SUBWAY TO SALLY, SALTATIO MORTIS and many more at the Gößnitz Open-Air 2023

As far as the weather was concerned, the small Gößnitz Open-Air obviously wanted to compete with its big sister in Wacken. But luckily it stayed with “a little bit-Wacken”-feeling. However, the continuous rain made the arrival complicated, the tent pitching and the search for a place on the field became a challenge.

As compensation for Peter’s intransigence in terms of humidity, however, there were a lot of great and good bands: Subway to Sally stood in for the seriously ill singer Thomas Lindner of Schandmaul, sending him get-well wishes from the stage. With Saltatio Mortis there was another headliner on the same evening. If you ask the metallic faction, there were even more to be seen. While d’Artagnan turned on the heat for medieval sounds and set the audience swinging in the best way, the Leipzigers from Disillusion had already unpacked the very hard club before. Prog-Metal, crashy and at the same time filigree, like from a textbook, if there was one for 29/8th bars. Singer and mastermind Andy Schmidt not only gave an excellent performance but also brought a cellist on stage to complete the progressive ensemble. There was a wonderful up and down, between hammering, sawing tender whispering. For one or the other THE festival discovery.

There was no need to introduce the Potsdamers from Subway to Sally. Pitch Mary however, had a portion too much of it in her quiver and spilled it over Eric Fish and his musicians: Just when the crowd was really getting into the mood after the furious beginning, one of the power generators on the field possibly fell victim to the high humidity. By the time the damage was repaired, it took too long to catch up with the beautiful middle section, including violinist Ally’s solo. As a result, a full seven pieces were dropped from the performance planned for an hour and a half. After a break that felt almost endless, however, the musicians managed surprisingly quickly to continue spinning the thread they had already started.

When they fired off the sing-along part, they immediately laid a solid foundation for Saltatio Mortis, who were also up for celebrating. What Eric Fish still had to do in hand- or rather mouth-work with the fire-spitting show, Saltatio did from the pyrotechnics around the stage. But even so, no one was cold when Alea raged across the stage like a whirlwind and the audience thanked him by jumping together. For the metalheads, they were joined by Crossplane, who entertained the crowd until deep into the now dry night. (Text & photos: Axel Heyder)

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