IN EXTREMO, MEXICO CITY, JANUARY 28, 2015.

In Extremo’s fifth visit to our Mexican land came with great surprises for some fans, both recent and long-time. The band came once again for a shared concert, this time with fellow German folk band Equilibrium.

It’s been three years since In Extremo’s last visit to Mexico City, in 2012, when they did a very similar tour, starting by performing at the 70000 Tons of Metal festival on board a Caribbean cruise from Miami to Jamaica, along with lots of other metal bands –including Equilibrium–.

FOTO: http://www.Foto-Jagla.de

They came to Mexico immediately after that, while Micha apparently was recovering from a cold he had gotten while being on board of that cruise.

Since last November, the Mexican fanclub was trying to organize some kind of Meet & Greet or autograph session (something we had been wanting to do for a long time), and most of the positive replies to that possibility always came from the band and not so much from the Mexican tour organizers. There was a moment, just before the Mexican concert, where I thought it would not be done at all. But thankfully, wonderful bassist Kay Lutter intervened in order to make this possible.

Kay asked us to be there for the soundcheck the next day, same day of the concert. So there we all are, outside the Circo Volador, still incredulous of such prospect. And there they were, the whole band, while both Luis Castillo –the manager of this concert venue– and In Extremo’s manager kindly came out to tell me that we would all be going in, first for a while at the soundcheck and then for a meet & greet with the whole band.

We were all very thrilled by the time they let us in for the soundcheck. The band was already playing, and we were getting a mini-concert all for ourselves! They performed 4-5 songs, Micha was taking turns at singing and checking the sound console—And all of us were jumping and singing, until it was time for the m&g.

Micha and Boris were the first ones to greet us; the band was chilling in a little green space patio at the back of the stage. They all  talked to us and let us have pictures taken with them for a good while. Some of the fans got to chat and ask what they could to all of them. Personally, I could ask Kay about their trip. He said that these days had been really hectic for all them. He seemed to be a little more relaxed at that moment, and when I asked him about them going to other countries in the American continent, he said that they would love to, but the logistics are very troublesome since they have to move around with so much heavy equipment, and with a lot of crew. I guess this does make sense when thinking about why they cannot cross the pond all that often. Would someone from this side PLEASE give a little more support to this great band (especially record labels)? It’s such a bummer how artists outside the US and Mexico with both potential and existing fanbases are not getting good deals. The way things are right now, the band’s logistics get heavier and the tickets go higher, and that is really a shame.

After the m&g, they ushered us outside –just as Equilibrium was getting in for their own soundcheck– and the manager took some video of us greeting the band for their 20^th anniversary.  Hopefully, we will be featured in a short vid documentary of their tours. This was the icing of the cake of such a great experience. While we were saying goodbye, we saw the band go out to survey all the souvenirs that were being offered by the black market around the venue.

 The night of the concert came quickly, and while I wanted to see more of Equilibrium’s concert I couldn’t make it, mainly because of the traffic. But we were on time to hear 2-3 songs from the band, which evidently was giving way to In Extremo with a spectacular ending.

The band opened the evening with “Mein Rasend Herz”, a fan favorite, and the band alternated the whole concert between classics like “Herr Mannelig”, “Vollmond”, “Omnia sol temperat”, “Liam”, “Frei zu sein” or “Küss mich” with more recent albums’ hits “Sängerkrieg”, “Viva la vida”, “Gaukler” or the always great “Feuertaufe”. Finally, and after a brief intervention of a stray fan who managed to get onstage and utter some unclear statement of his own, In Extremo said goodbye with “Ai vis lo lop”,  “Spielmannsfluch”and a very well-known closer of their live performances in Mexico–“Villeman og Magnhild”.

Here’s a short snippet of the concert:




 The concert was over in what seemed to be a very short time. We got out and also decided to survey the street vendors to get a souvenir of the evening, and to our surprise we saw how one of them was selling t-shirts with the Mexican fanclub logo! I went for a notebook with In Extremo's Mexico concert date. Finally we went home wondering if we may see the band again soon. We really hope we do.