Kaliakra Rock Fast 2008 began with crash and thunder. A lot of thunder. Around 5 hours plus warming up.

Manowar have returned to Bulgaria for the joy of their true fans and slight horror of the sober-thinking viewer. To be honest, who wouldn’t like a five-hour concert of his favorite band? Only if this is a real gig, without redundant noises (which in total maybe were more than hour), speeches and cocking. Because it was a huge showing off. Words like the best audience is the Manowar’s, that the true metal brothers eat, fuck and drink like Cro-Magnons (well, this may be true), that the Guinness record was scored in front of 25 000 fans (ha-ha, in the most concentrated moment of the show, there barely were more than 10 000 people) and other heavy nonsense.

The concert itself was an interesting walk in the history of the band. “The kings” came out with their self-anthem and continued with their whole debut “Battle Hymns” (this song indeed sounds mighty on live show). The first two hours of the set were curious because they were a wide review of Manowar’s dawn. Stronger rock and roll sound (“Shell Shock”, “Death Tone”) and proto power metal sent us back in the years when the fantasy comic books and animations in the style of Frank Frazetta fascinated the kids’ imagination and Conan the Barbarian ruled the big screen. There followed later compositions, we sent a Hail to England, we heard fragments of “Sign of the Hammer” and so, step by step we reached the favorite of every true metal fan “Kings of Metal”.

So far, so good. The bad thing is the fact that the band played the songs by book, without breaking the frames of the studio records, including all the additional background noises, never ending filings like “it is hard to finish” and even the pauses between the songs. But differing from the albums, the approaching half a century of age Eric Adams live sang quite rarely in the high register, more common he roared, the equipment often crackled and directed the sound underground (frequently in moments when there was supposed to be the next falsetto in the song) and the non-stop pounding was coming in excess at some point. Joey DeMaio plunged into stilted speeches for allegiance and promises to fuck every lass before him and the crowd, divided in two, both was roaming among the stands for beer and rissoles in and outside the stadium, or was staring with dull delight and devotion at the stage (and yet I doubt that even the most devoted of the second type of spectators would let the bassist have his girlfriend and her adjoining genitals). And while we are talking of sex, let’s mention also “Pleasure Slave” for the performance of which on the stage there appeared a few girls who at a moment remained on bras. Actually, did we have to mention it?

The hours were passing by, more and more people withdrew to tents, rooms and pubs (or just fainted away on the grass and fell asleep, dreaming the bliss dream of the warrior who has won the war with the alcohol) and Manowar kept on playing and playing... “Warriors of the World”, “Heart of Steel”, an endless cannonade of hymns until the choir of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra took places under the spotlights and for the joy of the nationalists, risen heads high, from the loudspeakers there sounded another hymn, the one of Bulgaria. There followed massive illuminations and the epic “The Crown and the Ring” before the band leave the stage. But only for a while…

Manowar returned to conquer whatever has left for conquering around the stadium while at the end the intellectual level reached stage R2D2 on steroids, screaming: “Wooo-ooo-aaa-weeee! Yeaah! Kill! Kill!”. The uproar ended around 3 AM and we backed up (crowd and musicians) to enjoy a few beers and good sleep.

The balance is obligatory. Was it worth this long discussed and awaited concert of Manowar? Having in mind the mediocre authorship and ungifted covers by the opening band HolyHell, the extended noises and chest-pounding of Manowar, the bit-fallen voice of Eric, the lack of Scott Columbus on the drums (his substitute was the bounded his fate with the history of the band Rhino), the happening was more likely redundant showing of muscles. But if you ask any of the remained firmly for all 5 hours hardened fans of the band, this show was epochal. And aren’t the fans most important?