I was there as well with Hawk and Carnut
kickass: ), here are my late impressions :
POWERVICE : Very nice suprise! Early Maiden copycat that truly kick ass, good to see young guys talented for that kind of NWOBHM. But they need more influences than just early Maiden...
WOTAN : I love epic metal but I can't get into Wotan. Why? I don't know, but they do nothing for me. The Manowar cover featuring Ross the Boss was pretty cool though... for a cover. This Roman helmet the guy wore towards the end of the gig also was worth a look ahah.
DARKNESS : Typical 80's german thrash metal close to early Kreator. Cool. But nothing groundbreaking either IMO. 45 minutes of ferocious thrash well executed, not bad for a last minute reunion. They played the first album in its entirety.
AXEHAMMER : Decent/good US metal, but at times the guys looked like they were in rehearsals. Not the best thing to do on stage
The singer has no charisma at all and he seemed lost all the time... Uh?
GRIM REAPER : So called Grim Reaper, more like Steve Grimmet and friends actually. Still sounded ok, but it was NOT Grim Reaper by any means, without Nick Bowcott it can't be. Or let's call Dickinson solo band Iron Maiden while we're at it
On the top of that Steve's voice has become generic over the years and he can't hit the notes he used to. Once again it was not bad overall, but a disapointment nevertheless.
setlist :
Rock You To Hell
Night Of The Vampire
Lust For Freedom
Wrath Of The Ripper
Rock Me Till I Die
Fear No Evil
Dead On Arrival
Matter Of Time
Wasted Love
See You In Hell
PARADOX : Good set but I expected a bit more from them, maybe because of that fuzzy sound. I don't understand the choice of having 3 guitar players, it doesn't add anything, more the contrary. The good news is that Charly has recovered from his illness, at least he looks healthy.
The stuff from the Heresy album is the best they have ever written IMO (it's a thrash classic in my book), maybe they could have focused more on that one.
In the end they also played a cover of "Hell bent for Leather" with the Exciter vocalist, pretty cool.
setlist :
Paradox
Death, Screaming And Pain
Heresy
Search For Perfection
Collision Course
Kill That Beast
Crusaders Revenge
Pray To The Godz Of Wrath
Overshadowed
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Hell Bent for Leather (JUDAS PRIEST)
SOLITUDE AETURNUS : I had been waiting for this! Awesome performance by the doomsters and Robert Lowe's voice is a gift from heaven, leading to 1 hour of epic doom pleasure. Too bad the hyperactive John Perez overshadows a bit too much Lowe to my taste (I like frontmen being "in command" on stage), and I would have signed right away for 2 hours more of SA. This band is just unique! But they HAVE to play some stuff from
Beyond the Crimson Horizon next time
setlist :
Haunting The Obscure
Days Of Prayer
Sightless (new song)
The 9th Day: Awakening
Phantoms
Scent of Death (new song)
Concern
Opaque Divinity
Lament
Destiny Falls To Ruin
Falling
ROSS THE BOSS : Huge reaction from the audience, as expected. The Manowar cover band is pretty good, not on the same level as Manowar but still good, and Ross is of course the one and only Manowar guitar player. The singer has a powerful voice I must admit, but he lacks the special magic only Eric Adams has, for example during the calm and emotional parts.
Anyway, awesome setlist focused on the early epic stuff!!!
setlist :
Manowar
Death Tone
Shell Shock
Gloves of Metal
Secrets of Steel
Thor (the powerhead)
Mountains
Army of the Immortals
Kill with Power
Hail to England
Bridge of Death
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Hail and Kill
Battle Hymn
EXCITER : They came to rock (to thrash?
), and they did. I've never been disappointed by Exciter live performances. Nothing to add, John and the guys always rule!
setlist :
Massacre (new song)
The Dark Command
Rain Of Terror
Victim Of Sacrifice
Pounding Metal
Immortal Fear (new song)
Heavy Metal Maniac
BlackWitch
Violator
Evil Omen (new song)
Aggressor
Violence & Force
Rising Of The Dead
Long Live The Loud
RIOT : I had low exceptations for Riot but they managed to convince me! Great gig, great sound, great guitar duo and great (not so) new singer! Nothing against DiMeo but in my opinion Mike Tirelli's voice fits much more Riot than DiMeo's, what a gem! Even the songs from the Tony Moore era were well sung, for a change.
They could have done without the long solos though, these guys have so many albums it's almost indecent not to play a few more songs. Apart from that and Tirelli not being perfectly at ease in the band yet (you can guess he's replacing someone else), Mark Reale & co showed that Riot is still alive and kickin'.
I can't complain when "Johnny's Back Again", "Outlaw", "Tokyo Rose" and "Rock City" are back in the setlist
setlist :
Narita
Johnny's Back Again
Twist of Fate
Outlaw
Altar of the King
Flight of the Warrior
Tokyo Rose
Rock City
The Man
Glory Calling
medley Road Racin' / solos
Hard Lovin' Man
Burn (DEEP PURPLE)
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Angel Eyes
Swords and Tequila
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Thundersteel
Warrior
A few pics :
http://www.powermetal.de/content/konzert/images-924.html
http://www.detankvisuals.nl/index.php?categoryid=3&p17_sectionid=128
http://www.metal-inside.de/dyn/galerie.jsp?id=928
).
