European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 12, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Nod cloy Rob stance Borg staff writer three hours after acc fired a 21-gun Salute that ended the open air Rock festival at Fin then army Airfield in Mainz Germany fans sat in their cars speechless save for an expletive Here or there. While Many Drivers were engaged in Battles of dueling cassette players loaded with heavy Metal tapes others sat wondering Why life can be so cruel. Damn the traffic Jam. But 1o very loosely paraphrase Shakespeare in summing up the Day Quot the tunes Are the thing for eight hours saturday More than 50,000 fans were taken to hard Rock heaven a or hell As evidenced by some fans shielding their ears from the obnoxiously loud music. It was Rock n Roll 90s style. The the Black crowds and Queen Ryche in 45-minute sessions Motley Crue s Lead Singer Vince Neil showing How to use a certain four letter expletive for any situation for an hour a 75-minute Metallica stint that resembled a non Stop Medley and acc s two hour barrage of showmanship. Metallica in its first Public appearance since last week s mtg music awards show rocked the crowd with raw Metal group whose self titled album entered billboard s pop Chart at no. 1, had the fans pumping their fists in unison with the first riffs from Lead guitarist James Hetfield. Metallica billed As number two among the five bands fired up the crowd with for whom the Bell tolls and one from its and Justice for All album. Motley Cutie was unimpressive in its set largely because of the nature of open air festivals and having to share the stage with the other acts. The hard rocking crime suffered from not having the luxury of such crowd pleases As drummer Tommy Lee s drum set on a revolving Axis. And neither Neil who wore a Blu shirt and an my armband nor bassist Nikki Sixx in shorts and covered with tattoos had nearly enough room to prance about because Metallica s equipment kept the front men pushed against the front of the stage. But in typical Motley crime fashion the band made a few statements on the state of the world. The band s backdrop was of the Mona Lisa holding her Middle Finger in the manner most children Are taught not to. Sixx also punctuated the band s exit by beating his Bass to pieces and tossing the remnants to the hungry crowd. Motley crime fans were treated to a set that included shout at the Devil the looks that kill live wire or. Feelgood girls girls girls and kickstart my heart. Motley Crue s cover of the sex pistols anarchy in the us just released on the band s greatest hits collection titled Metallica Singer and guitarist James Hetfield whipped the spectators into motion with his opening riffs and kept them that Way. 10 stripes Magazine september 12, 1991 decade of decadence was a crowd please. The sleepers of the show were the Black crowds who Are currently touring smaller venues in Germany and Queen Ryche whose album Empire has become a must in any heavy Metal cd collection. The Black crowds opened the show As thousands of fans were still filing into the Airfield. With Leggy Singer Chris Robinson in his trademark Black jeans Black shirt and yellow Scarf the Black crowds pounded out twice As hard jealous again and hard to handle three hits from its debut album shake your moneymaker. The crowd seemed Only mildly interested. Queen Ryche the second band to perform cranked the volume up a few decibels and unleashed a stirring version of the Best that i can and Empire the latter sending the crowd into heavy Metal conniption. The band closed the show with a Pink Floyd esque version of its hit silent lucidity. But it was acc that was clearly in control. Given the luxuries of huge video screens flanking thu stage incredible lighting effects and the band s Normal bag of tricks a like the cannons and a 60-foot-High inflatable version of Lead guitarist Angus Young a the australian schoolboys gone awry rocked Long and hard. Thunderstruck was the first song of the band s set and two hours later that was How fans left. From Back in Black to she s got the Jack to Highway to hell and Money talks acc showed Why it was the Headliner. During Money talks from the band s current release the razor s Edge thousands of fake $1 Bills bearing Young s likeness were spilled into the crowd. As always Young used the forum to Moon the audience. The mooning a tired gimmick was bad enough for few fans wanted to see Young s posterior. The fact that the striptease took the better part of 10 minutes was gruesome to the hard Core fans. But the band made amends with an encore that included its live Staple for those about to Rock we Michael Wilton of Queen Ryche turns up the Power
