Boysetsfire, who open Sunday shortly after 2 p.m., wish you a happy pride month. Behind them, the Inter* Inclusive Pride Flag flies in the wind and right at the beginning of the 40-minute set, singer Nathan Gray recalls the scandal that also brought Toten Hosen into criticism at the beginning of the year. One can be glad that an asshole didn’t make it to Rock am Ring, according to the singer: Phil Anselmo, who was invited again, is meant. “I think it’s much better if there are no Nazis at the start” – an allusion to the alleged alcohol derailment in 2016, when the Pantera singer gave the Hitler salute at a show and called “White Power”. After that it’s all about the music: Boysetsfire mainly play hits from “The Misery Index: Notes From the Plague Years” and “After the Eulogy”, but with “Cutting Room Floor” and “Closure” a few more also make it Pearls from the band catalog on the setlist.
Sum41: For many a farewell
Afterwards, three crowd favorites overlap: Sum41 on the large Utopia Stage, Nerves on the Orbit Stage and Spiritbox on the Mandora Stage. If you choose Canadian punk rock, you won’t go wrong, as Sum41 will break up the band after the release of their new album and a few more tour dates. It should therefore be the last chance for many of those present to see the musicians, who have been active for 27 years, live again. Deryck Whibley – mind you in top form – announces: Today they don’t want to play any new songs, just “the old shit” and so the audience rows and pogs to “Fat Lip” and “In Too Deep” as much as their bodies can. But there are also a few detours through rock history, with “Seven Nation Army” and a punk version of “We Will Rock You”.
Machine Gun Kelly is the lovable chaotic
Machine Gun Kelly stands above everything: The 1.92 meter tall musician already towers over the audience by a few meters thanks to a huge cube pyramid and his “Rick and Morty” spiked hairstyle makes him appear even taller. Rock am Ring is exactly as he saw it on YouTube, “thank you for treating us with respect!” With bangers like “Maybe” with support from Oliver Sykes (Bring Me The Horizon) and “I Think I’m Okay”, “Bloody Valentine”, “Forget Me Too” and a cover of “Feel Good Inc.” by the Gorillaz is not difficult at all. At the end of the set, MGK lives up to its reputation as a rebel without a cause: He leaves the stage in the direction of a scaffolding to the side to watch the beautiful sunset from up there. After “My Ex’s Best Friend” he throws his microphone into the abyss and climbs down for a gesture of appreciation: to “Floor 13” from the tape the musician claps with the entire front row.
Die Toten Hosen: “I don’t know how you do it, but you just don’t get older”
In view of the many trouser T-shirts on the festival site, it is impossible to overlook what the majority of the audience is looking forward to the most today – although with Bullet For My Valentine there is also a respectable alternative program on the Mandora Stage. The band gives the starting signal for the two-hour show after “3 chords for a hallelujah” with “Everyone says that” and a short time later a red Bengalo lights up the front rows during “Auswegspiel”. After the initial euphoria has died down, the audience continues without any forbidden objects.
You can hear rarely played songs (“Schlampe”), indispensable hits (“Bonnie & Clyde”, “Here comes Alex”) and political statements (“Welcome to Germany”), for the encore the Toten Hosen amuse themselves with a “ Würstchen-Band aus Neukölln”, from which they cover the song “Schrei nach Liebe”. The subsequent song “Freunde” is also dedicated to Die Ärzte. I don’t know how you do it, but you just don’t get any older,” enthuses Campino at the end of the show – and because this is far from over, he invites everyone to the big after-show party at Thees Uhlmann.