Missives From The Mosh Pit Edge

The Hotel Regina in Würzburg is staffed by two charming gentlemen. Advertised as a family run hotel, staying here is like being enveloped in a big, warm hug. I ask Stefan in reception the whereabouts of tonight’s show, Die Posthalle. He laughs out loud, takes me gently by the arm, leads me outside and points triumphantly across the square, ‘Da drüben!’

Not only is the hotel directly opposite the Hauptbahnhof, from where I arrived ten minutes earlier, but the venue is merely a two minute walk away. Stefan enquires as to the genre of music I shall be appreciating this evening. Jazz? Classical? Nein, Swedish Metal. He has the grace not to laugh although he can’t resist a comment. ‘But you don’t look like……’ Ja, I know 😄.

The photo opportunities are abundant in this beautiful city; I spend a while Instagramming round town before returning to The Regina with an armful of groceries, a contented heart and high hopes for the gig tonight.

 🤘 View from my bedroom window, the tall Posthalle building across the Square 🤘

The Posthalle Facebook page announces PAIN will be onstage at approximately 9.30pm. With three hours to go I prepare some food; potato salad, smoked ham, tomatoes and a chocolatey temptation called WUNDERBAR. The evening’s tone is set by this delectable confectionary item and its jaunty sentiment emblazoned on the wrapper 😄.

Daring myself to a lights-out, gig-start gamble, I leave The Regina at 9.15pm and make my way across the square, down the Eingang to the doors of the venue, past the bar full of revellers, through ticket control and into the hall itself. This is thrilling, not knowing where the stage is and having only moments to decide where to stand. I’m overjoyed to discover the entrance is on the left front and, to the fading strains of the same AC/DC classic as last night and the dimming of lights, find a suitable place two metres from the stage. The intro starts IMMEDIATELY. OMG!

As the band accelerates from 0 – 120 in ten seconds I have a quick look around at my fellow Painheads, a mixed bunch including, in front of me, two people with very long, head spinning theatrics Metal Hair, the sort of hair you do not want to be behind when the headbanging starts.

For the second gig of the tour I stand in awe and disbelief that PAIN are playing on a stage in front of me. The show is still a novelty, an unfamiliar of sights and sounds; the nobelium-fuelled, thundering music bouncing from wall to wall, wrapping the crowd in a thrilling tornado of excitement and pleasure. It is exhilarating, uplifting and such fun!

As the evening progresses, amid the relentless bludgeoning from the Swedish String & Drum Quartet, I inch my way forwards and away from the Metal Hair propelling into my face. With some gentle nudging and tactical manoeuvres I advance to second row from the stage. The audience is relatively well behaved, no monkey business or crowd surfing, just a room full of punters enjoying a wunderbar show. A man catches my eye, he looks familiar and I ponder briefly why I recognise him. Ah, Pär Sundström from Sabaton! Well, it’s not really him but OMG, they could be twins.

Mr Tägtgren and his band of brothers dominate and hold the audience in a grip of iron; torsos are squeezed, eyes pop, mouths hang open as the flashing light show illuminates the raging demons stomping over the boards, head spinning, bashing out song after amazing song. Standing in the midst of this is like putting a metal bucket over your lunatic head and incessantly whacking it with a spoon. Especially during It’s Only Them where a wave of madness engulfs the entire room.

Sanity returns with a cold vengeance when the band say goodnight and leave the stage.

🤘Sebastian Tägtgren, André Skaug, Greger Andersson & Peter Tägtgren : PAIN🤘

Walking downstairs to the exit, I am followed by a group of Inbetweeners, mouthy, still on a high from the show, feeling confident, feeling brave. My German’s not that great but I do catch the gist of what Jay says to Neil. ‘Oh, mein Gott, look at her, it’s deine Mutti, hahahaha.’ Really? Well, Liebling, if I was your mother, you’d be on a train with me in the morning heading to the next gig instead of lying in bed nursing a hangover and being grounded for a week for being an extremely rude boy.

Within five minutes of the show ending I’m back in my room, pacing. Craving sleep, I’m hyper for hours. Beyond sleep, I sit and stare at the wall. Leipzig Hellraiser tomorrow. Oh, God, I can’t wait.

🎸 Youtube ‘Pain – It’s Only Them ( Live Würzburg 14.10.2016 )’. Earphones in, dim the lights, crank it through the red and lose yourself in this jaw-dropping, bucket on head 4 minutes 46 seconds of total mayhem 🤘🏻😄😜.

🎸 Youtube ‘Pain Zombie Slam 14.10.2016 Posthalle Würzburg’.