I saw Manowar, Rhapsody, and HolyHell Thurs evening in Philadelphia.
The show was slated for 8 pm, and HolyHell took the stage at 7:59! Impressive. I've included the set lists in the review, so skip it if you don't want to know them.
The opening band was the female fronted HolyHell
HolyHell
Set List
---------
Original Song
Original Song (Angels Above?)
Wings of Destiny (Rhapsody cover)
Phantom of the Opera (w/ Eric Adams)
Rising Force (Yngwie Malmsteen cover)
Not much to say. They weren't bad. The two original songs were a little slow, but decent. I liked the second one. The Rhapsody cover was also slow, but obviously worked well given the audience. Phantom was excellent, showing off vocalist Maria's pipes. Actually, Adams really blew me away with that song, because he sang it so well. Very impressive. HH did very well with Rising Force. It was a high energy song, and showed that they can rock. Then again, any guitarist is going to look a little pale in comparision to Yngwie. Maria's vocals reminded me of an underpowered Doro Pesche. Pretty good, but needing a little more force.
HH played for about 25 minutes.
Rhapsody
After a short break, Rhapsody came on. I like the band, own most of the albms, but never was THAT into them. However, they played a very tight set. The step up in musical talent from HolyHell was astounding, and HH was decent in that regard. Fabio Leone's vocals were perfect, hitting the soft and high notes, and being generally unintelligable, as good Italian metal vocalists should be.
My only major gripe about Rhapsody (other than not playing Rage of the Winter) was the use of piped in choruses. Not one band member sang the chorus to any song. Instead, they used recordings to accompany Fabio. I'd rather have heard them with no extras than use taped backgrounds, giving some choruses a karaoke feel. It cheapened it a little for me, even though they were still very good. Rhapsody played for about an hour.
Oh, Fabio told us that we were the "best audience they've seen". Uh huh.
Set List
-----------
The Dark Secret
Unholy war cry
Fabio speaks
Wisdom of the kings
Village of Dwarves
Erian's white book
Bass Solo
Drum Solo
Dawn of victory
Lamente Erocio (Italian)
Nightfall on Grey Mountains
Encore
March of the swordmaster
Emerald Sword
After a very long break, Manowar finally came out. I had seen them once before, but I was still impressed this time around. Adams can still hit every high note, low note every growl, and every scream. The man just has an incredible range and vocal stamina. The rest of the band was impressive as well, though as usual, Joey DeMaio was a little too into his bass solos. He also got in the typical Manowar rant (we're the only true band, everyone else are pussies, etc). Heh. It wouldn't be a Manowar show without it, right.
They played a nice range of songs. I have some favorites that were skipped, but they have a huge catalog. I wouldn't have minded another song instead of a solo, but I can't complain. The highlight of the show was the end, which starts with the slow intro to Hail and Kill. You could see the crowd shifting, as the mosh pits were being readied. From there, they ended the set with four fast, aggessive songs, and the crowd was going wild. Overall, they played for about 90 minutes.
Manowar
Manowar
Brothers of Metal
Call to Arms
Guitar Solo
Kings of Metal
Sign of the Hammer
Bass Solo
Warriors of the World
Heart of Steel
Hail and Kill
Outlaw
Into the House of Death
The Power
Encore
Black Wind, Fire and Steel
Overall, an enjoyable high energy show, with three good bands.
Steve in Philly
The show was slated for 8 pm, and HolyHell took the stage at 7:59! Impressive. I've included the set lists in the review, so skip it if you don't want to know them.
The opening band was the female fronted HolyHell
HolyHell
Set List
---------
Original Song
Original Song (Angels Above?)
Wings of Destiny (Rhapsody cover)
Phantom of the Opera (w/ Eric Adams)
Rising Force (Yngwie Malmsteen cover)
Not much to say. They weren't bad. The two original songs were a little slow, but decent. I liked the second one. The Rhapsody cover was also slow, but obviously worked well given the audience. Phantom was excellent, showing off vocalist Maria's pipes. Actually, Adams really blew me away with that song, because he sang it so well. Very impressive. HH did very well with Rising Force. It was a high energy song, and showed that they can rock. Then again, any guitarist is going to look a little pale in comparision to Yngwie. Maria's vocals reminded me of an underpowered Doro Pesche. Pretty good, but needing a little more force.
HH played for about 25 minutes.
Rhapsody
After a short break, Rhapsody came on. I like the band, own most of the albms, but never was THAT into them. However, they played a very tight set. The step up in musical talent from HolyHell was astounding, and HH was decent in that regard. Fabio Leone's vocals were perfect, hitting the soft and high notes, and being generally unintelligable, as good Italian metal vocalists should be.
My only major gripe about Rhapsody (other than not playing Rage of the Winter) was the use of piped in choruses. Not one band member sang the chorus to any song. Instead, they used recordings to accompany Fabio. I'd rather have heard them with no extras than use taped backgrounds, giving some choruses a karaoke feel. It cheapened it a little for me, even though they were still very good. Rhapsody played for about an hour.
Oh, Fabio told us that we were the "best audience they've seen". Uh huh.
Set List
-----------
The Dark Secret
Unholy war cry
Fabio speaks
Wisdom of the kings
Village of Dwarves
Erian's white book
Bass Solo
Drum Solo
Dawn of victory
Lamente Erocio (Italian)
Nightfall on Grey Mountains
Encore
March of the swordmaster
Emerald Sword
After a very long break, Manowar finally came out. I had seen them once before, but I was still impressed this time around. Adams can still hit every high note, low note every growl, and every scream. The man just has an incredible range and vocal stamina. The rest of the band was impressive as well, though as usual, Joey DeMaio was a little too into his bass solos. He also got in the typical Manowar rant (we're the only true band, everyone else are pussies, etc). Heh. It wouldn't be a Manowar show without it, right.
They played a nice range of songs. I have some favorites that were skipped, but they have a huge catalog. I wouldn't have minded another song instead of a solo, but I can't complain. The highlight of the show was the end, which starts with the slow intro to Hail and Kill. You could see the crowd shifting, as the mosh pits were being readied. From there, they ended the set with four fast, aggessive songs, and the crowd was going wild. Overall, they played for about 90 minutes.
Manowar
Manowar
Brothers of Metal
Call to Arms
Guitar Solo
Kings of Metal
Sign of the Hammer
Bass Solo
Warriors of the World
Heart of Steel
Hail and Kill
Outlaw
Into the House of Death
The Power
Encore
Black Wind, Fire and Steel
Overall, an enjoyable high energy show, with three good bands.
Steve in Philly
