kamelot_2006_02

» Kamelot 2006 02 04

Reviewed by Thomas
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Headliner: Kamelot
Special guest: Circus Maximus
City: Gothenburg, Sweden
Venue: Sticky Fingers
Date: 04 Feb 2006
Kamelot set length: 90 minutes
Circus Maximus set length: 45 minutes

Circus Maximus

Norwegian band Circus Maximus got the opportunity to warm up for Kamelot, and their progressive metal served the purpose well. I have listened to their debut album quite some times by now and as it is very good I therefore had rather high expectations on these guys, and they did manage to live up to them as well. Although they had some technical difficulties that interrupted their set, the drums needed repair after the first song and an improvised speech from the vocalist and a little guitar solo filled the gap while the drums got fixed. In addition, later on the bass needed some attention and there was a small gap again, but nevertheless they kept a momentum and these hick ups did not seem to bother Circus Maximus that did what they came for, and did it well.

They acted as tight as necessary for their progressive music that swings from heavy riffing parts to calmer melodic parts, and usually I can have a problem with longer parts with calmer music but that was never a problem with this band. The vocalist's voice turned out to work out just as great live as on album and this band was a perfect choice for starting up the evening.

7 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Kamelot

I was just about to skip this concert due to the heavy migraine I was suffering from all day, but as it turned out it got better just about in the right time for me get my ass over to Sticky Fingers. And I wouldn't have wanted to miss this for the world. Kamelot came, saw and conquered Gothenburg when they played as headliners in Sweden for the first time.

Kamelot entered the stage and it was intense directly from the start. There was never any doubt if they were to deliver or not, the band seemed to be just as excited as the audience to be there and with a great performance they made the evening memorable. Kamelot bring out a harder edge live and become a much heavier band, and also more forceful since they take their songs to an entirely new level when they are performed live. Still the softness and beautiful melodies are intact but the songs become far more powerful, and as they weren't holding anything back in their playing and the sound was good, this couldn't be anything but simply great. There was a great atmosphere in the venue and a good interaction from the audience, and judging by the expressions from the band it didn't seem that they were expecting such a massive response and warm welcome.

Most of the songs came from the last two albums, The Black Halo and Epica and they really got the better out of them. It didn't matter if it was fast or slow songs, the heaviness and the melodies with the faster songs was what I preferred but even the slow ones with the great voice from Roy Khan worked very well, and it all sounded great. Even if his voice sounded a bit fatigued towards the end, it didn't disturb their performance in any way. So you could say that the highlights were many this evening, as in fact every song came out great, and the only little tiny thing I have to complain about is that Across The Highlands wasn't played.

I am not much of a fan of solo parts at a concert. Children Of Bodom bored me the night before with endless solos and Kamelot unfortunately did the same at a couple of times. Casey Grillo did a proper check that all of his drums where in position, and the new member on keyboard, Oliver Palotai made sure that all of his keys was the same. And the award for most headbanging keyboard player goes to…Oliver Palotai, I have never seen a keyboard player headbang and letting go that much before. I just love to see a band on stage that really gives hell as if it was the last thing that they are doing, and the entire band really did a good job of that.

There were cameras recording the concert for extra material for the upcoming DVD that will be recorded at the concert in Oslo on the 11th of February. And I envy those that will attend that gig. This was great but I think that show will be on top of everything.

9 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)