Thursday I drove up to Balingen to meet some fellow German Empire Rychers and the first shock was that the camping lots close to the stage were already full and closed. We were supposed to be directed to a parking lot way outside which would have been a 30 minute walk or a 10 minute ride on a shuttle bus that either never came or was already crowded, so we were quite frustrated about the misinformation. The website had stated that they were supposed to open at noon, so we'd figured there would be enough room by the time we arrived at 2 – but once we got there it turned out they had opened it the night before without informing the people on the Internet. Also, although the security was really very nice and helpful, they did not seem to be well–informed. I asked 5 individuals for a press camp and I was told there was none. So when we finally picked up our press cards I figured we'd give it a try and go for Camp 1 anyway, challenging our luck in trying to find a spot.

To our surprise, once we got in, we found they've reserved an area right behind the big party tent close to the entrance for press camping, so we had more room that we actually needed in a perfect location – lucky us! But that was not all the luck we had that night. We walked over to the festival site and were allowed in, only to take a quick peek at Queensryche and crew leaving the grounds in van shuttles to go to the hotel for the night. We had hoped for some beer with the auction winners, but they decided to crash. So we returned to the party tent for some beer, and at one point I could not believe my eyes when Jason a.k.a Nikki and Turner from the crew showed up – they'd decided to stay on the crew bus and party rather than going to sleep in the hotel. We talked all night and had some beer until the sun came up and it was time to get some sleep. I have no idea why the first band started playing at 9 in the morning, for I do not know anyone who wants get up so early after having partied the night before, specially since the party tent turns up the music until 3, so that only leaves 6 hours of resting time. Well, in our case, it was only 3 hours of sleep, but the very very very (!) cold shower did not only freeze our brains, but also woke us up...and there was more Adrenaline to come.

They had organized 16 drummers who did "I remember now" just as the Seattle Seahawks Drum Line did on MATM – it was amazing! I later heard that when they found out, the band wasn't even sure if they could do it, because they were concerned they could not hear themselves and perform the song with so much noise on the stage – and I would later learn what they meant by that. So after my photo pit stop I managed to join Mike and Lara in the third row. We partied throughout Mindcrime Part 1 and then it was time to get out of the masses in the front. The week before I had the idea of asking if the German Empire could do the jury during "Hostage" (as seen on Mindcrime at the Moore and the previous shows) and was told to call the "never sleeping" tour manager Adam at 6pm that night; when I did, he gave me instructions on where to meet after Mindcrime 1 – yeah! :–)))

So a very excited Martina, Thomas Brogli and Aefa were taken backstage, handed over the GUILTY signs and given instructions by Mike, Lara and Sherry about the exact timing. We felt like little kids back there, giggling and goofing around behind the curtains, while taking amazed looks at the 20.000 crowd that was going to look at us any minute. It was also fascinating to see how the production was being done, everyone was so busy running around for the perfect timing, not only the actors who had to change their costumes, but also the crew with the props – you'd never guess if you watch it from the front just how many people are involved working on the sides. We had to wait through I'm American and One Foot on Hell until it was Showtime, the start of our acting career: Queensryche featuring the German Empire – YAY!!!!!! :–))))))))

When it was time to go out on the stage, it all happened so fast we had no time to actually think about it – we just did it! And it was just amazing, I felt so comfortable looking at so many people. It was just a little hard trying to keep a grim dismissive face, not to move the legs to the music or even sing along, but we managed for the few minutes we had and enjoyed every second of it. Then at the count of three we held up our GUILTY signs and rushed off the stage, us screaming back there in excitement for our successful trip – we did it, we really did it!!! Thank you Susan and Adam for making this possible! We will never ever forget that, this was some highlight for us, specially on this big stage in our country!

I do hope someone took front row pictures or even a video, for I could not be seen on the photos Shinobu had taken from across the stage, since Sherry was in the way *grrrr*. Should have gone front row...damn! ;–P We had such a good time and could stay around on the stand, which was a new experience after having seen 4 shows. I never would have thought how bad the sound is for the guys, while the crowd out there gets the full enjoyment and sound quality, on stage they mostly hear themselves, blinding out most of the other musicians. For example, when we were over on Whip's side, I could hear him and Scott's drums quite loudly, but barely any voice from Geoff or Pam!

Sure I would love to visit every show that I could drive to, but it is a financial burden. With all the driving (gas is TWICE as expensive as it is in the US!), accommodation, food, travel fees etc it just adds up quickly. It is a twisted world in which a flight from Germany to Barcelona is much cheaper than driving the car to a concert in Germany – and I am not even talking long distance drives... So at this point I had not made any effort to find out about the Basinfirefest in the Czech Republic, but when Mike kept bugging me about the "only 290 miles" (he spent comfortably asleep in the nightliner) I started thinking...if I could drive 450 kilometers in maybe, let's say 3,5 hours? I stayed around until it was time to say good–bye around 2, and when I walked back through the empty area it was both sweet and bitter. It had been so great, but it was over again :–( That night, I went directly to my tent, wasn't in the mood for some more metal party next door. As the music stopped at 3, I finally fell asleep; it had been a long an eventful day, and little did I know what was to come the following day...

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