The story of Manowar and Hellfest 2019 is one of those that are not easily forgotten: the band cancelled its headlining set on the very day of the show, in front of tens of thousands of people, and a dispute followed with accusations, legal documents and a rodeo of public statements. Wyatt’s Metal’s video gathers the whole story — from the cancellation to Joey DeMaio’s infamous monologue at a concert in Istanbul.
What happened at Hellfest 2019
Manowar were scheduled to close one of the festival’s days in 2019. On the morning of the show they announced a cancellation, on the grounds that the stage wasn’t big enough and that the organisers had breached their agreement. The excuse didn’t convince many: that same week Slipknot, Tool and Kiss had played on the Hellfest stage without any problem. Sabaton filled the gap, having played the day before and agreeing to go on again — with their singer Joakim Brodén having lost his voice, so the guitarists handled a big part of the set on vocals.
Watch the video and then what follows:
The most talked-about part came a little later, when Joey DeMaio took the stage at a band concert in Istanbul and launched into a long monologue about the case: he read from notes, claimed the responsibility was exclusively the organisers’, referred to the contract he «signed in blood in 1983» and to the seven people who attended the band’s first concert, and promised a free concert in any city in the world that would have them once they won the legal battle with the festival. As the video’s creator, who was himself at Hellfest that year, notes, the audience in Turkey watched with obvious bewilderment as he monologued about an incident that had nothing to do with their country.
He also recalls having seen Manowar at Hellfest in 2009 without any problem, and that at the 2018 festival DeMaio had taken the stage only to promise an «epic show» the following year. Eight years after the cancellation, the case remains open in the courts, with no developments, and the promised free concert never happened.
Our take
The debate over whether Manowar are «posers» is as old as the band itself: on one hand you have some of epic metal’s most timeless songs, on the other a theatrical image that always made plenty of people smile. The Hellfest story, though, has a clear side: whatever the background of the dispute with the organisers, the fans who travelled from all over the world to see the band were left empty-handed — and going on stage in another country to blame the festival in front of people who have nothing to do with the case hardly convinces anyone.
Manowar, of course, carry on undeterred: the Kings Of Metal / Fighting The World Tour 2027 is scheduled, and their fans remain as loyal as ever. As for Hellfest, that day went down in history mainly for the self-sacrifice of Sabaton, who played twice in one weekend so the crowd wouldn’t be left without music.
If the world of epic metal interests you, see also the complete guide to Metal’s subgenres.
