Sunday, November 6, 2011, The Great Hall, Cardiff, Wales

On Sunday I got up at 11 am feeling actually quite fine. All of the others had either unfortunately left for home or we were already on their way to Cardiff. We had another full English Breakfast before htting the road. After a traffic jam out of London the drive was great - it was a beautiful sunny day. For some reason my GPS led me down from the motorway across the countryside. We didn't care - we were in perfect timing and it was actually a lot more fun and exciting - although those three lane roundabouts with 5 - 7 exits can be a real pain in the ass - especially while driving on the wrong side of the road ;) In any case we made a couple of interesting detours using single tracks and even private roads together with sheep... All in all great stuff!

We arrived in Wales and I laughed my ass off trying to pronounce the road signs that were written in Welsh - I mean, how drunk can you get? In Cardiff we checked in our ETAP (yeah - party time!), met Ceri along with many others and left for the venue stopping by a crazy pub (no comment) for steaks that could have been meant to be shoe soles - yuck!

We met up with the others at the venue and were let inside. I said my hellos a the merch stand and walked into the Great Hall - holy shit. Speaking of shoes - this could have been a shoe box. It was the smallest venue I've ever seen MANOWAR perform in and I was a bit worried if the band could motivate themselves into peak form playing in front of about a tenth of the audience as in London.

Well, ladies and gentlemen my worries were unjustified. The band hit the stage and MANOWAR did as they always do - no matter what - they gave their fans 100-fuckin'-awesome-%! The sound was again brilliant - crystal clear yet earthshaking - Jeff Hair is truly a mastermind!

Tonight I made my way into the front row just as Dark Avenger started and was nearly beaten to death on my way there... ;) I stood beside the biggest of the true - our Grandfather Of Steel - to the right and with my metal-daughter to the left. It was great to be able to bang my head together with Vesta!

The concert was awesome again and it was a bit more intimate which was very cool - the band was interacting more with the crowd tonight. Really a great gig!

Grandfather, tell me a story...

Anyone out there that doesn't love the Iberian Peninsula?!!!!

It was great meeting Matt's long time friend Ruth - smiling all night long!

After the show we were of course all in a ecstatic-fantastic-hyper-positive mood!   

German-Russian-Connection!

We walked through Cardiff and reached our ETAP and were shocked when the receptionist didn't want to sell us any beer. Tina persuaded him nice and politely and he gave in - and we were damn happy! The party that followed was again unforgettable - there was a lot of T.hunder I.n T.he S.ky... ;)

Patty cake, patty cake - WTF!

The party lasted for hours - until 5 am and we had the time of our lives. And then as always - all of a sudden it was over!

The next morning it was the four of us and Matt and Alex who went out for breakfast before driving back to London.

We said our good-byes and then driving on the motorway I saw a familiar black car - how cool was that! We drove together until our roads parted just outside of London.

At the airport we had ourselves a burger followed by our last Guinnesses before we flew back to good ol' Germany.

Arriving home at 12:30 am Tina and I sat down and had a beer + special Portwine while talking about the last three days. We were so sad not to be able to be at the last two shows in Dublin and Belfast - we even checked the internet if they had any affordable last minute flights but they didn't...

These last three days were very special for Tina and I - for so many reasons. I feel reborn again.

I love MANOWAR for what they stand for - truth, respect, loyalty, brotherhood. It is their music that has touched my heart for almost 30 years now - it is the lyrics I live by - the True Spirit Of Heavy Metal - the only thing that really counts.  

These meetings with our friends from all across the world - our family - have once again enriched Tina's and my life in a way one can only understand if you have had the chance to experience it on your own - and once you have - you know that nothing will ever stand in (y)our way.

"From a battle I've come
To a battle I ride
Blazing up to the sky
Chains of fate
Hold a fiery stride
I'll see you again when I die"

So be it - All Hail MANOWAR!