Epica - Amsterdam 2007

Written by Paul Kisner Sunday, 28 October 2007 17:44

Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
26th October 2007
Epica, Delain

A sold out Melkweg would open the doors to host two Dutch female fronted metal bands tonight. The recently rebuilt Max hall has a capacity of 1450. Epica just released their new album, The Divine Conspiracy, is touring around Europe, and will visit Mexico and Colombia next month. Delain, a young but successful new band is supporting them for a few shows. Before the opening of the doors, a long row of people were standing outside. And as usual: security had a difficult day by stopping the pushing crowd.

Delain

Delain was formed by Martijn Westerholt (ex-Within Temptation) and recorded an album with a lot of famous metal musicians from Within Temptation, Nightwish, Epica, Leaves’ Eyes and more. Together with singer Charlotte Wessels they formed a live band to perform their 2006 debut album Lucidity.

Music
The quality of the music was good, and Charlottes vocals were great. The single ‘See Me In Shadow’ still feels a bit lonely without the vocals of Liv Kristine Espenæs-Krull, but that’s what happens all the time when you record an album with guest musicians. The band told us after the first song they all had the flu, which was hardly a problem. the quality of the sound was horrible. There wasn’t a problem during the first few songs, but after that they had to stop because of technical problems. The audiotape was broken and the microphone of Charlotte made a noise several times so we couldn’t hear her. Charlotte told this was the first time it happened during a concert. It took minutes to solve the problem. During these minutes, we sang Happy Birthday for one of the (ashamed) fans at the front. Charlotte was able to entertain the crowd, which shows us her professional attitude: the crowd waited patiently. But after only one song, the audiotape was broken again.

Performance
They are experienced in performing and making contact with each other and the audience. When they played the third song ‘The Gathering’ the audience got in the right mood and had a good time. Not bad for a support act. Because of all the technical problems they had to skip ‘No Compliance’ and they would have done the same with the debut single ‘Frozen’, if Ad Sluijter (guitars) from Epica wasn’t performing with them. Ad Sluijter was one of the guest musicians on the Lucidity album, so they performed the final song together. It was more of an eye catcher and something to make the show less boring, than it was because of the musical value. Sluijters performance was great to hear, but it could have been done without him.
After all: the band seemed to be more energized than before. But the technical problems were too annoying to call it a ‘good’ performance.

Setlist
01. Silhouette of a Dancer
02. Shattered
03. The Gathering
04. See me in Shadow
05. Sever
06. Sleepwalkers Dream
07. Frozen (featuring Ad Sluijter)

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 3
Light : 6
Total: 6 (6,2)

Epica

After The Phantom Agony, Consign To Oblivion and The Score, Epica recently released their fourth album: The Divine Conspiracy. Press and fans are enthusiastic about the new album, and their live performances seem to be even better. Last week I saw them at Metal Female Voices Fest, and I was curious if they would perform as good as last week.

Music
Epica didn’t had the sound troubles like the support act, and all seemed to go very well. A lot of new songs and a few older, all time favourite, songs. Epica hasn’t found a new drummer yet, and recorded the album with Ariën van Weesenbeek from God Dethroned. On stage they played with Koen Herfst, an excellent drummer!
Grunts and screams by Mark were as usual: good, but not the best. However he played and performed excellent. Simone’s vocals were better than ever before. Her voice was fabulous. During the two ballads they played (‘Chasing The Dragon’ and ‘Safeguard To Paradise’) it was very clear she has grown more and more during the years. Never heard her sing so well before. And even more important: she knows how to put the right emotions in her voice. The bass was a bit too loud.

Performance
The band wasn’t as nervous as their new-album performances last week. They had fun with each other and with the crowd. Nothing felt over-rehearsed or forced. The crowd responded with the same attitude: having a great time, and enjoying the show. It was like two batteries recharging each other. The songs they played were in the right balance between soft and heavy, old and new, grunts and clear vocals.
The show was decorated by fireworks during six songs. It looked great but was not that original. During the break, after ‘The Phantom Agony’, a wedding proposal took place on the stage. When he went down on his knees and she responded with a ‘yes’ the crowd gave them a big applause. The band came back on and congratulated the couple. The show continued with ‘Sancta Terra’, also from the new album. During the Death cover ‘Crystal Mountain’ Simone had a moment of rest: the song was done by the screams and grunts of Mark. The head banging of ‘Crystal Mountain’ continued during the final song: ‘Consign To Oblivion’. A big final applause and this great show was over.

Setlist
01. Indigo (intro)
02. The Obsessive Devotion
03. Sensorium
04. Menace of Vanity
05. Chasing The Dragon
06. Never Enough
07. Cry For The Moon
08. Safeguard To Paradise
09. Blank Infinity
10. Fools of Damnation
11. Seif al Din
12. Façade of Reality
13. The Phantom Agony
14. Sancta Terra
15. Crystal Mountain
16. Consign To Oblivion

Rating

Music: 9

Performance: 9

Light: 8

Sound: 8

Total: 9 (8,7)