ROCK AM RING

Fever 333

After their performance last year on the Mandora Stage, where they literally tore the stage down, it was certainly the right decision to put the band in the lineup of the main stage, the "Utopia Stage", this year. Fever 333, who recently made a small change in their line-up and presented their latest single "Swing" the day before, had a lot planned for their performance, at the same time announcing a new era of their work.

We can say in advance that the change in the line-up did not harm Fever's famously energetic performance. Jason was as unstoppable as ever, on stage and off, and thus provided the Ringrockers with an unforgettable performance that set the bar mighty high for the following gigs. Not for nothing did Oliver Sykes call of Bring Me the Horizon Fever 333 as the band he would never

Set It Off

Set It Off is one of those bands that we had the pleasure to see on the Orbit stage this year. It was not the first time that we visited the guys at one of their gigs and since we knew what a great performance the three of them would give on stage, we were even more excited. As expected, the band from the USA had brought along an extensive repertoire consisting of new, but also older classics, with which they also started their performance. When "Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" was played, there was no stopping those who knew Set it Off. The sound of the band and the singing of the audience, which almost drowned out singer Cody, immediately attracted more curious people and quickly it became crowded. From an initially manageable crowd it developed quite quickly a crowd that grew far beyond the actual infield of the Orbit Stage. It was a huge party, with people dancing all the way to the stands. Songs like "Projector" or "Loose Canon" were of course not to be missed, and a classic

And since we are already there, we would like to break a lance for the organizers at this point. It is always like to complain but few talk about what an effort behind it is to put such an event on the legs. In addition to the logistics, the organization of thousands of helpers must be carried out so that such a festival goes at all reasonably smoothly across the stage and if we then compare last year with this year, then we see quite quickly that the organizers this year have taken many of the "criticisms" from last year to heart to optimize the festival.

In addition to familiar booths from last year, this year some new culinary offerings joined them, creating a colorful and diverse selection that certainly had something for everyone. Even if of course at a festival someone is constantly talking about the price level, we felt that the prices for a festival of such magnitude, yet relatively kept within the framework. A whole pizza salami was available for just under 13 euros... you can't really complain about that.

It seemed so easy for the two to captivate their fans and also those who didn't know the duo yet. The whole area in front of the Orbit Stage turned into one huge party from the beginning, with more and more visitors gathering in front of the stage from song to song. Energetic as well as dynamic, the two musicians danced, ran and jumped across the stage, while the crowd raged below them. Especially during songs like "Cleopatra" or "Taxi" there was loud singing and pogoing. One moment that we especially remembered was when singer Amy asked everyone to squat during the song "Choose Your Fighter". As if electrified, we all continued to move to the rhythm in the crouch and also the circle pit running until just moved crouched further until finally the signal came - An incredible performance of a band that, so we are sure, also makes a great atmosphere on the very big stages.

Basically, we also belong to the advocates who believe that rock music should be played at a rock festival, and whoever knows the band we are going to report on next would certainly not put it in the rock or metal categories. Nevertheless, and even if it does not correspond to our music at all, we would like to report this year about a performance that is certainly musically further away from rock than the sun from the earth, but about what the guys have done on the second evening on the Utopia stage, the performance and even more so the mood they have spread at this year's RAR, about all this, simply belongs to report.

Sum41

Only recently the band had announced their breakup, which is why gigs like this should be enjoyed. But that not only the audience took full advantage of their concert was already evident during the first song "Motivation", where the band right at the beginning rather made it seem as if Sum wanted to add another decade instead of quitting:

But not only Deryck and the fans seemed to enjoy the gig also singer Mike from NOFX, who performed on the Utopia Stage after Sum41, took the opportunity during "Walking Disaster" and ran on stage to push Deryck's microphone stand over (for whatever reason). Many spectators had come to see the band play live and, despite the rather high temperatures, a large number of

Die Toten Hosen have something about them that can hardly be put into words and floats a little, like magic in the air. Their performance was energetic, loud and dynamic, so that many pent-up feelings were simply let out into the night with the band. But it was also intense, harmonious and communal, as with the song "Bonnie and Clyde", where everyone sang along loudly. The Toten Hosen gathered half of Rock am Ring that night and there themselves united the most diverse musical tastes. For two hours, the band mercilessly pulled off their performance, leaving hardly any time to catch their breath. For the small as well as big emotions, however, the band left plenty of room and shared them with all of us, which led to one goosebump moment after another. From the enlightenment about social grievances, about national socialism to anecdotes about the Golden Lemons under your title "Forever Punk". Die Toten Hosen delivered an incredible show, which as the last act on the Utopia Stage completely rounded out the festival experience.