The tenth edition of the Ostrava in Flames festival takes place on Saturday, August 3, in the area of Dolní Vítkovice. “Our beloved 72-year-old metal god Udo Dirkschneider collapsed early this morning. He is currently in hospital undergoing a series of tests. His son, the drummer of his band Sven Dirkschneider, informed us about it,” organizer Patrik Kohut told Novinka.
“We regret to announce that we have to cancel tomorrow’s performance at the Ostrava v plamen festival. The reason is that Udo Dirkschneider has become seriously ill. At the moment, he is under the care of doctors and is undergoing a series of tests and examinations. Of course we would love to perform for you tomorrow, but health comes first. We hope to return to the Czech Republic as soon as possible and see each other,” reads the e-mail received by the organizers.
As Patrik Kohut added, it was possible to find a replacement within a few hours, which will probably make many fans happy. “We’ve turned the world upside down to secure a replacement for tomorrow night. Of course, Udo is irreplaceable, but we will see another super band, the Finnish Stratovarius, who will return to us after nine years,” added Kohut.
Sudden program changes are rare at major music festivals, but they do happen. For example, the singer Burna Boy did not perform at the Colors of Ostrava festival last year, due to problems with air transport. The organizers only announced this change shortly before his scheduled performance, for which they received a lot of criticism. Due to health problems, the band Queens of the Stone Age also canceled their performance at Colors this year, and in the end they were duly replaced by guitarist Tom Morello.
Tom Morello’s killer guitar figures at Colors of Ostrava
Music
In addition to the Stratovarius band, the Finnish Beast in Black will also perform in Ostrava on Saturday, as well as the Welsh band Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, led by the longtime guitarist of the famous Motörhead.
The stamp of exoticism will be brought to Ostrava by the band from Iraq Dark Phantom, the participation of the Dutch Blackbriar is definitely worth mentioning.
Like all other big festivals, Ostrava in flames will be cashless only, visitors will have to pay with wristbands equipped with a chip, which they will have to charge with any amount. Unspent money will be returned to them after the festival.
A cold shower at Colors, a drenched audience waited in vain for Burna Boy
culture
