"'White Lion Bang Your Head 2005' was something that never was meant to be, but somehow happened," said vocalist/band leader Mike Tramp.
After a 2005 American tour, White Lion made the decision to dissolve the band. Then a call came in that the group could not resist. "I was sitting at home in Melbourne, Australia, and a call came in from Germany, asking me if White Lion wanted to be the surprise guest on the Bang Your Head Festival the following Saturday - only 4 days away," Tramp said. "The next couple hours I called around the world locating the other boys, talking to travel agents, and what have you. How the hell were we to pull this off? But somehow we did."
The band arrived at the festival � one of Europe's largest metal festivals - and spent four hours holed up in a dressing room so no one could see them.
"We took the stage to a thunderous roar from the massive head-banging crowd, and leapt into our set of classic White Lion favorites," Tramp said. "The show was a one of kind and we never really understood what was going until many hours later, when we would gather our thoughts and kick back at the hotel. We had accomplished something in four days that usually takes us months to prepare, and we hadn't even rehearsed or had any of our own crew with us. It was brave but it was also very refreshing."
The band hadn't known about the video recording of the concerts until months later. When Tramp had a chance to see it, he knew that magical show had to be released.
"It took longer to get it done than anticipated, but finally it is here and it hasn't lost any of the magic and power that took place in June 2005 at the BYH festival," he said.
The set list is the same as the concert and the DVD also features bonus tracks from the USA tour and a full length interview with Mike Tramp from the following year's Bang Your Head festival 2006 where Mike Tramp explains how it all came together.
White Lion released a new studio album, "Return of the Pride," last year on Frontiers.
Track listing for Bang Your Head Festival 2005":
"Lights and Thunder"
"Hungry"
"Lonely Nights"
"Broken Heart"
"Fight to Survive"
"Little Fighter"
"Living on the Edge"
"Tell Me"
"Wait"
"Radar Love"
Bonus Material:
Interview with Mike Tramp
Slide Show
("Lady of the Valley")
"Lights and Thunder"
"Hungry"
"It's Over"
(All live on 2005 US Tour)
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