Our Brazilian Manowarriors have a passion and devotion that we want to share with the world. Thank you all for your incredible loyalty! We can’t wait to return and celebrate again with you!

WORDS OF POWER, coming to you as podcast and blog, is a way for me to reach people directly and address topics that I think will be interesting and of value to you.
It is also a platform for you to reach me, so that I can address things that you would like to hear, not just about my music and MANOWAR.

Topics will be diverse and range from updates on projects I am working on, being an entrepreneur and a musician, navigating through the ever-changing music industry to my personal experiences and life itself. I’ll also bring on guests that have impressed or inspired me and that I believe you will enjoy, too.

Even if you are not a musician or an entrepreneur, I believe you’ll find great value in these WORDS OF POWER, as they will touch ideas, values and mindsets that are relevant in many ways, to all of us, in all areas of life.

WORDS OF POWER and my new website come in response to the many emails, private messages and other requests that I receive every day from people asking for advice; sometimes regarding their careers but also regarding difficult situations, overcoming obstacles or because they are at a turning point in their life and need encouragement and inspiration. As a musician and entrepreneur with over four decades of successes and challenges it is my honor to share my experiences with you.

Follow my blog on joeydemaio.com, my social media pages on Instagram and Twitter and my soon-to-be-launched podcast WORDS OF POWER and use these platforms to let me know what topics YOU want!

I am looking forward to taking this journey with you.

WORDS OF POWER
FOR A POWERFUL LIFE

Joey

Hello, my name is Katja Blackmamba.

For me, Manowar is about more than just their unforgettable music. Through them, I have been able to meet fans from all over the world, many of whom have become real friends for life.

Besides making these lifelong friends, which would have been enough, I was also blessed by finding the “replacement father” that I always wished for.

My childhood was marked by a tyrannical and violent creator (this person never deserved to be called a father). In 2007, I supported my 70-year-old mother in a divorce, that became a war. After more than 50 years of marriage, she finally had the courage to leave my biological producer. While I was facing all these struggles in my life, Manowar held the first Magic Circle Festival in my hometown.

Because of my business, I was able to meet and talk to fans from all over the world and they all had one thing in common: they shared a very deep connection with the band and their music.

This is when I first saw the many parallels to my life and the cohesion and deep loyalty of this fan base, as though they had cast a spell over me.

“Fighting the World” became the anthem to my life, and still is today.

Battles Are Fought By Those With The Courage To Believe
They Are Won By Those Who Find The Heart
– in these meaningful lyrics I recognized myself, my soul.

Each of us Manowarriors has text passages that reflect exactly one part of our lives.

The second Magic Circle Festival was held in 2008. It was even bigger and more breathtaking than the year before. Words cannot describe the spectacle of this festival, for me personally it was a time of rebirth.
I organized a big Fan Meet and Greet Party together with another fan/friend and as I got to know the fans more and more, it became more than just friendship with many, they became part of my family, my brothers and sisters.

In the following years my husband and I were present at almost every concert and eventually we met the band, and Joey also introduced my husband and I to his best friend, and legendary concert promoter, Rainer Hänsel.
From that first meeting, Rainer and I became best friends, on the many tours we spent countless hours together, but also privately, because we lived only a few kilometers apart.

Although I will never overcome his untimely death in 2017, I am deeply grateful that Joey introduced me to the man who became a loving, honest and charismatic surrogate father, and we were able to become the family that Rainer never had.

Joey himself is also one of the most open-minded, helpful, generous people I know, he has a rare sense of honor and strength of character you rarely see in people. A man who gives everything, not only for his family and friends, but also for his fans.

“I believe in metal more than anybody you’ve ever met. And another thing, I’m prepared to die for metal. Are you?” When he says this, you can be sure it’s the absolute truth and not just some empty interview chatter.

I have faced a lot of suffering in my life, with lies being told about me in legal disputes etc. etc., so I always feel very emotional and hurt for Joey and the band when I read bad press, usually filled with lies or when former fans turned against him or the band in numerous comments on the World Wide Web.

But just like in his song lyrics, Joey has never, and will never give up. On the contrary MANOWAR becomes stronger.

“They can’t stop us let them try, for Heavy Metal we will die!”

Manowar is not only unforgettable music and meaningful lyrics, MANOWAR is the truth, MANOWAR is, and always will be a way of life – My Life

Hail and Kill
Katja

#MANOWAR #40thanniversary #manowarriorforlife

Join the “Manowarrior For Life” contest yourself and send us YOUR story! 

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In the spring of 2020 MANOWAR played their long-awaited first ever concert in Mexico, headlining Hell & Heaven Fest 2020.

This historic event was recorded in highest definition, with over 15 8k and 4k cameras, a drone and immersive audio set up and will soon be released on Blu-ray, DVD and digital platforms.

Stay tuned for more details!

Follow MANOWAR on manowar.com, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all tour dates and constant updates.

Celebrating the #40thanniversary with an early moment in #MANOWAR #history

Extracts of an interview with Joey on the rock radio network in the US, aired in November 1983
More to come. Stay tuned!

My Manowar story

… To a battle I ride…

Did I know back in 1994, that song “Crown and the Ring” which I heard by accident on the audiotape at my friend’s home would turn my life upside down? At the age of 14 you actually never think about what you are going to do in the future, and it’s impossible to predict that one song can make such an impact …. But exactly from this moment my journey into the world of heavy metal began, but not only music but also the philosophy that stood behind this music was important. The philosophy of the warrior‘s life, where you always have to move forward and never retreat, never  surrender no matter how hard it will be for you. In Russian culture we have a great novel which main idea “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” almost repeats ideas of Manowar’s lyrics and that’s why this band has totally filled me with power, that helps me in my hard moments.

Audiotapes, rumors and limited information – that’s what we had back here in Russia those days.  Only “Kings of metal” audiotape that was always in my tape player, the video “Return of the Warlord” accidently seen on TV – that was my Manowar world… And then came the Internet and the information about our favorite music band that kept coming every day was a great treasure for us. The brightest moment was when I created the chat channel on the IRC DALnet chat network in 1997 about Manowar, where fans from all over the world had a chance to talk about Manowar topics and what was more  important to had a chance to become friends. With some of these people I still keep in touch and we travel together around the world to visit almost every Manowar show. That’s where I met Michael Liebenow, who at that moment was helping Manowar with their first Internet steps and sites, I met Theo and Marjo Verdooren whom you all know by the  World Wide Web Warriors, of course I can’t forget Allmighty Dawnowar – a famous  Manowar fan from the USA, and Manoel Arruda, who is still with Manowar today.  This was wonderful time, because that was the world of Manowar where we were able to share information, to share emotions and make new friends all around the globe.

…You wait in the rain, you walk through the snow…

            In such tight everyday chatting we met 1999 year, which became a year of my First live show of Manowar. I met great guys from Sweden and when I had a chance to visit Sweden Rock Festival ’99 at Solvesborg I was heartly welcomed by a pack of fifteen Swedish manowarriors who met me at Stockholm airport. This was a real interpretation of the greatest hymn “Army of the Immortals”. Three days I had to “sleep” almost on the ground in totally broken tent under heavy rain. And only Russian Flag with Manowar logo on it told everybody that that was a crazy Russian warrior that came to see Manowar here on Swedish ground. But I lost my very first battle for the front row. That was one of a few shows which I had to see from the back. When mighty intro came in I was at the third or fourth row and there was hell. Crazy Scandinavian warriors were so crazy and strong that I had to pull myself out and it was the right decision. I almost passed out and had to work pretty hard to make my lungs work back, otherwise that could  be my last show of Manowar ever. But the show…ooooh that show was incredible! Standing in the mud under the rain and listening to the “Gates of Valhalla” – I was absorbing almost every word that was sung, every guitar, bass or drum note. That was unbelievable. After the show I came back to the stage where was so silent already, like after a heavy battle. But exactly in this silence I met Eric Adams for the first time, who came back to the barrier specially for me, cause he knew me from my chat channel (I hope I can say now that he was there sometimes and chatted with fans undercover). We talked only a minute or so, but I was lucky to thank him for all the songs which were so meaningful that has helped a lot. It was the first greatest show of Manowar for me.

…I awaken the creator, in those who dare…

When I came back to Moscow I had a strong feeling that I can’t relax cause one thing was rotating in my mind and bothering me.  Eric on every show during his speech noted all the countries they played and he always included Russia into this list. But they had never played in Russia before. The Dream to see them alive in my country forced me to find information about how all this things works – how anyone could invite a band to play a show in Russia. The Internet was very helpful and I found a small but very professional company “T.C.I.”. So me and some of my friends actually spammed its email with begging to bring Manowar to Russia. But we had to wait. At the End of 1999 this thunder struck and we got news that Manowar was going  to a Scandinavian tour “Monsters of the Millenium” and that was a sign. We brought back our contacts with the employees from T.C.I. and after providing them with this information about upcoming tour we got the feeling that things began to settle.  A few weeks later we were the happiest fans in the world, cause we got the information that after some negotiations Manowar and T.C.I. made an agreement to play three shows in Russia – one in Saint-Petersburg and two in Moscow. I did my best to be helpful for everyone – I provided the promoters with as much information about the band and fans as I could. My friends and I tried to help with everything they asked us to help with. One of the story is so crazy, that I still can’t understand how I was able to do, what promoters asked me to do for the show. It was the 5^th of November 1999, actually it was my birthday and in a few days I had to leave for Stockholm to see Manowar on seven shows of the tour, and exactly at this day promoters asked me to help them. They asked me to take a huge amount of freshly printed posters and drive them to the train station to load a mail car of the train heading to Saint-Petersburg, where they would be used for an advertisement company of the show. Can you imagine how surprised I was when I was already walking beside a heavy loaded cart and suddenly understood that the  mail car had been already closed and had  loaded two days ago and nothing could be done at that moment. But I was born in the fire of Manowar songs philosophy, I had no chances to retreat, to stop and to surrender.  I was standing there and thinking how to send over five hundred kilos of posters to Saint-Petersburg and I still can’t understand which words I used to persuade a train conductor to take these posters with him almost for nothing. The craziness of the situation was so high, cause I paid the conductor less than 10 bucks for this and three bucks I gave to a local policeman at a  dirty basement who didn’t liked my activities around train car. But we fucking did it and especially because I was raised on this great band philosophy.

…is metal in the air tonight, can you hear it call…

And then the magic began. My first meeting with Joey De Maio in Copenhagen and our quite long chat at Malmoe, where I talked and talked about Russian fans about which songs they would love to hear and what Manowar should know about Russia. When Eric Adams asked me about how good ticket sales were in Moscow, or when promoters asked me to ask the band about making promo video for upcoming shows I was feeling myself as part of historical moments of this tour. Day by day, show by show the band was getting closer and closer to their first-ever show in Russia. Every day I stood in the hall watching them creating magic again and again and then the day of Saint Petersburg show came. I had all access badge so my friends and I drove straight from the train station to the venue where the concert would take place to help with building the stage all together. Believe me, there is nothing better for a fan than helping band crew members to build the foundation of the very first Manowar show in Russia. It was a real honour to help such professional masters. Lots of translations, lots of different things, lots of work and few hours later the stage was ready…. Silence and tension filled the air… and only screams of the fans behind closed doors told us that there were only a few moments left. And the show began. To stay there and listen to Eric saying country names again and right before the very moment he looked at me and with a  huge smile and scream ‘Russia’ he nailed the truth about Manowar playing in Russia. You can’t compare this moment with anything else.

And then was Moscow, the press conference, the meeting with fans, two more shows. I still remember Jeff Hair’s eyes and another crew members when they saw the angle of the stair by which they had to bring their equipment inside the building ( I’m pretty sure it was and still  is the hardest venue ever for Manowar to unload their equipment). I remember how Joey stopped the show, cause they had to rescue a fan from a second or a third row who fell unconscious during ‘Sign of the Hammer’ song, I still remember my fear that the balcony would fall down, cause whole building was shaking so hard. And then was the second show and a present that the band did first for me, and then for all of the people in the hall . During sound check with words “This is for you”  they began to play ‘Carry on’. That was a royal gift, which later was inserted into the setlist of the show. Moscow was the only city during the whole tour that got ‘Carry On’ and believe me Russian fans still remember it.  Since then, Manowar has played in Moscow lots of times, they did a full Russian tour, but these first shows are still in our  memory and hearts. Just  before the second show in Moscow, Manowar took a photo on a stage with all crew members, sponsors, promoters and us, sadly I can’t find it and I really hope that it is still in the band’s archives and will be used in a new part ‘Manowar History’ book where they will write about Russia. The most funny thing is that it’s the only photo I’ve ever done with the band together.

…Words of power calling to us all

    Holding us together

                        while other kingdoms fall…

It has been twenty years since that event, I have visited over fifty shows at different parts of the world and our red-black “Russian Manowar Brotherhood” flag is one of the most recognizable flags on different band’s videos. The most epic show were in  Longyearbyen at Svalbard over the North polar circle in April 2019. Fans from almost all over the world came there to witness the history, sadly no white bears showed around to join us for a party. But the show itself was like a party of old friends that united together at these northern lands. I remember the show in Sofia 2019 which was my number 50 show and I got my first ever bass string from Joey. But the best thing was not just memories of different shows or occasional meeting with the band or bass strings, the best thing was that I became a part of family of Manowar fans, who travel together from town to town, help each other with everything even when you visit their countries for non – Manowar related topics. This is a real FAMILY. My thanks goes to Manowar, because this band gave us a chance to meet each other and to be the part of a big story called “Manowar”.

                   Alexei (Russia)

#MANOWAR #40thanniversary #manowarriorforlife

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How to participate:
You can share your story and photos on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other social media, or answer to one of MANOWAR’s posts, and include #MANOWAR #40thanniversary #manowarriorforlife
Or you send your contribution to frontrow@manowar.com so we can share it with the world on our various social media pages, and more.

IMPORTANT: Before you participate read the terms and conditions of this contest HERE

Follow MANOWAR on manowar.com, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all tour dates and constant updates.