For three days, tens of thousands enjoyed the music and the exuberant atmosphere at two festivals in Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate.
Joel O’Keefe of the band Airbourne stepped into the audience during his performance.
(dpa) / fra. Celebrating exuberantly, hardly any masks and a lot of community spirit: After two years of the Corona compulsory break, more than 160,000 people celebrated the comeback of the “Rock am Ring” festivals in the Nürburgring and “Rock im Park” in Nuremberg. And the bands that had traveled from all over the world seemed to be enjoying their performances at one of the biggest festivals in Europe after the pandemic break. “This festival means so much to all of us,” said Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong at the performance in Nuremberg and threw kisses into the audience.
With 90,000 participants at the Nürburgring, the organizers spoke of a record number of visitors: “The restart couldn’t have gone better. The spirit of optimism and the joy of being part of a festival again could be felt everywhere.» Around 75,000 music fans celebrated at “Rock im Park”. “People are greedy for fun and joy,” said a police spokesman at the start.
However, many did not seem to be able to completely suppress Corona and, according to the impression of the helpers, behaved more cautiously and sensibly than in previous years. “This year it’s quieter and more relaxed than we usually know,” said Sohrab Taheri-Sohi from the Bavarian Red Cross in Nuremberg. Accordingly, there were hundreds of operations fewer than in 2019. “The number of crimes is very low compared to pre-Corona years,” said the police in Nürburg. “People are in a good mood, but they don’t do much work for us.”
Danish metal band Volbeat with lead singer Michael Poulsen played to tens of thousands of rock and metal fans.
Enthusiastic fans
It was obvious from the crowd of fans in front of the stages how much they enjoyed partying and dancing together again. Many hugged each other, jumped wildly to the beat of the music, sang and cheered until they were hoarse. The Munich band Sportfreunde Stiller was surprised by so many music enthusiasts on Sunday. “So many people on the third day, amazing!” Said singer Peter Brugger in Nuremberg. “It’s incredible, we’re back in what feels like our festival living room.”
Bands like Placebo, Deftones, Korn and Muse could be seen on the stages – many of the dozens of bands performed at the two festivals at different times. There was a surprise at the start of the Nürburgring: when the rock band Donots started the Tote-Hosen classic “Here comes Alex”, the Toten Hosen suddenly climbed onto the stage in person. Cheers, one more song, then the Düsseldorf cult band resigned.
Jonathan Davis from the American metal band Korn during his performance at “Rock am Ring”.
But even after the two-year break, one thing reminded me of earlier years: the flood of waste. At times the rubbish bins overflowed, and rubbish that had been trampled on lay flat in front of the stages.