On stage: Circle II Circle

 
- BYH Revisited
 
- Sep. 2003
 
- Albstadt (D) -


 
- Saxon, Circle II Circle & Dionysus
 
- Dec. 2003
 
- Hardenberg (NL) -


 
- Doro, Saxon & Circle II Circle
 
- Dec. 2003
 
- Düsseldorf (D) -


 
- Saxon, Circle II Circle & Dionysus
 
- Dec. 2003
 
- Pratteln (CH) -


 
- Circle II Circle, Blaze & Perzonal War
 
- Jun. 2004
 
- Aschaffenburg (D) -


 
- Saxon, Rose Tattoo, Circle II Circle & Blaze
 
- Jul. 2004
 
- Andernach (D) -


 
- Masterplan, Circle II Circle, Rob Rock & Pure Inc.
 
- Apr. 2005
 
- Langen (D) -


 
- Circle II Circle, Tomorrow's Eve & Tempesta
 
- Apr. 2007
 
- 's Hertogenbosch (NL) -

 

  
- Circle II Circle, Manticora & The Prowlers
  
- May 2009
  
- Vosselaar (B) -
 

 
- Circle II Circle
 
- May 2009
 
- Sofia (BG) -


 
- Circle II Circle & Steel Engraved
 
- Oct. 2010
 
- Essen (D) -

- Circle II Circle & Steel Engraved -
- Oct. 23rd 2010 - Essen (D), Turock -






 

  


  

























  
  

In May 2009 Circle II Circle promoted Delusion Of Grandeur live, now they are back with Consequence Of Power. Zak Stevens and his band played a few shows with Primal Fear, then hooked up with Vicious Rumors for a couple of days, spontaneously played a show with Jon Oliva's Pain in Pratteln (Switzerland) and the day after they were scheduled to play in Essen. Tonight Steel Engraved should open for them - like at the shows with Vicious Rumors.

I can't tell you much about Steel Engraved, but the Bavarians did a good job cheering up the small crowd with their 80's heavy metal. Some might know Stainless Steel and Steel Engraved are the successor. The quintet is acting under the new moniker for 3 years now and have released their full-length debut called State Of Siege in 2009. I'm not familiar with their songs and actually an interview with Zak Stevens was planned, so I missed part of their set. But from what I saw, they guys did a good job and next time I will try to see the whole show.

Time for a change over and a quick line check by Circle II Circle who arrived late due to delays at the Swiss border. The band kicked off with the title track of their new album Consequence Of Power, followed by Symptoms Of Fate and Take Back Yesterday. Last time Circle II Circle had Bill Hudson on second guitar, but then they decided to continue with one guitarist - with Andy Lee who joined CIIC after the 2003 tour with Saxon. Behind the drum kit Doctor Butcher's John Osborn who already toured with Circle II Circle in late 2003, even if back then neither Andy nor bassist Mitch Stewart were in the band, the band sounded as they play together for ages. After a little travel back in time with Revelations and the catchy Soul Breaker it was for their latest power ballad - Blood Of An Angel. But before they headed into this one, tour manager Ingo entered the stage with some Jägermeister shots, he and the band clink glasses in memory of Gotthard singer Steve Lee who was killed in a bizarre accident just recently. This time the guys decided not to bring a keyboard and so they used playback for the keyboard passages of Blood Of An Angel and all other songs which use to have keyboard parts. After Anathema guitarist Andy Lee got time for a solo where he could show his talent without limitations - and he's always able to deliver an entertaining show, too. Lee and Stewart were always in action, but as usual the main focus was on singer Zak Stevens. The former Savatage singer delivered a great performance - but fans know what to expect from Stevens. They closed the regular set with Episodes Of Mania and So Many Reasons. But no Circle II Circle show without some Savatage tracks and this time they surprised the fans with Conversation Piece while Taunting Cobras and Edge Of Thorns have been played live before. But they had another surprise for their fans! For the last track John Osborn handed the drum sticks to Zak - who started as a drummer, even if most just know him as a singer -, Mitch Stewart took over the lead vocals and Andi Lee got joined by Steel Engraved guitarist Chris. Puzzled faces everywhere, nobody knew what to expect. The closer was Stranglehold, a cover of Ted Nugent's track off his self-titled album released in 1975. Obviously the guys enjoyed playing this tune, especially Zak who rarely has the chance to play drums on stage. At the end of the show Zak thanked everybody for coming out to see them and as it was the last day of the tour he had a special offer for the fans - everybody who bought a t-shirt after the show, got a 2nd one for free. They simply didn't want to take the shirt back to the US.

Unfortunately only about 100 fans came to see Circle II Circle live, but at least they enjoyed it and made noise like a way bigger crowd. Anyway, CIIC presented a great performance and everybody who didn't make it to a show really missed an excellent concert. And it seems they will return to Europe in spring 2011... So, next time make sure you'll be there!

  
  







Claudia Ehrhardt



up 















- Circle II Circle -
- May 17th 2009 - Sofia (Bulgaria), Bolyarka Rock Club -





 

  


  

Circle II Circle was the headliners of this concert at the Bolyarka Rock Club in Sofia. Let me first give my praise to this venue Bolyarka Rock Club. After a good warm-up from Manticora it was time for the great rockers from Circle II Circle. The concert was changed to the fantastic Bolyarka Rock Club which was finally decided as venue, a venue which has hosted many great concerts in the past. They have a genuine sound quality, the size of app. 1,000 people was perfect, stage and lightning conditions superb, and when Circle II Circle plays here I can not imagine anything that could be better.

Circle II Circle said thank you in their own special way. I knew that they would open with the good and powerful Fatal Warning from the new Delusions of Grandeur album. The new man on the spade, newbie Bill, wanted to show that he is the right man for Circle II Circle. He plays rhythm- and solo guitar with a power so even the few people who were still in line to buy a beer came running in. Even the fans with Savatage T-shirts gave their full vocal admiration to Zak Stevens and co., from the first second the band lured themselves into the darkness of the stage and throughout the entire concert.

They continued with Dead Of Dawn, and then asked if we were having a good time???? The response was such a big roar, and arms in the air, that I lost my beer. They played really well with a good choice of songs, and especially the ballad Echoes, Messiah, Heal You and the beautiful Watching In Silence was performed superbly. But to my 'little' disappointment they included a very muddy performance of Savatage's Taunting Cobras and also Savatage's song Edge Of Thorns. I missed some more power-songs of their own, f.x. The Black and All That Remains. In fact they didn't play any songs from The Middle Of Nowhere album.

I think everyone agreed that this was a really monster concert. Zak enjoyed to perform in such a great concert venue. That was awesome. Later I bought another beer, which I could drink in a good and undisturbed way. At the end of the show all of the audience had used their lungs capacity and had no more power in their arms, so great was their salutations for Circle II Circle. Thanks for a wonderful concert, an experience to remember.
  
  






Lars Björn


up 
















Circle II Circle, Manticora & The Prowlers
- May 7th 2009 - Vosselaar (B), Biebob -






 

  


  
 


  





















  
  

The show at the Biebob was the last of the 4 shows I saw on this tour and first I would like to thank Martijn & the Hedon crew, the people at Dynamo Club as well as the Matrix crew for their kindness. Always had a good time at the Biebob and it's great to see some familiar faces again.

The Italian band The Prowlers were the opening act at this part of the tour, later Burning Black will take over. Anyway, the guys from Rome were out to make some new friends. As I learnt The Prowlers started in the mid-90's as an Iron Maiden cover band and even today you can hear some references to the British. The new album is called Re-Evolution and so singer Fabio Minchillo and his mates focussed on their current release. After the intro they kicked off with Red Smoke - a heavy rocker with a short classic citation. After another new tune they presented Incubus, a song from their debut. Later in their short set they played Alone In The Dark from their sophomore release Devil's Bridge. The sextet combined hammering drums, pumping bass, heavy riffs with melodic keyboard lines and powerful vocals. Some songs have a slight progressive edge, others are more straight forward and spiced up with some neo-classical elements. They did their best to entertain the people, but it wasn't an easy task, coz they were nobodies for the most. Anyway, they convinced some metal fans.

After a short change over Danish power house Manticora entered the stage. Some might have seen them last year when they toured with Jon Oliva's Pain. At the 2008 tour they were out to promote The Black Circus Pt 1 & 2, so this time they offered a kind of best of set with songs from every album released this century - or from 5 of their 6 releases. They opened up with Cantos from their 2002 release Hyperion and then led over to King Of The Absurd. Especially singer Lars F. Larsen entertained the fans with big gestures and a powerful voice. He was always in action. But also his mates did their best to cheer up the fans, meanwhile more people gathered in front of the stage. And so they presented The Gypsies' Dance Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 from The Black Circus releases. Time to get back to Hyperion and The Old Barge! And with Shadows With Takes To Tell they ended their set.

Then it was time for Circle II Circle! The band of former Savatage singer Zak Stevens started into their set with a bunch of songs from Delusions Of Grandeur - first in line was Fatal Warning followed by Dead Of Dawn, Forever and Waiting. Newbie Bill is replacing Evan Christopher and left a good impression. Bill is more active on stage and fits into the band well, he's teaming up with the others and delivers a good performance. With Sea Of White they travelled back in time. Time for a short solo! It was time for Tom Drennan to show his talent. With Heal You they offered a song from Burden Of Truth just to get back to Delusions Of Grandeur's Echoes. Two more songs from their current album and after Messiah it was guitarist Bill's turn to do a solo. It gets obvious that they picked the right guy to join CIIC. Zak was always in motion and stayed in touch with the audience, but its he emotional vocals which do the trick. After Revelations and So Many Reasons they left the stage. Time is flying, if you have fun, but the fans wanted more! And so Zak and bassist / keyboarder Mitch returned to present something different, a kind of acoustic part. The fans welcomed If I Go Away and sang along. And after Watching In Silence the band joined in for another Savatage classic Nothing's Going On. The place was on fire when they kicked off Taunting Cobras and finished their set with Edge Of Thorns. And guitarist Andy Lee got his chance to soloing in the Savatage part of the set. It seems that by now he feels more comfortable doing the Savatage classics - and they could almost create the same magic Savatage had live! Well done!

I guess that everybody in the house would have love to hear some more, but they had to hurry up. But first Zak and the boys showed up at the merchandise both to sign CD booklets, tickets, etc. and to fulfill the fans wish to get a photo with them. Then they had to get back on the road to Switzerland. Next stop Pratteln!
  
  







Claudia Ehrhardt


up 













Circle II Circle, Tomorrow's Eve & Tempesta
- April 19th 2007 - 's Hertogenbosch (NL), Willem 2 -






 
 

 

Somehow I haven't been to Den Bosch before, even if I been to many places in the Netherlands. Today it was sunny and warm - a good day for a trip to Den Bosch. After we found the venue and had a little chit-chat with the guys we decided to go to the city center while they did sound check.

Due to the fact that Savage Circus no longer been part of the tour party all bands had a little more stage time, especially for the opening bands an advantage.

The Swiss Tempesta were the first to enter the stage of W2. To be honest I never heard of them before I got the tour dates from Circle II Circle's manager. The band of singer Reto Thalmann were out to promote their latest work Fulltime Joker which was released in 2006. I was surprised to hear that their debut came out in 1995! Seems that for German media the only Swiss bands are Krokus, Gotthard and Shakra... Anyway, the foursome presented some kind of modern hard rock which sound a bit like Metallica at times of Load / Reload, but more metal. As I don't know their songs, I can't tell you much about them, but I'll check them out and hopefully soon I see them again.

At ProgPower Europe 2004 I saw Tomorrow's Eve for the first time - and I liked the sound of the Germans. I didn't keep track about their work, but heard about their latest release Mirror Of Creation 2 - Genesis. The band got heavier when singer Martin LeMar joined them. They offer powerful, heavy progressive metal - a bit like Evergrey... For some fans it was probably too progressive... Anyway, the guys did a good show and fronter Martin tried to entertain the fans. Unfortunately not that many metal heads found their way to Willem 2, perhaps of the fine weather... Perhaps of other shows these days or PestPop Festival... I don't think it was only the cancellation of Savage Circus. The Dutch fans gave them a fair chance and Tomorrow's Eve made a few new fans.

After a break it was time for Circle II Circle - the band everybody waited for. After the intro the band started with an instrumental and got into All That Remains as Zak Stevens entered the stage. After Open Season it was time for Burden Of Truth, but not for the song... For the album! Well, almost the whole album. Who Am I To Be they started with and only 3 songs been left out from the album. But the Floridians decided to play the songs in a different order and beside Revelations the title track was the highlight of the BOT part. During Conversation Piece guitarists Evan Christopher and Andy Lee could show their skills and it gave Zak the chance for a short break. More then a dozen shows in a row has taken its toll. His voice was a bit raspy and he avoided the high notes, but managed very professionally the vocals. Then they played some Savatage tunes and the crowd went wild! Labyrinths / Follow Me was followed by Taunting Cobras - here it was most obvious that Zak had some problems with his voice. And so after Handful Of Rain and Edge Of Thorns it was over. Too soon for the fans, but the quintet did a good job. But it would have been nice to hear some different Savatage songs, coz these they played on their last tours as well. Live the new tracks sounded much better and personally I enjoyed the CIIC shows more then the ones of Jon Oliva's Pain. But soon I'll see them both - as well as Chris Caffery - at PestPop festival in Belgium and many fans will wait for some Savatage jam session at the festival... But will it happen? We'll see. Hopefully next time they aren't touring at the same time, so that a few more people will find their way to the shows.
 
 






Claudia Ehrhardt

up 










Circle II Circle, Blaze & Perzonal War
-  June, 30th 2004 - Aschaffenburg (Colos-Saal) -






 
 

 

Usually around the festivals some bands play club shows to fill in between the festival weekends and so this summer Blaze and Circle II Circle came to Aschaffenburg. The opening slot got the German metal band Perzonal War. Tonight I missed them, first Blaze played soccer in the backyard and them we had a little chit-chat with Oliver Palotai - keyboarder and guitarist of Doro.

This is a double headliner tour and tonight Blaze Bayley and his band were the first to enter the stage. Some already saw Blaze with their new rhythm section - former Pitchshifter bassist Wayne Banks and drummer Dave 'Kyte' Knight. But a surprise was that beside guitarist Steve Wray there wasn't John Slater on the second guitar, he was replaced on this tour by Oliver Palotai of Doro. The band played mainly the same songs as the last time around. Beside their classics Silicon Messiah, 10th Dimension, Ghost In The Machine and the Iron Maiden song Man On The Edge. Not that long ago their latest album Blood & Belief got in the stores which is heavier and I think more like their debut. From that album they played the title track Blood & Belief and 10 Seconds which some might know from some samplers. As usual Mr. Bayley was always in action and kept in touch with the audience. The band sounded tight and it didn't look like they are just playing together for a couple of months - okay, Oliver just jumped in. Another good show of the British.

The fans were waiting for the former Savatage singer Zak Stevens and his Circle II Circle. The band has just on album out and so the fans could expect to hear some Savatage tunes as well. The sextet opened their set with Out Of Reach from Watching In Silence. Last year CIIC presented 2 line-ups and many fans wondered who would be on stage this time. The biggest surprise was surely that Oliver Palotai entered the stage again to play keyboard for Circle II Circle. Beside that Zak Stevens presented a brand-new band. During the opener and Sea Of White it was obvious that this line-up is stronger then the previous. Especially bassist Mitch Steward and guitarist Rob Wolf were always in motion. Drummer Tom Drennan delivered the basis for their play while Tom McDyne added the lead guitar. Last year the band couldn't play songs like Savatage's One Child, coz therefore you need good singers. This time they could! Here and there I recognized that Zak's voice wasn’t in the best shape... And so they skipped Taunting Cobras which they usually play live and played instead a new song called All That Remains. The setlist included Lies, Watching In Silence, Into The Wind, Face To Face and from Stevens past Edge Of Thorns and last, but not least Follow Me. Another good show, perhaps not their best, but the best line-up yet. Looking forward to hear the new album and to see them on the road again.
 
 






Claudia Ehrhardt



up 
 





 
 • E-Mail: contact@ice-vajal.com