The rise of Avantasia can be argued as something no-one would have really expected back on the release of the ‘Metal Opera‘ 15 years ago. We certainly would not have imagined that the grandiose project would see a live stage. But a few massive albums later, and a string of highly successful all-star performances, Tobias Sammet’s flying circus strikes in the heart of London.
[date]8th March 2016[/date]
[venue]Kentish Town Forum[/venue]
[city]London, UK[/city]
The latest album ‘Ghostlights‘ has epitomised Avantasia’s success. A musical flurry of well-constructed, consistent heavy metal with big names and big ambitions. With such a massive release that has seen such universal acclaim, a massive stage show speaks for itself – and therefore Mr. Sammet summons the elite and sets out on tour.
The stage is set for the 3-hour performance tonight in a manner suited to the occasion. Faux stone walls of castles dominate the stage that become extremely atmospheric when the cool-lit fog engulfs it. And enter the band to the leading track off the new album, ‘Mystery of a Blood Red Rose‘.
Mainman Sammet storms in at the top of the stage to the roars of a sold out Forum, spitting out every word to the Meat Loaf-esque chorus. It all really starts kicking off though when Avantasia’s special guests start appearing on stage – Ronnie Atkins of Pretty Maids emerges works up a crowd with his fiery stage presence before Michael Kiske’s vocal talents impress all in ‘Unchain the Light’.
It’s so much heavy metal talent in one show that it is almost overwhelming, but the excitement of this occasion has resonated so well on the London audience. When Bob Catley of Magnum appears on stage, sections of the audience repeatedly chant his name in praise during his involvement of ‘A Restless Heart and Obsidian Skies‘.
Avantasia are clearly making full use of the tour to present what could be a unique set of shows – it’s not just a showcase of frontmen, but also a demonstration of heavy metal musical masterclass. The band opt to perform the lengthy progressive epics across the project’s career, such as ‘The Great Mystery‘ and ‘The Scarecrow‘ in succession, and show off the instrumental abilities of the band members that joined the tour. Every note is perfectly mixed and clean, and adds the most positive of premises to the theatrical occasion.
It’s simply wonderful to see tracks such as ‘The Wicked Symphony‘ performed with such incredible vocal talents. I’ve always loved Eric Martin and Jørn Lande, and their contributions on the live stage are simply sublime. The performances of ‘Shelter From The Rain‘ and ‘Let The Storm Descend Upon You‘ also turn out to be some of my favourite of the evening.
As the evening draws to a close Avantasia begin pumping out the hits, and while 3 hours might seem like more than enough, the London audience’s energy said otherwise. Every word of ‘Avantasia‘, ‘Dying For An Angel‘ and ‘Lost in Space‘ was sung to their lungs best ability, and further marked an occasion that truly was special.
The final notes of the much-shortened ‘Seven Angels‘ brought this bombastic performance to an end in the most radiant of fashions – the entire cast of the show joining for the last hurrah, and showing appreciation to the fans that are keeping heavy metal alive and well.
This Avantasia performance was nothing short of phenomenal. It’s apparent that a lot of effort has gone into creating such a unique and entertaining performance, and there is really nothing that anybody could have criticised about it. It was a show that said this kind of Avantasia performance might not happen again, but every note was celebrated tonight by the fans, and just provides more encouragement to keep Avantasia going in one capacity or another.
