When I had the pleasure of stumbling upon Herr Metal last Saturday night at the Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, the legendary hair-metal originators, fresh out of Hamburg, Germany, were exactly how I imagined I would find them. Their authenticity was unquestionable — ensconced in their pre-show lair, they were casually feasting on bratwurst and toasting one another with Jägermeister shots while enthusiastically debating Bundesliga standings auf Deutsch. The drummer meticulously polished his cymbals with BMW-branded automotive polish, while the bassist, with admirable seriousness, adjusted his neon tiger-print pants to ensure maximum aerodynamic efficiency.
The crowd — mostly exuberant Gen Xers reliving the halcyon days of their youth with a delightful sprinkling of wide-eyed teenagers discovering their musical heritage — filled the venue, hundreds strong, many with VIP tickets proudly displayed on March 15. Herr Metal swaggered on stage to the ominous dirge of the Imperial March, signaling the start of a master class that would span the entire hair-metal canon, from Van Halen’s buoyant “Jump” to the heavy grooves of Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock.”
Song after song, Herr Metal did a yeoman’s job of delighting the crowd with their teutonic brand of hedonism. They rocked for so long that there was a much needed intermission, not for them but for the crowd, such fragile mortals in need of respite and refreshment. During our break, we were treated to a video interview of Herr Metal where they casually broke into an acoustic cover of “Living After Midnight” by Judas Priest.
They periodically reaffirmed their origins — “Ja, ja, so vee are Herr Metal from Gerrrmany!” — to roaring approval. High points included a fully amplified version of “Living After Midnight,” a vanity mirror comb-out during “Dr. Feelgood” (Mötley Crüe), the playful sabotage of one of their guitarists during a breathy breakdown in KISS’s “Lick It Up,” and the drummer’s bravado-filled rendition of “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi.
Three relentless hours later, after blistering through even more hits like Mötley Crüe’s “Looks That Kill,” Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” and an epic, overextended rendition of Van Halen’s “Eruption,” Herr Metal finally unleashed Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” to close the marathon set.
Watch Herr Metal perform “Looks That Kill” by Mötley Crüe on YouTube:
After the show, in their grace and magnanimity, they hung around the merch table and personally thanked every single fan for coming. Satisfied with themselves, they retreated to their private airplane, Herr Force One, which was taxiing out front, and flew away into the night.
Exhausted, exhilarated, and now sworn into a sacred pact with the band via a freshly purchased t-shirt, I left convinced that hair metal — much like Herr Metal themselves — was very much alive and well.
Here are some photos of Herr Metal performing at Tally Ho Theater on March 15, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Gerald Henry.
