Wacken 2014: Devin Townsend Responsible for World’s Biggest, Smelliest Group Hug

Devin Townsend isn’t the first metal musician to encourage his audience to do something loving rather than something totally aggro (e.g., “I wanna see the biggest pit ever! KILL THE DUDE NEXT TO YOU!!!!”): Cynic’s Paul Masvidal has been engaging audiences in mid-show yoga stretches for years now. But Townsend really took it a whole new level when he asked the crowd at this weekend’s Wacken Open Air Festival to participate in a massive group hug. Given the time of year and the fact that you’re talking about thousands of people who have been camping with limited access to showers and moshing their brains out, it’s fair to assume that the love-in didn’t smell very good… so I guess, technically, it actually was pretty aggro of Townsend. Also, Germans don’t believe in human contact or warmth, so, y’know, this was really historic.

Watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui1m16zaCnM#t=3710

[via The PRP]