Booked!

I just booked my flights to Tolmin, Slovenia next year, where MANOWAR will perform at the Magic Circle Festival... It will be great to see all my Brothers and Sisters from all over the world again!!

Hell on Earth part V download

The new DVD is now available for download on http://store.magiccirclemusic.com/category/193/Manowar

I'm going to watch it right away!!!!

/Johan

Hell on Earth part 5 trailer

Here's the trailer for the upcoming DVD.... I can't wait to see it.. the quality just keeps getting better and better! And it will be so interesting too see again since I was on a couple of shows which hopefully will be featured on the DVD...

Discuss the tour dates

You can discuss the tour dates with other fans on this location http://manowarforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=kingcomintotownid

The latest addition to the WORLD TOUR is Tilburg, Holland...

I'm curious to attend Magic Circle Festival in Slovenia but I want to wait a while to see the other dates on the tour.

MCF IV in Tolmin, Slovenia

Looks pretty nice, don't you think?

Magic Circle Festival IV

This was just posted on the Official MANOWAR Forum:

"On July 11th Magic Circle Festival IV will take place at Metalcamp 2010 in Tolmin, Slovenia. Located in the heart of Europe, only 95km from Ljubljana (Slovenia), 97km from Udine (Italy), 105km from Villach (Austria) and 240km from Zagreb (Croatia), this partnership with Metalcamp celebrates the first Magic Circle Festival outside German territory.

The show coincides with the final game of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, which will be broadcast LIVE at the event on a gigantic screen. Immediately following the game, MANOWAR hits the stage! The World Cup/concert combination promises to make “Magic Circle Festival at Metalcamp 2010” the greatest football-meets-metal party ever for those in attendance! In addition to MANOWAR, special guests include Magic Circle Music recording artists HolyHell and Metalforce. Other acts and programme details to be announced soon.

Whether you are already planning to attend Metalcamp 2010 or not, make sure to join in this very special event and witness the first-ever MANOWAR concert in Slovenia! The Death To Infidels World Tour 2010 is MANOWAR’s first full-length world tour in over a decade and "Magic Circle Festival at Metalcamp 2010" is a must-see event. As the Kings of Metal descend upon Slovenia, they will be conquering new territory in their ongoing pursuit of world domination!

Please note: Tickets for "Metalcamp 2010" (July 5 - 10) cannot be used for "Magic Circle Festival at Metalcamp 2010" (July 11). Tickets for "Magic Circle Festival at Metalcamp 2010" are on sale now. Parking and camping are free. Ultimate Fan Packages, a must-have for die-hard MANOWAR fans, will be available soon!

Tickets:

- The Kingdom Of Steel
- Metalcamp.com"

Great moment from the 2009 tour

This is from the first show of the Death To Infidels Tour 2009, recorded in Finland.

Design

I'm going to work on the design for the blog the next coming weeks, so be aware that the site can look weird sometimes.

/Johan

MANOWAR world tour 2010

The band is starting to announcing their first dates on the 2010 world tour. Check them out here http://www.manowar.com/tour.html.

So far only six dates in Germany have been announced and I'm of course hoping for some dates in Sweden.... or why not North or South America? That would be a fun trip. :-)

See you on tour!

Johan

Hell On Earth V available for pre-sale today!

Now it's possible to order Hell on Earth part 5 from The Kingdom of Steel. Don't miss it!

http://www.manowar.com/news_body.php?idnews=379

/Johan

Happy :)

I'm happy to see that the band have announced their first tour dates for next year! Fürth and Cologne in Germany. It will not be any shows I will go to, though but I'm sure there will be plenty of shows that I will attend to later :-)

See you on tour!

Hell on Earth 5 preview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OENovf0G_FE

It looks amazing!

Johan

Hell on Earth part 5

Yeaaaaaaaaah! The MANOWAR DVD series "Hell on Earth" continues with the fifth chapter to be released on November 27. This is definitely the best Christmas present for a MANOWAR fan.

From MANOWAR.com:

"The long awaited sequel of the Hell On Earth series is finally coming out on November 27, 2009.

Hell On Earth V will cover MANOWAR's recent world tours including Germany, Norway, Spain, Finland, Russia, Romania, Turkey, USA and Canada. It will feature live performances of old and new classics such as Gloves Of Metal, The Crown And The Ring, Hand Of Doom, Hymn Of The Immortal Warrior, Father, God Or Man and many others.

Director Neil Johnson adds: "Picking up where the Earthshaker left off.... Hell On Earth 5 covers the amazing Demons Dragons & Warriors Tour complete with onstage Vikings and all the craziness that happens behind the scenes of a MANOWAR show. I have done my best to show NEW and CLASSIC songs never captured on camera before, including the much-requested "Mountains" and songs from the new EP, Thunder In The Sky. It will be a step above Hell On Earth 4 in quality and spectacle."

The DVD will be available for pre-sale exclusively through MANOWAR's official merchandise shop: The Kingdom Of Steel.

More information and ordering details coming soon!"

The definite highlight of this DVD is without doubt the song "Mountains" and this will be the first official video of this song. It will probably be taken from the Demons, Dragons and Warriors tour 2007, where I also had the chance to see them in Hamburg, Germany. This song is one of these MANOWAR classics which takes you to another dimension, to another world and just let your soul travel through a magic journey...

It will also feature songs from the recent "DEATH TO INFIDELS TOUR", with songs that haven't been either released live as a song or video yet such as "Hand Of Doom". Really cool!

I'm looking forward to see the full tracklist of this DVD... The Hell on Earth-series makes MANOWAR the best documented heavy metal band ever and is 100 % quality both in video and sound.

Be also sure to check out the band's official profile on Facebook.

Hail and Kill!

Johan

My Life According To MANOWAR

Just for fun, here's a fun game I found on Facebook that you might want to try out.

Using only song names frome ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions.
Pass it on to 14 people you like and include me.
You can't use the band i used. Try not to repeat a song title.
It's a lot harder than you think!
repost as: "My Life According To (band Name)"

Here's mine:

Pick your artist:
MANOWAR

Are you male or Female:
King

Describe yourself:
Warlord

How do you feel?
Master of the Wind

Describe where you currently live:
Gates Of Valhalla

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
An American Trilogy

Your favorite form of transportation:
Sleipnir

Your Best friends Are:
Warriors of the World United

Your favorite color is:
Burning

What's the weather like:
Thor The Powerhead

Favorite time of day:
Hector's Final Hour

If your life was a t.v. show, what would it be called:
Blow Your Speakers

Your ideal present would be:
Odin

What is life to you:
MANOWAR

Your relationship:
Pleasure Slave

Looking for:
Animals

Wouldn't Mind:
Hail To England

Your fear:
The Demon's Whip

What is the best advice you have to give:
I Believe

If you could change your name it would be:
Loki God Of Fire

Thought for the day:
All Men Play On 10

How would you like to die:
Each Dawn I Die

Souls' present condition:
Heart Of Steel

Biggest secret:
Secret Of Steel

My Motto:
Hail And Kill

Hail And Kill! /Johan

Suggest your bands for the next MCF

You can now suggest which bands you want to see on Magic Circle Festival IV (yet to be announced, for more information www.magiccirclefestival.com).

Go to the Official Manowar Forum "The House Of Death" or The Asgard Saga Community to make your voice heard.

See you on the next MCF!

HAIL AND KILL!

Johan

Pictures from the Magic Circle Festival III

Hi all!

Since the tour is over and I'm back to work, this blog will not be as regularly updated as during the tour.

You can find my pictures from the Magic Circle Festival III on the Official MANOWAR Forum or in THE ASGARD SAGA community forum.

I can't wait for the next tour and to see MANOWAR again.

ALL HAIL MANOWAR!

/Johan

The Magic of the Magic Circle Festival 2009

This is my review of the Magic Circle Festival 2009. Pictures will be added later.

Death to all infidels!

At Thursday morning I took the train to Copenhagen airport for the second time in two weeks (the other flight was scheduled to the Norway Rock Festival) and now it was time to go to Frankfurt and the Magic Circle Festival in Loreley, Germany.

When I arrived at the airport in Frankfurt I waited for some time for Erman from Norway to arrive so we could go together to the festival. We spent some time at the airport before the train left for St. Goarshausen and we brought some nice liquid so we could start the party on the train. That led to that we both was quite drunk when we arrived to the festival, but it was a lot of fun on the way.

We got a ride with a Brother from the train station to the camping grounds (thank you!) and when I entered the camping site I immediately saw a Swedish tent which was exactly the same as mine. So I thought this is where I’ll put my tent and we later was quite a lot of Swedish people in that area. It was fun to see so many Swedes there, I actually got surprised because I didn’t think there was going to be so many from Sweden that I met.

When I had put up my tent the clock was near 17:00 and it was time for the HOUSE OF DEATH PARTY (the official MANOWAR forum party) which was organized by Mr. Metal himself, Udo Sapper and Tina. Thank you for making this possible! It was awesome to meet so many friends from before and to meet friends and family that you only knew from the forum. Even though I met so many new faces, it was like we had known each other for years. The meeting between Brothers and Sisters from all over the world is the - except for the MANOWAR show - the ultimate highlight of the Magic Circle Festival. I could see MANOWAR in Finland, Norway, Spain, France or wherever - but the Magic Circle Festival brings together my family from all over the world which makes it an unique experience and something to remember for the rest of your life. I think Joey DeMaio is determined to bring Magic Circle Festival to the world forever - In one form or another - and I’m eternally thankful to him for making it possible and to bring together fans from all over the world. The Magic Circle Festival is not about MANOWAR or any other bands - it’s all about the fans!

The House of Death party was great and I personally don’t have many pictures from the party but there’s a lot of them on the official forum. I went to bed (after too many beers) somewhere around 4 in the morning.

The Friday was the official opening of the festival and I got up around 12 to get some breakfast together with my Brothers and Sisters. After Mr. Metal’s inspiring welcome to the festival, I met up with Susanne from the MCM who are organizing the ASGARD SAGA, to help her out with handing out flyers and tell people about the project between MANOWAR and Wolfgang Hohlbein, and so I did for almost two hours. I also got the chance to say hello to Wolfgang and to speak with him and his agent. Really cool! I’m so looking forward to the upcoming book by him, as I think MANOWAR’s music and his texts will complement each other in a great way. It’s just the beginning of the ASGARD SAGA and I think it has some great potential to become something really big. Be sure that you are logged onto www.asgard-saga.com to follow the news and to become a part of the community. The next release of the ASGARD SAGA will be MANOWAR’s new full length album “HAMMER OF THE GODS”(expected winter 2009) followed by a book written by Wolfgang (expected spring 2010).

The House of Death party had given me such a hangover that I had to get some sleep in the afternoon and when I woke up, I headed down for the festival grounds. To my surprise, I heard “Warriors of the World United” blasting through the PA and it turned out that MANOWAR was doing their sound check, which was open for all who wanted to hear! Obviously I had missed the rest of the sound check but it was cool anyway.

Friday evening was absolutely beautiful and I spent some time on the festival grounds, having a beer and just enjoying the amazing scenery around the Loreley. The party in the evening was naturally a bit more calm than the night before, for obvious reasons…… I had a great time with old and new friends, just sitting down, relaxing and having a beer and just talking about everything.

When I woke up on Saturday it was finally the day that we all had been waiting for. MANOWAR was scheduled to hit the main stage around 9.30 in the evening. It became a long day with only the show in mind…. The other bands that were playing during the day was nothing for me, but to tell from the festival grounds there was a lot of people enjoying the music during the day. I went between the festival grounds and the camping area during the day and spending time with my friends.

Just before MANOWAR was scheduled to hit the stage, I found a good spot a bit left to the stage, right in front of the fence. It was great to see a lot of my friends who brought the ULTIMATE FAN PACKAGE to have an awesome view between the stage and the fence. It must have been such an amazing experience when they played “Father” and Eric was sitting on a pedestal just next to them. After the classic “Ben Hur” intro (and one of my favorite parts of the show: seeing Joey run to the drum kit to count in…) and “MANOWAR”, they immediately started playing BLOOD OF MY ENEMIES and the crowd went completely nuts! The band had such an energy and having the audience so close in their faces made it a special night. After BROTHERS OF METAL (pt 1) they continued with CALL TO ARMS and the crowd once again went beserk…. Eric was in such great shape and having an awesome time up there on the stage. BLOOD OF MY ENEMIES and CALL TO ARMS was two of my favorites this night since there was such an energy around the two songs.

And then there’s those great moments of the shows that you never forget (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcjLPXd048o). KINGS OF METAL kicked off and Eric was giving so much energy, that he completely lost it when some girl threw her bra up on the stage. When Karl started to play his solo, Eric continued singing on the last verse of the song, and he just continued and didn’t notice that he had made a mistake…. This led to that the song got completely fucked up but it was so much fun and Eric just laughed at it afterwards…. I think everyone got a great laugh from it and it’s such experiences which gives a show some personality. I still get a good laugh from remembering Karl’s face when Eric just continues to sing next to him when he’s in the middle of the solo… Hehe.

The speeches in the show was very short - Joey held a short and concise speech about that he wasn’t happy with the Loreley organization. There wasn’t any people brought on stage and I think it’s the first time in a very long time they played THE GODS MADE HEAVY METAL only the band on stage. I liked that they kept it short between songs because it made much of the energy stay in the show. Joey did a great bass solo (perhaps not musically or technically) but in the way only he can do it - going totally berserk scratching the bass against the lights and amplifiers. It felt like he did it to prove his point for the speech, that he wasn’t satisfied with Loreley.

They played KILL WITH POWER and HAIL AND KILL and so far it was the same set list as the rest of the shows this summer. But instead of playing BATTLE HYMN and THE CROWN AND THE RING, the band ended the 2-hour show by playing the new EP; THUNDER IN THE SKY, LET THE GODS DECIDE, DIE WITH HONOR and GOD OR MAN.

An amazing show was finished and I’m proud that became my 10th MANOWAR show and I hope that I will be able to see them for at least another ten times. My dream is to see them in South America with all the crazy fans, and in the United States in packed, smaller venues. Let’s see what happens next year when the new album has been released.

I was exhausted after the show, said hello to my friends and got my self a beer, and then I went to bed.

After breakfast on Sunday morning, I began to pack my stuff and headed together with Erman to St. Goarshausen where we took the train to Weisbaden where we changed train to Frankfurt airport. At Weisbaden, we met Joro and his Bulgarian friends together with Mervi, who also was heading for the airport. We spoke about the show and shared our experiences and then had a lot of waiting on the airport until it finally was time to say goodbye.
I arrived at home around 10.30 in the evening, exhausted, tired but very, very happy about what I had been experienced the last days.

Now I’m having a week vacation to relax and reload my batteries before I start to work again.

I want to thank everyone who makes the Magic Circle Festival into just that…… MAGIC!

Thanks to MANOWAR and to all the great people in the Magic Circle Music. A special thank to Joey DeMaio for your never-ending belief in Heavy Metal and the Heavy Metal fans that you carry within your heart.

Thanks to all my wonderful friends!

HAIL TO THE GREATEST FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD!
HAIL TO MANOWAR!
DEATH TO THE FALES ONES!
HAIL AND KILL!

Johan

Magic Circle Festival 2009 setlist

Just got back home from Loreley. Here's a picture of MANOWAR's setlist on the Magic Circle Festival in Loreley this Saturday:
I will write a report in the days. /Johan

Amazing show

Setlist same as before plus new songs, minus battle hymn and crown and the ring. Johan

My 10th show

Soon time for my 10th Manowar show. My battery is running low so probably no more updates. Johan

Holyhell

Rainy in Loreley today

Its a rainy day in loreley today and i hope that the weather is going to be better tonight. Wizard is currently playing on the main stage. Johan

Miss Manowar contest

Is soon beginning

Beautiful location

Wolfgang

Is reading in the tent

Soundcheck!

Relaxing in my tent

Pretty tired since the party yesterday which was crazy. I think Manowar is having their signing session now. I have already met them before so im alright. Met alot of people from the forum and who liked my report from norway which made me glad to hear. Been promoting the asgard saga too by handing out flyers. Soon time to have something to eat. The place is great with a beautiful view of the rhine-river. See you soon. Johan

Wolfgang Hohlbein

Just met Wolfgang Hohlbein and had a chat. Really cool! Hail!

The stage

Wonderful view of the stage.

Opening ceremony

Soon time for opening ceremony.

Nice haircut

Loreley or die

Someone has a stamp saying Loreley or die. Really cool =)

Party

Olaf from norway and me on the house of death party.

On the train to Loreley

Soon in loreley. Johan

Swedish friends

I found some swedish friends at the camping. Hehe

Loreley

The view from the HOD party.

At the airport

Waiting for the train which will take us to the festival. Just met up with Erman from norway and we brought something to drink on our way to Loreley. The weather is great and i am looking forward to the party tonight. Johan

Leaving again

I'm leaving for Germany and the Magic Circle Festival tomorrow. Check in now and then to see my updates directly from the festival.

Hail & Kill!

Johan

Norway Rock Festival 2009

This is my trip report between Malmö, Sweden and Norway Rock Festival in Kvinesdal, Norway between July 9th and 12th 2009.

Pictures will be added later!

When I saw that MANOWAR was going to play in Norway I knew I had to be there. Not only because it was the only show in Scandinavia this summer, but also since it was seven years ago MANOWAR last played in Norway, so these shows are always special to the fans. The concert was on July 10th but I already ordered my tickets and booked my flights in March, so it was a long wait before finally be able to stand in the front rows to witness my 9th MANOWAR show.

I was bound for the trip together with my friend Fredrik, a True Brother of Steel who use to travel with me to the shows, last time it was Hamburg in 2007 and the Magic Circle Festival last year. He’s a fanatic MANOWAR fan who lives just a couple of minutes from Malmö, and I’m glad to have found such a friend here, since there’s not many MANOWAR fans around.

We met up on Thursday July 9th on Malmö Central Station to take the train to Kastrup, the airport in Copenhagen which takes about 20 minutes. From Kastrup we were bound for the airport in Kristiansand, where we finally got a ride to the festival by Olaf, one of my Norwegian Brother of Metal. Olaf used to do the Norwegian official fan site back in 2002, and at the same time I made the Swedish one, and we had the chance to meet and stand in the front row when MANOWAR played a 60, 000 people crowd at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, summer 2002.

Anyway, we got to the airport in Copenhagen quite early, so what else to do than to drink a beer in the bar. And you all know what happens after a few beers, nature calls and we headed for the toilets, and on the way we ran into IN FLAMES, which later the same day had an amazing show in Kvinesdal. It’s the best live show I’ve seen in a very long time, if you don’t count the MANOWAR shows, of course. I’ve seen them a couple of times and before and they are always good, so if you get the chance to see them live, DO IT!

Our plane left Danish ground and an hour later we landed in a rainy Kristiansand, about 1,5-2 hours with car from Kvinesdal. After realizing that they had left some of Fredrik’s luggage in Copenhagen, it took a while before we could meet Olaf outside the airport and head for Kvinesdal.

1,5 hours later (and after A LOT of MANOWAR talk and old memories) we arrived in beautiful Kvinesdal, where we got our wrist bands for the festival and camping. The area was surrounded by green mountains in the middle of nowhere, and it felt like the spot had the right magic for a MANOWAR show. We headed for our allotted camping spot and put up our tents. At the camping area, each person was responsible for his camping spot which was controlled regularly, so the camping was always clean. It was a huge camping site as well, and showers and toilets were very fresh. After we put up our tents, we headed for the festival area to have something to eat and drink. We then returned to our tents to have a few beers, to talk to our neighbors and to get the party started. Our camping spot was the one closest to the festival area, and as it was on a hill, we could actually see the main stage from our tent - which led to that we ultimately was watching more bands from our camping spot than on the festival area.

Anyway, as both me and Fredrik are IN FLAMES-fans, we went to the festival area to get a good view of their show on Thursday night. They had brought an insanely amount of fireworks to the festival, and they walked on stage with a burst of fireworks going back and forth from the stage, and from the front house to the stage. Really cool! I really enjoyed their show.

We met Thor from the House of Death forum, which had traveled like 24 hours in train to see the show. He has an amazing tattoo on his back saying “THE FIGHT NEVER ENDS” together with the Sign Of The Hammer. Great guy, just like the rest of the Norwegian people.

When IN FLAMES were finished we headed for the beer tent where the party started, and continued at countless tents where we were found singing MANOWAR anthems all night long. As we all got pretty wasted the first night, I can’t really give you any more details than this… :D

Anyway, I woke up in my tent like 8 AM with a devastating hangover, tried to get some more sleep, but around 9 AM, MANOWAR’s sound crew had found the main stage and started their sound check. An hour later, they woke the entire camping by blasting “CALL TO ARMS” with full power through the PA. Really fun and a great way to start the day.

Friday was a really sunny day and we spent most of the day just sitting outside our tents, drinking beer and relaxing in the sun. Maybe a bit too much sun - I’m still sunburned as hell. A couple of hours before MANOWAR’s show I had a major breakdown and felt very sick… I don’t know if it was the mix of excitement, too much sun and hangover or if it was something else… but just before we headed down for the last song of Holy Hell, I felt good again and got myself a good spot right down at the stage. Fredrik was lucky enough to get a good spot in the front row, where he also brought the Swedish flag with him.

There was not long time between Holy Hell and when MANOWAR got up on stage. The stage setup was very familiar with the one that they have been using for a while now. One of the best moments in the show is when Joey and Karl comes in, goes up to the drum kit, and you can see Joey count in 1, 2, 3, 4 and then hear the first notes of “MANOWAR”. They followed up with “BLOOD OF MY ENEMIES” which is a pure classic. Then it was time for HAND OF DOOM, which never have been played live until this tour. Really cool song to hear live and it has a great chorus. And yeah, by the way! AWESOME to see DONNIE live, he’s having so much fun behind the drums. After finishing the song it was time for Joey’s first speak, not very long, and then they continued with BROTHERS OF METAL (pt 1) which is Fredrik’s all-time favorite song. The next song was CALL TO ARMS and now it began to become really tight in the front rows where I was standing. One girl next to me couldn’t take it anymore and was starting to go down, so I had to call the security over to help her get over to the pit.

Then I can’t really recall the correct set list - at least it was the same songs that were played in Bucharest, Romania (+ Battle Hymn) the show before:

MANOWAR, BLOOD OF MY ENEMIES, HAND OF DOOOM, BROTHERS OF METAL PT 1, CALL TO ARMS, HEART OF STEEL, SLEIPNIR, LOKI GOD OF FIRE, KINGS OF METAL, FAST TAKER, THE GODS MADE HEAVY METAL, WARRIORS OF THE WORLD UNITED, KILL WITH POWER, HAIL AND KILL, BATTLE HYMN, THE CROWN AND THE RING (LAMENT OF THE KINGS).

Highlights was THE GODS MADE HEAVY METAL when they brought like 20 (!?) girls on stage and gave one guitar away to a guy. A lot of fun.

After a while Joey came on stage and said that the Metal Mayor of Kvinesdal just had said “Fuck the curfew!” so they played longer than initially allowed.

The songs I enjoyed best was BATTLE HYMN and THE CROWN AND THE RING, with the last one being live with Eric, and so perfectly performed.

When the show was over, we waited a while in front of the stage to let it all sink in, before we left for our camping site.

As MANOWAR had played at Friday night, the whole Saturday was dedicated to one thing: partying. Somewhere around lunch I cracked my first beer together with all the friends we had made during the festival. The Norwegian people knows for sure how to party, I’ve never laughed my ass off before for so many crazy things that happened during the day. One guy in our camp actually turned out to be in Norwegian television, wearing a pink helmet and being piss drunk. It was so much fun.

Sometime in the evening I had got too drunk, so I needed to get some sleep to carry on through the rest of the night. I went to my tent and when I laid down, DORO entered the main stage. They played insanely LOUD so my tent was shaking and there was no chance to sleep. So I got up and enjoyed DORO which I have seen live before and she’s very good, with an entertaining live show and great songs. We headed for the festival area because Fredrik wanted a good spot for Nightwish’s show, and I wanted a good spot in the beer tent. ;)

When Nightwish had entered the stage, I went back to party at the camping site, and then went to bed very late. When I woke up, there was people still partying outside my tent. Crazy.

Our flight to Copenhagen was to leave Kristiansand airport in the afternoon so we packed our stuff and headed for Storekvina, where the train took us to Kristiansand. There we had to take taxi to the airport, and finally we were back in Copenhagen and Malmö.

It has been some wonderful days in Kvinesdal, and the Norwegian organizers and people made it a pleasure to be there. The organizers should be proud of a very well organized festival; everything worked out great; food, beer, toilets, camping site, festival grounds, transport and security. I look forward to visit Kvinesdal again if MANOWAR comes there.

The best is yet to come: The Magic Circle Festival in Loreley, Germany this week (July 16-19). I expect MANOWAR’s show to be a little bit different since it’s also the premiere of THE ASGARD SAGA, the band’s collaboration with German-author Wolfgang Hohlbein. It will also be the festival where I get the chance to meet all the great people of MANOWAR’s official forum The House of Death, which is having an exclusive party on Thursday.

HAIL TO MANOWAR!
HAIL TO KVINESDAL!
DEATH TO INFIDELS!

See you in Loreley!

I'm back home

I'm back home from a fantastic festival in Norway. The organizers should be so proud of what they have accomplished in Kvinesdal.

MANOWAR was fantastic on Friday night and I still haven't realized what I've seen.

I'll write a report from my trip and the festival later in the days.

Now I need to get some rest and prepare for Magic Circle Festival next week.

Hail to Norway! /Johan

Out of battery

My battery on my cell phone is almost dead, that is why i havent been updating the blog. We had a crazy party last day. Now we are heading for the airport. I will write a report in the days. Hail and kill. Johan

Some highlights from Manowars show

Cool to see Donnie, he is having a great time. Loads of girls on stage during the gods made heavy metal. Best songs was probably kings of metal, wotw united, battle hymn and the crown and the ring. Joey showed their gratitude to the organizers by bringing them on stage for a long time. Which band does that? Great to see the band again. Johan

Setlist

Sorry cant remember if they had the same setlist on all shows, this was with sleipnir, loki, hand of doom and battle hymn. No other songs that didnt was played before.. Johan

Great show

Manowar just finished. Same setlist as the rest of the shows, including Battle hymn. Johan

Holy hell

Last song.. Ready to take a good place at Manowars show. Johan

Just some hours left..

Time for WASP to enter the main stage very soon. Our plan is to be in front row for the Manowar show, so we will go there when holy hell begins their show. Johan

Pink

Our new neighbours just invaded the camping with a lot of pink (!) stuff. I met Erman before and had a chat with him. He is the guy who translated Father to norwegian. More Manowar people today. The weather is great and there is magic in the air for the show tonight. See you soon. Johan

Good morning

Manowars sound people just woke the entire camping by blasting out Call to Arms in the main stage PA. A great way to start the day. Johan

The party tent

Here ends my blogging for tonight, and here begins the party. See you tomorrow! Johan

The fight never ends

The tattoo of Thor from the official forum. Just said hello to a guy wearing a Manowar shirt and it turned out to be a swedish guy that was partying with us in bad arolsen last year. Now time for another beer! Johan

In Flames fireworks

In Flames ended their show with fireworks. Excellent show, and the best i have seen in a long time. Now its party. Hail! Johan

In Flames show

Is filled with awesome fireworks and they are having an amazing show. Johan

In Flames

Just went on with an awesome intro with fireworks! Kicking ass! Johan

Rain

Just started raining. Drinking beer in my neighbours tent. Just met Thor from the house of death forum. Heres not a lot of Manowar people on the festival yet though. Soon going to the beer tent and then we are going to watch arch enemy and in flames. Johan

My tent

:-)

Camping

Got a good spot near the main stage. Hail!

In Norway

Just arrived to a rainy Norway where we get a ride to the festival with our brother Olaf. Some of our luggage is still in copenhagen :( /johan

Beer

The first beer on this trip. Johan

Airport

My friend fredrik on the airport in copenhagen. Just ran into In Flames so I guess they are on the same flight as us. Johan

Leaving for Norway

About to go to the airport in copenhagen. Johan

Setlist Romania July 5th

Here's MANOWAR's setlist for the show in Bucharest on July 5th:

1. Manowar
2. Blood Of My Enemies
3. Hand Of Doom
4. Brothers of Metal
5. Call To Arms
6. Heart Of Steel
7. Sleipnir
8. Loki God Of Fire
9. Kings Of Metal
11. Black Arrows
13. The Gods Made Heavy Metal
14. Fast Taker
15. Warriors Of The World
16. Kill With Power
17. Hail And Kill
18. The Crown And The Ring

Highlights are of course the songs that never have been played live before until this tour; Hand Of Doom, Sleipnir and Loki God of Fire. I'll hope they will play them on the coming shows as well. Especially Loki God Of Fire is a heavy track that I think would work great live.

I'm looking forward to hear Let The Gods Decide, it's a killer MANOWAR track which I have been listening to all the time on my holidays...... I guess they'll play it at Magic Circle Festival which is the debut for the ASGARD SAGA.

Preparing for Norway Rock

I'm back home from my fantastic week in Holland and Belgium...... it was some real crazy days so now I need to recover so I can be prepared for what's to come in Norway later this week..

The plan is to leave from Copenhagen on Thursday morning and then meet up with a Norweigan MANOWAR friend at the airport and then go to the festival site to meet up with the rest of the people from the House of Death (MANOWAR's official forum).

I'll post pictures from my trip using my mobile phone, so keep on checking here from Thursday as I hope to post regular updates....

Now I have to leave my apartment since it's too hot to be in here.... I need to buy myself a tent and some other stuff for the festivals.

See you soon. Hail and Kill!

Johan

Relaxing

On the beach outside haag in holland.. Having a great time and been drinking loads of beer... I also just booked my flights to germany for the mcf festival.. See you soon./Johan

Holidays

Preparing to leave for holland tomorrow.. Going to be a crazy week before I leave for norway rock.. I am blogging from my mobile phone to see how it works out. Hopefully I can blog directly from the festivals.. /Johan

MANOWAR's setlist in France last Sunday

The first reports from MANOWAR's second show on the DEATH TO INFIDELS TOUR 2009 said that they added SLEIPNIR and LOKI (GOD OF FIRE) to the same setlist that they played in Finland... sounds cool! The show ended with fireworks and the legendary "The Crown And The Ring".... I'll post more news from the show as it happens..

Seems like it's going to be a few surprises both at Norway Rock and Loreley.... I'm looking forward to hear the new songs but also some old ones; I hope for "Death Tone", "Fighting the World" and "Kingdom Come" just to name a few..

Eric and Karl in Finland 2009. Photo peppar.fi.

Not very long until my holidays begin, this Saturday me and my friends will head for Holland/Belgium, and then finally it's time for Norway Rock and Loreley.... I can't wait! /Johan

Pictures from the AC/DC show yesterday

A nice warm up..

AC/DC was great yesterday and really impressive with a 2-hour show... and it was LOUD too! 57.000 people in Gothenburg and we had a great day.... the city was filled with people wearing metal-shirts. Too bad I didn't spot any with a MANOWAR shirt...

I'll put up some of my pictures later.. we had terrible seats, way back... but I probably got some nice pictures of the crowd and the stage..

Anyway, it was a nice little warm-up for MANOWAR's summer shows... :)

/Johan

AC/DC

I celebrated midsummer last night and it was a crazy party, so today I've just been lying in my sofa, listening to the Magic Circle Festival 2 DVD and the new Holy Hell album...

Tomorrow is going to be a fun day, me and a couple of friends are heading for Gothenburg to see AC/DC... a good break from all the MANOWAR music it has been the last days... it's going to be cool, and a nice warm up for MANOWAR's shows this summer...

/Johan

The new HolyHell album

Just downloaded the new HolyHell album. Sounds great so far and I love Maria Breon's voice. HolyHell have been touring with MANOWAR for the last years and I've been lucky to see the band a few times.

There's a couple of new songs as well as some they've been playing for some time now; my personally favorites are Eclipse and Resurrection.

Maria Breon, singer HolyHell

Behind the drums are no one else than RHINO, the former MANOWAR drummer who recorded the legendary "The Triumph of Steel"-album.

It will be great to see them again on Norway Rock and Magic Circle Festival this summer.
/Johan

Father

I've been listening through the new EP and I'm stunned... altough it's MANOWAR, I got really surprised by how great the songs on the EP are.. I still had the feeling from "Die with Honor" that there was more great things to come... My favorites so far:

Gor or man
Let the Gods Decide
Thunder in the Sky
Father (Norweigan version)
Father (Japanese version)

Father in Norweigan sounds so great... I really hope Eric will do a song in Swedish. He would do it perfectly.... without being an expert in Norweigan, I think it sounds so good... the translator (Erman Atabay) have done a good job together with Eric.

父

The japanese version sounds so interesting, but I can't really explain why.. I guess it's because it sounds so different from anything I would ever speak or understand.... it makes it exciting.

To summarize, the new EP gets 5/5 Sign of the Hammers :-)

Now I'm about to start to listen through "Father" in all of the other languages.... it's such a nice song.

/Johan (which by the way has the greatest father in the world who's always there for me)

Death to Infidels Tour 2009 setlist Seinäjoki, Finland

Here's the setlist for MANOWAR's first show this summer at Provinssirock, Seinäjoki in Finland on June 13th 2009.

Manowar
Blood Of My Enemies
Hand Of Doom
Call To Arms
Brothers Of Metal
Heart Of Steel
Shell Shock
Die With Honor
Kings Of Metal
Fast Taker
The Gods Made Heavy Metal
Warriors Of The World United
Kill With Power
Hail And Kill

If there's errors in the setlist, please let me know.

More tourdates can be found on MANOWAR's official website.

Father - The new MANOWAR song in 16 languages

In case you have missed it - here's a short documentary on Youtube about the new song "Father", recorded in 16 languages.

I'm sure the full song will sound absolutely amazing, altough I think there will be some language errors here and there, but who cares? What a fantastic way to say thank you to all the fans who follows the band around the world.

I'm of course especially curious about the Norweigan version - since Swedish and Norweigan is very close...

"Father" is released on the EP "Thunder in the Sky", which is available this weekend on Provinssirock in Finland, where the band starts of the tour this Saturday. It will also be available for download on this location.

MANOWAR's new EP "Thunder in the Sky" mp3 available for download!

Full version MP3s from MANOWAR's new EP "Thunder in the Sky" is now available for download on this location.

More on the new EP later, now I'm off to listen through all the songs over and over again!!!! :)

/Johan

MANOWAR line up 2009

Here's the MANOWAR line up for the "Death to Infidels Tour" 2009.

Karl Logan, Donnie Hamzik, Eric Adams and Joey DeMaio.

The Asgard Saga TV special online

The TV special about The Asgard Saga, MANOWAR's collaboration with Wolfgang Hohlbein, that was broadcasted on iMusicTV, is now online at The Asgard Saga website. Check it out! /Johan

MANOWAR's new EP "Thunder in the Sky" lyrics

.. and song clips are now available on MANOWAR's official website. /Johan

MANOWAR Finland special

Warriors of Finland, unite! Tomorrow on Saturday 13th, MANOWAR will headline the Provinssirock in Seinäjoki, Finland. As a little warm-up I'm going to do a little "MANOWAR Finland special" here on the blog :) I hope you enjoy it!

The last time the band played in Finland was in 2002 on the "Warriors of the World Tour", which also included Sweden, Denmark among other countries such as Germany and France. I was lucky enough to see the band on three shows this year; on the Roskilde Festival together with 60.000 other people, in Gothenburg and in Denmark.

The setlist for the show in Finland 2002 was:

Manowar
Brothers of Metal
Spirit Horse of Cherokee
Warriors of the World United
Kill With Power
Guitar solo
Army of the Immortals
Call to Arms
Kings of Metal
Sign of the Hammer
Bass solo
The Gods Made Heavy Metal
Hail and Kill
Sword in the Wind, Courage and Master of the Wind (acoustic)
Outlaw
The Power
House of Death
Black Wind, Fire and Steel


Pretty sweet setlist, right? :) The highlight of this show was of course, the acoustic part with "Swords in the Wind", "Courage" and "Master of the Wind". These are all featured on "Hell on Earth part 4", as well as other songs from this tour such as "Kings of Metal", "Spirit Horse of the Cherokee" and many more.

There's actually official live recordings from shows in Finland to be found on the "Return of the Warlord"-single released in 1996. There you can find recordings from Helsinki from 1994, "Blood of my enemies" and "Kill with Power", with the last one being a bit different from the original version.

Past tourdates in Finland:

1984 - Himanka (Fight for Revenge Tour?)

1987, 28 May, Fighting the World Tour, Helsinki

1989, 6 April, Kings of Metal World Tour, Helsinki

1994 - Agony & Ecstasy Tour, Helsinki, Finland
1999, Monsters of the Millennium tour with Motörhead and DIO

2002, 26 nov, Oulu, Monsters of the Millennium tour with Motörhead and DIO

2002, 27 nov, Turku, Monsters of the Millennium tour with Motörhead and DIO (originally scheduled for Tampere Icehall)

2002, 29 Nov, Icehall, Helsinki, Warriors of the World Tour with Bludgeon

I'm not sure if I got all the dates, if you have any corrections please let me know!

Joey and Eric in Finland 2002 with a spectacular stage setup.

Have fun seeing the band in Finland if you're going there! If you're not, there's plenty of other festivals this summer where you can see the band. I hope to get back as soon as possible when the show in Finland is over to give you the setlist!

Hail to Finland!

/Johan