Live Review: Rocco del Schlacko - Püttlingen 2022 (Day 3)

Sauwasen, Püttlingen, Germany
11th to 13th August 2022
Rocco del Schlacko 2022 Day 3 with Clutch, Fever333, Flogging Molly, The Gaslight Anthem, Kummer and Casper

The third, and thus the last day of the festival, was also marked again by the bright sun and extreme heat. But this did not stop the festival-goers from remaining in good spirits and celebrating their favourite bands with enough energy.


Clutch

The US Rock band was founded in Maryland in 1991. Since then, the band CLUTCH has been thrilling their fans with a mixture of Hardcore, Stoner Rock and Blues Rock. In September, their 13th studio album, ‘Sunrise on Slaughter Beach’ will be released. Therefore, a big tour is planned, which will lead the band through America and Europe. To shorten the waiting time until the release of the album, CLUTCH performed at the Rocco Del Schlacko this festival summer. At 3:15 pm in the blazing sun, the band have gathered on stage. While at the beginning there were rather few people in the audience, this quickly changed during the gig.



More and more festival-goers flocked to the stage and listened to the band’s music. After a small “Thank you” and a greeting in German, the band went straight on with the next songs. The unique voice of singer Neil Fallon has the special ability to animate the people in the audience to sing along. As befits a rock show, there was of course rhythmic dancing, singing and rocking along. Even though the band members are a bit advanced in age, they didn’t miss the chance to let out all their energy on stage. All in all, the performance was exactly what you expected from the band. And those who didn’t know the band before can now consider attending the next concert.

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Fever 333

The band around frontman Jason Aalon Butler, founded in California in 2017, performed on the main stage of the Rocco Del Schlacko this year. With lyrics that address various topics such as racism, sexism and unequal treatment, the band knows how to pass on political statements in the form of music. Between metal, hardcore and punk, the guys play with different musical styles. On Saturday, the Saarland can familiarize itself with their music. With a little delay, the band came storming onto the stage like a whirlwind. Without any big words, the first song was directly intoned. And whoever was standing in the audience noticed immediately: this band had an insane energy. Both singer Jason and guitarist Stephen Harrison didn’t just stay in their places.



Both jumped from left to right or stood next to the drummer Aric Improta and rocked together with him. Even though the band was visibly having fun on stage, they didn’t miss the chance to address serious topics as well, calling on the people in the audience to stand up against racism and create a safe space for People of Colour. With ‘Made an America’ they played a song that addressed exactly this. Despite minor problems with his microphone, the singer didn’t let it bother him. Instead of interrupting the performance, he used the microphones of his band members or let the audience sing until the problem was fixed. The band simply put on a first-class concert and certainly made me want to follow them further and attend more concerts.

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Flogging Molly

With FLOGGING MOLLY, another Californian band performed at the Rocco Del Schlacko on the last day. Since 1997, the seven-piece band has performed on many stages around the world. With a mixture of Irish folk music and punk, they have created a unique and distinctive musical style for themselves. With their unique music, they will be performing at the Sauwasen this Saturday. Shortly before 6 p.m., the guys from FLOGGING MOLLY stepped onto the stage.



Directly, the singer greeted his audience before they started with the first song, ‘Drunken Lullabies’. With the first note that was intoned, the audience immediately moved and danced. Shortly after, you could see the first fans crowd-surfing. The unique sound of the band encouraged everyone in the crowd to move. Occasionally, frontman Dave King thanked his fans with “Dankeschön meine Schatzis”. The singer’s likeable manner and the band’s whole appearance made this concert fun to watch from the beginning to the end.

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The Gaslight Anthem

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM is a US band that has its roots between punk rock and alternative rock. The band was founded in 2005, but took a short break in 2015. This year in March, however, the band has announced their return and is visiting many countries around the world with their “World Tour" including the Rocco Del Schlacko.



While other bands put on a big stage show, THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM didn’t even have a banner with the band’s name hanging in the background. So only fans of the band knew right away which artist was playing. The band’s concert started with a rather soft song, followed by a faster song. In the beginning, the audience had a bit of trouble getting into the mood for the concert, but as time went on, the crowd loosened up a bit and people danced and sang along. All in all, it was a rather relaxed concert by the band.

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Kummer

Felix Brummer, singer of the band KRAFTKLUB, has built up a small solo career under the stage name KUMMER. With his album ‘Kiox’ he has gained high popularity as a solo artist. However, the Chemnitz native announced the end of his solo career in October 2021 with the song ‘Der letzte Song’, which was released together with Fred Rabe. Now the concert at Rocco Del Schlacko was the first ever on the Sauwasen and also the last one as KUMMER. Almost on time at 9pm, KUMMER performed all by himself without a band or anything. The only thing on stage with him was a huge cube that glowed in a wide variety of colours. Despite the minimalist stage show, KUMMER put on a unique performance and wowed the fans in the crowd.



With ‘Nicht die Musik’, the rapper declared that he makes rap sad again, and despite this statement, the fans didn’t miss the opportunity to start a circle pit. This visibly touched KUMMER. In between more serious and sad topics, the rapper also played songs from his band KRAFTKLUB. And he even had a little surprise for his fans: his brother Till Brummer, who is also a member of KRAFTKLUB, suddenly appeared on stage and performed ‘500K’ together with KUMMER. All in all, it was a very pleasant and emotional concert, and it is certainly sad that KUMMER will probably no longer perform under this name. Nevertheless, the Rapper has let it be known that he might be able to perform with KRAFTKLUB again at Rocco Del Schlacko. This would be a small consolation for the loss of this solo project.

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Casper

CASPER, whose real name is Benjamin Griffey, has already established himself as an “emo rapper" in the German rap scene for years. With his extraordinary, rough voice, the Bielefeld native has been thrilling his fans as a solo artist since 2008. His latest album ‘Alles war schön und nichts tat weh’ was released this year in February and gives some personal insights into the rapper’s life. Among others, Lena Meyer-Landrut, PROVINZ as well as KUMMER had guest appearances on this album. And on Saturday, CASPER will play as headliner together with his band on the Sauwasen stage of the Rocco Del Schlacko. At 11pm, the curtain that covered the stage was pushed aside, revealing a view of the stage. Between a sea of flowers, the band stood with their instruments and CASPER in the middle. The concert opened with ‘Alles war schön und nichts tat weh’. Immediately, the people in the crowd started singing along with the rapper, and they felt every note of the music. CASPER knows how to set the mood and accordingly started the next songs full of energy.



In between songs that made you want to dance and celebrate, more serious topics were brought up occasionally. Especially with ‘Billie Jo’, a sad story about war and its consequences was sung. Fittingly, a flag with the dove of peace was hoisted and the call for “no more war” was projected on screens. To pick up the mood, the more light-hearted song ‘Hinterland’ was played afterwards. In between, CASPER mentioned how important the Saarland is to him, as his wife is originally from Bour. Under resounding “Saarland asozial” singing, the singer then couldn’t help laughing. CASPER also managed to thrill the fans with a small guest appearance: the artist KUMMER, who was on stage before him, was invited on stage for ‘Gib mir Gefahr’ and together they performed their song. All in all, the concert was a complete success and a lot of fun. And maybe CASPER will perform more often in Saarland, because, as he himself claims, this is his second home. And fittingly, at the end of this concert, the audience could read on the screens: “Rocco Del Schlacko war schön und nichts tat weh“.

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To return to CASPER’s words: Yes, Rocco Del Schlacko was beautiful this year too, and the anticipation for next year is very high for everyone. Let’s just hope that the pandemic doesn’t throw a spanner in the works again and that we all see each other again next year on the Sauwasen.

All Pictures by Elena Arens