If there is anyone in doubt why the small festivals or the gigs in the small, even smallest venues rule, he or she had better come to Willanzheim last Saturday. A group of four well-seasoned metalheads (Klaus Schmitt , Heiko Virnekäs, Thomas Richard, and Stefan Belik) from the quiet lower Franconian countryside teamed up to make their dream come true and have Mr Blaze Bayley himself play on their kind of ‘birthday party’ in early September 2023. Just then, life happened in a mean manner. Blaze was hit by a heart attack and had to undergo a huge heart surgery. However, as none of them was willing to surrender their dream, they postponed the party by one year. This time the omens were in favour and Willanzheim – where there is otherwise nothing but vineyards and the gym of the local football club – became the brutally boiling centre of the metal world.
The big fuss in all its modesty
Running a metal festival requires a b i g fuss. Even if you would only have your own band play in the local gym, you had still a hell lot of fuss to make it happen, given you want it to run smoothly. Get the equipment rented, set and later packed. Get the catering, get all kinds of permissions, get and manage the staff, get the logistics. Find the parking lots, do the promo, and whatnot. None of this compares to a regular birthday party with a couple of friends coming over for beer and pizza in your living room.
The Maiden Mania had what it needed to make it professional, pull a crowd and not ruin anybody in any way. Still, the Maiden Mania came without the manically fancy overkill. The gym of the SV Willanzheim provides basic facilities such as a hall, toilets, rooms acceptable as backstage and production office. Even more important than the location, perhaps the club provides the legal frame and the network for the event.
What a night to remember. Blaze Bayley’s autograph on the guitar case just before sharing stage with him. Unforgettable
3 items signed and 1 photo
There was a bar trailer in the yard providing drinks in addition to the indoor bar. There was food truck providing some basic snacks and a stall of a larger merch dealer selling records, shirts and other devotionals. One side of the stall sheltered the merch of the active bands plus a bar table and stool on which Blaze Bayley was available for a pre-show meet & greet which was included in the fair ticket fee. A couple of benches and tables in the yard, parking in the neighbourhood, and that’s practically it.
A small sign set the rules for the meet & greet: “3 items signed and 1 photo”. The fans queued up, exemplary. Some asked Blaze to upgrade their ticket with his autograph. Others brought some records, few seems to have brought their entire collection of Blaze’s releases. Of course, some longed to have his signature on the most important garment at all: their battle vest. Blaze patiently signed and smiled, smiled and signed, made the moment worth the while for each of them who had waited his or her turn. No big fuss but decency and gratefulness on either side.
Mania inside the furnace
Around 18:00 h the brass big band from the neighbouring village, Blaskapelle Tiefenstockheim, opened the program with their 90-minutes set. The gym is situated quite in the actual village, yet supposedly, not all the citizens of Willanzheim are metal maniacs. It is said, traditional brass folk music is more to the liking of the majority in rural Germany. While outside, the brass musicians still played, SIRENS entered the stage to kick brutally off the metal program inside the gym. After a break of ‘only’ 15 years, they have come up with a new record, and play new shows. The gym was boiling, for which, however, SIRENS were only partially to blame. To the liking or not, the windows had to be opened and metal spilled out into the quiet countryside. Yet the impact on the conditions inside was rather limited.
Who could have thought that a September evening in the middle of Germany would still come in subtropical conditions? Even as ABSOLVA took over at 21:00h, outside the temperature was at 28°C. The gym turned into a Roman steam bath fuelled by finest heavy metal made in the UK. ABSOLVA were fantastic. Their music goes direct to the heart, their spirit and chemistry are rousing, and their energy seems unlimited. Their headlining tour is about to start and their show in Willanzheim declared it a must-go (check out their tour dates here)!
A brutally honest gig
After a heart attack and a huge, I mean really huge bypass surgery, many mid-sixty musicians are likely to retire for good and who could blame them. BLAZE BAYLEY is cut from a different kind of wood. He came to deliver, and that he did! The guys from Absolva are his live musicians and the five of them make an unforgettable act.
Let us go back to the big-fuss-in-its-modesty thought. When fuss means a passionate and energetic performance, 100% professional skill and adorable spirit, it is what you get with these five gentlemen on stage. Then again, common ‘fuss’ on metal stage in 2024, however, consists of a shitload of backing tracks, an insane number of digital support gadgets and a stage-fog-overloaded light shows – but not with Blaze and Absolva on stage! Here you will get a brutally honest set of hand-forged metal. No click track. None musician hidden behind a curtain of fog and blinding lights. No backing tracks. But a precisely played interplay, pure emotions, true passion, finest hand-played metal music. Here, the old-school way is simply proofing true excellence.
Modest as a mouse
The Maiden Mania experience is that of a close relationship between the people on and off stage. There is a direct-as-can-be feedback from the crowd to musicians playing within a hand’s reach. There are musicians of exceptional skill and professionalism living their dream, which is playing metal for their crowd. Their crowd needs not to come in tens of thousands. Not even thousands. Some 300 can do.
Blaze delivers. He stands on stage in a bright light, so everybody can see what he feels. Repeatedly he says, it is his dream to live from his music, and how grateful he is to all of us here and now enabling to be on stage again. He thanks all those who supported him after the heart attack, for example by buying his merch of the cancelled tour. He speaks of the two-sided sword of independence vs the need to play gigs to make a living. It is quite likely that his present setlist come with concerns for the current social and political situation. He spoke of a friend he lost to the senseless Falkland war and the kindness he found touring Argentina. He spoke of the need to stand together. He spoke of what unites us. He delivered metal.
The privilege of the smallest venue
The bright light and the small stage left space for neither showing-off, nor pretending. This was honest. Honest to the bone and modest as a mouse.
The privilege to experience such outstanding musicians on such a short distance has perhaps gone underrated. But even from the opposite end of the hall, you could see every smile, every drop of sweat and each finger hitting the strings on stage. Perhaps you found a moment to watch or rather observe the little things going on stage. Steps to count the beats, a brief exchange of glance to tune the beginning of the next song, a grateful smile in reaction of the partying audience. How will you ever be able to get close enough to experience such intimacy on a Wacken-size stage?
This is the privilege of the smallest venue, which on top comes to a truly modest ticket charge.
Holy metal and the aftershow party
Exhausted, the crowd rushed out into the fresh air of the late evening. It was still warm, but a drink outside the boiling steam-leaden air inside was too much a treat after this unique experience. Therefore, it took the guys from SACRED STEEL perhaps half a song to pull their audience back inside. Yet it is excusable that not all answered their call but listened from the outside. Surprisingly, few of their energetic performance echoed through the village despite the open windows.
The final gig of the night, the designated after-show party, was played by BOBBY SIXKILLER & THE RENEGADES. Around half past two in the morning, the last guests strolled, stumbled and pranced towards a good-nights’ rest.
I
Sirens * Absolva * Blaze Bayley * Sacred Steel * Bobby Sixkiller and the Renegades
Willanzheim * SV Willanzheim * Blaskapelle Tiefenstockheim
All photos by (c) Muumi-Katja