Road Reports Archive

Possessed / Air Raid / Legend / October 31 / Various
Keep It True Fest
Tauberfrankenhalle . Lauda-Königshofen, Germany

"This was one of the most honest places to see a
metal festival that I've experienced to date."

---

King Fowley, vocalist for legendary US old school metal band October 31 and drummer for classic thrashers Deceased gave us his review of this year's "Keep It True Festival" in Germany. The event payed homage to power and old school heavy metal with twenty bands spread over two full days in Koenigshofen, Germany. Fowley and his October 31 band played the second day of the festival and powered through ten songs headlined by a rousing cover version of Saxon's "Power And The Glory".

Commenting on the festival and its entertainers Fowley said:

"We had an unbelievable time. We saw some old friends from the band High Spirits but sadly missed their gig as our shuttle from the hotel was so far behind on time the first day. Thanks to their touring van we got a ride to the show. I saw Medieval Steel and thought they were pretty good. The old school band Liege Lord was good for the first fifty minutes but a ninety minute set was just too long. Classic thrashers Possessed were as good as they could be considering I'm not a huge freak for them. We had a great time at the first day of the festival and that night I ended up hanging with US band Steel Prophet at the hotel until around 4am".

He continues "Our gig was around 11am the next morning and before the show we had breakfast with NWOBHM act Warlord and had a blast. I caught Evil Invaders live but the generic high pitched singing and their bad cover of Exciter's "Violence And Force" didn't do it for me. I missed Attic performing by opting out and having lunch with the band Legend before their performance. Legend was my second favorite gig of the weekend overall, it was a superb set played by sixty year old guys with a young drummer. Toranaga were nice guys and they did okay on their gig although it was very Metallica in spots. Jack Starr really did well and had overall the best sound of the weekend. Steel Prophet did a long set that included a cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Sabbath's "Heaven And Hell". Angel Witch was decent but seemed to have the same speed over and over on each song. Their theme song is still my favorite of their playlist. The legends Warlord were absolutely amazing. They just blew me away after a few sound problems on the the first two songs. They were incredible and ran through classics like "Deliver Us", "Winter Tears", "Child Of The Damned", "Penny For A Poor Man", "Black Mass", "Mrs. Victoria", "Lost And Lonely Days" and "Aliens". I was right front and center throughout their set and the musicianship was phenomenal. This was a magic moment for me".

Fowley concludes "I had an amazing time and met so many cool folks. The event ran so smooth and every person there actually seemed to care. This wasn't like American gigs where half the folks are there to pose. We had sing-alongs, tons of laughs and the attendance was sold out to the hilt. I am coming back with Deceased in 2014. This was one of the most honest places to see a metal festival that I've experienced to date."

The festival lineup:
Possessed    Air Raid    Legend
Liege Lord    Eliminator    October 31
Medieval Steel    Borrowed Time    Midnight
Holocaust    Warlord        Toranaga
Quartz        Angel Witch    Attic
Morbid Saint    Steel Prophet    Evil Invaders
High Spirits    Jack Starr   


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