage to a rapturous welcome that he was delighted to be back on the road again and that was more than clear from the energy coming off the quartet both before and after their quality performance.

During was the bit that mattered most though and yet again Trivium showed they are masters of their art by totally owning Schleswig-Holstein. Anybody who ever described them as "Metallica impersonators" should have been here today because nobody could have followed them today, not even Large Oilrig and his comrades.

Emperor ran them close however with a rousing set that did their ever increasing profile no harm at all and won them several thousand new fans.

Megadeth meant business and business was good as they produced the most powerful and bruising display of their career that any of our team present can ever remember and some of us can go right back to the last century.

This current incarnation of Megadeth is superior to any previous line-ups and Dave Mustaine appears to be in the form of his life while Marilyn Manson served up many golden moments of grotesque that left his audience feeling like they were in the middle of a week long binge.

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Photo Credit: Christian Kerkmann

Manson's crew are on a binge of a different kind as they continued to add to their collection of inkings in the backstage tattooing area.

These are no ordinary tattoos however. The crew are on a mission to collect new tattoos saying "fuck you" in the language of the country they are in and although the German translation could be easily misinterpreted in English, so it was written and so it was done.

Doing the honours were Saskia of Santa Sagre Tattooing of Cologne and Harry Hafensänger Tattoo of Hamburg who also had the honour of inking Steel Panther's Styx and Michael Starr last year, along with Austin D'Amond from Devildriver.

This year's clientele included Saltatio Mortis bagpipe player Gunter Kopf, Jennifer Haben of Beyond The Black and Russkaja.

As well as being lovely people, Saskia and Harry are right up there with the elite of Metal tattooists and with endorsements like this, it's easy to see why.

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Photo Credit: Christian Kerkmann

So as Friday turned seamlessly into Saturday, Wacken readied itself for the final day and another top line-up of the very best that Metal has to offer.

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Tickets for Wacken 2018 are on sale right now. Click the banner to get yours. Click here to check out the official Wacken travel partners who are offering transport to W:O:A.

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And in case you missed them, here's the recaps of Wacken Wednesday and Thursday.









 
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