WACKEN 2007

Report Lives

WACKEN 2007
Posted : 01.10.2007
Done By : Eleonora Rivolta

BLIND GUARDIAN

Blind Guardian are always more than welcome from fans, even though Hansi's voice live is not as perfect as it was once. The setlist included a good range of songs from the bands' discography; even if they didn't play almost anything from the very first works (apart from the masterpiece "Valhalla") the band managed to satisfy both loyal fans and not: infact, the amount of trakcs from the masterpieces "Imaginations from the other side" (the title track, Born in the mourning hall, Script For My Requiem ...) and "Nightfall in Middle Earth" (title track, Into the Storm, Mirror Mirror...) was perfect for the not loyal listeners; but some more-rare-live track as "Lord of the Rings" and "Traveller in time" made the joy of the true Bards from Krefeld's fans.
While Hansi is costantly losing his voice during the years; Marcus and Andrè improve their always more in the choirs.

Setlist: War Of Wrath - Into The Storm - Born In The Mourning Hall - Nightfall - The Script For My Requiem - Fly - Valhalla - Otherland - Welcome To Dying - Traveller In Time - Bright Eyes - The Bard's Song - Time Stands Still - Imaginations From The Other Side - Punishment Divine - Lord Of The Rings - This Will Never End - Mirror Mirror

DIMMU BORGIR

The setlist is quite good and the members not in bad conditions; tracks as "Progenies of the great apocalypse", "Mourning Palace" and the "The serpentine offering" make the happiness of the fans and let the great voice of Vortex ...not to talk of a masterpiece as "Kings of the carnival creation".
A really performance in the whole. They are playing without Hellhammer, and it was not easy not to miss him, but Tony Laureano from Nile is really the right man in this role!
Also the atmosphere and the playing time were perfect. Fans more than happy, in spite of a not very cheerful Shagrath wandering in the backstage :)

IMMORTAL

Not rarely it happens during reunions to find a band without energy, incapable to hide the fans they play together only for the money. In this case, Immortal seem not to lack in this: they play with energy and style, but it's impossible to hide that the band is not the anymore the glacial and row one that in the early 90's gave birth to masterpieces as "Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism" and "Pure Holocaust".
Songs from these two cds and from the incredible "Battles in the North" are re-arranged in a way that is not so pleasant for the old fans and, what's more, they only play about 10 songs.

More are the ones from the earliest works, as "Withstand the fall of time" from "At the heart of winter" or "One by one", "Tyrants" from "Sons of Northern Darkness", and the title track. Apart from these, nothing can be said about the band's condition - good fit for everyone and the unforgettable experience of seeing such a performance, but still, it's a pyrotechnic and formally perfect concert that cannot help to leave happiest the occasional fans than the most loyal ones; also for an Abbath apparently more worried about his look and moves than about the music.

ENSLAVED

After seeing them at "Hole in the sky" in 2005 in one of the best gigs EVER, we were really disappointed by this Wacken's exhibition. Maybe it was because the Party Stage is not the best for for a viking-extreme metal like the one the band plays; maybe for the afternoon is surely not the best part of the day to let them play. But the sounds were really bad, and sometimes it was hard even to hear Grutle's voice...
If we add the fact the setlist was not as good as in the other occasion we saw them, it's understandable how we would need to see them again in a better occasion to appreciate them a lot more.