Backstage, Munich, Germany 8th March 2019
Beast In Black - “From Hell With Love” Tour - Support: Turmion Kätilöt
Munich on a Friday night - a sold-out Backstage, I had braced myself for the worst, but everything went really smooth. Nearly three months ago I saw BEAST IN BLACK live for the first time, as support for NIGHTWISH in Helsinki; when they announced they would do their first headliner tour in 2019 I got really excited and as soon as they announced the tour-data, I got my ticket.
When I arrived at the venue, there was already a long line outdoors and many people asking if someone had a spare-ticket for them. That is a really rare thing. I entered the Werk and the air was already hot and stale, it’s always the same, when the location is sold-out. So it was time to start “standing in the lines” at the cloakroom, the bar, and the restrooms and after the show it’s always the other way around. (You get used to it.) The merch stand was not in its usual place (this only happens when the Backstage is packed to the roof) but I found it in the annex to the Werk and got my shirt and a signed CD, the regular CD and the limited Edition Vinyl’s were already sold-out. This was no surprise for me, the album is No. 6 in German charts at the moment.
Turmion Kätilöt
BEAST IN BLACK had announced the stage-times for the bands previously (I really appreciate that). TURMION KÄTILÖT currently on their “Universal Satan 2018 - 2019 Tour” started exactly at the designated time and so the project “warm-up” got started. Their outfits and make-up was really fantastic and although most of their Industrial Metal songs are in Finnish, they performed several in English and translated the titles of their Finnish Songs for the audience. The guys were really entertaining, especially when the vocalists said something in Finnish and afterwards told the audience something like “Oh I was telling our sound guy, that I love his sexy…”
The pit was a big party and the venue packed to the roof although only few people knew the band. Many in the audience highly appreciated the double-growls by MC Raaka Pee and Shaq-U and the band was rewarded by raised fists and big applause. It is likely, they won over several new fans in Germany.
Setlist
01. Grand Ball
02. Love Is Dead
03. Verta ja lihaa
04. Minä määrään
05. Tirehtööri
06. U.S.C.H!
07. Faster Than God
08. Helvetin torvet
09. Sikiö
10. Pyhä maa
11. Lataa ja varmista
Beast in Black
Then it was time for the crew to get the stage ready for BEAST IN BLACK. The guys were quite busy setting illuminated skulls on the pillars of iron-fences and building up screens with fantastic artwork from the album in the background. The microphone stands were draped with chains and decorated with skulls, too. The band had really put some thought into the stages-attire although it means a lot more stuff to ship and to be built up and down by the crew. It was the perfect setting for what was taking place next: A sheer blast!
The whole venue was in a “party-mood” already, nobody could have stopped them, especially as there were not only the “usual Metal heads” but also many new and younger people in the audience. Drummer Atte Palokangas was the first one to enter the dark illuminated stage and greeted frenetically by the audience, then the rest of the band appears and started the show with ‘Cry Out For A Hero’ the energy the band shows on stage immediately transmitted to the audience and the band is rewarded by jumping and rocking people all over the venue. Compared to their show I Helsinki, the mix and the sound was a lot better and the lightshow suited the mood of the songs the whole evening.
From the first song till the end of the show vocalist Yannis Papadopoulos obviously had to fight technical problems with his audio-set and disappeared several times behind the screens, but this did not disturb the good mood on stage and in the audience for the musicians filled the gap with fantastic solos or drummer Atte threw his sticks in the air and caught them just in time to continue his unique and very intriguing groove. After the first few songs Yannis greeted the audience telling us, that the whole band was thrilled to see 1,500 smiles in the room, that he spoke the truth was visible the whole evening, sometimes it seemed, that the band couldn’t grasp that the Germany appreciated every song of the setlist and the whole performance as such.
Usually the press is allowed in front of the stage during the first two or three songs and most bands start posing a lot in the beginning and then go back to normal. The picture stuck in my mind since Helsinki is, that this is not the case with BEAST IN BLACK. The whole 90 minutes the band literally kept in touch with the audience and each other by making grimaces, playing in formations posing, asking questions and making comments. They really had a grip on the whole venue. Anton Kabanen, mastermind of the band, delivered solo after solo, perfectly matched with Atte’s drums and Mate Molnar demonstrated that a bass-player can deliver fantastic grooves in a perfect setting. Kasperi Heikkine,n who played with U.D.O previously, is a mastermind at the guitar and convinced me, that you can entertain the front-rows with grimaces and gestures over a whole show, while delivering perfect guitar solos.
The setlist was a good mix of songs from the debut album ‘Berserker’ and the new album ‘From Hell with Love’. Although the new album was published only a few weeks ago, many in the audience knew the lyrics by heart. It was difficult to make out, who had more fun this evening: the band or the audience. Vocalist Yannis confirmed this by telling us, that the audience was so fantastic for he was running out of breath and running out of words to describe what was going on and that the band appreciates the audience helping out by singing with the band.
‘Born Again’ was the highlight on the regular setlist followed by ‘Ghost in the rain’, the only ballad that evening, that offered the audience and the band to catch some breath and prepare for the final songs of the show. The venue was a sea of lights (these days mainly the flashlights of mobile phones.) and the lightshow perfectly illuminated the mood of the song. After ‘Die by blade’ the band disappeared and the crowd loudly demanded “BEAST IN BLACK”, a rather rare thing for Munich, usually it’s only the shout for encore.
What happened when the band came back on stage was really “Crazy, Mad, Insane”, the musicians wearing masks that reminded me of the Ninja Turtles and Yannis wearing a straightjacket and glasses with an electronic latter band “crazy, mad, insane”. The whole performance was pure fun. BEAST IN BLACK at their best. Then Kasperi took over the microphone, telling the audience that he had been performing here several times in the past, but never had seen the Backstage like this and that he had to entertain us, while Yannis got off the straightjacket and change to his normal dress. As soon as Yannis was back, the show went on with highlight after highlight.
First was their current single ‘Sweet true lies’ and when it was time for the chorus the audience was a lot louder than the band. ‘From Hell With Love’ marked the end of the regular setlist. But the audience shouted for encore and called out for “BEAST IN BLACK” once more. When drummer Atte came on stage with a micro and a bottle of beer, he was greeted cheerfully by the crowd. He is really a cool guy, telling us, that he would now try out “this rock star thing”, placing his feet on the steps and posing a bit, while smiling at the crowd. Then he told us, that he wanted to ask us a question, but he was interrupted by the audience shouting for ‘Blind And Frozen’, so he waited until he had the ear of the audience again and asked us, if we wanted some more.
The audience took this as the signal for going wild by shouting and applauding. Yannis came back and ironically scolded Atte for taking his place and poking fun at the common rock star attitudes. The encore started with ‘No surrender’, then Yannis told the audience, that he had heard the demand for a certain song with “Blind…” and the band started the final with ‘Blind and Frozen’ and the party got wilder rand wilder. ‘End of the Wold’ marked the end of the show, Yannis giving all his voice could give and delivering a perfect performance. Then it was time for the “band and crowd” pic and the promise to come back to Munich as soon as possible.
Summary: a perfect evening with a band and a crowd who were up for a big party and having a good time.
Setlist
01. Intro
02. Cry out for a Hero
03. Unlimited Sin
04. Beast In Black
05. Eternal Fire
06. This Is War
07. The Fifth Angel
08. True Believer
09. Heart of Steel
10. Born Again
11. Repentless
12. Ghost in the Rain
13. Die by the Blade
14. Crazy, Mad, Insane
15. Sweet True Lies
16. From Hell with Love
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17. No Surrender
18. Blind and Frozen
19. End of the World
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Light: 10
Sound: 10
Total: 10 / 10
All Pictures by Munich Vampire
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