My Manowar Story
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On that day in 1982 when I walked into the record store and placed my hands on Battle Hymns I knew that this band would bring the fuckin' roof down - and they did (and still do)! Joey DeMaio, Eric Adams, Ross The Boss and Donnie Hamzik gave the world a record that would evolve Heavy Metal! Over the years the drummers and guitarists have changed. Donnie left and Scott Columbus came, he took a timeout and was replaced by Rhino and then came back again and now Donnie is back in the saddle hopefully for good! Ross left and David Shankle became the shredder only to be replaced by Karl Logan. It doesn't matter who has been in MANOWAR over the years because each member was a King Of Metal in their time - so, we actually have 8 as their performance at Earthshaker 2005 showed the world. Unfortunately some do not stay Kings Of Metal for a life time, but that is a different story and certainly doesn't belong on this website. Well, I've followed these guys ever since the beginning and I still do. I love the fact that the band has always progressed musically and that they have always done their own thing - Hail Gods Of War...is the only response that comes in mind! Meanwhile, I've seen them live over and over again. Yet I still can't seem to wait to be able to stand in the front row again - pounding away to the loudest band on earth... Fighting the World May 13th 1987 Ludwigsburg Rockfabrik Another Glory Ride October 15th 1992 Böblingen Sporthalle Agony & Ecstasy February 28th 1994 Stuttgart Kongresszenttrum B Louder Than Hell March 27th 1997 Böblingen Sporthalle Hell On Stage February 5th 1998 Filderstadt Filharmonie Warriors Of The World December 13th 2002 Böblingen Sporthalle Earthshaker July 23rd 2005 Geiselwind Demons, Dragons & Warriors March 24th 2007 Frankfurt Festhalle Demons, Dragons & Warriors March 31st 2007 Stuttgart HMS-Halle Magic Circle Festival I July 6th 2007 Bad Arolsen Magic Circle Festival I July 7th 2007 Bad Arolsen DVD Release-Party November 22nd 2007 Hamburg Fabrik DVD Release-Party November 23rd 2007 Hamburg Fabrik Magic Circle Festival II July 11th 2008 Bad Arolsen Magic Circle Festival II July 12th 2008 Bad Arolsen Magic Circle Festival III July 18th 2009 Loreley Death To Infidels Tour 2010 January 18th 2010 Fürth Stadthalle Death To Infidels Tour 2010 January 21st 2010 Ludwigshafen F-E-Halle Death To Infidels Tour 2010 January 22nd 2010 Ludwigsburg Arena Death To Infidels Tour 2010 January 23rd 2010 Offenbach Stadthalle Death To Infidels Tour 2010 January 25th 2010 Munich Zenith Death To Infidels Tour 2010 January 30th 2010 Hannover AWD Death To Infidels Tour 2010 January 31st 2010 Cologne Palladium Sonisphere Festival June 25th 2010 Bucharest/Romania Magic Circle Festival IV @ Metal Camp July 11th 2010 Tolmin/Slovenia Death To Infidels Tour 2010 September 12th, 2010 Barcelona/Spain Battle Hymns Tour 2011 March 27th, 2011 Birmingham, England Battle Hymns Tour 2011 April 8th, 2011 Kerkrade, The Netherlands Battle Hymns Tour 2011 November 5th, 2011 London, England Battle Hymns Tour 2011 November 6th, 2011 Cardiff, Wales I have a MANOWAR tattoo on my arm which was done on December 14, 1994 and I'm damn proud of it. At that time I knew that MANOWAR would never fail me and they never have. It was the song Master Of The Wind that I identified my life with. A song that gave me the strength never to give up. When I introduced my wife to MANOWAR Master Of The Wind was the first song I played for her. She loved it and shared my feelings. And that is why Master Of The Wind was played during our wedding ceremony on May 15 2004. But my actual MANOWAR story started a bit earlier - with this bass pick...
Friday December 13 2002, was to be an unforgettable day for me. I was with my at-that-time-girlfriend Tina and her bloodsister Tina in the soldout Sporthalle in Böblingen to see MANOWAR. After the opening act I said goodbye to Tina and headed for the Front Row. After the second song I'm usually up front (I never hit anyone I just push a little bit until I get hold of the steel bar so I can pull myself up the rest of the way!). MANOWAR was playing louder than Hell but the sound was still crystal clear - fabulous. I loved every second of the show. I was standing in front of Joey DeMaio. All of a sudden he bent over and placed his bass pick into my hand - he hadn't throw it into the audience - no - he had given it to me - unbelievable! The concert passed and I was so happy and proud - yet the story about this concert still goes on...
Almost three years later on Thursday July 21 2005 I was at the MANOWAR Fan Convention in Geiselwind (Earthshaker Festival). We got the opportunity to be at an interview given by Joey DeMaio. Fuckin' awesome. We were about 50 fans that were gathered around Joey. All of a sudden during the questioning he looked at me (!) and said, "I know you. You're on my new DVD!" "Eh, ok, thanks..." I was speechless - totally - and that doesn't happen to me quite often... So, on Monday July 25 2005 I drove downtown to get me a copy of the DVD "Hell on Earth IV" which was released on that day. I didn't open it until I was at home and that was good because as I flicked through the booklet I saw pictures of me in it - fuckin' awesome again and again I was speechless - thanks to Mr. DeMaio!
Dark Avenger? Since then more than a year has passed. MANOWAR released their DVD from the Earthshaker Festival "The Day the Earth Shook" on November 24th 2006, which depicts the whole performance. This time I didn't make it on the booklet (ha-ha). But I am to be seen in the Front Row banging my head away - I can't believe all this - really I can't. Duelling Karl during Hail and Kill...
Hail and Kill
Afterwards I applied to translate the Magic Circle Festival website. I contacted Manoel Arruda and that was it. I love being able to do this because it's my way of giving MANOWAR something back.! I had also participated in the MANOWAR photo contest and was chosen as one of the eight winners. And then the MCF 2007 arrived and it happened. They got Matthew and me on stage. We were greeted by Joey, who told the audience that we had won the photo contest. Joey DeMaio - yes, Joey DeMaio! He who has so much power and strength and now I finally got here to stand beside him. What an honor - no words here to express my feelings - none at all. Joey gave us a beer and we drank together.
And I just couldn't spill a drop of it because I am a Swabian and Swabians are a little like Scottish people - very economical! And that's what I told Joey afterwards - that spilling beer was a sin. He laughed and I guess that was good (that he laughed)... He also claimed himself a sinner...
After that I got to Hail and Kill a little bit with the audience - fuckin' awesome - I guess I was glad to have had a couple of beers before going on stage...
Leaving the stage I actually walked into Eric's arms. "I read all the shit you write everyday on the forum!" is what he said to me actually laughing his ass off. Huh? Was I drunk or, or what? Unbelievable stories I still can't comprehend myself... A new year begins... Haha - I was pretty astonished after receiving the new Metalhammer at the end of January 2008. As I started to read the report about MANOWAR in Hamburg I couldn't believe my eyes...
The report was pretty interesting but the photo where I saw my wife, Erman and I really did make me x-tra happy. Fuckin' cool!
After Metalhammer had finished their 2007 Reader's Poll I had to write them a letter which was printed in their April 2008 Issue:
Here is the translation: Hi Metal Hammer, Like every year the reader’s poll gave me a good
laugh. Am I blind or dumb or did I misunderstand something: MANOWAR was voted
the Loser of the Year 2007. That is pretty interesting. Of course we can have
different opinions on the album GODS OF WAR, although the CD was placed for a
couple of weeks on number 2 of the German Media Control Album Charts. And the
DVD MAGIC CIRCLE FESTIVAL VOLUME 1 which was released in autumn was even highly
acclaimed by the music press. MANOWAR played a nearly totally sold-out tour
last year throughout Germany.
In Stuttgart there were 14,000 fans. The first Magic Circle Festival which had a rather
small billing compared to this years’ was visited by 25,000 fans. The signing
sessions throughout Germany and the DVD release parties in Hamburg which took place in November were crowded. These are not words of praise – this
is the naked truth. After all this, I truly ask myself how MANOWAR could be
voted Loser of the Year. Maybe all those thousands of MANOWAR fans (besides me)
don’t read the Metal Hammer and didn’t have a chance to vote…So, Their Answer: The fact that MANOWAR was voted in the
categories “Best Artist”, “Best Album” and “Best Concert” under the top ten,
shows that there are many MANOWAR Fans who do read Metal Hammer. The fact that
they also got voted as Loser of the Year expresses the opinion of the majority
of our readers who were not satisfied with MANOWAR last year. The problem with
statistics is that they only show the naked results. Take a look at Metallica
for example: the band was voted number one in the categories “Best Band”, “Best
Album” and “Best Song of all Time” and still was placed on number 4 in the
category Loser of the Year. A poll like this can only express wide tendencies
of opinions. So, it isn’t that bad after all. The fact that the Kings Of Metal
are in a king’s class of their own stays untouched! Your Editorial Staff
The Magic Circle Festival 2008 turned out to be yet a more unbelievable event in my life. On October 30th I got a call from Manoel Arruda of MANOWAR who said that THEY wanted me to be Mr. Metal - huh, what? Oh yeah - sure! Well, whatever - that's the way it turned out to be (I've already written about these adventures in my Concert Reviews: Manowar DVD Release Parties Fabrik, Hamburg - Friday November 23th 2007 and Magic Circle Festival 2008)! On Saturday, July 12th I once again was standing in the front row. It was right there that I would receive the greatest honor of the festival - no, let's be honest in my entire life! Eric Adams came on stage with a cymbal that had been damaged by Rhino. It was atuographed by all the Kings. Eric then announced that this cymbal was to be given to me and he also said, "This cymbal is for Tina's and Udo's new house!" - so how fuckin' cool is that - man, at that moment I felt prouder than ever before...
After the MCF 2008 RockHard did an article which was totally fucked up and discredited my name, so I wrote them a letter, too. They were kind enough to post it with a picture in their November 2008 Issue:
Here is the translation: Hi, In November 2008 the new DVD Magic Circle Festival Volume II was released and I was quite astonished what I saw - I was pretty much all over the DVD.
Karl Logan gave a video-interview in November 2008. I'd like to show you an excerpt of it: In December 2008 Martina Marinova from the Bulgarian ProRock Magazine asked me if she could interview me. She was interviewing Eric Adams and wanted to write something about Mr. Metal, too. I was very honored to answer her questions (Issue #55 February 2009):
Here is the translation: Who is Mr. Metal?
On Monday March 23 2009, I was invited to take part in the official press conference held by MANOWAR at the Loreley. Tina and I picked up Iris and headed north - totally excited and not knowing what we were actually going to witness. Joey DeMaio was there and he presented himself to the press in a fabulous mood. He answered their questions and gave everyone information about the third annual Magic Circle Festival.
Joey, who has been making music for decades still has the heart of a fan - everything he does he does it for the fans - plain and simple. He is so damn down to earth it is almost unbelievable. Anyone who doubts his sincerity, honesty and total devotion may forever burn in hell. Meeting and being able to talk to this great man has truly enriched my life. I am eternally grateful for being granted this opportunity. Magic Circle Festival III at the Loreley was the next cool event I got part to participate in. I had already been a part of the preparations and I actually got to moderate all the Fan activities on Friday - that was yet another great honor MANOWAR has granted me with and damn it was a lot of fun. The DVD Hell On Earth V was released in November 2009 and MANOWAR actually put a lot of footage from the Fan activities on it. I truly felt honored again.
And then due to the fact that Manoel and Makis are now so damn busy with so many other things I was appointed to become administrator of the official House Of Death forum in December 2009. Of course I am very proud - I mean, who wouldn't be? And the thing that really makes me happy is that my true friends there accept me the way I am. That is very important to me because these people have enriched my life in just the same way as MANOWAR has.
The year 2010 was going to be very exciting once again. After MANOWAR announced the fourth annual edition of the Magic Circle Festival I was put in charge of setting up the fan activities that would be held in a separate tent on Friday July 9th and Saturday July 10th (Magic Circle Festival Activites Tent) This was an unbelievable honor and I can't express my gratitude for being able to do this. I was allowed to take care of all the preparations and arrangements of the events and contests and even got to host the tent together with Tina. It was such a pleasure and we had so much fun although we had to cope with temperatures inside the tent of about 40 ° C while being on stage for a total of 32 hours - Die For Metal, or what?
2011 was a relatively quiet MANOWAR year. I had the honor of announcing Paul Clark Jnr. who was the opening act in Birmingham. That was a lot of fun. Besides that I've been the administrator of the official forum "House Of Death" for over 2 years now which makes me very happy. And then in December 2011 I had the honor to be pictured on the review done by Metal Hammer UK on MANOWAR's London show which took place on November 5, 2011 at the O2 Academy in Brixton.
On Saturday, January 14, 2012, I resigned for personal reasons from being adminstrator of the official MANOWAR Forum House Of Death.
Great Memories...
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