|
For many the opening act Mercenary were nobodies. Well, a couple of months before I knew the Danish also just by name, even if their current album 11 Dreams got high ranks in every magazine. My first contact with the Danish was late last year when they opened up some shows for Evergrey in BeNeLux. And again Mercenary were out to promote their current album. Musically they are heavier then Evergrey and also heavier then Brainstorm. Their music fit best the description Melodic Death Metal... Singer Mikkel and his bass playing counterpart Kral soon got the fans into their sound. The Danish youngsters have toured with different bands and know how to catch the attention of the fans. Only the use of an intro would have helped to get peoples attention from the first second... With the title track of 11 Dreams beside other ones from their current release convinced most of the fans, for some others they were too heavy and I think some had problems with Kral's growls. Actually I think that the musical mixture makes this band interesting. This time they had just 40 minutes, but they left a good impression and I think that some fans checked them out after the show.
Next on stage were At Vance. The band of guitarist Olaf Lenk came out to present their album Chained, but again with new members on stage. And that was probably their main problem. All songs - like Fallen Angel, Heart Of Steel and The Evil In You - been played very decent, but it didn't sound like a band. Singer Mats Leven tried hard to move the people, but it didn't work out. It's not the songs, it was the presentation! There was no band, just individuals on stage. Next time mainman Olaf Lenk should make sure that he has a real band on tour, otherwise the tour won't make sense. They did much better when I saw them playing with Kamelot or even with the old line-up on tour with Rhapsody.
Time for the headliner - Brainstorm! Their first time headlining a tour a risk they took and it worked out for them. The band started their show with the intro What A Beautiful Noise, something not every fan expected... The German quintet started with World's Are Comin' Through. Coming to promote their latest album Liquid Monster they presented many songs from that album, but their focus been the last 3 releases, even if they took time to present some older tunes like Voices and Tear Down The Walls. On several tours the band proofed that they are a fantastic live band and that singer Andy B. Franck is one of the best singers we have in Germany. He was always in motion and communicating with the fans, joking around and it was obvious that the band really enjoyed playing. A surprise for the fans was that the five-some played the whole Trinity Of Lust trilogy. Their single All Those Words was the highlight of the set and the band was surprised by the reaction of the fans who sang along. They were stunned. But they get closer to the end, but this time they could play encores! And so they came back for 2 more songs. And the fans still wanted more, but it was time to go.
The first headlining tour of Brainstorm was a success for them and thanks to Andy B. Franck for bringing Mercenary on the road - Andy told me at the Circle II Circle / Masterplan show in Ludwigsburg that he chose the band. So far one of the best shows of 2005. And hopefully Brainstorm won't take too much time until they hit the stage again.
|
|