Halle Gartlage, Osnabrück, Germany21st October 2010
Blind Guardian, Van Canto, Steelwing
The show in Osnabrück was the last one of BLIND GUARDIAN’s German tour before the band went to Sweden, Russia and Spain. But what to expect from a BLIND GUARDIAN show? I have never seen the band before. A friend told me “good Power Metal for Lord of the Rings fans…” Well, I was going to check it out! As support, they brought Swedish STEELWING and German VAN CANTO with them.
Steelwing
STEELWING formed in 2009 under the name SCAVENGER. With their first song recorded they took part in a newcomer’s contest, they won together with another band. The first studio album of the Swedish outfit is called ‘Lord Of The Wasteland’ and came out in this year’s February. STEELWING is Riley (vocals), Robby Rockbag (guitar), Alex Vega (guitar), Skürk (bass) and Oscar (drums). http://www.myspace.com/steelwing
Music & Performance
STEELWING was opening the evening on Osnabrück. The Swedish band has committed itself - with skin and hair in the best sense of words - to the “New Wave of Heavy Metal”. Besides that, they have won the one or another newcomer contest. During the show in Osnabrück, they were delivering songs from their debut album named ‘Welcome to the Wasteland’. Musically and optically, the band brought us back to the good old 80s. Most funny I found the black tight spandex pants in combination with white striped socks and sneakers. All in all, this was a good opening of the evening. You should keep this you band in mind.
Setlist
01. Welcome To The Wasteland
02. Headhunter
03. The Nightwatcher
04. The Illusion
05. Sentinel Hill
06. Roadkill (...Or Be Killed)
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 6.9 / 10
Van Canto
Founded in 2006, the debut album ‘Storm to Come’ of the German band who calls their style “A Cappella Metal” was released the same year. In 2007 the band played several festivals like the Bochum Total and the Rock Harz Festival for example. In the same year, the debut album was re-released via Gun Records. The following time saw the band touring Brazil as well as many German metal festivals. 2008 was marked by the release of their second album ‘Hero’; also including a guest appearance of BLIND GUARDIAN. After switching labels due to their former home closing down, the band started working on their third album ‘Tribe Of Force’, eventually released in 2010. http://www.vancanto.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/vancanto
Music & Performance
VAN CANTO are offering something special in the Metal genre: A-Capella Metal. The band consists only of one person playing an instrument - the drummer - but four male and one female singer. There is no need for any more instruments since the singers are showings such a variety in their vocal abilities that you might hear even the one or other instrument if you did not knew it any better… the missing guitars i.e. are imitated by the singers with their voices. Sounds strange? Indeed! Of course, such kind of music is a matter of taste, but the show of VAN CANTO is pretty impressive anyway! And the audience was definitely impressed! It rarely happens that a support act get such big applause. They even demanded an encore. That’s unusual!
Setlist
01. Lost Forever
02. Wishmaster (NIGHTWISH cover)
03. To Sing A Metal Song
04. Rebellion (GRAVE DIGGER cover)
05. The Mission / Master Of The Puppets (METALLICA cover)
06. Fear Of The Dark (IRON MAIDEN cover)
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 7.5 / 10
Blind Guardian
Following the release of ‘A Twist In The Myth’ in 2006, it has become awfully quiet around veteran formation BLIND GUARDIAN; concerning new studio activities for a new full-length. Instead they were involved with soundtrack work and contributed a special surprise to the video game ‘Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel’. But at the end of July, the long wait for fans was finally over with the release of the new album ‘At The Edge Of Time’, bringing the band back nearer to their musical roots and satisfying those, not entirely satisfied with the aforementioned last album or its predecessor. BLIND GUARDIAN is Hansi Kürsch (vocals), Andre Olbrich (guitars), Marcus Siepen (guitars) and Frederik Ehmke (drums). http://www.blind-guardian.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/blindguardian
Music & Performance
Finally it was time for BLIND GUARDIAN to take us with them on a journey through fantastic and mythic world of legends. So to say they have written the in-official sound track for the Lord of the Rings movies… long before they even existed. The four guys from Krefeld / Germany supported by an additional bass player just started powerful with ‘Sacred Worlds’ and also the fans were singing along any line from the very start. Furthermore, the fans knew exactly what to do, where to scream a song name, where to sing and where to clap without need to tell them. It all culminated at the band’s hymn ‘The Bard’s Song’ which was sung by the fans all alone during long passages. The announcements of singer Hansi (in the meantime he got rid of his long hair) alone were worth the visit of the show. It somehow reminded of a certain comedian… want an example? “I’ve got male admirers! I am excited!” Anyway!
All GUARDIAN fans surely enjoyed the journey through Middle Earth during the evening making the night great and moody. Newer pieces were alternating with old classics. And then, Osnabrück got one song offered which was never played on that tour before: ‘Goodbye My Friend’. During some of the calmer songs such as ‘A Past & Future Secret’, some fires were lit at stage and intensified the mood. The voice of Hansi Kürsch sounded perfect during this evening and supported by a fantastic band, also the orchestral album pieces were perfectly brought on a live stage. The audience was excited and so, the band had to come back for more songs of course after finishing the main set. I am sure there were lots of people listening to their old GUARDIAN records at home and one or another might also consider watching the Lord of the Rings movies once more…
Setlist
01. Sacred Worlds
02. Welcome To Dying
03. Born In A Mourning
04. Nightfall
05. Fly
06. Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill)
07. Time What Is Time
08. Goodbye My Friend
09. A Past And Future Secret
10. Turn The Page
11. Tanelorn (Into the Void)
12. Imaginations From The Other Side
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13. Wheel of Time
14. The Bard's Song - In The Forest
15. Valhalla
16. Mirror Mirror
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 8.2 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography)
Written by Daniela Vorndran in cooperation with Terrorverlag
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