KALIAKRA ROCK FEST 2009 -01.07.2009, Kavarna,В 'Kaliakra' stadium

words by Vassil Varbanov, photo: slu4aen prevozz

Kavarna, my brothers, is right at the other end of Bulgaria. From where we are, that is. Nevertheless the last few years have given us enough reasons and excuses to make the long trip to that garden of heavenly delights. Don't expect us to provide the long list of memorable rock shows to have blitzed the seaside town in recent times - you've got the Internet for that, so look it up, lazybones.

What matters is that, once again,В  it's time for some proper Kavarna action!

01.07.09 – after an early morning start, we're now galloping at full speed on one of the new national motorways, which looks like it's still under construction. As a series of Anthrax gems blast from the car stereo, we discreetly shed a tear or ten. "Oh maaaan, wish they hadn't cancelled their appearance at Kaliakra! Why do we always draw the short straw!"

As we near Shumen (not far off from our final destination) someone suggests in a barely audible manner that perhaps we should listen to some Faith No More. No fucking way! Gould & Co will be our main soundtrack on the RETURN journey, when we'll be gearing ourselves up for the next big Summer festival to take place in another of our glorious seaside resorts. For now, it's still Metaaaaal Thrashiing MAAAAAD!

Castaneda (who prefers to be addressed by his Internet handle) is the first one to notice the sea on the horizon. Probably due to the fact that he's been swilling Capt. Morgan (black)В and Coke ever since we took off on our journey many hours ago. After all, the first litre of rum WILL sharpen your senses to an extent. Meanwhile the weather's brilliant - the temperature a whopping 34C, the sky - crystal clear and blue.

Some of our snotty friends from Sofia phone in to check on our progress and to complain about the ferocious downpour that has apparently hit the capital's yellow cobblestoned streets, with some deafening thunder thrown in for good measure. Ha! As if we give a fuck! You see, we're now arriving at the Golden Sands resort and will soon after be making the now short trip to Kavarna to see Motley Crue headline the first festival night.

later on, some of the Motley fans will cry...

At the hotel, which is supposedly the swankiest in the entire resort, the Scorpions are carefully picking out suites with a seaside view. Their tour manager,В  looking rather like the conductor of yer local firebrigade orchestra, is sorting things out at reception. The Scorps bus driver is one of those species who'll never disappear as long as there's heavy rock music on this planet. Middle-aged, blue vest, a scorpion tattooed on his left shoulder, he stands smiling at his own reflection in the hotel's sliding front door.В 

Make no mistake about it - the Scorpions are still superstars and they've sold twice the number of tickets Motley Crue have at this festival. They're in no hurry (in fact, they're over 90 mins late) their press interviews. Members of the local media stab nervous glances at their watches, obviously dreading the possibility of missing Motley Crue's show. They've been ordered to the press room and therefore miss Nikki Sixx as he walks by reception.

Accompanied by a dark-skinned female and two pubescent kids, Sixx doesn't look like the pussy magnet he was in Motley's heyday.

Having said that he still has enough energy to make a "keep away, no photos, no autographs" gesture at two boys and a girl, who seem over excited to have stumbled upon the Motley Crue bassist when they were only waiting for the Scorpions. While manouevring away from the three young fans (one of whom is wearing an Asia t-shirt) Sixx walks straight into a warm hug from James Kottak, the Scorps current drummer, who is not only American himself, but is also married to Tommy Lee's younger sister Athena.
Kottak has apparently arrived on the previous night and seems to have sampled plenty of the festive atmosphere, for after he lets Sixx go, he turns to the fans and gladly poses for pics, while thanking them for their support.

Inside the press room Klaus Meine, Matthias Jabs and Rudolph Schenker field questions about their illustrious career. The first big breakthrough band in German rock history readily agree that they've helped open the floodgates for many of their compatriots on a worldwide scale. Apparently their favourite German band is Rammstein, who have, in turn, expressed their gratitude to Klaus et al. There have been, it transpires, plans for both bands to tour together in the past, but, alas, their busy schedules have always clashed. We're left pondering on how eclectic a Scorps/Rammstein tour would be.

And how do you sayВ 'Speek English or Die' in German?

"Accept also had their moments, but then it all went a bit pear shaped for them," reflects the diminutive Klaus.
"At one point all our best friends in music were either British or American - Vam Halen, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden. No one from back home really," remembers the much taller Rudolph.
"In any case, I'd like to thank you on behalf of Tangra Mega Rock for that ID which you so generously recorded in your own studio, especially for us,"В  chips in our very own, ever so positive Vassil Varbanov, thus ending the press conference on a happy note, despite most of the journos having already resigned themselves to the fact that they will miss Lauren Harris' opening set. And then we make haste for Kavarna, cause Motley Crue won't be hanging around for us.

Arbeit Macht Frei

We arrive at the stadium just in time, to the sound of AC/DC's 'Hell's Bells' blasting from the PA. There's a crowd of around 6 000 inside, while a further 500 or so are loitering about outside the venue, hoping to be let in for free at some point. You cheeky fuckers!В  Castaneda greets us in high spirits, having enjoyed a refreshing nap back at the hotel, "Those Crue fans are such pushovers, follow me and we'll be at the front in no time at all".

Now this guy may drink too much and sleep even more, but a liar he ain't! It literally takes us seconds to get to the very front. We recall, with a wry smile, the titanic ordeal one had to go through in order to make one's way to the front at last year's Slayer show at this same venue.

Showtime!

One of our mates remains at the front, as he's rather short sighted, while we take a few steps back in order to get a better view of the big picture. Motley Crue, the, ern, "saints" of Los Angeles are onstage! Nikki Sixx looks a lot livelier than he was in the hotel lobby, while our personal favourite Mick Mars has a truly creepy outer appearance.

Mick Mars - this is a radio not a photo

Vince Neil looks a bit clumsy in his movements and we pray to God he won't try the moonwalk. The real frontman seems to be, yet again, Tommy Lee, who suddenly jumps out from behind his drum kit to deliver a long speech, whose purpose is to give his colleagues time to catch their breaths, while also revving up the crowd.
Tommy really puts in the effort and even bellows out an "I love you" in Bulgarian. If we were to summarize some of Lee and Neil's key messages to the crowd throughout the evening, they'd be as follows:
1. They love us.
2. They plan to come back next year and kick our asses again.
3. Everything here is awesome. .
4. Are we having a good time?
5. We're one hell of a rock'n'roll crowd.

To be honest, some of us feel as though we're somewhere abroad. It's the first time we've felt like this - as though this gig isn't happening in Bulgaria. The crowd is more akin to the ones in, say, Austria. There's none of the mad fiery passion we, as a concert crowd, have always prided ourselves in. This time it just ISN'T HAPPENING.

Sure, there's small isolated groups, interspersed here and there, going mental and singing all the words together with Vince. But, by and large, most people seem unfamiliar with the bulk of the material. Real crowd participation is limited to only about 3 or 4 songs out of the entire set, one of those being 'Girls Girls Girls'. In fact some of the girls next to me sang the chorus better than Vince Neil. Or so it seemed until I realized most of the backing vocals were running from a backing track.

We then reach the highpoint of the show - 'Dr. Feelgood' The volume seems to go up a notch, as well as the band's energy levels. Seasoned veterans like Motley know when to put their foot on the pedal. The crowd go slightly bonkers, if only for a bit and Neil gives his al!

'Home Sweet Home'

And then it's time for the encore. Three silhouettes are seen pushing a grand piano across the dark stage. The lights go back on and we see Tommy Lee, fag in mouth, playing the opening chords to 'Home Sweet Home'. Instead of cigarette lighters, the audience respond with a sea of mobile phones and cameras. A somewhat dodgy looking individual not too far from us shouts out "Elton Joooohn" and proceeds to laugh hysterically at his own "joke". I feel very at home during this performance, as the black and blue lights coming from the stage make me think of the album cover of Pantera's 'Far Beyond Driven'. ...В 

And so it ends! The band take a bow and promise to come back again next year. You can tell it's the last date of their European tour - Tommy Lee seems to throw ALL his drumsticks to the crowd. We're guessing he won't need them anymore. В 

Motley setlist - 1 July

Nikki Sixx is doing exactly the same with all his picks.
Mick Mars walks off slowly, as if dreading the oxygen bottles lying in wait at the side. Tommy Lee, however, is still up for a party and orchestrates the following chants:
Tommy: I say Nicky – you say Sixx – NICKY?
Crowd: SIIIX
Tommy: I say Mick – you say Mars – MICK?
Crowd: MAAARS
Tommy: I say Motley – you say Crue – MOTLEY?
Crowd: Cruuuuuuuuue!
The road crew get to work onstage. Obviously there won't be any more encores. The crowd quickly disperse, although some stay behind to roll about on the grass, discussing the gig. We don't. We're off, having witnessed a proper rock'n'roll show.
Time to hit the sack and rest up for day two of Kaliakra Rock Fest 2009!

GALLERY