Yep, that time of the year again. I was at the Rock Hard Festival from the 28th to the 31st of may for the 3rd time now.

Thursday
This time I got there with a friend on Thursday because my gf had to study for her final examn and she had to stay at home for a day longer.

We needed 6 hours to drive all the way from Hamburg to Gelsenkirchen because the car couldn't go any faster than 120 km/h... -.- plus we had a pavilion on the roof rack. At least there where no serious traffic jams, we lost only about 40 minutes in total while being in a traffic jam.

Sadly we couldn't camp at the same spot we did the last 2 years, but the "new" spot was nice, too.

I camped with the same guys as last year (yes, those guys with the bad music -.- ). This time, they had a FUCKING FRIDGE with them! I was like "WTF?" but on the other hand a fridge (and cold beer!) is very useful. ;)

Well, not much happened on this day. We drank a lot of beer and listened to very loud music. Good music: Metallica. We listened to Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightening, Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for all until 4 in the morning. :D
In between came a strange guy who all of a sudden startet talking about Diablo 2. We were like: "Shut up, we want to listen to music!" but he was talking about his "Mage" he was playing in D2... lol? There's no MAGE in Diablo.
Then he said how Rammstein was the greatest band in the world... ah well, we told him to shut up and go away and so he finally did. ^^

Friday
When waking up much too early I heard some guys from a nearby camp talking near my tent:
Guy A: "So, what did you do last night?"
Guy B: "I listened to Metallica's "...And Justice for All" until 4 in the morning..."
Guy A: "Ugh, don't get me started on that!"

Oops, have we been too loud? ^^

Anyway, on Friday my GF arrived and our camp was finally complete. Only downside: I missed Witchburner! I wanted to see them really badly, but I had to unpack the car. :(

Bands:
Deströyer 666: REALLY bad sound! They sound great on their albums but that was just constant noise.

Jag Panzer: Good Power Metal and the sound was good, too.

Opeth: GREAT! I saw them once at Wacken Open Air and was amazed how their songs work life, too. This time they where great as well. Best band for me this festival!

Saturday
Not that much bands I wanted to see today, so me and my GF went off to town to have some ice cream and enjoy the good weather.

Bands:
Hail of Bullets: Didn't know them before, but I heard that most of the guys who play at Asphyx also play in this band, so I went to see them and it was really worth it.

Dragonforce : Only band I wanted to see today before I heard of Hail of Bullets and Asphyx. I already saw them at Wacken Open Air and was flatened by their sound, so I hoped to see another great concert. But I was really disappointed and left after only two songs. The sound was terrible! The guitars where too quiet and I couldn't hear one bit of the singer! Worst band for me this year.
Bad thing is: Now I don't know what the hell they did with those trampolines! :(

Sunday:
Just like in the last two years we planned to leave today to drive home again and this time I was really lucky with the running order. Last band I wanted to see was Sacred Reich and they only played until 20:15 (8:15 PM), so we could leave early.

Bands:
Bullet: Pretty good show. Good sound and the singer was nice, too.

Heathen: My GF wanted to see them so I went with her. It was pretty loud, but a nice show.

UFO: I like 70s rock, so I had to see them! It was just like I expected, only those long parts where the singer left the stage... well, you have to be REALLY into 70s rock to not nod away on those parts, heh.

Sacred Reich: They could have been even better than Opeth, or at least only lose to them pretty closely, but the bass was a tad bit too loud sometimes. I liked how the singer interaced with the audience and their songs are amazing, too.

Well, that's about it. I think I will visit this festival next year, too. :)