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Essigfabrik, Cologne, Germany
15th December 2010
Lordi, The Dogma, Kaledon

The sun was shining, and if it weren’t for the snow everywhere and the freezing temperatures you could’ve easily lend yourself to the illusion of having a late summer’s day. Only too fast you were woken from that dream when stepping outside and getting into the problems with traffic and public transports this weather conditions cause. That might have been the reason for some to reconsider travelling to Cologne for the show of LORDI. The venue turned out to be well filled though anyway.


Kaledon

The history of KALEDON began in 1998 when it was founded by Alex Mele, who’s been joined afterwards by one member at a time. The band recorded four demos before ‘Chapter I: The Destruction ‘of the “Legend Of The Forgotten Realm” tale, started in 2002. The release attracted a lot of attention and in the following the band began touring a lot. Come 2010 the band has released the sixth chapter of the saga, entitled ‘The Last Night On The Battlefield’. KALEDON is Marco Palazzi (vocals), Alex Mele (lead guitar), Tommy Nemesio (rhythm guitar), Daniele Fuligni (keyboards), Paolo Lezziroli (bass) and David Folchitto (drums). http://www.kaledon.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/kaledonband



Music & Performance
The first band the audience should be watching this evening was KALEDON, bringing a powerful chain of beats and chugging riffs with their opening cut. Quite perfect for a warm-up, but the audience wasn’t that much into it yet. Second one ‘The New Kingdom’ started off slowly but gained momentum in the process, kind of exploding that way coinciding with the band’s movements up there! ‘Surprise Impact’ got introduced with a swirling compound of drums segueing into pounding builds topped by melodic riffs. The set already ended after the fifth track by the name of ‘Land Of Warriors’. I couldn’t really get something for myself out of this performance, really and it seemed that parts of the audience felt the same. Solid it was though!

Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 6
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 6.3 / 10




The Dogma

The seed growing to be THE DOGMA eventually, was planted already in 1999 at a funeral. The actual formation of the band dates back to 2001 which is the same year they started playing their first shows. 2002 saw the release of the band’s demo ‘Symphonies Of Love And Hate’. The first album wouldn’t be released before 2006 under the title ‘Black Roses’. The second one ‘A Good Day To Die’ followed it quickly one year later. The release of the third instalment ‘Black Widow’ is supported by touring as one support act of Finnish monster rockers LORDI. THE DOGMA is Daniele Santori (vocals), Cosimo Binetti (guitar), Stefano Smeriglio (keyboards, piano), Marco Bianchella (drums) and Giacomo Astorri (bass). http://www.thedogma.net/ / http://www.myspace.com/thedogma2006



Music & Performance
The stage hands quickly changed the setting for the second band of the evening, coming from Italy as well but dedicated to a less heroic and fantastic approach to their music. The first track brought to us was an orchestral choir inflicted piece, releasing quite some steam onto the audience who the reaction was more of a reaction than with the previous band. The next one abandoned the bordering on classical music in favour of a classic metal style with singer Daniele posing quite a lot. In the following he tested the acceptance for a different style of music in asking if they would like a little disco music or even hip hop. Don’t you push it Daniele; hip hop was a bit too mush ;) Well, the alternative, ‘Wicked Angels’, tasted a lot better for anyone. The next one ‘Eternal Embrace’ was a loud dedication to deceased icon Ronny James Dio before a new song followed with ‘The Bride Is Back’. I must say I enjoyed that show very much. It had passion, well-executed music and a participating audience.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7 / 10




Lordi

Ever since they won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006, Finnish Hard Rock band LORDI are talked about everywhere, however the concept of LORDI was already devised in 1992 while the band wasn’t formed until 1996. Their first single ‘Would you Love a Monsterman’, became a hit in Finland, followed by the debut ‘Get Heavy’. One more album, ‘The Monsterican Dream’ (2004), followed before their performance at the Eurovision Song Contest changed everything. Their third coup ‘The Arockalypse’, released that same year, went straight to the top of the Finnish albums charts and into the Top 10 in Germany (#7). Ever since, LORDI enjoyed a growing popularity. Following that, they played a lot of acclaimed concerts i.e. at Ozzfest 2007 or as support of TYPE O NEGATIVE. Their latest album ‘Babez For Breakfast’ is available since September. LORDI is Mr. Lordi (vocals), Amen (guitar), Ox (bass), Awa (keys), and Otus (drums, backing vocals). http://www.lordi.fi/ / http://www.myspace.com/lordi



Music & Performance
Anyone at the venue now had to give it plenty of patience, for the break between the last support gig and the main act felt like a little eternity and more than once chants were demanding for LORDI to come up on stage already but nothing happened. Finally, the lights went down and everything got drenched in blue for the creepy start of the show with the intro of ‘SGC5: It’s a boy’. The stage decorations were mostly the same as on the ‘Deadache’ tour with the green, blood-smeared tiles on the stage’s rears. But the death chair was definitely new that was for sure. The costumes had undergone just little alterations if memory serves about the last tour. Amen now looked even more like a mummy and Ox’s dress had a less raw feel to it, at least as long as he keeps on wearing that mask of his. A new face could also be spotted in the crew with the new drummer Otus, and indeed he’s one hell of a creature. So let’s kick it off with the title track to the new album ‘Babez For Breakfast’ which met with excitement instantly here with the crowd.



On the next tune it already got very hot with ‘Dynamite Tonight’. Unfortunately, it didn’t reach my fingers. Still felt like icicles. Upon doing a little speech before ‘My Heaven Is Your Hell’ Mr Lordi’s mic started having dropouts which caused him to righteously ask “What the fuck is wrong with the microphone”, but then again you never know if he was just fooling us right. Afterwards, we had that ugly Quasimodo guy dragged on stage by Ox who eventually ripped off a hand with the chains. With ‘Non Stop Nite’ fading also Awa got her little solo and later on, finally, the electric chair would be relieved from serving as mere decoration object with a roasting job. In-between the ever entertaining acting, however, the motto was party to melodic Rock’n’ Roll until you dropped. No matter if the monsters played stuff like ‘It Snows In Hell’ or ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ the mood was up on a peek and an encore was mandatory long before anyone would come to ask for one. As always, it’s been a great pleasure to watch Lodi playing; not just because of the music but because there’s always something happening that you wouldn’t expect. But guys for the next time we definitely need an all new stage decoration ok?



Setlist
01. SCG5: It's a boy!
02. Babez For Breakfast
03. Dynamite Tonight
04. My Heaven Is Your Hell
05. Bite It Like A Bulldog
06. Non Stop Nite
07. Rock Police
08. It Snows In Hell
09. Who’s Your Daddy?
10. Not The Nicest Guy
11. Grany’s Gone Crazy
12. Blood Red Sandman
13. Evilove
14. Dr.Sin Is In
15. Bringing Back The Balls To Heavy Metal
16. Devil Is A Looser
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17. They Only Come Out At Night
18. Hard Rock Hallelujah
19. Would You Love A Monsterman

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8.3 / 10



All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography)
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