[Rayzor]

Very disappointed about Startovarious, but not nearly as much as my wife is. The double whammy is that this means Helloween are out of the running too. I also re-read Andy's post and wanted to point out that it doesn't sound like Ensiferum are specifically the Startovarious replacement. Hopefully, this will mean the replacement would be along the lines of GammaRay, Edguy, BlindGuardian (hell yeah, Demons and Wizards potential) etc.

[satanicfog]

Get more BLACK METAL BANDS.!!!oneone11!! and no fucking dimmu shit either. get some watain/marduk/anaal nathrakh/nargaroth/urgehal/lord belial or Immortal there, they will love it and everyone will be so metal that people will die for dethklok.

[Michaelage]

well to be honest... id rather see dimmu... those guys wont try to sacrifice witch bear for the sake of tradition:O

[Dutchguy-Tim]

uhmmm mike, I made a booboo
we DIDN't see ensiferum at paganfest, that was Eluveitie

ensiferum is coming @ heidenfest

[Michaelage]

dammit tim.... u drink too little... u dont even know how to be a boo boo u just f*cked up hard...

damn dude...

AARRGGH

i knew i hadn't seen them in like 4 years...

[Dutchguy-Tim]

yeah, it's s ahame i can't drink during working hours
luckily i helping myself right now will delicous cold Hertog Jan! Proost

[Michaelage]

cheers:D

[vainglory]

Very disappointed about Startovarious, but not nearly as much as my wife is. The double whammy is that this means Helloween are out of the running too. I also re-read Andy's post and wanted to point out that it doesn't sound like Ensiferum are specifically the Startovarious replacement. Hopefully, this will mean the replacement would be along the lines of GammaRay, Edguy, BlindGuardian (hell yeah, Demons and Wizards potential) etc.

Okay, if EDGUY
and (fantasy of fantasies here) Destroyer666
both somehow got booked

I'd be happy to die the moment the cruise ends.

[Metal Heart]

I would love to see edguy or my favs gamma ray but I want something more radom in the power metal slot, how about freedom call or insaina, dare to dream for rhapsody of fire as well, nocturnal rites and ive yet to see storm warrior

[chilakill56]

hmm Rhapsody would be a nice choice, would fit nicely with the drinkin mayhem heh

[vainglory]

I would love to see edguy or my favs gamma ray but I want something more radom in the power metal slot, how about freedom call or insaina, dare to dream for rhapsody of fire as well, nocturnal rites and ive yet to see storm warrior

I will not argue with bands I haven't seen yet...
Looking forward to Agent Steel for that reason.

[Disaster Area]

I would love to see edguy or my favs gamma ray but I want something more radom in the power metal slot, how about freedom call or insaina, dare to dream for rhapsody of fire as well, nocturnal rites and ive yet to see storm warrior

I will not argue with bands I haven't seen yet...
Looking forward to Agent Steel for that reason.

Nocturnal Rites would kill, would be a worthy replacement for Strato IMO

[alex_canada]

Very disappointed about Startovarious, but not nearly as much as my wife is. The double whammy is that this means Helloween are out of the running too. I also re-read Andy's post and wanted to point out that it doesn't sound like Ensiferum are specifically the Startovarious replacement. Hopefully, this will mean the replacement would be along the lines of GammaRay, Edguy, BlindGuardian (hell yeah, Demons and Wizards potential) etc.

I don't imagine it will be - maybe their booking fee says otherwise, but I haven't seen Stratovarius as relevant or exciting for over a decade. Any of the bands you listed pull off 10x the live excitement that Strato does. I'm not saying that completely blindly either, I've seen them a few times on different tours in the last 5 or 6 years.

[Element0s]

oh well maybe Heavenly wil show up!

I'm down with that!

I'm pretty bummed about Stratovarius cancelling. I've seen them already but I really enjoy them a lot. Jens Johansson is just too good. However, Ensiferum is so fucking fun, that I can't be disappointed for too long. Easily my favorite band through high school. This will be my 4th time seeing them.

[karlsberg]

How about Tyr, Immortal, Eluveitie, Arch Enemy, Warbringer, Alestorm, Anthrax, Amorphis, Paul Dianno, Clutch, Equilibrium, Gwar, Hammerfall, Motorhead, Sacrifice, Steel Panther, 1349, Tenacious D, Burzum, and Helfahrt, to round it off.

Just some late night musings. I'll probably change my mind tomorrow...except about Tyr. They rule!

[sharr077]

Excited about Ensiferum. Had swine flu last time they came around.

but now I wanna see some more extreme stuff in the mix like Morbid Angel, the Crown, Autopsy, Mayhem, Hypocrisy, Tenet, Asphyx, Entombed, or Witchery.

a few more "feel good" bands like Tankard, Korpiklaani, Alestorm, or even Birdflesh would be cool.

Motorhead for sure as a headliner.

[viathyn]

Very disappointed about Startovarious, but not nearly as much as my wife is. The double whammy is that this means Helloween are out of the running too. I also re-read Andy's post and wanted to point out that it doesn't sound like Ensiferum are specifically the Startovarious replacement. Hopefully, this will mean the replacement would be along the lines of GammaRay, Edguy, BlindGuardian (hell yeah, Demons and Wizards potential) etc.

I don't imagine it will be - maybe their booking fee says otherwise, but I haven't seen Stratovarius as relevant or exciting for over a decade. Any of the bands you listed pull off 10x the live excitement that Strato does. I'm not saying that completely blindly either, I've seen them a few times on different tours in the last 5 or 6 years.

Yeah I'm going to have to agree with you on this one.

They came through here 6 years ago and they played to a packed house.

This past year they came through again and played at the same venue. I opened for them and there were more people there when we were playing than when strato was playing. They just seemed tired... washed up almost.
I mean, don't get me wrong, it was a totally wicked experience and they were decent guys to talk to.. but ensiferum delivers energy and good spirit every time. I never get sick of their live shows! In fact, they've one-upped all of their previous performances each time I've seen them.

Though, on a side note.. Timo's replacement fucking SHREDS!

[Metalwrath]

I saw Stratovarious play at Metalway last year and it was their best show i've seen.
They were full of energy and there was a great atmopshere.
Wonder what Stratovarious you saw play

[viathyn]

Kotipelto was sick... that could have had a lot to do with it!!

Either way, the rest of the band was way more into it the time before.
Maybe it had to do with the crowd being half the size.. but that's got to be a reflection of decreased relevance lately.

I've only seen then the two times though.. it could have just been an off day.

[Disaster Area]

Have only seen Strato once (Polaris), was packed and a pretty good showing, Kotipelto's range seems to be suffering a bit with age though. aAlso saw Sonata recently and they were far more enjoyable (energetic) live, although I am positive that Tony Kakko is completely insane. In the same vein, Symphony X (last tour) just wiped the floor with both of them, just f'ing amazing.

[DragonLordJones]

Motorhead
Arch Enemy
Armored Saint
Blind Guardian
Judas Priest
Godsmack
Edguy
Gamma Ray
Primal Fear
Axel Rudi Pell
Iron Maiden
Slayer
Black Label Society
Lillian Axe
Wolf
Running Wild
Within Temptation
Deep Purple
Uriah Heep

just bands I'd like to see if anyone really cares ......... some before I die or they do (sucks getting old) so many bands to see so little time and money lol

[TOM CRUISE]

Hoping that Armored Saint are not booked. Their new album is the worst album of 2010. They should go out on tour with Papa Roach, Shinedown or Disturbed

[viathyn]

Have only seen Strato once (Polaris), was packed and a pretty good showing, Kotipelto's range seems to be suffering a bit with age though. aAlso saw Sonata recently and they were far more enjoyable (energetic) live, although I am positive that Tony Kakko is completely insane. In the same vein, Symphony X (last tour) just wiped the floor with both of them, just f'ing amazing.

Dude.. I'm so jealous.

I've never gotten to see symphony X!

They were supposed to come through here on Gigantour 1 in '05 and dropped off the tour before the calgary date

[cg138]

Is Elvenking any good anymore? I quite liked their somewhat earlier work, haven't listened to too much recently. Anyway, Hypocrisy I'd love to see, Enslaved, please. Hell, some black metal needs to get on board. I would really like to see In Flames and Children of Bodom, only if they were to do a "Somewhere Back in Time" type thing where they only stuck to their first 3 albums. Man how they've fallen.

[Metalwrath]

Is Elvenking any good anymore? I quite liked their somewhat earlier work, haven't listened to too much recently. Anyway, Hypocrisy I'd love to see, Enslaved, please. Hell, some black metal needs to get on board. I would really like to see In Flames and Children of Bodom, only if they were to do a "Somewhere Back in Time" type thing where they only stuck to their first 3 albums. Man how they've fallen.

I intended to see them play at Dong Open Air but was really tired and took a nap instead.
My friend said that they were good live in terms of performance but that they ddin't play anything off the first few albums.Only the new stuff that sounds a bit Triviumish

[Element0s]

Yeah I'm going to have to agree with you on this one.

They came through here 6 years ago and they played to a packed house.

This past year they came through again and played at the same venue. I opened for them and there were more people there when we were playing than when strato was playing. They just seemed tired... washed up almost.
I mean, don't get me wrong, it was a totally wicked experience and they were decent guys to talk to.. but ensiferum delivers energy and good spirit every time. I never get sick of their live shows! In fact, they've one-upped all of their previous performances each time I've seen them.

Though, on a side note.. Timo's replacement fucking SHREDS!

On Stratovarius:
I didn't see them the first time they came through our way, but I did see them the second time. After comparing the performance I saw for Polaris and some other videos from later Wacken performances I can say that they were much more on the ball than they were a few years back with Timo Tolkki. Kotipelto mentioned that he had gotten the flu and had seen a doctor in Calgary about it and was apparently not even supposed to be talking much, but he actually sounded great and performed better and better as the show went on. The rest of the band seemed in really high spirits and it was just a lot of fun, barring a strange choice of opening tune. I dunno, Polaris is one of my favorite disks that came out in 2009 and it just sounds so fresh and inspired.

I think Stratovarius has had quite a few issues in regards to releasing some sub-par albums with Tolkki, all the drama that ensued afterwards and so on and I think that if they released a new album next year and came back on tour, they'd probably fare much better. It really slows down a band when you've got lineup issues and a bunch of stupid bullshit to sort out.

[satanicfog]

if in flames and children of wanktard get confirmed the true metal-head count will go down and you will get only rich wannabe kids that will cry because someone half moshed into their new shoes. so none of that shit. no commercial wank like failtallica or half shitera Down eeeeeewwwww! get some good band. and yes motorhead and hypocrisy can totally headline. but immortal headlines more. gief plox

[R8R55]

Hoping that Armored Saint are not booked. Their new album is the worst album of 2010. They should go out on tour with Papa Roach, Shinedown or Disturbed

Yea it kinda made me thow up in my mouth a little. They have never been the same since Dave Prichard died.

[R8R55]

They almost had to replace Fear Factory. They almost didn't get out of there tour bus that was on fire.

[Metalwrath]

They almost had to replace Fear Factory. They almost didn't get out of there tour bus that was on fire.

Probably because Dino gotstuck in the door and the rest of the band was trapped inside the bus

[Disaster Area]

Ok, the band announcement refractory period (for Deb: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractory_period ) is over. Time for another announcement!

because my cardiologist says I ain't dying woohoo!

[onenight]

King Diamond or Mercyful Fate would be a great addition to the cruise.


...........I hate waiting

[Disaster Area]

King Diamond or Mercyful Fate would be a great addition to the cruise.


...........I hate waiting

in that case, feel free to join in the virtual rioting. It soothes my impatience well!

careful though, the Skipper may scold you (right Deb)

[debborah1]

jUST REMEMEBR ITS ALL IN GOOD FUN......NO NEGATIVITY.....thanx Craig

[ShoreSlayer]

careful though, the Skipper may scold you (right Deb)

jUST REMEMEBR ITS ALL IN GOOD FUN......NO NEGATIVITY.....thanx Craig

Debb got scolded and I wasn't involved??? Curse my need for sleep!!!

[Metalwrath]

King Diamond or Mercyful Fate would be a great addition to the cruise.


...........I hate waiting

Would really love to se them both.Unfortunaly King Diamond seems to be too busy making his own brand of shoes

[Jöhn&Melönius]

!!!!!!! Where can I acquire such satanic footwear? I can only imagine what a pair of KD's would look like, but I must have them.

[Metalwrath]

If you go to his site it'll give you a link of where to buy them.
They are basically just those vans with Mercyful fate or King Diamond Artwork.

[sabaton]

I just listened to the last work of Limbonic Art, they should come on board !!!

[Metalwrath]

Should bring Ripper and Malmsteen.
Then when Iced Earth play Ten Thousand Strong Ripper can sing it as special guest