Doro and her band played the title track from their new album "Fight" that sounded very good indeed and several by Warlock such as "Burning The Witches", "When East Meets West", "Hellraiser", the ballad "Für Immer" and set closer "All We Are". Doro has power, beauty and a certain timbre to her voice which is unique... I was delighted to finally be able to hear her sing live. Bassist Nick Douglas never seemed to stop moving and attempting to engage the crowd. They didn't play very long (probably only about 50 minutes) but I enjoyed the show a lot anyway. The next band appearing on stage was MÄGO DE OZ, currently one of the most succesful Spanish bands, but their music still doesn't particularly grab me. These Spaniards play Folk Metal similar to what Skyclad do, with a violinist and flute players on stage. They were good and really brought the audience to dance quite from the start of their concert with songs like "El Que Quiera Entender Que Entienda" or "Satania". The sound wasn't very good but the stage set was cool with a big backdrop with a graveyard image, tombstones on the stage and pyros.

           

I only stayed to watch them during the first five songs of their set, I spent much of this time relaxing in backstage drinking something hehe ;-) After about 45 minutes or so, Germany's GAMMA RAY finally played and they were incredible. From the moment they started playing fans went crazy and it stayed pretty much that way until they quit playing 70 minutes later. As you know, Gamma Ray is one of my favourite bands and I have already seen these guys live several times, but I never get tired of seeing them. I watched the entire show from the photo-pit (there were only 3 persons :-) They opened up with "Rebellion In Dremland", and then played "Land Of The Free", "Ride The Sky", "Valley Of The Kings", an extended version of "Somewhere Out In Space", "Eagle", "Man On A Mission" (there were some problems with the lights and they played this song completely in darkness, without seeing their instruments, wow!!!) and another Helloween classic, "I Want Out", among others, they finished their set with "Rebellion In Dreamland" again. I wished that they would have played about three or four more songs but it's cool I will go to see them another time this autumn! :-) Kai rules!! :-) The next band was SLAYER of whom I'm not a fan, but I tapped my foot to the beat and mostly enjoyed their set.

           

I watched their show from the stage, with Kai and Henjo from Gamma Ray standing beside me. People were crowd surfing. Songs from the set included: "Hell Awaits", "Angel Of Death", "God Hates Us All", "Seasons In The Abyss"... I was very close to Dave Lombardo and his drumming totally rocked!! This guy is a beast playing drums. There were again some problems with the lights during their perfomance. I didn't have a camera on hand for this moment so I don't have any pics of Slayer. After a long break, it was about 2:10 AM that night when MANOWAR began their set. After the welcoming intro ("ladies and gentlemen, from de United States of America... MANOWAR") they opened with "Manowar" and "Kill With Power"... the crowd were going crazy, raising fists and hands into the air with each sing-a-long. Soon came my all-time fave song "Heart Of Steel". Seeing Eric Adams sing this song three metres from me was one of the most frightening and memorable things I've ever seen at a show. Karl Logan started to play an incredibily fast guitar solo followed by an amazing bass solo courtesy of Mr Joey DeMaio that kept the audience amused. Following up with "Fighting The World", "Kings Of Metal", "Sign Of The Hammer", "Power" and a couple of songs off their new album "Warriors Of The World", their first new studio recording in six years: "Warriors Of The World (United)" which sounded totally amazing and "House Of Death", where Eric's powerful screams have to be heard to be believed. Eric announced the show is being filmed (what a surprise! :-) for a new DVD, and yes, there was a guy with a camera. One of the best moments came with "Hail & Kill", everyone screaming the words they have come to know so well... "hail, hail, hail and kill".

           

They stopped some minutes and Joey had a very long soliloquy in Spanish, praised Spanish fans and beer ;-) and even played a castanets solo... hahaha, pretty funny... haha!! Manowar finished their set with "Black Wind, Fire And Steel", Joey tearing the strings of his bass in the end. I can't get over with how good they sounded live, it was as if someone put in the CD and just turned it up real loud, and the light show was also superb, it was definitely worth making the trip to Lorca to see them live, 'cause this was one of the best Manowar shows I have ever seen. Black leather, feet on monitors, lots of posturing, long hair flying and true Heavy Metal ripping through the speakers. The Kings are back. KILL WITH POWER!!!!! The final band of the night was THE BON SCOTT BAND, an excellent Spanish tribute band to AC/DC. The bad thing for this band is that they started to play at 5:00 AM!!!! This meant that a fair number of people had left when they took the stage (sorry, I also left, due to being extremely tired, I returned to the hotel room, went to bed and immediately fell asleep).

           

I must say that this was one of the best festivals that I've been to, good sound, big names in the metal world, a great audience and atmosphere and free drinks and food in the backstage area *lol* hehe. Maybe the bad thing for this festival was the long break in between bands (almost 45 minutes) but in general, people left with satisfied faces. Thanx to Kai, Henjo, Dirk and Dan from Gamma Ray for always being so nice and funny (you guys rule!!), a big hello to all my friends who were there and big thanks to the organizers for acreditation. So are you gonna do the trip next year? :) -Review & photos by Marina-