kamelot_2008_05

» Kamelot 2008 05 02

Reviewed by Thomas
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Headliner: Kamelot
Special guest: Firewind, Forever Slave
City: Gothenburg, Sweden
Venue: Trädgårn
Date: 02 May 2008
Kamelot set length: 100 minutes
Firewind set length: 50 minutes
Forever Slave set length: 30 minutes

Forever Slave

Spanish band Forever Slave did not manage to make any lasting impressions with me. The music felt very standard according to the flood of bands following somewhat in the steps of Nightwish and in this case mostly Within Temptation. Gothic sounding metal with female vocals and the songs came out as weak Within Temptation wannabes, but you got to want if you gonna be, and the will to be didn't feel that convincing. Musically this didn't stand out, as did not the performance from the band either, that at many times looked uncertain and almost uncomfortable on stage, especially the vocalist who's fragile voice sounded pale and almost out of tune at times. Luckily for Forever Slave, they are on tour with a couple of bands they can learn a lot from, and I hope they watched Firewind's performance.

2 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Firewind

It was surely refreshing to see Firewind enter the stage creating a raise of the adrenaline level and providing a great way to get in the mood for Kamelot. I must admit that I lost track of the band after their debut, but now five albums later I guess I better start doing my homework. Gus G and company surely delivered and his guitar-playing is outstanding so I guess it was no surprise that it was the guitars that was the most excellent, and especially the harmonies between Gus and Bob Katsionis with both of guitars or the guitar vs. the keyboard. Bob handled both guitar and keyboard on stage.

Firewind delivered excellent melodic heavy metal with traces of Dio as well as Malmsteen in the sound, and I was glad to find out that Apollo Papathanasio was as good a vocalist live as on album, in other words close to amazing. The band acted with confidence and professionalism on stage and got a really good response from the crowd. And next time I hope they arrive to town for a concert of their own, in that case I will definitely go and see them in order to do my homework and to hear more of them, because this gave me appetite for more.

6 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Kamelot

Kamelot, there is a band that is sure to deliver some good family fun for a Friday night. I had high expectations on this considering the times I have seen them before, and it is always nice to see the band live up to the expectations you have. Almost to the day one year ago I saw Kamelot at the same venue, and when I left then I was totally in a state of euphoria and I gladly handed out 9 chalices to them. I wasn't in the same ecstatic mood when I left this time, but still I left satisfied with what I got.

This is the same tour more or less, no new album released, and even though Ghost Opera wasn't released the last time around, it was just about to be so a few songs from it were performed. This time around even more songs from the Ghost Opera album were delivered, and just to make it clear; in contradiction with what I thought a year ago, those songs do not reach up to same calibre as their older material. Good songs, but still only average looking at the high standard Kamelot hold. However, you can always count on Kamelot to be a band that give all of what they have live, and that it shows that they have fun, this night was no exception. One downside though, was that Roy Khan sounded fatigued, and by the sound of him, it was probably a good thing that this was the second to last concert of this section of the tour.

The Haunting had to be lifted out of the set list as (if I heard it correctly) the woman who sings the female part of the song was in hospital due to food poisoning. A bit sad, both for her as well as for the me, since that song had been a healthy addition to the set. Otherwise it was a familiar set in many ways, and Forever made the crowd live up in a way I never experienced before at a Kamelot show. The part where the crowd follows the lead from Khan in an uh-oh-uh part usually comes out greatly. However, the crowd took over the singing completely leaving the band on stage (yet again, in likeness with last year) looking genuinely overwhelmed by the reception they got, even more than last year.

Damn, it was hot in the venue. In front of the stage, it became almost unbearable and I had to make my way back through the crowd towards the end, so you could say the intensity was high. And even if the band can do better than this, it is safe to say that Kamelot is a live act to be reckoned with, not that I had any doubts for that matter. Apart from the vocals that sounded fatigued and a set list with too many of the new songs which made the concert partially lose momentum, this was really good.

7 chalices of 10

SETLIST: (might be slightly incorrect)

Rule The World
When The Lights Are Down
Soul Society
Pendulous Fall
Center Of The Universe
Abandoned
Descent Of The Archangel
Instrumental jam
Human Stain
Nights Of Arabia
Edencho
Keyboard solo
Forever
Ghost Opera
Love You To Death
Karma
March Of Mephisto