BLIND GUARDIAN / HOLY GRAIL / SEVEN KINGDOMS
Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
December 19, 2010
Although they've done several U.S. tours in the last eight years, any time Blind Guardian
plays within striking distance of home, I pretty much drop everything and hit
the road. So it was on the Sunday before Christmas, when Jen and I logged 5
hours of quality Interstate time in each direction to witness the Krefeld bards'
triumphant return to Atlanta. I had been a bit concerned about attendance
because in 2006, the band performed at the spacious, swank Roxy Theater but
this time were booked at the somewhat smaller, decidedly dingier Masquerade.
Not to worry. The Southeast's metal faithful were out in full force. I've never
seen the Masquerade so crowded. The show was not sold out, but it wasn't far
off either. Nicely done, Atlanta. Now get your butts out to support other live
metal in your community, especially Hoyt Parris's many excellent Pathfinder shows.
For those not familiar with it, the Masquerade is in quite a crappy part of downtown
Atlanta, with abandoned warehouses and sketchy looking passersby at every turn.
This was a problem because, upon arriving at the venue at 3:30 p.m., Jen and I
were disinclined to drive around town, especially with the prospect of 5 more
hours of driving that night. So we walked around a bit instead, visiting perhaps
the most blighted Kroger's grocery store in the whole USA to pick up a ham
sandwich and some Doritos. Then we stood in line outside the venue for a couple
of hours. The wait was somewhat uncomfortable because it was cold (at least by
our wimpy Southerner standards), with temperatures in the 30s and a stiff breeze
chilling our bones. Just before the doors opened, security began checking
people's IDs if they planned on drinking. Jen proclaimed, "I'm not drinking
tonight. I've got too much rocking to do." Ah yes, even two hours of standing
out in the cold could not dampen the spirits of my metal wife. Still, we were
quite pleased when the doors finally opened at 7 and we clambered up the rickety
wooden stairs to the warmth of the "Heaven" room of the Masquerade. Heavy metal
heaven awaited ...
The evening's first band was Florida's Seven Kingdoms. I enjoy their
self-titled disc very much, but went into the show with low expectations given
some less-than-glowing reviews I'd read of their performances earlier in the
tour. Suffice it to say that Seven Kingdoms have learned well from their metal
bootcamp of touring with Blind Guardian for five weeks, because the
tentativeness and awkwardness that marked earlier performances were nowhere to
be seen tonight. Instead, I saw a confident five-piece act basking in the glow
of an incredibly supportive audience (loudly cheering and applauding at every
turn) and delivering a very strong 35-minute set sounding in many respects like
a female-fronted blend of Iced Earth and Blind Guardian. Vocalist Sabrina
Valentine offset her diminutive stature with a booming voice that filled the
hall and rattled the rafters: no crooning diva schtick here, folks. And
guitarist/mainman Camden Cruz wielded his axe with poise and confidence,
allowing himself a smile from time to time at the great crowd reaction.
Valentine remarked that Atlanta is the band's second home and that may be true,
but after their conquering set tonight, it is most surely their eighth kingdom!
Only bummer was that backing vocals were nowhere to be heard and the lead vocals
were a touch too high in the mix, but otherwise the likes of "Somewhere Far
Away" and crushing "Into the Darkness" made believers out of many of the Atlanta
faithful. Keep an eye on this band. Their star is most certainly on the rise,
and they're now battle-tested and ready for the next step..
Setlist: Vengeance by the Sons of a King, Somewhere Far Away, Wolf in Sheep's Clothes,
Into the Darkness, Seven Kingdoms.
After a quick 20-minute changeover, California youngsters Holy Grail came out
and laid waste to the Masquerade with a high-octane, no-frills set of old-school
power and might. Lanky mop-topped singer James Paul Luna was great fun to watch
and listen to, as he headbanged incessantly for the entire 35-minute gig, not
even pausing to belt out his vocal lines. And his stage raps were quite amusing
because of his proclivity to scream every word: "How many VIKING WARRIORS do we
have here, ATLANTAAAAAAAAA?" "Do you want to get your faces ripped off,
ATLANTAAAAAAAAAAA?" "Do you want your brains to melt, ATLANTAAAAAAA?" I suppose
some people might find those mannerisms offputting, but the enthusiasm was
infectious and sincere. More importantly, Holy Grail's set was all killer and no
filler. The barnburners like "Immortal Man" and the closing duo of "My Last
Attack" and "Fight to Kill" were neck-wreckers of the highest order, and the
midtempo cuts "Call of Valhalla" and "Hollow Ground" were nothing short of
superb. I'm afraid Holy Grail was maybe a bit too trad metal in their approach
to appease the Euro power metal loving hordes in attendance tonight, but I
walked away from their performance highly impressed. We are fortunate indeed
that young, hungry new bands like Holy Grail, Striker, Enforcer and so on are
breathing life into this timeless style of metal.
Setlist: Immortal Man, For All Eternity, Call of Valhalla, Crisis in Utopia, Hollow
Ground, My Last Attack, Fight to Kill.
At 9:45, the houselights dimmed once more and Blind Guardian took the stage
to a simply rapturous reception from the Masquerade. Hansi Kursch may now be
sporting a German businessman's haircut, and Marcus Siepen may be going gray,
but the Guardians looked much better tonight than last time I saw them on the
2006 tour. For one thing, none of them were visibly ill, in contrast to last
time, when they were hacking and blowing their noses throughout the entire gig.
For another, they all seemed to be in a good mood tonight, with easy smiles and
more active stage presence than we're accustomed to. Hansi deserves special
praise for having worked on his demeanor as a frontman. Bruce Dickinson he's
not, but he's got a better sense of when and how to lead the crowd than he did
back in the Nightfall / ANATO days, when he seemed absolutely unsure what to do
without a bass guitar around his neck. Better still, Hansi was unbelievably
funny tonight. After the first song, he declared that the band were "positively
shocked" to get such a good reaction, explained that the band were in a hurry
to finish tonight because they eat cake on Sundays, and then started
debating the relative merits of Coca-Cola and Pepsi. When he was introducing
"Nightfall," somebody in the first row yelled something and he hilariously
responded with great earnestness, "It *is* a fantastic song. You're absolutely
right about that, brother." Then he speculated that the front-row guy must be
single, which the guy verified, after which Hansi said, "Don't worry. It will
happen for you. One fine day, your life will be over." So yeah, that kind of
humorous banter peppered the proceedings. Nice.
From a musical standpoint, Blind Guardian unquestionably hit a homerun tonight.
Everything sounded great, from the moody symphonic grandeur of opener "Sacred
Worlds" (a killer opener, low-energy parts notwithstanding) to the euphoric
speed metal of "Welcome to Dying" to the modernish-but-irrepressible "Fly" to
the unexpected mid-set "Into the Storm" (a rarity on this tour) to the sprawling
divine epic strains of "And Then There Was Silence." Everything worked. Sure,
there were backing tapes being flown in, but all elements sounded perfect in
the mix, with the guitars having enough bite and the crowd filling in massive
backing choirs on every tune. I felt chills down my spine during "Lord of the
Rings," before "Cry for Tanelorn" kicked my ass into oblivion. Sure, Hansi
doesn't sing the songs live in the same way that he does in the studio, often
skipping gruff high notes and screams in favor of modified vocal lines that put
less strain on his voice, but he sounded good tonight and kicked in enough
screams to prove that he can still do them, albeit not in abundance. And the
band made the most of the limited lighting rig to provide effective lighting
effects, such as the green hues that bathed the stage during "Bard's Song - Into
the Forest" and the sequential illumination of white lights across the stage
during "Wheel of Time" that actually created a "wheel" effect. Cool.
Two of my favorite moments during the show were the audience participation bits in
"And Then There Was Silence" and "Valhalla." In the former, at the "la la la la"
part before Hansi sings "The nightmare shall be over now/ There's nothing more
to fear," the band dropped out to let the crowd do an endless exuberant
singalong of the "la la la la" part. Spine-tingling. And I could have stood
there all night with Jen and several hundred of our brethren singing over and
over again "Valhaallllaaaaaa / Deliverance / Why've you ever forgotten me?"
Look, the idea that Blind Guardian would play shows in the U.S. at all at this point
in their careers is a total gift. They're immensely successful in their
homeland, and they've all gotta be in their mid-40s, so why would they want to
spend six weeks living in a bus, eating dirt, sleeping in Sam's Club parking
lots, shivering in the cold, and playing in crappy clubs across the USA far away
for their families, all for a few devalued greenbacks? Exactly. They were
here anyway. And I'm so glad I was too. Maybe I didn't get home until 4 a.m. So
what. Maybe I was completely worthless at work the next day. So what. Maybe my
neck hurt for the next two days. I don't care. I got to see Blind Friggin'
Guardian, and didn't need to use my passport to do it. Christmas came early this year ...
Setlist: Sacred Worlds, Welcome to Dying, Born in a Mourning Hall, Nightfall, Fly, Time
Stands Still (At the Iron Hill), This Will Never End, Into the Storm, Lord of
the Rings, Cry for Tanelorn, And Then There Was Silence. Encores: Wheel
of Time, Bard's Song - In the Forest, Valhalla, Mirror Mirror.
Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
December 19, 2010
Although they've done several U.S. tours in the last eight years, any time Blind Guardian
plays within striking distance of home, I pretty much drop everything and hit
the road. So it was on the Sunday before Christmas, when Jen and I logged 5
hours of quality Interstate time in each direction to witness the Krefeld bards'
triumphant return to Atlanta. I had been a bit concerned about attendance
because in 2006, the band performed at the spacious, swank Roxy Theater but
this time were booked at the somewhat smaller, decidedly dingier Masquerade.
Not to worry. The Southeast's metal faithful were out in full force. I've never
seen the Masquerade so crowded. The show was not sold out, but it wasn't far
off either. Nicely done, Atlanta. Now get your butts out to support other live
metal in your community, especially Hoyt Parris's many excellent Pathfinder shows.
For those not familiar with it, the Masquerade is in quite a crappy part of downtown
Atlanta, with abandoned warehouses and sketchy looking passersby at every turn.
This was a problem because, upon arriving at the venue at 3:30 p.m., Jen and I
were disinclined to drive around town, especially with the prospect of 5 more
hours of driving that night. So we walked around a bit instead, visiting perhaps
the most blighted Kroger's grocery store in the whole USA to pick up a ham
sandwich and some Doritos. Then we stood in line outside the venue for a couple
of hours. The wait was somewhat uncomfortable because it was cold (at least by
our wimpy Southerner standards), with temperatures in the 30s and a stiff breeze
chilling our bones. Just before the doors opened, security began checking
people's IDs if they planned on drinking. Jen proclaimed, "I'm not drinking
tonight. I've got too much rocking to do." Ah yes, even two hours of standing
out in the cold could not dampen the spirits of my metal wife. Still, we were
quite pleased when the doors finally opened at 7 and we clambered up the rickety
wooden stairs to the warmth of the "Heaven" room of the Masquerade. Heavy metal
heaven awaited ...
The evening's first band was Florida's Seven Kingdoms. I enjoy their
self-titled disc very much, but went into the show with low expectations given
some less-than-glowing reviews I'd read of their performances earlier in the
tour. Suffice it to say that Seven Kingdoms have learned well from their metal
bootcamp of touring with Blind Guardian for five weeks, because the
tentativeness and awkwardness that marked earlier performances were nowhere to
be seen tonight. Instead, I saw a confident five-piece act basking in the glow
of an incredibly supportive audience (loudly cheering and applauding at every
turn) and delivering a very strong 35-minute set sounding in many respects like
a female-fronted blend of Iced Earth and Blind Guardian. Vocalist Sabrina
Valentine offset her diminutive stature with a booming voice that filled the
hall and rattled the rafters: no crooning diva schtick here, folks. And
guitarist/mainman Camden Cruz wielded his axe with poise and confidence,
allowing himself a smile from time to time at the great crowd reaction.
Valentine remarked that Atlanta is the band's second home and that may be true,
but after their conquering set tonight, it is most surely their eighth kingdom!
Only bummer was that backing vocals were nowhere to be heard and the lead vocals
were a touch too high in the mix, but otherwise the likes of "Somewhere Far
Away" and crushing "Into the Darkness" made believers out of many of the Atlanta
faithful. Keep an eye on this band. Their star is most certainly on the rise,
and they're now battle-tested and ready for the next step..
Setlist: Vengeance by the Sons of a King, Somewhere Far Away, Wolf in Sheep's Clothes,
Into the Darkness, Seven Kingdoms.
After a quick 20-minute changeover, California youngsters Holy Grail came out
and laid waste to the Masquerade with a high-octane, no-frills set of old-school
power and might. Lanky mop-topped singer James Paul Luna was great fun to watch
and listen to, as he headbanged incessantly for the entire 35-minute gig, not
even pausing to belt out his vocal lines. And his stage raps were quite amusing
because of his proclivity to scream every word: "How many VIKING WARRIORS do we
have here, ATLANTAAAAAAAAA?" "Do you want to get your faces ripped off,
ATLANTAAAAAAAAAAA?" "Do you want your brains to melt, ATLANTAAAAAAA?" I suppose
some people might find those mannerisms offputting, but the enthusiasm was
infectious and sincere. More importantly, Holy Grail's set was all killer and no
filler. The barnburners like "Immortal Man" and the closing duo of "My Last
Attack" and "Fight to Kill" were neck-wreckers of the highest order, and the
midtempo cuts "Call of Valhalla" and "Hollow Ground" were nothing short of
superb. I'm afraid Holy Grail was maybe a bit too trad metal in their approach
to appease the Euro power metal loving hordes in attendance tonight, but I
walked away from their performance highly impressed. We are fortunate indeed
that young, hungry new bands like Holy Grail, Striker, Enforcer and so on are
breathing life into this timeless style of metal.
Setlist: Immortal Man, For All Eternity, Call of Valhalla, Crisis in Utopia, Hollow
Ground, My Last Attack, Fight to Kill.
At 9:45, the houselights dimmed once more and Blind Guardian took the stage
to a simply rapturous reception from the Masquerade. Hansi Kursch may now be
sporting a German businessman's haircut, and Marcus Siepen may be going gray,
but the Guardians looked much better tonight than last time I saw them on the
2006 tour. For one thing, none of them were visibly ill, in contrast to last
time, when they were hacking and blowing their noses throughout the entire gig.
For another, they all seemed to be in a good mood tonight, with easy smiles and
more active stage presence than we're accustomed to. Hansi deserves special
praise for having worked on his demeanor as a frontman. Bruce Dickinson he's
not, but he's got a better sense of when and how to lead the crowd than he did
back in the Nightfall / ANATO days, when he seemed absolutely unsure what to do
without a bass guitar around his neck. Better still, Hansi was unbelievably
funny tonight. After the first song, he declared that the band were "positively
shocked" to get such a good reaction, explained that the band were in a hurry
to finish tonight because they eat cake on Sundays, and then started
debating the relative merits of Coca-Cola and Pepsi. When he was introducing
"Nightfall," somebody in the first row yelled something and he hilariously
responded with great earnestness, "It *is* a fantastic song. You're absolutely
right about that, brother." Then he speculated that the front-row guy must be
single, which the guy verified, after which Hansi said, "Don't worry. It will
happen for you. One fine day, your life will be over." So yeah, that kind of
humorous banter peppered the proceedings. Nice.
From a musical standpoint, Blind Guardian unquestionably hit a homerun tonight.
Everything sounded great, from the moody symphonic grandeur of opener "Sacred
Worlds" (a killer opener, low-energy parts notwithstanding) to the euphoric
speed metal of "Welcome to Dying" to the modernish-but-irrepressible "Fly" to
the unexpected mid-set "Into the Storm" (a rarity on this tour) to the sprawling
divine epic strains of "And Then There Was Silence." Everything worked. Sure,
there were backing tapes being flown in, but all elements sounded perfect in
the mix, with the guitars having enough bite and the crowd filling in massive
backing choirs on every tune. I felt chills down my spine during "Lord of the
Rings," before "Cry for Tanelorn" kicked my ass into oblivion. Sure, Hansi
doesn't sing the songs live in the same way that he does in the studio, often
skipping gruff high notes and screams in favor of modified vocal lines that put
less strain on his voice, but he sounded good tonight and kicked in enough
screams to prove that he can still do them, albeit not in abundance. And the
band made the most of the limited lighting rig to provide effective lighting
effects, such as the green hues that bathed the stage during "Bard's Song - Into
the Forest" and the sequential illumination of white lights across the stage
during "Wheel of Time" that actually created a "wheel" effect. Cool.
Two of my favorite moments during the show were the audience participation bits in
"And Then There Was Silence" and "Valhalla." In the former, at the "la la la la"
part before Hansi sings "The nightmare shall be over now/ There's nothing more
to fear," the band dropped out to let the crowd do an endless exuberant
singalong of the "la la la la" part. Spine-tingling. And I could have stood
there all night with Jen and several hundred of our brethren singing over and
over again "Valhaallllaaaaaa / Deliverance / Why've you ever forgotten me?"
Look, the idea that Blind Guardian would play shows in the U.S. at all at this point
in their careers is a total gift. They're immensely successful in their
homeland, and they've all gotta be in their mid-40s, so why would they want to
spend six weeks living in a bus, eating dirt, sleeping in Sam's Club parking
lots, shivering in the cold, and playing in crappy clubs across the USA far away
for their families, all for a few devalued greenbacks? Exactly. They were
here anyway. And I'm so glad I was too. Maybe I didn't get home until 4 a.m. So
what. Maybe I was completely worthless at work the next day. So what. Maybe my
neck hurt for the next two days. I don't care. I got to see Blind Friggin'
Guardian, and didn't need to use my passport to do it. Christmas came early this year ...
Setlist: Sacred Worlds, Welcome to Dying, Born in a Mourning Hall, Nightfall, Fly, Time
Stands Still (At the Iron Hill), This Will Never End, Into the Storm, Lord of
the Rings, Cry for Tanelorn, And Then There Was Silence. Encores: Wheel
of Time, Bard's Song - In the Forest, Valhalla, Mirror Mirror.