http://www.wacken.com/

As Wacken approaches, I feel as though a place to discuss the festival should be created. So far, the lineup (which I will try to keep updated) is as follows:


Agro
Amaranthe
Amon Amarth
Aura Noir
Axel Rudi Pell
Betontod
Blaas of Glory
Blechblosn
Broilers
BugGirl
Channel Zero
Chthonic
CircleIICircle
Cold Snap
Coroner
Corpse Garden
Cradle of Filth
Crimes of Passion
D-A-D
Danko Jones SW
Dark Funeral
Darkest Hour
Dead By April
Decapitated
Delain
Devil´s Note
Dimmu Borgir
Dio Disciples
Djerv
Dødheimsgard
DRI
Ease Of Disgust
Electric Hellride
Electric Wizard
Eisenherz
Endstille
Eschenbach
Exuviated
Faanefjell
FDJ
Forbidden
Frantic Amber
GammaRay
Gehenna
Ghost Brigade
Gone Postal
Gothic
Graveyard
Hamferð
Hammercult
Hammerfall
Helmut
Henry Rollins - Spoken Word
Hone Your Sense
In Extremo
In Flames
Ingrimm
Insomnium
Inquisitor
Jim Breuer
Kamelot
Kellermensch
Keule
Kobra and The Lotus
Kylesa
Leaves´Eyes
Leningrad Cowboys
Liquid Meat
Lord Shades
Machine Head
Mambo Kurt
Manimals
Manticora
Massacre
Megaherz
Midnight Priest
MindthreaT
Ministry
Mono Inc.
Moonspell
Napalm Death
Nasum
Oomph!
Opeth
OverKill
Opifex
Panteón Rococó
Paradise Lost
Rain Shatter
RavenBlood
Red Fang
Riotgod
Russkaja
Rust2Dust
Sacred Reich
Santiano
Sanctuary
Saor Patrol
Saxon
Schandmaul
Scorpions
Sepultura
Shredhead
Sick Of It All
Six Feet Under
Suffocated
Suicide Silence
Sylosis
Testament
The Black Dahlia Murder
The BossHoss
Torfrock
U.D.O
Unearth
Victims of Madness
Vogelfrey
Volbeat
Volksmetal
Volxrock
Warbringer
Warpath
Warrior Soul
Watain
WBTBWB
Weto
Winterfylleth
Winterstorm
Wölli & Die Band...
Yaksa
Zygnema

I'm not familiar with a lot of these bands, which I think is typical seeing as though many are pretty unknown on a large scale. For those who have seen some of these unknown bands, or even the bigger bands; who should I NOT under any circumstance miss?

This is also my first Wacken, so if anyone has any tips or anything to help improve my experience, that'd be cool.

Go to the restrooms in the main stage grounds. Do not go to the outhouses in the town. DO NOT GO TO THE OUTHOUSES IN THE TOWN.



But anyway - http://www.wacken.com/nc/en/woa2012/mai ... rder-2012/

Good idea to print that out, fold it up and take it with you so you know when everyone's playing at all times.

Hit up the Wacken metal market while there's no bands you want to see at the time, and take a ton of Euros. In 2010, I got so caught up in the market that I missed half of Overkill's set. They have everything.

Other than that, best to time your personalized experience around the bands that you really want to see. Unfortunately I haven't seen too many of the bands here live, so I can't really give judgment.

Watain.

Electric Wizard.

I'm going for the first time and I'm really pumped. Despite the lineup being not as good as last year, there are still tons of great bands I want to see and only two real overlaps (Warbringer and Sacred Reich, but I saw Warbringer in May, and HammerFall and DRI, but HammerFall is my favourite band so they win). My schedule is pretty filled on Friday and Saturday, though fairly empty on Thursday, which means I'll be at the Metal Market.

Does anyone have recommendations for bands to see on Wednesday? I only know of Midnight Priest.



I don't like Electric Wizard, but after all the raving I heard about them at MDF, I'm going to try and catch them at Wacken.

As for bands not to miss, definitely Circle II Circle. Don't be put off by the name; they'll have two Savatage members and are playing "The Wake of Magellan" in full (despite not having an hour).

Haha, this made me laugh

One day, I will find time to actually go to Wacken when I already have a proper job after getting out of university. I seriously can't wait to be a working professional just to save money to go these big festivals. San Diego Comic-con is also on my list.

My first go at wacken this year

Moment that I can't wait for the most : the main riff of dopethrone fucking shit up

Yeah man, but they only play for like 35mins, so let's hope!

As for me, my Friday and Saturday are gonna be nuts, running back and forth between stages, so I'm probably gonna have to take it easy on the beer those days!
But after reading about this metal market, I'm pretty excited to find some sweet shirts.

There are millions of shirts!


Bands I want to see:

Aura Noir
CircleIICircle
Decapitated
Dødheimsgard
Electric Wizard
Endstille (maybe)
GammaRay (maybe)
Gehenna
Hammerfall
Kylesa
Napalm Death
Nasum
Opeth(maybe)
Red Fang
Riotgod(maybe)
Red Fang(maybe)
Watain
Winterfylleth(maybe)


Definitely too many!

I'm not too interested in a lot of the bands playing, but I do reeeaaallly want to see the Scorpions and some others. I'll probably spend a lot of time at the pool - it's fucking amazing. Best fun you could have at the festival that doesn't involve the music. Otherwise I'm gonna drink beer and watch the jokey bands like Torfrock. If anyone wants to meet up for a beer send me a PM!

I'm also going to Wacken this year, and I'm also a first-timer. One of my friends, who's also going, told me he never brings a lot of shirts - he more or less just brings the one he's wearing at the day of arrival, because he knows he'll be buying a lot of shirts during the festival. I might copy that approach.

As for the bands playing, I don't have a fixed list (yet) but I do have a general idea of what I want to see. I definitely plan to see Aura Noir.
Other than that I sort of promised a friend to buy some Scorpions-merchandise for her, and I promised another friend to help her find a piece of viking-jewelry at the Wackinger Village to wear for a wedding we'll be attending later in August.
(Although as a historian as well as a reenactor I dread the place a little...tell me, oh seasoned Wacken-goers, how bad is it in terms of historical inaccuracies and such? Just so I'm prepared.)


Depends on your tastes, I guess. Faanefjell did quite well at a folk metal festival in Copenhagen in January, despite some sound problems in the beginning.

I just realized that Electric Wizard's set begins at 4:20

I would assume that the Henry Rollins spoken word set is worth checkin out. Few years ago it was really cool (Savoy theater in Helsinki) and I was kind of wondering how it might turn out in Wacken tent.

Danko Jones has something similar so it might be interesting too.

Danko Jones was a bit different than I assumed. He did however prove conspriracy about the Kiss. Henry Rollins was really cool.

On other gigs I'd say that Machine Head was best in there. The mud was bad but I guess you never know what will happen.