Re-posted from
Motorhead Forums.Right ... My one day vacation is over .... So much for bad news.
As for the good news : my damaged eardrum is getting back into shape ! The process is at the end much faster than I would ever dare to hope.
I arrived to Dresden yeesterday around midnight and did some touristic thing for a couple of hours. After all, it was my first visit after some 25 years to this place ... And it was definitely worth doing it for the place has much improved.
I was at the gates something like 6.15 PM ... I was freezing after several hours in the streets so I was actually grateful for gates to be opened a bit earlier than advised. Fair enough, being there with only few people around, I just went straight to the stage barrier and stood there till the end of the gig. Now, my strategy was to stay off the stage centre where I expected some wild things to happen ... however in my over strategizing I somewhat overlooked the huge PA tower towering in front of the stage and I justy stationed myself right in front of it. After all ... there was a comfy space there !
The first band came onstage ...
RING .... Never heard of them, save for comments here on the boards (Motorhead boards that is). When I saw that tall dude in helmet screaming, I thought what a clever chick they had ... Not that I am into female voices, especially when they are really piercing high ... but she kind of rocked, so why not for a change ... Then I noticed that the thing is kinda breast-less ... and figured that she may actually be he. Well, when the helmet went down I actually saw I was right .... Oh well, shit happens. You can never be sure these days, for one thing. For the other it is now confirmed I need to change dioptries in my glasses.
Music. The sound was real crap at the place I stood ... I cant tell for the rest of the venue so I just leave it there. Their music was real mess to me, but it may have been as well that I just chose wrong place to stay.... my ears were stuffed with high-pitch tones and shit like that.
Not to be biased, my summary would be this : The Class of Zero appeared to me by far more adequate support for Motorhead. While CoZ inspired me to eventually get their debut album, the Ring did not.
While I was staying there, a guy came and stood next to me ... I thought what a courageous chap ... he was much smaller than me, plus he was handicapped, walking with difficulty using those canes ... further from him was somebody on a wheelchair ... Looking around I saw couple of high-heeled women, and several "elderly" hippies ... so I figured those people must have had trust in this gathering. However, before Sepultura went onstage I opted to station myself firmly - you know, I somewhat felt responsible for the guy next to me ... if I would move in his direction, he would be crushed entirely with no chance for escape (he could barely see over the barrier, you see) ... This time my expectations were met.
Bloody hell ... I did feel comfortable for considerable period of time, I didnt move a centimeter from my stand till the end of the show .... and for some time I thought what a peaceful gathering ... till I looked around and noticed all those bodies being transfered above people's heads just all around me ... The number of people actually dragged beyond the barrier was quite impressive ! ;D
Sepultura: For considerable part of their show I spent covering my right ear ... the PA tower started to be unbearable ... I left my ears unprotected throughout Refuse/Resist, Roots and similar stuff though .... BUT ... I did enjoy their concert ...
and kick my ass if you will ... if they happen to play anywhere near, I will gladly go again.
For some perhaps twisted reason I developed a real affection for these guys during the past couple of months. And actually, it was good to have some close up views this time.
Motorhead: Right ... since the very first tone when it comes to ears, I covered them both. The PA tower turned to be a hell proper
... In fact it was by far the loudest and over-boosted thing I ever stood close by ... Mind you, I was front line for Motorhead in Trutnov ... Trutnov was no match compared to this thing. As a matter of fact / in result the sound was shit for it was really over-boosted ... if it was just loud, it would be more or less OK ...
If anyone here happened to be in Dresden I would appreciate hearing what the sound was elsewhere in the venue ... As a matter of fact I do think there must have been problems with the PA / gear for there was quite some rush on the stage, and Lemmy's bass was changed probably far too often ... in one instance he stood there without any gear waiting for the bass replacement to come ... and it was in the middle of the song and he was supposed to play ... he at least looked kind of lost for a moment.
As for the setlist, it was about the same as already posted on the boards (both for Sep and Motorhead) */, also the comments from the stage were about the standard stuff ... the only additional entertainment came from the audience... the flood of bodies coming over people's heads was growing, the number of security guys had to be doubled, they all were kept busy as the concert developed, there were even some individual fights with them, and also one guy got onstage just step close to Lemmy.
After the show I was just rambling around the venue having small chats here and there in my poor German ... it was quite fun ... but I also noticed some grumbling about the concert, sound and actually also about the prices and criticism @ "commercialization" of Motorhead (esapecially related to the merchandise prices).
Well, at that point I still could speak and hear and my ears were just blocked in a standard way ... Only when I came out I realized that my right ear was all steel sounds and echoes, that I heard both myself and those around me in multiple "steel voices" ... When I came to my silent hotel room my ears were blowing and I basically couldnt sleep due to the horrifying sounds in my head. LMAO ... it was quite dreadful. In the morning it looked a bit better ... till I got to the breakafast room packed with people .... it was all steel echoes again. As for now, the steel echoes have slowly disappeared, both ears feel blocked but I can more or less hear normally. What a relief !
Don't get me wrong ... I did enjoy my Dresden trip ... and I will gladly do it again ... though perhaps I will get some ear plugs next time ... just in case.
Ps. As you can see, my camera hates red ...
My tower to the right ...
See, mirrors can be useful ...
... Ibis hotel Dresden, straight after the gig ... in fact I wasnt all that smily and happy ... the noise in my ears was just terrible and stayed there for the rest of the night ;D
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*/ NOTE: Now when I think of it, Sepultura must have dropped War for Territory
... One more reason to see them again soon´somewhere.
... In fact it was by far the loudest and over-boosted thing I ever stood close by ... Mind you, I was front line for Motorhead in Trutnov ... Trutnov was no match compared to this thing. As a matter of fact / in result the sound was shit for it was really over-boosted ... if it was just loud, it would be more or less OK ... 
