Blind Guardian at Wacken 2011 - Steff Metal

Blind Guardian at Wacken 2011
August 7th, 2010 | Metal Mixtape

It’s confirmed. Our favorite German bards will be one of the headlining bands for WOA 2011. I am so happy :) CDH did the funniest snoopy dance this morning when I rushed in to tell him.

Blind Guardian to play Wacken 2011.

Blind Guardian are one of my favorite bands of all time, tied with Manowar and Nick Cave. I’ve seen them once before, at Bloodstock 2009, but to see them in front of a German audience … well, it will be magic. We got their latest album “At the Edge of Time” from iTunes the other day, and it’s my pick for album of the year (I am SO biased, though). “At the Edge of Time” is inspired by the Wheel of Time books, which I’ve never read (looking at all those books lined up on the shelf and knowing it might take me YEARS to read them all, and the guy’s dead so it won’t have an ending, totally turns me off) but, if you have, you will LOVE this album. I know they’ve got an orchestra album coming out soon, as well. And, well, they will play the old favorites.

When we were at WOA last year, waiting for Amon Amarth to begin playing, at about 2 in the morning. Everyone was talking. Music videos were playing on the big screen. Suddenly, this video starts up:

Blind Guardian – The Bard’s Song”

And EVERYONE – all 20 000 of them – stopped talking, stopped laughing, turned toward the screen, and started singing. It was incredible, and it was just a VIDEO.

But don’t take my word for it:

Blind Guardian – Valhalla

Best live song EVER? I think so. Unfortanetely, this video cuts off the ten minutes at the end where the crowd are so busy singing “Valhalla …” they won’t let the band start the next song.

Blind Guardian – A Voice in the Dark

New Blind Guardian video – is this not AWESOME?

Blind Guardian – Sacred

The song Blind Guardian did for the “Sacred 2: Fallen Angel” computer game. Check out the Axe!

Blind Guardian – Lord of the Rings

I STILL believe this SHOULD have been the LotR theme song. Seriously – non-metal Steff Metal readers, you want to hear this song.

Blind Guardian – Time Stands Still (at the Iron Hill)

One of my favorite Blind Guardian songs – especially because I adore the German pronunciation of “Iron”.

Blind Guardian – Mirror Mirror

Too many awesome songs to listen to.

Van Canto – The Bard’s Song

Acapella version of The Bard’s Song with a video of an adventurous cat. Seriously cool.

Also, this showed up while I was looking for Blind Guardian tracks, and it made me giggle, so here you go:

How Lord of the Rings SHOULD have Ended

What’s your favorite Blind Guardian song? Whose gonna be at WOA2011 with me?

3 Responses and Counting...

Altáriel 08.07.2010

Blind Guardian!!! This made my morining. They’re my favourite band. And I still haven’t seen them live. Their last 2 concerts in Buenos Aires were cancelled (the last one while we were standing in line to enter the venue – the horror!!) If we’re lucky they’ll be hitting our shores next year.

All the songs you listed there are awesome. I think I’ll burst into tears when I hear The Bard’s song live. And I get goosebumps when picturing everyone at WOA singing to the video.

I would LOVE to be there at WOA2011. With a some luck we might be able to afford it, but it’s too soon to tell.
Rob

I love Blind Guardian..Ive never been a major power metal fan, but theyre one of the few bands in this genre that I really got into. To see them live at Wacken, with that many people around, would be epic.

If you get the urge to tackle the Wheel of Time series (I never have, I agree its one huge stack of books, and I love fantasy novels) they are going to finish it. Jordon provided all the major plot points for the story to his family when he got sick. His widow chose Brandon Sanderson to finish it out.
steff

@Altariel – I hope you get to see them – they are incredible live – the atmosphere at their show was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I can’t believe they cancelled when you were in line – that would be so dissapointing!

@Rob – I know a lot of other people who say the same thing. I think they’re one of the few power metal bands that manage to evoke fantasy themes without ever crossing over into that “cheesy” spectrum.

At least they’re going to finish it! I felt so sorry for all his fans when he died. I can’t imagine reading that many books and then not having it finish! Imagine if JK Rowling had died before the last Harry Potter came out? People would have rioted.

Leave a Reply