Sacred Reich got an invitation to play the Rockhard festival in German. And since they were around, anyway, they thought it would be a great idea to do a gig in what they call their “European Headquarters”. They probably owe a lot of their “fame” to the Dynamo Open Air festivals from 1989 and 1990 (which I didn’t attend though). Anyway they were back in Eindhoven nearly two after their short reunion tour.

Originally Warbringer appeared on the flyers but apparently that didn’t come through, so there was a local band named Typhonic Blast. With such a name I expect a band actually sounds furious and is fast. But no, they are neither, it’s a kind of thrashy heavy metal, that is completely forgettable. None of the song stick, they have no power etc etc.

But then again who cares when Sacred Reich also plays. But before they start to play we get some officials on stage to sign a contract that will ensure the future of Dynamo for the coming five years. And they brought some champagne that was passed around in the audience. After another short break, the band finally appeared on stage. The venue at that time was packed (sold-out in advance), mostly with old farts like me, but also quite some young kids, and boiling hot (even the band complained about that, and they are from a desert state: Arizona). The band opened with One Nation and that turned the audience in to a giant mosh pit with stage-diving aplenty. The set contained – much like the set of two years ago – only classics. They even brought back “Sacred Reich” which was, as Phil introduced it, the first song they wrote, but hadn’t played in over 20 years. One minor hick-up with Victim of Demise (their fastest song) which they restart some 20 seconds into the song. Otherwise a flawless performance, with a band that really gave their best and enjoyed themself seemingly, and an audience that went totally crazy for about 70 minutes. The encore of course was no less that the classic “Surf Nicaragua”.

Set list:

• One Nation
• Independent
• Adminstrative Decisions
• Love… Hate
• Sacred Reich
• Crimes Against Humanity
• Who’s To Blame
• Ignorance
• Victim of Demise
• War Pigs (Black Sabbath Cover of course)
• American Way
• Death Squad
  encore
• Surf Nicaragua