Report
HolyHell / Manowar
Westfalenhalle - Dortmund
09.07.12
Westfalenhalle - Dortmund
HolyHell Homepage HolyHell @ MySpace HolyHell @ Facebook
Manowar Homepage Manowar @ MySpace Manowar @ Facebook
Setlist HolyHell Setlist Manowar
Report ©2012 by Hans Clijnk Photos ©2008-2010 by Hans Clijnk
Manowar played four shows across Europe to celebrate the release of their new album The Lord Of Steel and the 10th anniversary of Warriors Of The World. The band HolyHell was announced as special guest. This concert in the Westfalenhalle was the only one in Germany in 2012.
Fans from all over the world travelled to Dortmund to see the show. Concerts are also a good chance to meet friends or others fans who you met before at Magic Circle Festival. A lot fans waited already many hours before the opening time at the locations to get the best place in front of the stage.
In Dortmund I had finally one hour waiting time until the doors were opened and then... waiting time again until the concert started... The lights turned off, and the opening track from HolyHell rang out the speakers - the first song was Holy Water. This HolyHell concert was my first one after Rhino left the band, and therefore it was my “première”with the new drummer John Macaluso, too. The setlist contained only six songs. Two of them are new ones, from the upcoming album Darkness Visible, and they are also to find on the EP Darkness Visible – The Warning. It is a sneak preview what the rest of the album will sound like.
The whole band was in a great mood. Maria Breon´s voice sounded very good, very clear and tuneful. Keyboarder Francisco used his keytar 2 times and by one song he even made some kind of duel with guitarist Joe Stump. It was a pleasure to see that the band and the crowd enjoyed every second of the show. The two songs they played from the new album were: Accept The Darkness and Lucifer’s Warning. Both sounded great and I am very curious to listen to the whole CD. Before we knew it, they started with the last song, and that was a cover of Dio’s Holy Diver.
When the stage was prepared for the headliner, we had the time to eat and drink something or to go to the smoking-area. Then, for the second time on that evening, the lights turned off. Out of the speakers was to hear “Ladies and Gentlemen, from the United States of America, all hail Manowar”... and the musicians entered the stage.
The very first thing that I realized was: Manowar is not dressed in leather this time, but the music is way more important for me than the clothes they wear. To tell the truth: it looked young, it fitted very good, and to see them without leather was not a disappointment. Enough about clothes! The music is the important thing and the reason why we were in this location was to hear and to see Manowar live on stage.
The setlist contained songs from every older album, from Battle Hymns until Gods Of War, but sadly no songs from the new CD The Lord Of Steel. Nevertheless, their setlist was very good because they played all the band classics which the fans love to hear and to sing along loud.
I really enjoyed every song and every moment of the concert, but one moment was very special for me> singer Eric Adams came to the right where I stood. I pointed at him, and he answered it to point at me, to greet me. He also took a little bit time to give two drumsticks to two fans in the front of the stage.
Every band member got its moment to stand in the spotlight with a solo. Before the song Hail And Kill started, bass player Joey DeMaio asked for a guy who wants to play guitar on stage with the band. One guy answered this call and also a young girl got the chance to come on stage. For both this was surely one of the best moments of their life, to be on stage with Manowar, to dance around respectively to play Karl Logan’s guitar. The song ended and the guy received the guitar, signed by Karl, as a gift.
Time is moving fast when you have fun. Before we knew it, they announced the last song of the concert. It was Black Wind, Fire And Steel, and that is one of my favourites. At the end of this song, Eric always hold the bass and the guitar in the air for a short while. But in Dortmund he had to hold them a little bit longer as normally because he had to wait for Joey´s return. An athletic performance at the end of this concert... The last words from Eric were, “Germany good night” and “We will return”. A tape started to play the song The Crown And The Ring, and every fan knew: this is the end of the concert.
Manowar showed again that they can make a very good show filled with their great classic tracks. There was a special moment or favourite song for every fan during this concert.
Right after the show they announced in their Facebook-account the first leg of The Lord Of Steel world-tour for October & November 2012. So I will say to Manowar: we will return to you.
Meanwhile Manowar had real good news for us - another concert is confirmed for Germany> Frankfurt - Jahrhunderthalle - 20.10.12
Report ©2012 by Hans Clijnk Photos ©2008-2010 by Hans Clijnk
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