Free internet livestreams for Wacken Festival 2015 available

Yeah, there's chance to be part of the biggest metal festival of the world even if you can't go there or couldn't get your hands on one of the tickets that sold nearly out faster than the light.

All the streams can be found on the official Social Streaming center page on the official Wacken Homepage. As a alternative you can also click over to the site of the german TV station ARTE. On that site you'll also be able to access some of the shows in a archive as stream on demand later on.

Update 08/02/2015: Life goes to fast...it's already over again. But wait, there's still a chance to see some of the shows (again) or for the first time if you've missed them out.

Streaming archives

Just click on over to the ARTE streaming archive and you can check out full shows from Amorphis, Running Wild, Rock Meets Classic, At The Gates, Uli Jon Roth and many more.
More shows have been uploaded on 08/04/2015: You can see now shows from Amorphis, Cradle of Filth, Sabaton and Savatage & TSO on the ARTE streaming archive. Some of them are said to be accessable worlwire.

3sat also broadcasted a big four hour special yesterday. It included TSO & Savatage, Sabaton, Running Wild and In Flames. You can watch the whole package on the blog of the TV station. 

3sat began to broadcast single shows on german TV last night. These stuff is also up for streaming in their on demand archive. More shows will be added as the broadcast schedule progresses (see section labeled "Broadcast of shows on TV" in this post for detailed information on that).

There was a little documentary included that talked about the cover artist Seth Siro Anton of the band Septicflesh and his creations for bands like Morgoth, Paradise Lost, Kamelot and more. A very cool gimmick in my eyes!
This mini-movie can also be seen separately in a single stream on the 3sat media-archive if you don't want to watch the full four hour broadcast just to be able to see this.

In addition to that a big archive has been opened up offering a large package of interview stuff. Just head on to the ARTE interview subpage to see them. 

Broadcasts of shows on TV

The exact dates for the single shows on german TV station 3sat and ZDF kultur have been announced in the meantime. The syntax always lists 3sat first, next is ZDF kultur. All times are CEST.

In Flames: 10.08., 2.05 Uhr (3sat) / 08.08., 20.15 Uhr (ZDFkultur)
The BossHoss: 10.08., 3.05 Uhr (3sat) / 08.08., 21.15 Uhr (ZDFkultur)
In Extremo: 10.08., 4.05 Uhr (3sat) / 08.08., 22.15 Uhr (ZDFkultur)
Running Wild: 10.08., 5.05 Uhr (3sat) / 08.08., 23.15 Uhr (ZDFkultur)
Queensrÿche: 14.08., 4.10 Uhr (3sat) / 08.08., 0.15 Uhr (ZDFkultur)
Cradle of Filth14.08., 5.10 Uhr (3sat) / 08.08., 1.15 Uhr (ZDFkultur)
 
Finally: Have fun!

Internet-Livestreams

Here is the time-table that has been set up so far. Please note that this is subject to change also shortly and all times are CEST.
Update 07/30/2015: Two shows have been added for today (Thursday).

Thursday, 30.07.2015
17.45 – 19.05 h - In Extremo
19.20 h - Grailknights (Recording)
20.10 h - Mambo Kurt (Recording)

21.00 – 22.00 h - New Model Army (Recording)
22.10 – 23.25 h - Uli Jon Roth (Recording)

Friday, 31.07.2015
15.30 – 16.30 h - At The Gates
16.45 – 17.45 h - Queensryche
18.00 – 19.15 h - Opeth
19.30 – 20.45 h - Dream Theater
21.00 – 22.15 h - tba
22.30 – 23.45 h - In Flames
00.00 – 01.30 h - Running Wild
01.45 – 03.00 h - The BossHoss

Saturday, 01.08.2015
14.30 – 15.45 h - Amorphis
16.00 – 17.15 h - Danko Jones
17.30 – 18.45 h - Rock Meets Classic
18.55 – 20.10 h - Dream Theater (Recording)
20.15 – 21.15 h - tba
21.15 – 22.00 h - The BossHoss (Recording)
22.00 – 23.30 h - Sabaton (Time Shift)
23.30 – 00.15 h - In Flames (Recording)
00.15 – 01.30 h - Cradle of Filth
01.45 – 02.45 h - Subway to Sally

In addition to that you'll be able to see some stuff at the german TV stations ARTE and 3sat.
So far 3sat has announced the following on their website:

Wacken Open Air 2015

LIVE from Wacken

Hosts: Rainer Maria Jilg, Markus Kavka
Saturday, 1. August, starting from 20.15 h
with
Sabaton
Trans-Siberian Orchestra & Savatage
In Flames
Running Wild

Ten single show-recordings from the festival, starting on 10. August 2015, here the exact time-table:

Monday, 10.08.2015 ab 02:05 Uhr – 4 shows
Friday, 14.08.2015 ab 04:10 Uhr – 2 shows
Monday, 17.08.2015 ab 02:15 Uhr – 4 shows

More recordings at  ZDFkultur:
Saturday, 08.08.2015 ab 20:15 Uhr – 6 shows
Saturday, 15.08.2015 ab 20:15 Uhr – 4 shows

Concert blast Sylvester 2014/2015

German TV station 3sat will show Rock and Pop concert recordings the whole day 31st 2014 up to new years eve! Here's a link to the schedule:
http://www.3sat.de/programm/?viewlong=viewlong&d=20141231&dayID=ClnDaN31&cx=95 

There's also a livestream available but I don't know if it also shows the conert recordings outside of germany:
http://www.3sat.de/mediathek/?mode=live

For all readers from germany here's the direct link to the 3sat internet livestream:
http://www.3sat.de/mediathek/?mode=play&obj=42667

So far it has been announced that this years edition will feature a lot of old recordings from the first days of bands like Queen, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones, Genesis and Phil Collins up to presen show recordings from artists like Muse, Depeche Mode and ZZ Top (mostly 2013 and later).

Have fun and have a safe going over to 2014, read you there!

Update 2015-01-03: Happy new year everyone! Hope you had a good start into 2015.
If you missed out on the previous concert event then you may still be in luck.
TV station 3sat has added a lot of the concert footage to their streaming archive.
Just look at the results of the search page 1 and page 2 to find the show you want. Not all have been added but there's quite a lot of the shows online. Better hurry anyway, since it's mostly online for a limited time only.

Wacken Open Air 2014 internet streams and TV shows announced

Yeah, I am pretty sure a lot of you guys outta there are preparing for the biggest event of the year in the world of Heavy Metal: the legendary Wacken Open Air!!!

For all those who cannot make it there I have good news at hand: also 2014 there will be the chance to see some of the shows! The organisers announced at the festival homepage that there will be a webstream available directly at wacken.com as well as on the sites of the media partners 3sat and arte. The streams will have no region-lock so everybody should be able to see the stuff that will be broadcasted. Read the full announcement right here.

Update 2014/08/07: Timetable for the TV broadcasts of the after-festival specials has been changed so I updated them. You can find them at the very end of this article. Think this is mostly interesting for the german visitors of my blog so I kept the german timestamps in there.

Update 2014/08/04: BIG UPDATE! Added all the links to the streaming on-demand service that the TV station ARTE offers for a limited time of 30 days. So if you missed out a show just click on the band name and a new window will open up with the stream. Added also the timetable for the TV broadcasts on german TV at the very end of the article. Have much fun!

Update 2014/08/01: Last night was great! Accept were my favorites, was a good show that simply put a smile on my face. If you missed the stuff out just click on the bandnames in the streaming schedule below. The shows have been added to the online streaming archive of the TV station!

Update 2014/07/31: These bands have been confirmed to be streamed today (Thursday 31th July 2014, all times german time). You can watch it right below in the embedded stream window of ARTE. Thanks to the people out there putting up such fine goodies as the webstream for us, you rock!

17:00h Skyline
18:00h Hammerfall
19:30h Steel Panther
21:00h Saxon
22:30h Accept

For the other days these bands are currently scheduled for streaming:

Friday 01.08.
16.45h - Heaven Shall Burn
18.00h - Children of Bodom
19.30h - Apocalyptica
21.25h - Carcass
22.30h - Santiano (Recording after Artist-Approval)
00.00h - Saltatio Mortis

Saturday 02.08.:
16.00h - Devin Townsend Project

17.30h - Emperor
19.00h - Amon Amarth
20.30h - J.B.O.
22.00h - Knorkator (Recording)
23.30h - Motörhead (Recording)
00.15h - Kreator
01.45h - Schandmaul

Sunday 2014/08/02:

Update 2014/08/02: In addition 3sat will also broadcast a big round up of the festival on 2th of August 2014. The broadcast will be shown on TV and also as a free webstream at this location.

The timetable for this extra stream goes like this:

20.15h – Slayer (Recording)
20.30h – Apocalyptica (Recording)
21.00h – Motörhead (Recording)
21.35h – Saxon (Recording)
22.00h – Avantasia

Update 2014/07/30: This year it seems to be okay and legal to put the stream also on your own page. I've found this embed code on the ARTE homepage so you'll be able to watch Wacken 2014 also here on my blog. Very cool, so everyone can watch right here. :-)
The exact time-tables are still to be confirmed so please check back at this article from time to time since I will update it with as many information as possible. Some more details (in german language) can be found at the websites of 3sat and ARTE.
You can also have a look at the running order on the festival homepage to see which band is on stage or will be soon.

Some shows have been confirmed to be streamed. Those are listed below:

Hammerfall on Thursday July 31 from 18:00 to 19:15 CET
Accept on Thursday July 31 from 22:30 to 24:00 CET
Children Of Bodom on Friday August 01 from 18:00 to 19:15 CET
Carcass on Friday August 01 from 21:15 to 22:15 CET
Kreator on Saturday August 02 from 00:15 to 01:30 CET

After the festival there will be the chance of watching selected shows through the media channels 3sat and ARTE. 10 shows have been set up for broadcasting through these german TV stations. Under the confirmed bands you can find names like Hammerfall, Accept, Children of Bodom, W.A.S.P., Kreator and Amon Amarth. These have announced to be aired on  9th of August at ARTE and the 11th of August at 3Sat. More info to come...

Update 2014/08/02: The first broadcast times (2 TV stations will sned them on different days and times) of the after-festival shows with recorded concert stuff have been released:

Samstag, 9. August in ZDFkultur
20.15 Uhr Accept
21.15 Uhr Apocalyptica
22.15 Uhr Heaven Shall Burn

Samstag, 9. August in ARTE
23.30 Uhr Slayer

Sonntag, 10. August in ZDF Kultur
20.15 Uhr Saxon
21.15 Uhr Children Of Bodom

Montag, 11. August in 3sat
02.00 Uhr Hammerfall
03.00 Uhr Accept
04.00 Uhr Apocalyptica
05.00 Uhr Heaven Shall Burn

Freitag, 15. August in 3sat
01.45 Uhr Amon Amarth
02.45 Uhr Steel Panther
03.45 Uhr Schandmaul
04.45 Uhr Kreator

Samstag, 16. August in ZDFkultur
20.15 Uhr Hammerfall
21.15 Uhr Amon Amarth
22.15 Uhr Steel Panther

Samstag, 16. August in 3sat
03.40 Uhr Saxon
04.40 Uhr Children Of Bodom

Sonntag, 17. August in ZDFkultur
20.15 Uhr Schandmaul
21.15 Uhr Kreator

24 hours of concert footage over Sylvester / New Years Eve

Tomorrow starting at 6 'o clock german TV station 3sat will broadcast the whole day and night concert footage. You can also watch this via the web stream at http://3sat.de/webtv/?40430

Announced bands so far include Muse, Emeli Sandé, Rammstein, Madonna, Woodkid, Pink, Pink Floyd, Eagles, Pur, Supertramp and Alice Cooper.

Have fun and have a safe going over to 2014, read you there!

Acrassicauda / Heavy Metal in Baghdad

Wow, sometimes neat surprises are awaiting you when you do give unknown stuff a chance. I did this with the documentation Heavy Metal in Baghdad a while back which was broadcasted from the german TV station 3SAT. Already the intro made me smile and being interested. You can see Eddy Moretti who is putting on his bullet protection while explaining the goal of the mission:"(...) to find out, if the so-far only known active heavy metal band Acrassicauda is still active, because you know - Heavy Metal rules!(...).

That was the point where I knew I was going to watch it 'til the end. First, the title of the feature film "Heavy Metal in Baghdad" made me aware that this could be of particular interest to me and this intro scene got me. Here is a short synopsis taken from the website of the film telling you what this one is all about:

"(...) Heavy Metal in Baghdad is a feature film documentary that follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day. Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been a difficult (if not impossible) proposition but after Saddam’s regime was toppled, there was a brief moment for the band in which real freedom seemed possible. That hope was quickly dashed as their country fell into a bloody insurgency. From 2003-2006, Iraq disintegrated around them while Acrassicauda struggled to stay together and stay alive, always refusing to let their heavy metal dreams die. Their story echoes the unspoken hopes of an entire generation of young Iraqis.(...)"

Having watched the movie I asked myself how it might have turned out the past years for the band, if there's a website around and if there's a chance to hear some more stuff from them. And happily the band can be said to be still alive! They do live in the U.S.A. by now and have recently released their first EP entitled Only the Dead See the End of the War. You can hear the full EP as a free stream on the band's mypspace site.  The EP was produced by Alex Skolnick, I guess a lot of you know him as the guitarist of Testament. If you like it, you can purchase it via itunes or buy it on Amazon.

As for the style of their music I would describe it as a mixture of elements from Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and bands the like combined with a bit more melodic vocals. Additionally they also do use some parts that are sort of progressive like Rage against the machine and other modern bands include them in their sound. In some ways they remind me of the first, self-titled album Random Damage did some years ago. Like it very much, though.

Additionally the band has filmed a video for the song "Gardens of Stone", the song itself has also been set up for free download from the films website. The video is well worth watching so I've included it here,too.

 


Actually the band seems to be busy with putting together their first full-lenght album. This wikipedia entry has some more information about the actuall situation of the band. Looking more and more around I found also a cool interview with Drummer Marwan Riyadh.

End the year with a day full of music

German TV station 3sat is broadcasting on 12/31/11 live show recordings of several artists for 24 hours 'til New Years eve! Include are shows from Ac/Dc,Bryan Adams,U2,Herbert Grönemeyer,Freddie Mercury tribute show,Linkin Park and many,many more. Go to their website for all details including broadcast times (german time).

http://www.3sat.de/programm/?viewlong=viewlong&d=20111231&dayID=ClnDaN31&cx=59 g