Two heavy metal music fans at a German nursing home sneaked off Friday to attend the Wacken Open Air festival in northern Germany before they were found in the wee hours of the morning, according to broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Authorities were alerted that the men were missing from the nursing home Friday, DW reported. During the search, the men were located about 3 a.m. Saturday at the festival in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, the broadcaster said.
A police spokeswoman told DW that the men were "disoriented and dazed," but reluctant to leave the four-day music festival. Police, though, escorted them home via a taxi and a patrol car, the broadcaster said.
"They obviously liked the metal festival," police spokeswoman Merle Neufeld told public broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk. "The care home quickly organized a return transport after police picked them up."
DW noted that the popular heavy metal festival was sold out with 75,000 expected to attend over the course of four days. The broadcaster added that the festival is often inundated with mud, but heatwave this past weekend saw organizers warn fans about fire and dust risks.
CBS News wrote that festival organizers did not specifically address the elderly heavy metal nursing home escapees, but its official Twitter account made sure it recognized its older fans "because you're never too old to rock."
Some on social media celebrated the ageless tradition of heavy metal on Wacken's Twitter page.
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