{"id":241,"date":"2011-03-07T13:03:48","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T12:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/?page_id=241"},"modified":"2011-03-07T13:03:48","modified_gmt":"2011-03-07T12:03:48","slug":"dong-2009-review","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/?page_id=241","title":{"rendered":"Dong 2009 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

DONG OPEN AIR 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n

After presenting you the Dong Open Air for the first time in 2008 the decision was clear to come back!
\nWhy? The Dong Open Air is a cool contrast to the big Metal Festivals we usually report about and from. It offers a very unique atmosphere happening on a hill with a great view on the landscapes in all directions in the exclusive atmosphere of just 1500 tickets. As the years before the strictly limited tickets got sold out after a few hours!
\nNo wonder: The fans know what they got! Besides the discribed comfortable environmental conditions the fans know what to expect: A little Metal paradise! Very fair prices for merch, food as beverages (e.g. 1,50 \u20ac for a 0,5 l \u2013 bottle of beer), a good uncomplicating organization guaranteeing a great sound for popular as underground bands and being close to the fans in a familiar and peaceful atmosphere.
\nThis year the team just had one cancelation by Dew-Scented due to health problems of the singer. They got short-term replaced by Ravage. The weather must have been a Dong fan, in the past sometimes the visitors used the tent stage to hide themselves from too hot sun, too strong rain or even a dangerous storm. This time it was dry while the temperature were comfortable. So optimal conditions for the festival!<\/p>\n

Friday<\/strong>
\nInterrob\u00e4ng<\/strong> It was up to Interrob\u00e4ng to open the 2009 edition of DOA. One of the Lei\u00dfa-brothers both known from the festival organization played the lead guitar. Their music sounded pretty epic with a keyboard as a mentionable element including interesting song structures which reminded me pretty much to the well-known Orphaned Land from Israel who had co-headlined the Dong Open Air two years ago. So after \u201cRuins\u201d (?) their gig ended with applause by the audience.<\/p>\n

In December<\/strong> The following formation presented Melodic Deathcore which rocked. Lead by their variable vocalist who easily switched between shouts and melodic passages the young fivepiece impressed with \u201cFrom Darkness Into Light\u201d, \u201cRevolution\u201d and the final \u201cThis Oath\u201d. A cool talented band with live qualities which convinced those spectators who had found their way that early in front of the stage.<\/p>\n

The Splatter And Gore Department<\/strong> The comedy highlight of the whole weekend was set by the Gore \u2013 sixpack. Besides the regular instrumentation their sixth member had an electric grill barbecueing masses of meat for the fans while the show. So those cared much more about that than the music. Anyway it entertained.<\/p>\n

Clanrock<\/strong> The group from Luxemburg offered Folk Rock including exotic instruments pretty similar to In Extremo performed in different languages. After some time it bored because I noticed nothing original. Most of the spectators must have shared my opinion walking outside the tent.<\/p>\n

Elexorien<\/strong> While this Dutch sixpiece the tent was half filled, but the first rows celebrated \u201cThe Serpent Strikes Pt. II\u201d, \u201cThe Disciple Of The Night Under A Starless Sky\u201d as the final \u201cRunning With The Wolves Of War\u201d with crowdsurfing and the first moshpit of the day. The grunts of guitarist Lainedil and the female voice of In\u00e9 caught the crowd’s main focus.<\/p>\n

Ravage<\/strong> Dew-Scented got forced by a virus attack on their fronter to cancel their appearance. So The Very End switched in their later billing position and the Thrashers from Ravage who had opened the DOA in 2005 replaced them. But many spectators left the tent, so just a few persons watched their second Dong hill appearance.<\/p>\n

Cast In Silence<\/strong> This formation is much more known as their former name Dark At Dawn. So they performed under their new mark, but with the known quality. The Melodic Metal with the pleasant voice convinced more and more spectators as their live action did. So tracks like \u201cThe Last Straw\u201d and \u201cIf Mourning Never Comes\u201d rocked and earned their support. In the end the band showed how to convert a terrible pop song into a rocking cover by Desireless’ \u201cVoyage Voyage\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Very End<\/strong> The fivepiece from the Ruhr valley took their chance of their upgraded billing position and rocked the pretty filled tent enormously. With all their live-experience the ex-musicians of well-known names like Night In Gales (DOA 2004 – headliner), Ninnghizhidda, etc. also showed their songwriters’ talent. From the beginning \u201cFlatline\u201d, \u201cThe Black To Come\u201d, \u201cSewn Eye Sleep\u201d, \u201cStabwounds\u201d and \u201cThe Loss Theory\u201d caught the fan crowd celebrating an agile performance lead by the varieble voice of fronter Bj\u00f6rn Goo\u00dfes who seemed to know all Klaus-Meine-gestures. Anyway, the gig rocked, the band won a lot of new fans who demanded an encore after \u201cDeath Ticket\u201d, \u201cBleed Tomorrow\u201d, \u201cMinus Everything\u201d and \u201cBone Patrol\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dornenreich<\/strong> After this strong performance the co \u2013 headliner from Austria had its problems to get the audience involved. The instrumentation consisting of a guitar, a violin and the drums was pretty unique on the festival as for Metal in general, but their performance didn’t convince at all. A little less pathos, a little more Metal would have helped a lot. So the spectators watched the intro \u201cTrauerbrandung\u201d, but till \u201cSchwarz Schaut Tiefsten Lichterglanz\u201d many had left the tent to prefer a beer. So it was a bit ironic Eviga & Co played by \u201cWer Hat Angst Vor Einsamkeit\u201d as the encore.<\/p>\n

Rage<\/strong> After a much too long soundcheck which caused a few catcalls the German Melodic Metal \u2013 legend entered the stage opening with the title track of the their new \u201cCarved In Stone\u201d – album followed by the hit \u201cHigher Than The Sky\u201d and \u201cSet The World On Fire\u201d. After \u201cAll I Want\u201d band \u2013 icon \u201cPeavy\u201d Wagner introduced his two bandmates guitar-genius Victor Smolski and their new drummer Andr\u00e9 Hilgers to the audience before continuing the show with \u201cEnough Is Enough\u201d. From \u201cDon’t Fear The Winter\u201d on the trio got assisted by the partner of Victor Smolski for several tracks. And the first scepticism left because the female voice worked very well with the Rage-songs. After \u201cWar Of Worlds\u201d the band left the stage to return with the encores \u201cSoundchaser\u201d and \u201cStraight To Hell\u201d. Rage convinced with a confident headliner show ending in much jubilation which closed a great first day.<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/strong>
\nOrphan Hate<\/strong> The quartet from Berlin showed an energetic Thrash Metal \u2013 performance. Lead by the great vocalist Sina the band convinced the hungry fans who reached the stage in the early noon and caused the first crowdsurfer of the day even while the opener’s slot. From the opener \u201cKings Misery\u201d over the following \u201cScience For A Better Life\u201d and \u201cCircus\u201d the four musicians showed their huge live-abilities. So the Sepultura – cover \u201cRoots, Bloody Roots\u201d got fans’ support as their own composition \u201cTattoo\u201d. With the surprising ballad \u201cFragrance\u201d which marked the highlight of their appearance the band left the stage to return with the encore \u201cEvil A\u201d. Respect!<\/p>\n

7 Seals<\/strong> The following act showed a total contrast in comparison to the one before. Classic Power Metal was supposed to rule the stage. And performed compositions like \u201cA Gift To The Nymph\u201d, \u201cThe Fierce King Of The Huns\u201c and \u201cMoribund\u201d showed the songwriting talent, but the performance turned out pretty boring. Besides that their new female vocalist was missing! Meanwhile their male fronter didn’t do a good job at all, especially with the higher pitched passages. Good musicians with a bad vocalist don’t reach a satisfying live-result.<\/p>\n

Kingdom Of Salvation<\/strong> The quartet from the close town of Leverkusen played a solid Thrash \/ Death Metal \u2013 gig considering own tracks like \u201cNeverending\u201d or \u201cCrusader\u201d as the popular Amon Amarth \u2013 cover \u201cFate Of Norns\u201d. They added an encore, but after a minute they were forced to stop with it because of a defect monitor box.
\nSycronomica The Black Metal \u2013 band from Bavaria evacuated the tent pretty fast by their appearance. Pretty sad because their sound is much more diversified than most of the amateur blackies. Old songs like the debut’s title track \u201cPaths (\u2026 Of A Forgotten Time)\u201d as new ones like \u201cThe Call\u201d from their forthcoming album deserve better feedback.<\/p>\n

Sheephead<\/strong> Another band from Bavaria, but this one sounded much more modern. \u201cThe Coming\u201d and \u201cOdyssey\u201d showed pretty fast this talented as young band prefers the Melodic Death metal \u2013 style. Just the sound could have been better. Anyway fronter Benni praised the DOA \u2013 beer \u2013 crew which caused a loud agreement by the audience. The quartet left with the encore \u201cAddicted To Self-Destruction\u201d. Hopefully not!<\/p>\n

Cheeno<\/strong> It speeks for another time for the Dong-organizers to present its visitors high standards in all hard subgenres. So after brutal sounds it was time for female-fronted Rock – band. Two years after their Dong-debut the musically high-skilled quintet from Saarbr\u00fccken convinced completely by \u201c64ad\u201d and \u201cInvisible\u201d, especially by their voice Jennie. Besides that this time she didn’t really seem to be happy on stage, maybe a few stupid spectators stuck on her nerves. Anyway she rocked like her mates did and animated the crowd by pointing out on the fun-shirt of our colleague Dumbo to celebrate \u201cThe Ruler\u201d headbanging to add \u201cPacman\u201d. Great band!<\/p>\n

Hatred<\/strong> The Thrash Metal \u2013 fivepiece presented their current longplayer \u201cMadhouse Symphonies\u201d which worked pretty well by smashers like \u201cCaught In The Act\u201d or \u201cResurrection\u201d. The very agile band which won a voting to open this year’s Dubai Desert Rock Fest around fronter Bacchus mainly impressed by their massive stage action, even drummer Daniel kept headbanging all the time. So did the fans in the first rows till the encore \u201cMetal Massacre\u201d.<\/p>\n

Failed Perfection<\/strong> To show who the vocalist is got demonstrated by the Melodic Death Metal \u2013 fivepiece. He entered the stage completely suited in white, his bandmates in black. And the band from the close city of Bochum caused the most support in the pretty filled-up tent so long. The crowd just seemed to have been waiting for songs like the band’s self-titled track or \u201cIn Oblivion\u201d. Just their fronter should try to act much less theatric.<\/p>\n

Common Grave<\/strong>The fourth band from Bavaria this day weren’t able to continue animating support like the formation before had done. Their old style – Death Metal \/ – Grindcore turned out too monotonous after a while. So \u201cBleeding Shades Of Grey\u201d from the brandnew release \u201cEmbedded Coding\u201d as older tracks didn’t let most of the people stay in the tent. Most of them preferred to take a beer.<\/p>\n

Skyclad<\/strong> Every second year the Folk Metal \u2013 band from Newcastle comes back to the Dong hill as regular guests. So they did this year. And like always their appearance turned out in a big party celebrated by the most Dong hill \u2013 weekend \u2013 inhabitants. The four men and one woman performed very tight as professional and played a cool best-of-setlist containing tracks from the brandnew album \u201cIn The All Together\u201d (\u201cA Well Travelled Man\u201d, \u201cSuperculture\u201d, the encore \u201cStill Small Beer\u201d) as classics (\u201cPenny Dreadful\u201d). Like always it was a pleasure to watch this band with their positive attitude at their home, the Dong Open Air.<\/p>\n

Amorphis<\/strong> After the Swedes Dark Tranquillity last year the DOA-organization realised to present by the Finnish Melodic Death Metal \u2013 institution with their unique sound the second international big name in the metal universe. So the tent was very filled to welcome their heroes which gave back an unforgettable show. From their classic beginning with \u201cLeaves Scar\u201d and \u201cTowards And Against\u201d over material from their new masterpiece \u201cSkyforger\u201d like \u201cSilver Bride\u201d, \u201cSampo\u201d or \u201cFrom The Heaven Of My Heart\u201d and the younger (\u201cSilent Waters\u201d) as older (\u201cThe Castaway\u201d) classics to the phenomenal end consisting of the encores \u201cThe Smoke\u201d, \u201cHouse Of Sleep\u201d and \u201cBlack Winter Day\u201d. The band around the active as sympathic vocalist Tomi Joutsen ruled the tent with all their fans with an outstanding performance!<\/p>\n

Conclusion:<\/strong>
\nAfter our debut report in 2008 we returned with best expectations getting definitely fulfilled!
\nThe Dong Open Air stands for a familiar atmosphere with an organization being close to the fans. The catering as the drinks got offered in a big variety and very fair prices. So don’t bring your beer on top of the hill, support this festival and its prices! Instead of that bring warm clothes for the nights (a hint for the freeze-ladies) and don’t forget a camera: A more beautiful perspective for different shots you won’t find on any other festival.
\nYou can walk up the hill or take the shuttle service getting driving service including the transport of your luggage for 3,- \u20ac! The toilet situation stayed the same by mobile Dixi-toilets getting cleaned continuously. The security was nice and helped whenever they could as the DOA-team did.
\nGenerally we can conclude: At DOA you have the option to be one of 1.500 metalheads celebrating a great, familiar and peaceful party in a unique atmosphere! So try to be one of them in 2010 when it’s up to celebrate the 10th Dong Open Air anniversary!
\nThanks go out to Benjamin \u201cColamann\u201d Munsch and the DOA-team!!!!!
\nAt the Dong Open Air rocked, drank and partied Tobi Wan Kenobi, Lotte and Dumbo!!!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DONG OPEN AIR 2009 After presenting you the Dong Open Air for the first time in 2008 the decision was clear to come back! Why? The Dong Open Air is a cool contrast to the big Metal Festivals we usually report about and from. It offers a very unique atmosphere happening on a hill with … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Dong 2009 Review”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":23,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/241"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/241\/revisions\/242"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/new.metal-festivals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}