On stage: Axxis

 
- Metal Dayz 2000
 
- June 2000
 
- Pratteln (CH) -


 
- Bang-Your-Head 2000
 
- June 2000
 
- Balingen (D) -


 
- Masters Of Rock 2007
 
- July 2007
 
- Vizovice (CZ) -


 
- Gamma Ray & Axxis
 
- Dec. 2007
 
- Bremen (D) -


 
- Axxis, Silent Force & Freedom Call
 
- May 2008
 
- Helmond (NL) -


 
- Axxis
 
- Dec. 2009
 
- Bochum (D) -

- Axxis - December 13th 2009 - Bochum (D), Zeche -






 

  


  















































© by  Georg Furtkamp
  
  

Is it really 20 years? Very well I remember the day I saw Axxis 18 years ago at a small club in Kaarst. Meanwhile a lot happened and on December 13th it was time to celebrate their 20th anniversary!

And that was what they did, they celebrated their anniversary with fans, friends and family. And die-hard fans came from every corner of the world, when Bernhard Weiß asked where everybody came from, someone from Australia answered which really surprised the band -  but made them very happy too. There were fans from France, Switzerland and many other European countries and so Axxis got a warm welcome from their fans. Bernhard Weiß, Harry Oellers, Rob Schomaker, Marco Wriedt and Alex Landenburg were floored by the feedback they got and kicked off with the title track of their latest album Utopia. As usual Bernie was talking to the fans between the songs and so he explained his dancing style. And that he was a guitarist and once a string tore and so he had to use his hands differently.

The evening was a travel back in time, but they didn't just played old songs, they also offered some new stuff. Prior the show the fans had the chance to vote for songs and so had influence about what Axxis played that night. And so quite a few slow tunes made it onto the set list. A slide show accompanied the set and showed old and new photos. Additionally they showed some old video clips and also they used the screen to introduce their guests. First in line Kuno Niemeyer (1998 – 2003) who entered the stage to play When The Sun Goes Down with Axxis. Soon the next guest joined them, Pink Cream 69 drummer Kosta Zafiriou got the sticks handed and joined them on drums for Wind In The Night (Shalom). That one was the closer of the first part of the show.

For the change over they had comedian Obel, and even not every joke made people burst of laughter. But quite entertaining anyway. During the change over the band also changed their clothing and returned in suits, same even wore a hat. And so they headed into the acoustic part. And so they sat down at barstools and guitarist Marco sipped his red wine again and again. Like at previous shows Bernie got someone to join them for Little War, this time it was 17-year old Gudrun from Dorsten. She confessed that she doesn't own a Axxis CD and only knows the song from some video website. That floored Bernie. But she did quite good and was asked to stay for Touch The Rainbow and band thanked her by taking a photo with her on stage with all the fans in the background.

Time for their fan club to present some gifts they had for the band incl. a huge frame with signatures of all the fan club members which was given to Axxis by the fan club's president. All evening people were able to buy lottery tickets at the merchandise booth and like announced renown German police man Harry - Harry and his colleague Toto have a TV show documenting their work - to draw the winners. The second and third prize were won by a lucky young guy and the first prize - a Jackson Flying V - is now in the hands of a extremely lucky fan from Nuremberg.

Afterwards Axxis presented a bonfire of songs and welcomes Walter Pietsch for Stay Don't Leave Me. It was a nostalgic moment when they presented some stuff which was written long before Axxis was founded - like Hot Love and Kill Or Die which they played as a medley.

For Little Look Back their former tour manager Rolf Stahlhofen entered the stage and joined in and with the highly acclaimed Kingdom Of The Night they finished the show. As expected the fans wanted more and so Axxis came back to play 3 songs of their debut incl. the 1969 #1 hit Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, but then it was over. It was getting late and so after almost 3 1/2 hrs the final curtain fell. A great celebration of a career and I doubt anybody regretted coming out to witness this event. Fans and band will remember this evening for ever.





Track list



Utopia

Blood Angel

Last man On Earth

Lady Moon

My Little Princess

When The Sun Goes Down

Wind In The Night (Shalom)

Kings Made Of Steel

Waterdrop

Heaven In Black

Little War

Touch The Rainbow

Better World Intro

Livin' In The Dark

Flashback Radio

Brother Moon

Face To Face

C'est La Vie

Save Me

Drumfeature/ Instrumental

Stay Don't Leave Me

Hot Love / Kill Or Die

Young Souls

Never Say Never

Little Look Back

Kingdom Of The Night

Fire And Ice

Living In A World

Tears Of The Trees

Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

  







Gisela Schmitz

(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


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Axxis, Silent Force & Freedom Call

- May 24th 2008 - Helmond (NL), Plato -






 
 

 

A night of German metal - the German Metal Meeting -  should take place at Plato and it sure would be fun, but the main reason for me was to catch Silent Force at one of their rare shows.
To be honest, I can't tell you much about The Claymore, coz I don't know much more about them as their name. The guys delivered a good show with some heavy, melodic tunes and made some new friends.

After a short change over it was time for Freedom Call! Singer and guitarist Chris Bay was obviously in a great mood and they opened up with Warriors. On drums today former Primal Fear drummer Klaus Sperling. No idea, why Dan Zimmermann wasn't with them. Anyway, musically it didn't made a big difference. After Hunting High And Low Chris addressed the audience and told them that he thought the town is called 'Hellmond'! And that he now knows better. The set list was offering old and new tracks like United Alliance and Tears Of Taragon. The variety of songs was better balanced then the last time I saw them - and so it was real fun to watch them.

Its been awhile since I saw Silent Force and as I always liked the band I was glad to have the chance to see them again. They opened up with a tune from their latest work Walk The Earth called Man & Machine. But like Freedom Call they played some old songs too, but first they did a few more new ones like the title track Point Of No Return and Goodbye My Ghost. But with Infactuator they could satisfy long time fans who were shouting for We Must Use The Power. The guys delivered a powerful show and especially singer DC Cooper was in a splendid mood. And it seems that he regrets that they can't play live more often... Too soon they came to an end after Ride The Storm. Luckily they returned for one more song and played a long version of Judas Priest's Another Thing Coming. It was so much fun and I think everybody wants them to come back soon. The rocked the house!

Another short break before Axxis entered the stage - and for drummer André Hilgers the second set tonight! As I saw Axxis on tour with Gamma Ray and Helloween, I just watched parts of their set and switched between the bar and the show. Guitarist Marco Wriedt and bassist Rob Schomaker supported singer Bernie Weiß also show-wise and were always in action. This time they didn't have Lakonia - or like at the tour Ana Mladinovici  - with them. And so they presented old songs and some new ones where they didn't need the female vocals. The fans welcomed tracks like Little War, Stay Don't Leave Me, Little Look Back and Kingdom Of The Night. But as Doom Of Destiny is out for months the fans sang along tracks like Blood Angel and Doom Of Destiny. To be honest I missed the end of the set and talked to DC instead, coz there rarely is a chance to. But everybody who knows Axxis live, knows that they do a powerful show and give 150% every night.

It was quite late when they left the stage and fans were staying awhile at the bar. It was a great night of melodic metal and kudos to the Plato crew for doing a great job! And for bringing Silent Force on stage at Plato!
 
 






Claudia Ehrhardt



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