Kamelot - Zoetermeer 2005

Kotipelto

Music
After a beautiful synth intro rolling drums set in. They are altered by melody lines of the guitar and synths. Timo Kotipelto (vocals) is sometimes supported by Tuomas Wäjnölä (guitar) or Lauri Porra (bass) and they sound great together. These extra vocals add depth to their songs. This small man has a large voice, he can hit the high notes just as well as the low ones.  During the performance some solos were given. First it was Tuomas’s turn to show what he’s got, he gave a great solo even taking a sip of his beer while doing so. Next up was lauri on the bass and he impressed us al with a fantastic solo with some serious slapping, while he was playing the ‘Wilhelmus’ (the Dutch national anthem).  They performed a Stratovarius cover of ‘Hunting high and low’ which was recognised by the entire audience and was thus very well received and many sang along with their last song ‘Black Diamond’. The sound was fine although sometimes the bass was a bit too loud so you could actually feel it.

Performance
Even though they were the first band of the evening they did seem to have some fans in the audience. Timo is quite small but he makes up for this with big movements, when he wants the audience to clap along he makes such a big clapping movements, it looks as though he is in the gym. While singing you can see the tension in his face, he is giving it his all. Sometimes he announced the songs while singing which was quite funny. They immediately set the tone for an intimate and fun evening. During the concert more and more people seemed to get in to the music and enjoy them selves. The lights were fine, they didn’t catch the eye especially but they were just there to support the show.

Rating
Music 7
Performance 7
Sound 7
Light 7
Total  7

Epica

With the release of their new album coming up Epica has to proof that they won’t let anybody down and are still the band we have all know for quite some time now. Their performances are a mixture of the ‘old’ and new songs some are received  with the anticipation of hearing something familiar others with the excitement of getting an inside view of the new album.

Music
Simone (vocals) didn’t sing as well as she could even though she had some great strong notes Even thought the rest of the band sounded fine they just didn’t have the power they normally do. This is of course a combination of presentation, lights and sound but still, this tour seemed to have had its effect on the band.

Performance
Mark (guitar/grunts/screams) seemed to enjoy himself on stage, even standing on the monitors at the side of the stage to play for the people who were standing on the side, completely making the day of a Mongoloid boy who was standing there. Coen  (synths) had a personal butler on the side of the stage brining him a beer every once in a while so he was quite happy, banging his head as if his life was depending on it. He had some contact with the audience though, showing us that we had to clap along and such. Simone is always a great sight to see with her long red hair and sexy outfits but it was a pity that she hardly made real contact with the audience. The light of the Epica shows is usually not that great but tonight it was worse than normally. There was some light on the stage but the band members had to find their way into the light instead of the other way around. Front light was completely missing and they al had a dark face. At the side of the stage were two moving heads but these only lit them up to their chests. It was a shame for the light could have really added some extra fire to this show which they could have used.

Rating
Music 7
Performance 6
Sound 6
Light 5
Total  6 (6,2)

Kamelot

The band who had to cancel the “Epica” tour is finally back. With their new record “The Black Halo” these American guys have some great plans. Which explains why people had been waiting almost the entire afternoon in front on the venue and an atmosphere of excitement was hanging in the air this evening.

Music
A beautiful and impressive intro opened the show of Kamelot, after this they were ready to go and show us what they are made of. Overall the sound during their performance was fine but most of the time the vocals were tuned in really soft so you could hardly hear Roy Khan (vocals) which was a shame for he is a good singer. He can put his emotions into his singing and you can hear that.  When Casey Grillo (drums) gave us a solo he mixed in some kind of Latin rhythm making us all swing. He also showed us he knows how to handle his drum sticks turning them between his fingers so fast you’d think he’d have to drop them but he never did, he did such tricks during the entire performance. In their songs the synths add some great melody lines, brining the songs to life. Twice during the entire performance background vocalist Elizabeth appeared on stage and sung a line or two after which she disappeared again, it did give these two songs an extra dimension but only for a really short time though. Unexpectedly they played a mixed set with songs from the “Epica” album, some well known ones from “Karma”(Forever) and new songs from the “Black Halo” album. 

Performance
Kamelot had a great light show; it added an extra factor to the show. During ‘Nights of Arabia’ there were circling suns projected on several screens. They had a huge backdrop with their name and the faces of two beautiful ladies which were also lit during this song as if they were playing a role in it. Talking about beautiful ladies, Elizabeth wore different dresses during each appearance and they looked great even though we only got to see them for such a short time. There was front light so we could see the faces of the band members, the only person who was playing in the dark was Oli Palotai (synths), we could hear him but hardly see him. It is great to see Roy sing for his face is showing tension and emotion. During ‘Don’t you cry’ he went over to the bar and stood on it, causing the entire audience to turn around, when the song was finished he returned to the stage bringing over a beer for Thomas Yongblood (guitar).
Simone from Epica was to join Roy for ‘The Haunting’, but when it was time for her to make her appearance someone else came on to the stage…. It was Coen from Epica wearing a red wig, a Kamelot girly with two oranges under it and lipstick. He sang along (well, actually it was Simone singing off stage) and the entire band was laughing their heads off. After a while Coen started head banging but his wig flew off, then he threw his oranges into the audience and stage dived after them. By this time Simone came on stage to finish the song herself. There was another Epica appearance during the Kamelot performance by Mark, this time without his guitar he sang grunted and screamed along with Roy on the song ‘March of Mephist’. It was great to see for he was really into the music and Roy and he had great contact. All in all it seemed to be a great and fun ending to a fantastic tour leaving everybody with nothing but beautiful memories.

Rating
Music 8
Performance 7
Sound 7
Light 8
Total  8 (7,6)