VOLBEAT OF DREAMS

It is Sunday and we're in Manchester - up north and then west in England. The weather is as it often is in these parts; cold, grey and rather bleak. The city - best known for its' two football teams United and City - seems deserted. There's no football this weekend. So what the hell am I and my good friend doing in Manchester this Sunday?

The answer? Volbeat! Finally it's time to experience the band beyond the borders of Denmark after having seen several hometown shows over the years.

After at tour of "The Theatre Of Dreams" (nickname for Man. Uniteds homepitch Old Trafford. Ed.) earlier in the day, we enter Manchester Academy – a venue that's seen artists like Foo Fighters, Slipknot and Robbie Williams in recent years.

Hatebreed, who has supported Volbeat earlier this year, raised merry hell during their set and we could both see and sometimes feel the "woosh" winds from the circle- and moshpits around us.

A break in order to heed nature's call and a trip to the bar cost us our frontrow positions but what the hell. We were armed with pints in hand and the expectations around us were almost tangible in the crammed venue.

The Motörhead "Born To Raise Hell" intro thunders through the speakers, followed by the "Doc Holliday" intro. And then; Volbeat.
We're ready and rocking. Jon hits the stage and kicks off with thunderous drumpatterns and then we're into "Hallelujah Goat" with twin bass drums that make the floor quiver and shake all the way to the back of the room.

Rob, Anders and Michael follow suit in each their inimitable ways - this really is "Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood". Introducing  "Sad Man’s Tongue" the audience are put to the test concerning their knowledge of Johnny Cash and the roar back at the stage raises the roof.

This is wild! I've never before seen a concert from the back of the venue and I've surely never experienced a show with the audience 100 percent involved from front to back.

The atmosphere sure rubs off on the three Danes and the American on stage - one great moment takes the other and the words "I only wanna be with you” go through my mind.

Michaels crowdsurfing trip through the venue to present a kid riding on his daddy's shoulders with a T-shirt drive the audience to unreserved exultation and thundering applause before "Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza", "Fallen" and "Still Counting" closes the party. And what a party it's been! As Hatebreed's singer Jamey Jasta pointed out during their stint on stage:

”First you get Hatebreeded, then you get Volbeated” and boy, was the man ever right.

It sure looks like the picky English audiences have taken to Volbeat now and I shouldn't be surprised if the band will soon be on show on the posters at the Manchester Academy's "Hall of Fame"?

This evening it wasn't so much The Theatre Of Dreams in Manchester as it was Volbeat of Dreams. An indiscribable experience.