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Subway to SallyWestergellerser Heide, Westergellersen, Germany
3rd September 2022
MPS Luhmühlen 2022 with d’Artagnan, Mr. Hurley & die Pulveraffen, Feuerschwanz, Versengold, Fiddlers Green, Saltatio Mortis and Subway to Sally

The Mittelalterlich Phantasie Spectaculum in Luhmühlen is one of the biggest and the finale of this year’s MPS season. Whoever plays here has the opportunity to significantly expand their fanbase and become known in the mediaeval music scene. SALTATIO MORTIS, for example, one of the headliners today, started here almost 20 years ago on the smallest stage and now fills entire halls. The two main stages were played alternately, only the two headliners SALTATIO MORTIS and SUBWAY TO SALLY will play at the same time.


d'Artagnan

D'ARTAGNAN was founded in 2015 in Nürnberg by Ben Metzner (one of the singers of FEUERSCHWANZ). The trio named themselves after the roman ‘The Three Musketeers’ by Alexandre Dumas. Self-describing as Musketeer Rock, the band released their latest album ‘Feuer & Flamme’ in 2021.

Music & Performance
After the first two songs, lead singer Ben Metzner mentioned the early time several times in his greeting and seemed to be very happy about the large audience that had gathered despite being 30 degrees. Fittingly, the next song follows, ‘Feste feiern’. Later, the female part of the duet ‘Farewell’, originally sung by Patty Gurdy, was unceremoniously replaced by the band with guitarist Tim Bernard. I was amazed to discover that D’ARTAGNAN is one of those bands that sound much better live than recorded. They were a good choice to open the festival.

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Setlist
01. C’est la vie
02. Flucht nach vorn
03. Feste feiern
04. Chanson de Roland
05. Westwind
06. Feuer & Flamme
07. Tanz in den Mai
08. Trink mein Freund
09. Solang‘ dein Blut
10. Endlich Frei
11. Mein Leben lang
12. ?
13. Glücksritter
14. Farewell
15. Wallenstein
16. An der Tafelrunde
17. Was wollen wir trinken?

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8.5
Light: 8
Sound: 9.5
Total: 8.8 / 10

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Mr. Hurley & die Pulveraffen

MR HURLEY & DIE PULVERAFFEN has delivered Pirate-Folk since their founding in 2009. Characteristic for the band’s music is the accordion, which is used in every song. Many of the albums tell self-contained stories, including the album ‘Seemannsgrab’, released in 2021.

Music & Performance
The stage was decorated with skulls, ship stowaways and barrels. MR HURLEY & DIE PULVERAFFEN entered the stage in a huge cloud of smoke, sounding as if they had come straight out of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. To ‘Wellenbrecher’ some Mexican wave go through the audience. The band joked that they usually don’t get this much time to play their music and that this of course means that they have to play some of the songs that haven’t been rehearsed that often. The slightly badly dubbed bass couldn’t drive away the crowd, which danced and sang along at the top of their voices.

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Setlist
01. Intro / Affentotemkopp
02. Kaboom
03. Wellenbrecher
04. Schrumpfkopf im Rumtopf
05. Seemannsgrab
06. Trau keinem Piraten
07. Booty Island
08. Santa Sangria
09. Hol uns der Teufel
10. Percussion / Wellerman / Auf zu neuen Ufern
11. Hals über Kopf
12. Mit‘n Hut
13. Ich Kanone dich nicht leben
14. Achtung, Fertig Prost
15. Scherenschnitte
16. Mann über Bord
17. Tortuga
18. Unser Untergang
19. Grogstar
20. Wär ich Gouverneur
21. Medley
22. Blau wie das Meer

Rating
Music: 8.5
Performance: 9
Light: 8.5
Sound: 6.5
Total: 8.1 / 10

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Feuerschwanz

The Mediaeval Rock band FEUERSCHWANZ has gotten more and more popular in their 15 years of band history. In the last few years, Metal influences have been used more and more by the band. In 2021, the band released their 10th album ‘Memento Mori’, which directly reached the first place in the German charts. The band FEUERSCHWANZ combines enigmatic satire with boozy humour like no other.

Music & Performance
The concert was opened as usual by one of the “chicks” waving the FEUERSCHWANZ flag to the epic first sounds of ‘Memento Mori’. Under thunderous cheers the band entered the stage and after their second song ‘Untot im Drachenboot’ they were greeted by the Hauptmann and a by now no longer tired Ben Metzner. However, I have to criticise. Since their song ‘Sex ist muss’, everyone should be aware that FEUERSCHWANZ don’t stop at raunchy topics. So far, such songs have always had a comedic undertone and can be understood as a stylistic tool. However, during the last three concerts of FEUERSCHWANZ this year I’ve been to, the ironic undertone got lost more and more. Is it necessary to ask “wo sind die Orgien?!” (English “where are the orgies!?”) when the whole stage ditch is full of children of primary school age? I don’t think so.

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Setlist
01. Memento Mori
02. Untot im Drachenboot
03. Metfest
04. Rausch der Barbarei
05. Ultima Nocte
06. Schubsetanz
07. Kampfzwerg
08. Metnotstand im Märchenland
09. Meister der Minne
10. ?
11. Herz eines Drachen
12. Methämmer
13. Dragostea Din Tei
14. Rohirrim
15. Das Elfte Gebot
16. Warriors of the World
17. Hörner hoch

Rating
Music: 8.5
Performance: 6
Light: 8
Sound: 9
Total: 7.8 / 10

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Versengold

If you ask fans of the band VERSENGOLD, descriptions like “good mood music” and “fantastic music to dance to” immediately come up. The Folk band from Bremen, Germany has been living up to this expectation since 2003. The band is a regular guest at many German mediaeval festivals, so it is fitting that the singer comes from the LARP scene. The current album ‘Was kost’ die Welt’ was released in 2022.

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Music & Performance
During the concert, a flower was thrown onto the stage. Malte, the lead singer, paused the concert until the bassist organised a vase from backstage. With VERSENGOLD, the audience knows what to expect. And the band delivers.

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Light: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 7.5 / 10

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Fiddlers Green

FIDDLERS GREEN sound as if they come straight out of an Irish pub. The German band from Erlangen delivers folk rock with Irish influences. So, if you’re looking for songs about whiskey, undead and celebration FIDDLERS GREEN might be a perfect fit. With their current album from 2020 ‘Three Cheers for 30 Years’ the band celebrated their 30th anniversary.

Music & Performance
Not out of touch despite 32 years on stage and meanwhile one of the Folk-Rock greats; that’s FIDDLERS GREEN. Although the band probably has the highest age average, FIDDLERS GREEN’s performance was in no way behind that of the others. Without a doubt, FIDDLERS GREEN were the most sympathetic band of the day. After the concert the whole band gathered at their merch stand to talk to the fans. Everyone who doesn’t know them yet should at least give the song ‘Victor and his demons’ a try.

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Setlist
01. Whiskey In the Jar
02. The More The Merrier
03. Life Full of Pain
04. Bottoms up
05. Perfect Gang
06. Haul Away, Joe
07. All For Me Grog
08. Auld Lang Syne
09. Galway Girl
10. Tobi Solo (Shamrock Tunes)
11. Raise Your Arms
12. One Fine Day
13. Down/Jigs (Old Polina)
14. All The Way
15. Pat Murphy
16. John Kanaka
17. Yindy
18. Victor And His Demons
19. Old Dun Cow

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 7.5
Light: 9.5
Sound: 9
Total: 8.8 / 10

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Saltatio Mortis

One of the Main-Acts was the rapidly rising SALTATIO MORTIS which has become an established force among German rock bands. The breath-taking success of their music can be explained by the constant change and advancement of their music and texts. They left their roots, developed their own style and content. Whereas the clubs of the republic used to be their home, they now play in concert halls that are almost completely sold out. Between bagpipes and punk, past and modern, the band has found the perfect way to say “let the games begin”. And anyone who has experienced SALTATIO MORTIS live knows that these games never end. Their latest Single ‘Alive Now’ was released in 2022.

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Music & Performance
Together with the other photographers, I walked over to the other stage. Thanks to good communication with the security, the three-song-rule inside the stage ditch was extended to include a fourth song. After this song, I had to make the hard decision of which headliner to watch the concert. I was drawn to SUBWAY TO SALLY.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 9.5
Light: 8.5
Sound: 9
Total: 8.5 / 10

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Subway to Sally

SUBWAY TO SALLY is one of the two headliners on that evening and a German Folk band with Metal influences from Potsdam, Germany. The founding members Simon Levko and Michael Boden met at school and founded SUBWAY TO SALLY in 1992. On the first album there are still many English lyrics, later Latin and also Gaelic were added. In the meantime, the band almost exclusively uses German-language lyrics. In 2019, SUBWAY TO SALLY released their 14th album ‘Hey!’

Music & Performance
During ‘Kleid aus Rosen’, a fan from the audience threw a rose onto the stage, which lead singer Eric Fish immediately takes and presents to the violinist in a kneel during the last sounds of the song. The crowd is thrilled. A SUBWAY TO SALLY concert tradition to get the audience in the mood (or fired up) is that Eric Fish asks the audience to scream every now and then during a concert with the words ‘Und der Schrei!’ - which is answered with a scream every time. The first song of the encore ‘Island’ is interrupted by two power cuts. Undaunted, the crowd continues to sing. After the second blackout, the band starts the song again.

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Like every SUBWAY TO SALLY concert, this one ends with the song ‘Julia und die Räuber’. When the song ends, the band is still accompanied by a singing audience as they leave the stage. Even though it was the band's first appearance at an MPS, it was a magnificent concert. The relief of the audience to finally be able to party again after two years was clearly noticeable.

Setlist
01. Alles was das Herz will
02. Königin der Käfer
03. Kleid aus Rosen
04. Unsterblich
05. Eisblumen
06. Mephisto
07. Die Henkersbraut
08. Arme Ellen Schmitt
09. Falscher Heiland
10. Imperator Rex Graecorum
11. Messias
12. Besser du rennst
13. Ausgeträumt
14. Island
15. Sieben
16. Tanz auf dem Vulkan
17. Veitstanz
18. Grausame Schwester
19. Julia und die Räuber

Rating
Music: 9.5
Performance: 9.5
Light: 7.5
Sound: 9.5
Total: 9 / 10

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All Pictures by Lilly Wand

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