SUMMER BREEZE OPEN AIR

w/ Napalm Death, Gorgoroth, Dark Tranquility, Parkway Drive, Be’lakor and many many more!

Dinkelsbuehl, Germany – 18th-21st August, 2010

Once in a while we bare witness to an event which stays with us for the rest of our lives. I witnessed such an event this past August, as I traveled to Germany to take part in a small handful of metal festivals during a gorgeous European summer. Partying was surely on the agenda for Wacken as it celebrated its 21st birhday, but one festival which stood out for me was Summer Breeze.

Summer Breeze is a metal festival held in Dinkelsbuehl, Germany right in the heart of the Bavarian countryside. The festival started back in 1997 and has grown into a reputable organisation and showcases some of the most amazing metal talent from around the globe over a 3 day period during late August.

The festival itself houses around 35,000 – 40,000 festival goers and is considered one of the “smaller” metal festivals in Germany. When I arrived at Dinkelsbuehl it wasn’t hard to notice the sea of long hair and studded metal jackets which took over the small medieval Bavarian town. Arriving at the camp grounds was relatively easy. I was picked up via bus from a small community train station going by the name of Ansbach, which then took me to Dinkelsbuehl. The bus ride wasn’t the least bit boring as festival goers were playing metal music over their distorted but bearable boom boxes. I was lucky enough to bump into some friends of mine, Holly and Amanda who I talked to during the bus ride in to the camp grounds. Like them, I was completely rooted from so much traveling, but our journey was thankfully nearing an end.

Being at Wacken a fortnight prior, I wasn’t the least bit  shocked to see so many metalheads lining up to attend one festival. Luckily for me I was apart of the VIP section for Summer Breeze, which honestly wasn’t that much different from the normal camping experience, albeit with less beer cans on the ground and blowup dolls attached to wooden planks to help drunk and stumbling festival goers find their way home of an evening.

During my indoctrination at the media area I bumped into a young man by the name of Stefan who works for a German webzine. He, much like all Germans was very friendly and helpful. Not knowing me for more than a couple of minutes, he offered me a lift to the VIP camp site. Unaware of the distance I would have had to travel on foot, I was quite thankful for the lift Stefan had offered me. I was also lucky enough to meet the festivals promoter David Gregori who he, along with Glen Dyson from Soundworks Touring in Australia helped me get my photopass for Summer Breeze. I wish to thank them both in advance for helping me organise my VIP pass and getting around the grounds with ease.

Introduction Day

Equilibrium, Rage, Suffocation, Unleashed and many more…

After setting up camp and introducing myself to some of the locals I made my way to the opening bands. I arrived on the opening day which was August 18th, yet the two main stages ‘Pain’ and ‘Main’ were not available to enter until the next day. However, the ‘Party’ stage was available in the mean time which hosted some big and small starter bands during the opening day. First up on my roster were Kadavrik, a German melodic black metal with an influence to that of Kalmah. These lads were apart of the ‘Young Blood’ competition which was essentially local bands battling for recognition before the main acts came on stage. I sadly missed the three locals bands beforehand, but did hear positive remarks from many during beer breaks.

Suicidal Angels hail from Greece and were next in line. This was the first time I saw the band thanks to some positive words from my new friend Stefan, who was eager to see what they offered. Having a strong thrash metal similarity to the likes of Kreator, Overkill and Destruction, this awesome Greek thrash metal band easily surpassed my expectations. Having a solid 45 minute set I quickly grew attached to the band and their teutonic thrash influence.

Like a revolving door the bands just kept on coming. Up next were one of the major influences of the death metal movement, Suffocation. These lads sounded amazing and I was very grateful to have finally seen Suffocation live as I missed their previous tour in Australia with Arch Enemy. They mainly played newer material which was ok by me as I’m growing quite attached to their new release Blood Oath.

One of my favorite bands were up next, Rage. I’ve been a longtime fan of the band and was overcome with joy when I finally got to see them live. The band pulled out the big guns and mainly played material off their latest release and some fond classics too. Next were Unleashed who were one of many bands I saw at Wacken two weeks prior. In all honesty, I enjoyed their performance a lot at Summer Breeze than at Wacken, mainly due to the intimate setting of the Party Stage. The crowd went absolutely nuts, as did I.

By the time Unleashed finished their set my adrenaline was running thin. The consumption of cheap beer and deep fried food wasn’t the best combination, especially when one of the band’s I wanted to see at Wacken was on next. I’m speaking on Equilibrium. I’m still kicking myself now that I missed these guys. If only I consumed a nice greasy cheeseburger to sustain my energy for another hour or two, but alas I didn’t really want clogged arteries or fill my pantaloons full of doo doo butter.

Day 1

Subway to Sally, Obituary, Dark Tranquility, Parkway Drive plus many more..

You really notice the amount of noise 35,000+ people make when you go to bed at Summer Breeze. Unlike Wacken where everyone parties to the early morning and then some, Summer Breeze is a little more forgiving. People are given the option to party further throughout the evening in the party tent, while the entire camp ground is shrouded in darkness and complete silence after the final band is finished. After I awoke from my slumber and chowed down some grub supplied to me by my new German friends, I set out to get my fill of metal on day two. Most of the bands I wanted to check out didn’t start til mid afternoon, so I had a few hours to spare while I waited to see Dream Evil, Napalm Death and many more.

The time I had gave me the opportunity to explore the metal markets. It’s essentially what it sounds like. It’s a market in between the Party stage and the Pain and Main stages where you can shop for various heavy metal items such as bullet belts, leather jackets, leather pants, corsets, patches, flags, metal t-shirts and copious amounts of cheap metal CD’s. I literally filled my pants with joy when I saw that some outlet stores were offering brand new releases that were no more than 2 or 3 years old, all limited edition for only  €3, which is roughly about $5 per CD give or take our conversion rate. You really notice the difference this makes to your wallet compared to shopping for metal albums in Australia when most imported CDs reach a whopping $40.

After exploring the metal market, spending to much money and chatting to some of the locals I made my way to the first band of the day, Dream Evil. I’ve been a fan of these lads for awhile, but again I’ve never had the opportunity to see them live. They seriously put on amazing show. You really notice the difference with attendance at power metal shows in Europe compared to Australia, or even America for that matter. I know its a festival and the attendance is outweighed by a significant amount compared to a headlining gig, but even for a so called “small” power metal band like Dream Evil, the response was amazing. Sound was perfect, as were the band.

Up next were Napalm Death. Much like their songs I only have one short response to their performance….fucking awesome! Short, fast and fucking loud! Napalm Death indeed rocked by hairy anus that day. The only draw back about these festivals is you don’t get enough time to see all the bands. If there was some way to clone myself I’d gratefully do it to see all the bands I could.

Napalm Death finished on a high and left me pretty battered and bruised. I took time to relax, having a beer and get my bearings back, yet sadly missed Il Nino. I’m not a massive fan of Il Nino ,so I wasn’t completely disappointed. Next up on the main stage were Aussie hardcore heroes Parkway Drive. I didn’t even realise they were on the bill until I looked at my timetable prior to them coming on stage. I quickly made my way to the main stage to check them out and was blown away at the response they got.

What I forgot to mention before is that Summer Breeze isn’t entirely a metal festival. They also incorporate hardcore bands too.  Parkway Drive, Black Dahlia Murder and Heaven Shall Burn were just some of the hardcore bands on the bill this year. As mentioned before, the response Parkway Drive got was amazing. For a metal festival, Parkway Drive got a better response than some of the most prestige metal bands on the bill. This is mainly due to general fans in Europe wanting to experience all aspects of music, not just one band stuck on repeat.

It was great to hear an Aussie accent though as I was missing home, albeit a little boganish. After Parkway Drive finished I made my way back to the Pain stage to check out 69 Eyes. These guys are really unique. Shifting towards a mellow rock motif. They seriously settled my nerves after I was thrown around like a rag down during Napalm Death and Parkway Drive. I’m sure many got the chance to see 69 Eyes when they toured Australia not to long ago. I was one of many who missed out and made it my mission to see them this time round. I must admit, I’m not the biggest fan of the band, but grew appreciation.

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter (The Apocalyptic Horsemen) were up next and I was eager to see them once again. I saw these guys when I was at Wacken and seriously fell in love with them straight away. They’re a mismash of trash, death, melodic and folk metal. Their set was both very entertaining and amusing as keyboardist, Dr. Pest pranced around on stage in his gimp outfit while taking part in an oversized and assuming  BDSM contraption. They reminded me a little of Rammestien yet have a broader spectrum of influences.

Obituary were another highlight of the festival. I only saw the first three songs, but was completely blown away by their performance. Not as much energy as I’d hoped to see from the band, but still very enjoyable none the less. Having been in the hot Bavarian sun all day I decided to make my way back to the Party stage to check out some of the other bands. One of them was Triptykon. A new project by Thomas Gabriel Fischer, who is the founding member of Swiss groups Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. Much like his previous projects, Triptykon is sombre, dark and very experimental. It reminded me of Ulver and Tiamat to a certain extent. Very avant-grade I must say.

One of the major highlights of the festival would have been Behemoth headlining the pain stage during the first night. Sadly, due to Nergal’s on going battle with leukemia the band had to pull just before the end of August. There was a replacement however, Raised Fist who sadly didn’t quite fill the shoes of Behemoth. After another day of socialising, beer and heavy metal, my body was growing weary and needed sleep.

Day 2

Gwar, Cannibal Corpse, Fiddler’s Green, Gorgoroth, Watain and many more…

I woke up pretty late the next morning. Having been up til 2am drinking with complete strangers and watching some of the evening bands really takes it out of you. Most of that morning I stayed at my camp site with my new friends just taking about music and random things. Even though they were talking in German I could still understand some of what was being said and laughed at their quirky sense of humor. The punch line of some jokes didn’t make much sense when translated to English, but when telling jokes in a native tongue, you’ll most likely be lost in translation. I’m sure the same could be said if anyone came to Australia and didn’t understand our lingo or way of thinking in terms of humor.

One of the band’s that I really wanted to see on the second day, moreso for their hilarious name We Butter The Bread With Butter. They are a typical deathcore band who hail from Germany. Due to my prolonged sleep I didn’t really get off my fat ass until later in the afternoon. Having heard good thing about Fiddler’s Green however, I quickly rushed myself to the main stage area to check them out. They have a strong influence of folk and power metal with a nice mellow groove. Something which I was really taking  in during my travels as many of the bands that I saw were implementing this sound, which rarely gets heard in Australia. Good fun was had by all.

Black Dahlia Murder played straight after Fiddler’s Green, yet I’m not the biggest fan of the Black Dahlia and skipped their set and moved onto Ensiferum. Ensiferum were much the same as Fiddler’s Green, yet incorporated a much heavier sound, resembling that of Eluveitie or Wintersun. The crowd just soaked up the music and the all round joy joy feelings the band brought to the stage.

Cannibal Corpse were up next. I saw these guys at Wacken, which was both a hilarious and entertaining show. Much the same could be said for their performance at Summer Breeze. The only minor difference is they got more time on stage at Summer Breeze. Setlist hadn’t changed that much with classics like Hammer Smashed Face, Fucked with a Knife and a couple of newies in the rotation.

As the sun set over Summer Breeze on Day 2 I was getting excited to see one band in particular. That band being GWAR, but before I could be witness to their awesomely entertaining live show I was eager to check out the remaining bands on the second night. Gorgoroth was a bit of a curve ball act for me, I must say. I’m not the biggest fan of his music, but I did enjoy the band’s performance. Don’t get me wrong, I like my black metal grim and all, but their music doesn’t do much for me I’m afraid.

A black metal band that I did enjoy that evening was Watain, who were strangely on after Gorgoroth on the Party Stage. This was the first time I saw the band live but knew a little of their music. Watain were just amazing in all area. Performance wise, visually and atmospherically. One of the most interesting and elaborate black metal band’s I’ve seen in awhile.

After some much needed refreshments from the said bands mentioned before, it was finally time to see GWAR.  It was around midnight when they finally came out. To my surprise there wasn’t that many people during their set. There was enough to get a good reaction, but it seemed most had gone to bed early due to excessive drinking or just wanted to keep a low profile and watch the bands at the Party Stage. GWAR is a rare gem indeed. It was the first time I saw the band live and was in utter stitches half way through their set  from not only their elaborate and oversized costumes, but also their politically incorrect views towards terrorists, celebrates, political heads and other nasties plaguing the United States.

Half way through their set it was literally raining blood and a never ending sprinkler of red liquid soaking the first 5 rows. It was like being at a Gallagher performance, yet not as annoying.

Day 3

My Dying Bride, Children of Bodom, Sepultura, Leaves Eyes, Be’lakor and many more…

The final day had arrived. It literally felt like I was at Summer Breeze for a week. That’s not a bad thing however, as I got to meet a lot of cool people and mingle with some of Germany’s best photographers, journalists and fans in general. It did feel good though knowing that I could finally have a decent shower without having to wipe myself with generic branded wetwipes every morning and night. The stench of beer and deep fried food was getting a little tiresome and I was eager to get some vegetables into my stomach, but before doing any of that I still had one more exiting day at Summer Breeze.

My final day started off pretty good. Not only did I wake up early enough to catch Australia’s own Be’lakor on stage, but I finally found a vendor which sold fresh fruit. After devouring copious amounts of fruit and orange juice I hastily made my way to the Pain Stage to photograph Be’lakor.

When I first arrived at the stage there didn’t seem to be many people, only around 30 or so. It only gathered momentum before Be’lakor hit the stage when it literally looked like people were there to see a main act. I was blown away at not only the attendance of fans who were easily distinguishable by their Be’lakor shirts centre stage, but also the performance the band had given. You could see the band were very nervous, yet those feelings were soon brushed aside when they kicked into their performance and shook off any notion of anxiety.

Be’lakor were only on for a mere 30 minutes, yet that small time frame surely built a stronger fanbase as many who were unfamiliar with the band soon become devoted fans half way through their set. Again, I was blown away at the sheer size of the crowd. By the end of their performance I think there would have been literally over a thousand people moshing away. Be’lakor were one of many highlights for me at Summer Breeze. Their performance at Summer Breeze has been permanently burnt into my brain  and I will cherish that moment for a long time to come.

What soon followed was a day filled with performances from Leaves Eyes, Korpiklaani, Warbringer, Rebellion and Van Canto who played not only his signature material, but also some classic covers from Grave Digger’s Rebellion to Blind Guardian‘s The Bard Song. By afternoon the heavyweights soon made their way onto the Main Stage. First up was Sepultura who got an amazing response. Playing for over an hour, we were treated to all the classics of Sepultura along with some of their newer material.

A surprise act soon followed who we found was a local comedian, who I sadly don’t remember nor could understand due to the German influence of jokes. As the comedian’s performance wrapped up I made my way to see Dark Funeral at the Pain Stage. This was the first time I saw Dark Funeral and was very impressed. Crowds reaction was great and even I got up the front to hang band a bit. Included in their performance was some pyrotechnics which was somewhat of a welcome as it was a pretty brisk evening I remember. Dark Funeral wrapped up as Children of Bodom soon followed. I’ve never been a huge fan of COB, so I just had some beers with some good friends and waited to see the final band, My Dying Bride.

My Dying Bride was another band I got to see for the first time. The atmospheric feel of their set really brought down the mood to a calm the nerves which were shook up from the previous bands on beforehand, yet this ambient and melodic soundscape was ruined with construction workers hastily bringing down the Main Stage while My Dying Bride were finishing up their set on the Pain Stage. What made the performance even more a disappointment was the band’s set which was cut extremely short. Aaron Stainthorpe was quite clearly pissed off and vented his anger towards certain individuals of the festival. Aside from the shortened setlist and the annoying construction work in the background pounding away, I have to say that My Dying Bride still put on an amazing performance.

After My Dying Bride had finished everyone evacuated the area like a bunch of ants scurrying away from a magnifying glass. More construction workers soon followed to remove the Pain Stage and everyone eventually made their way to the Party Stage which was going through til the early hours of the morn. I was literally dead from partying all day and just crushed after seeing My Dying Bride.

I have to say that Summer Breeze was one of the most eye opening, exciting, fun and enjoyable music festivals I have been too. Not only did it offer a large variety of music to suit all tastes, but it brought a new meaning to friendship and brotherly love as people from all over the world came together to embrace the universal language of music. I look forward to going back again, maybe not next year, but soon.

Summer Breeze, we salute you! \m/

Review and photos by Anwar Rizk

More photos will be up shortly!

For more information on Summer Breeze, click on the link below. Tickets for Summer Breeze 2011 are now available!
www.summer-breeze.de/