During my 1 night stay in Hamburg to clean myself up, I managed to go to the Night Light Heavy Metal Pub, and snagged a shirt of that fine establishment that can act as an alternative to the train-load of Metal band t-shirts I have in my closet/floor/chairs/tables.
We now go into the Wacken part of the schwag I managed to pickup. First up is Heavy Metal's equivalent of the Medal of Honor, the Wacken Open Air bracelet.
This is what you call a repeat offense as I know am the recipient (legit, as in surviving) of 2 Wacken Bracelets. I love the way how the 3 bracelets flank each other. A side-note, I did manage to make these into bracelets as I am unable to have multiple bracelets on my wrist due to what I call "occupational hazards of the vision variety", aka as the company dress code.
With the bracelet came the "bag of festival survivorship", to help ya out during your stay at Wackens verison of a hotel, aka the campgrounds.
Here are the goodies that came within the contents of the bag. First up is the Wacken Open Air patch, a very important item to put on your denim/leather vest/jacket (this would make a great song).
The obligatory festival sticker. A Metal band with no sticker is like jelly missing from a jelly doughnut.
A postcard, so you can send via snail-mail your relatives/friends/significant other/or even yourself/etc. that you made it alive. Of course, considering how the US Post Office these days, by the time you get back you will have a couple of days to spare once the letter makes it to your mailbox.
The obligatory back-shot so you can see how much space there is to write your personal message, unless you're one of the antisocial types. Than again, you can always post your experience on a website/blog/social media outlet if you want to really delve deep into it.
Next you got the Wacken history lanyard booklet, which is another way, aside from the bracelets/shirts/collectible cups/patches/what ever other trinket Wacken can generate revenue/etc., to tell the world how many W.O.A. "jumpwings" you got.
Of course, the lanyard is sold separately, but at least this gives the festival organizers the incentive to put some dough (€) back into the festival and make the tent grow, bring more of the bigger bands, and make the viking ships even more huge.
They also provided some ear plugs for either the little kiddies that don't have the reinforced audio receptors (yet) or for those of us who are brand spanking new to Metal music and need to have some time in the kiddie pool before graduating to the grown up pool of the audio attack known as a Metal Concert.
Condoms. Now, I will be the first to admit that Metal festivals have this magic where fans will drop their guard for the entire extended weekend and just go head first into anything they wouldn't normally do, like drinking more than the normal (and that's a lot if you're a Metal fan), dressing more extreme than normal (heavier chains, heavier "Denim and Leather", heavier jewelry), and the whole "love at first sight and just take the plunge in your tent" (aka the Heavy Metal Sauna \m/). The organizers understood the need for Metal fans to protect themselves and in the event we forgot that protection, at least we had this to fall back in. Thankfully for me, I was packed, locked and ready to go. Still, many thanks to Thomas Jensen and his crew for thinking of our "happy time" safety \m/
The contents even had instructions for those of us taking the first dip into the heavenly gates.
This is where thinking beyond the simple necessities comes into the picture as they also provided a belt pouch for the small items that need to be carried. It's got 2 pockets, and the larger pocket is actually big enough to fit a camera or phone and the smaller one can handle keys, digital cards, and the usual "substances" (Huh-huh, huh-huh) Metal fans need to have with them to enhance the experience at a performance.
A pen for those times you want to write a phone #/mark where your tent is on the paper map/mark some random note about something on the map/to put in your office to give you good memories roaring back into your head/etc.
They also provided a rain coat. Like the saying goes, "see you in Wacken – rain or shine!".
The garbage bag. With the amount of waste Wacken creates, it's recommended to help out with the trash as it is up to the local community of Wacken (population approximately 2000) to clean up after the festival goers (population 70,000 during the festival) gone. Talk about the brave few \m/
The Rubiks Cube, one of life's many modern mysteries that gave people a run for their money to solving a puzzle. These days, this mystery is like "007-373-5963" or "JUSTIN BAILEY". This is Heavy Metals answer to the great modern mystery, except instead of colors, you have 100's or thousands of Metalheads occupying the cube.
On one side, you got the Wacken 22 year logo.
The main stages at night.
The obligatory sea of the back of the heads, to show the magnitude of how big this fest is.
The overview shot of the entire festival area including the camp. Can't have Wacken without the campers braving the weather elements, and don't let this clear day fool you, it can get messy and muddy.
Wacken at night once again, but this time with an explosive highlight.
Finally, another side dedicated to the logo, and a well deserved spot too.
One of the many things that can be said about Wacken is that they know how to promote a band, and the WOA Full Metal Bag came with trinkets to promote the following bands. First up is Firewind.
The freebies consisted of a bottle opener, which definitely helps for those with the brain of a Deutscher Schäferhund to know to bring the cases of booze and in the event said bottle opener was not readily available or was forgotten to be brought, here's Firewind to the rescue. It also provides a small plastic card for the upcoming shows.
They also had a Betontod sticker, which adds to the freebies and if you want to decorate your office skulls, hammers and beer bottles, the things Metal fans needs in their lives.
Jägermeister, as been said before and again, past, present and future, will be a company honored amongst the Metal society as aside from providing an excellent beverage, funds Metal concerts and festivals and as a friendly reminder to let people know this fact,they tend hand out freebies to reinforce our loyalty ( \m/ ), and those freebies tend to be very useful for Metalheads. The ones I managed to get are wristbands, for those days when playing guitar can become a workout.
When you purchase something/anything, the obligatory bag comes into the picture for easy transport. If done correctly, the bag can be utilized to promote the store while the customer wonders around, which can act as a free mobile banner (the mobile part is free, the banner probably didn't cost much). Here's all the bags that came with the schwag I bought at Wacken.
This next bag deserves special commentary, as usually the plastic bags are only good for use a couple of times and after that, done. This bag however is the re-usable type, which means they can push the roman numeral beyond "3" and it's perfect for the groceries, if your supermarkets sells the witches brew ingredients of toad eyes, lizard tongues and the occasional yak follicles.
The viking horn. If there ever was an instrument that is worthy for Metalheads to drink from, this is it. Fun little fact about this particular horn is that it was deployed to the front lines when I was Hamburg, slamming down the tap water at my hostel (for those of you wondering, yes, I did clean it out before consuming) to hydrate myself immediately.
Gloves. The reason for this purchase? To keep me as warm as possible, plus an excuse to pick up some Motörhead schwag as well. And for the 2 hours of winter Miami is known for getting, it can come in handy.
The Wacken Open Air beach towel. This is something that can be utilized where I live almost on a daily basis, plus it's perfect for all the Metal Cruises and even the Metalheads Mission Festival where getting wet can come from something other than a flying cup of beer.
We now come to the collectible Wacken Open Air cups. These cups have random graphics of Wacken and Metal emblazoned on them.
The Wacken Firefighters know how to integrate a local custom with a full Metal assault. As a homage to their yearly performance, they are immortalized in a cup.
The next cup is a heavy hitter with its interpretation of the iconic Harley Davidson logo.
We have now come to the headliner as the ever epical overview shot of the festival at max capacity is shown on this cup to remind the consumer of liquids what he/she survived.
It's time for the heavy guns to come out as Wacken had the huge stein mugs Germany is know for. Ain't no way I am going to this festival without drinking from this cup and bringing it back home.
We now come to what I like to call "taking advantage of my presence in a place I am not know for being in too long", aka, buying shirts from overseas without having to resort to import costs and rare availability. For those of you on the outside, there are 2 types of Metal Markets at the festival. First is the general, open field access that you have access with your bracelet. Than you got the exclusive market area where the merch people are selling rare items. It's almost like a Zelda game where there are secret dungeons lurking about. Here is the wristband pass for the exclusive Market.
So what did I manage to find inside this exclusive merchants tent that required to pay a toll? The Lords of Chaos shirt. If there ever was one item amongst everything that I purchased in my entire trip (and that's a lot of goods) that was "senseless & compulsive", it would be this shirt. This shirt actually looks good and for what it is (a bootleg), it came out better than expected. I managed to find it in one of the many racks that had shirts, and it was almost like the Metal Gods themselves guided my hands to this specific shirt (and it helped that the shirt was colored gray instead of the usual black we all love so much). The surprising (or not considering it's bootleg status) is the price I paid for this? Take a look at the last pic of this shirt so you too may tell the tall tale of the Lords of Chaos shirt.
Translated: "I killed Euronymous".
Note the evidence of the price in the handwriting as there is no way in hell my handwriting can come out this clean and legible.
Next on my list of goodies is Kreators Endless Pain shirt. A classic to be worn for the world to see the miracle that is the German Thrash Metal version of Iron Maiden (with due respect to Sodom and Destruction).
Nothing in the back unfortunately.
We now come to a shirt that represents why Wacken Open Air is the most Metal festival in the world. Deströyer 666 Phoenix Rising t-shirt, their greatest opus now available to be worn to show the world and one of Heavy Metals greatest albums forged in steel and iron.
Some words to live by...
This shirt is the most controversial one of the lot as In Flames is a band that at one time or another was considered legendary for all the right reasons, but nowadays are considered legendary for the puke they release. One cannot dismiss what they bought to the table when they started doing what they did in the past, and the procurement of this shirt is a representation of an album that helped forged my senses for Metal music.
Not to disregard the other 2 "Big 3" of German Thrash Metal, Sodom comes into this picture by adding a very much needed dose of color to my wardrobe with its olive green and based on one of their most classic albums.
This shirt definitely utilizes its real estate very well.
Dress/Workshirts have become a necessity in the world of Heavy Metal as sometimes the plain ole black t-shirt doesn't cut the mustard for those special occasions that warrant something a lil bit more fashion conscious, and that's where this Wacken Open Air button shirt fills a gap that has lately been growing in my closet and all other Metal fans for that matter.
Established 1990, a day in Metal infamy.
This next item has a interesting story (as with the rest of the items and experiences this trip has provided) for me to tell. During my Vienna leg of the tour, I lost this sweater either on the bus that took me from my hostel to the Vienna airport or at the Vienna airport while I was reorganizing my belongings. By the time I got to the Mercure Hotel in Düsseldorf, I realized the sweater I bought in Wacken was now long lost and as a result, I incurred one of the heaviest loss anybody can experience in a trip like this. Keep in mind this sweater kept me warm during my stay in Wacken and Brutal Assault, and as you can imagine, I have grown attached it. When I cam back to the USA, I searched the internet, and thankfully the folks at Heavy Metal Online managed to sell me another one at a "very" reasonable price (keep in mind we don't have this particular sweater in America without having to resort to paying import costs). Many thanks Jezebel \m/.
Saxons Denim and Leather sweater is something of a unique piece of merch as the whole schematics of the sweater, from the amazing front part, to the back with the rockers, and even the sleeves, gives it a heavy nudge for one of the most Metal sweaters ever created in man-kinds history.
We have now come to the headliner of the wardrobes department as this trip cannot be considered complete until this item has been procured. The Wacken Open Air "standard" shirt. You know, the one with all the bands and the dates on the shirt to tell the world you were there and the bands (some) you saw. Here it is in its EPICAL GLORY \m/
A ciffnote, even though some of the bands here are not worthy to bask my closet, this is one of those few moments where there is a neutral zone where we can all get along, until the festival is over with than we can wage the war against the false prophets and its followers. AWARE! BEWARE! WAR!
When I began my journey to Wacken 2011, they had a promotion for the first couple of hundreds/thousands Metal fans that bought the tickets early called the X-mas special where aside the generous discount on the weekend passes, you got a shirt that spells out how we all feel about our beloved music. Here it is in the flesh.
The contents had, as with anything involving Wacken, some pleasant surprises.
You had the obligatory and one of many, but very important, Public Service Announcements, regarding the importance of keeping your ticket in tact. If there ever was an important message, this is it.
Don't let the cover fool you, this isn't a Sonic Syndicate demo, but rather a Nuclear Blast sample CD from their lineup of artists. Unfortunately, Sonic Syndicate is there in the glory that is false Metal. At least you got some killer bands in the sample.
As if there was enough inspiration to go to Wacken and join the exclusive (and increasing) list of people who earn their jump wings, there is the Wacken Full:Metal:Army. The Full:Metal:Army is in essence the elite (aside from those who manage to get the elusive backstage pass bracelet.) of the festival goers, and as such, get a number of privileges reserved for those who join the ranks. I love the "Metalized" Uncle Sam smack in the middle of the flyer. What are you waiting for? Sign up and fight for \m/ ALL THAT IS METAL!6!6!6! \m/
As with the plethora of articles you get, they give a pamphlet letting you know what's for sale as well as other "things" (covering a wide range if I might add) going on with the festival and everything related to it, but this pamphlet has an honorable side to it.
And that honorable side is the previous years posters of Wacken. From 1990 until 2011, they are there, telling a tale within the confines of what would make a great poster for your room.
In the beginning, there was only a few who dared go and brave the element known as starting a Metal Fest...
We have finally come to the most important item any Metalhead traveling to Germany must have. The Wacken Open Air ticket. Without it, you will never be able to access the burnt ashes of the dungeon gates known as Wacken. As with many of my adventures involving Metal Music, there is an interesting story involving my ticket. When I placed my order, I gave the fine staff at Wacken some time to process and handle the purchase I made. After about 4 months (Too long, but I was busy with everything else in my life at the time.), I decided to reach out to the Wacken staff and ask if they knew the status of my ticket. That's when my encounter with an awesome lady by the name of Andrea Lippold began. The story goes that the order was processed, but never made it to my home, and as a result, the ticket was officially considered lost. Andrea arranged to allow me to pick up my ticket at the Wacken office, and they had it ready to go when I got there. Andrea was there from the moment I asked "where's my ticket" to the moment I met her in the fields to say thank you to her personally. This is the reason why Wacken is the excellent festival that it is; because of people like Andrea. Andrea, I can not say enough "\m/ DANKE! \m/" to express my gratitude for what you did and for being there every single step of the way.
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