The man behind some of the most epic power metal of the modern day brings his crew to London to showcase that ‘cinematic’ over the top performances that the whole of the European continent has come to love. It’s a small venue the group are performing in tonight, but that doesn’t make the slightest bit of different! We review an evening of power metal spectacles.
[date]9th February 2016[/date]
[venue]The Underworld Camden[/venue]
[city]London, UK[/city]
[support_bands]Qantice, Temperance[/support_bands]
This evening was quite a surprise for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I don’t think I have seen Luca Turilli play in such a small venue before – the reasons why – I couldn’t say – the venue was stuffed! Second is that the two support bands were simply excellent, and ensured the evening was at the best value that a metal performance could offer. Third – nostalgia mode struck hard as Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody opted to play a lot of Rhapsody classics, and a lot of tracks that spanned Luca Turilli’s entire career. The whole evening pushed all the right buttons for me, now let’s explain why.
Qantice
It actually occurred to me just as the band was kicking off that this was a band fronted by the famed PelleK, who was not actually present at the show. This is a band I had heard a while ago and particularly enjoyed but somehow trickled off my radar – but as the music began with ‘Epic Fail‘ it was kind of hard for me to comprehend why the actually disappeared from my playlists. The stand-in vocalist sang with full heart while the musicians shredded and displayed their unique power metal dexterity.
As odd as it sounds, Qantice’s music live seemed like more of a journey than a series of successive tracks. Whether intentional or not, it adopted a sort of theatrical progressive format that provided something a bit more unique in the sense of a power metal performance, something I particularly enjoyed! While song titles eluded me except the folky ‘Slayer’s Jig‘, everything the band put forth was fantastic. I have been convinced to go back and find the Qantice albums and give them a good listen again.
Temperance
Hailing from the theatrical motherland of Italy, Temperance didn’t play power metal, but what could be classified of modern metal. In theory the band would not be a great fit on the bill, but Temperance’s hard-hitting choruses and hooks would speak otherwise. When the band took the stage there was something very strong about their presence, a drummer who looked like a wise sage with a vast experience in metal, the two instrumentalist who looked like they were ready to turn some heads and a frontwoman with a very unexpected vocal range that spanned the operatic to death growls.
Tracks like the catchy ‘Save Me‘ were pure hits amongst the attendee’s who seemed to know as much about the band as I did, but the mutual agreement was that Temperance offered a lot more than that standard female-fronted ‘pop-metal’ that most were expecting. It’s a hard job playing before Luca Turilli, but the band made a pretty good job of it. Especially when you’re genre doesn’t necessarily fit that of the evenings theme.
Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody
I have seen Luca Turilli a countless number of times across the world, with Rhapsody, Rhapsody of Fire and Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody…and as I typed that I just noticed how ridiculous that looks…but let’s say I have seen the man under different situational shades! The point is – the man is one of the metal greats – and to see him perform in such an intimate environment this evening made the performance itself very special.
Even more special was that the chosen setlist seemed to tailor my personal preference of Luca Turilli’s music, choosing all my favourite Rhapsody tracks, as well as the best from his solo career, Dreamquest and of course tracks from his latest string of album’s Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody.
The whole explosive nature of the evening began the hair-raising ‘Knightrider of Doom‘ that undoubtedly got every classic Rhapsody fan seriously excited. Fists were in the air pumping every time the guitar rang in the choruses, and eyes were wide when Luca got stuck in to his virtuoso neo-classical shredding. Not a gram of excitement died down as the theatrical show progressed, with fan involvement at the top level.
The band gave us an assortment of well-covered tracks that included ‘War of the Universe‘, ‘Unholy Warcry‘ and ‘Pride of the Tyrant‘, while also making excellent use of the latest original music in tracks such as ‘Rosenkreuz‘ and the colossal epic that is ‘Of Michael the Archangel and Lucifer’s Fall‘.
The musicianship was flawless, with bassist Patrice Guers and drummer Alex Landenburg intermittently offering mouth-watering solos on their instrument. You wonder if the band felt any bit of dejection playing in a smaller venue this evening compared to the rest of the tour, but the simple answers is not one bit. The movement of the band and the effort into the musical performance spoke too much, epitomised by the final ‘Emerald Sword‘ that ranks as one of the power metal classics.
The band looked pleased to be playing even after all these years among the power metal elite, and each and every fan couldn’t have been happier to have witnessed this spectacle.
