With an almost two-hour performance by Iron Maiden, the fans at the heavy metal festival in Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, experienced a musical highlight on Friday evening. Tens of thousands of metalheads, as the metal fans call themselves, celebrated the British band. Again and again, fans let themselves be carried over people’s heads by the crowd while “crowdsurfing”.
The group around frontman Bruce Dickinson performed classics like “Fear of the Dark”. For the band, this marked the end of their European tour, Dickinson said. “What a fucking night to end this.” (“What a great night to end.”) Dickinson thanked the organizers. A lot of people canceled it, he said, considering the unpredictable weather at the start of the festival with lots of rain and mud on the site. “Wacken, you made it.” (Wacken, you did it.”)
After the rain of the past few days, the weather also played along on Friday evening. Around 11 p.m. the musicians left the Harder stage to thunderous applause. The US band Megadeth had previously played.
According to the organizers, around 61,000 people have been celebrating at the festival since Wednesday. Originally around 85,000 metal fans were expected. However, due to the muddy space, the organizers had imposed an admission stop on Wednesday.
