Well, well, well….with over 30 years of attending live music events and here in 2019 thinking I’d probably witnessed it all, Tobias Sammett’s Avantasia nonchantly takes the stage to deliver nothing short of a truly mind blowing performance of epic proportions. Over 3 and a half hours, no that’s not a typo…3 and a half hours, we were delivered 24 of the most grandiose, symphonic, glorious and majestic songs you could almost ever hope to hear, delivered by a cast featuring some of the biggest names in rock and metal (more on them later).
As lead singer of Edguy, Tobias Sammet is no stranger to Australian shores and metal fans worldwide, and now with Avantasia growing in stature with every album release, it’s about time the larger rock community became more aware of the talents of this masterful songrwiter, composer, visionary and performer. All of which were on full display this evening. Whilst a chunk of people attending the Forum tonight might have been drawn there by the guest vocalists, above all for me, the standout tonight was the quality of the songs and overall delivery from all involved.
Moonglow is fast becoming an album of the year for me the more I’ve listened to it and was represented by the first four songs in tonights set. Ghost In The Moon opened up with Tobias on lead vocals, the 10 minute epic setting the scene for what was ro come. First guest vocalist out tonight to join Tobias was Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids, Nordic Union) with his distinctive voice tearing through the metallic Starlight and Book of Shallows, the latter also introducing the incredible Adrienne Cowan to front of the stage who has one heck of a voice on her.
The 1,000 or so strong crowd were into this gig from the outset, with The Raven Child giving the fist massive sing along moment and guitarists Sascha Paeth and Oliver Hartmann clearly having just as much fun with this song. Jorn Lande was next out, who surely has one of the most effortless singing voices known to man kind? I don’t think I’ve seen a man enjoy themselves up on stage as much as Jorn was tonight. I guess partly because he never in his wildest dreams thought he’d get the chance to perform here in Australia.
Geoff Tate of Queensryche fame got the chance to deliver his amazing vocal range across the monstrous Alchemy and soaring Invincible, which he introduced as one of his personal faviurite songs. The other superstar vocalist Eric Martin justified his place in the lineup by singing the song only he was brave enough to sing, a killer cover of the 80’s one hit wonder, Maniac. As Tobias explained with the choice of covering this song, “why the fuck not?”… One of my favourite Avantasia songs is Dying For An Angel, with Martin tonight taking the vocals performed by Scorpions Klaus Meine on the recorded version.
Introducing Bob Catley from Magnum as one of his biggest influences, Tobias clearly enjoyed having this moment of having trading vocals on Lavender and The Story Ain’t Over which was one of tonights highlights for me. With Magnum having never toured Australia in their 40+ years, Catley was another getting their first taste of performing on Australian soil and clearly relishing the opportunity.
With tonights setlist covering all eras of Avantasia, The Scarecrow was given particular recognition tonight by Sammet as the song that revived Avantasia, after the initial couple of albums and deservedly the crowd gave this classic Avantasia song the recognition it deserved. Likewise, Geoff Tate clearly enjoying the chance to sing on the song that started it all, Avantasia!
At 2 hours and 5 minutes into the set, with the band clearly showing no signs of slowly down the intensity, Tobias raised things another level with courtesy of a 12 minute onslaught with Jorn Lande and Ronnie Atkins the ringmasters for Let The Storm Descend. Elsewhere, the set offered stellar moments such as Eric Martin and Geoff Tate dueting on Twisted Mind and the sheer intensity of Master Of The Pendulum featuring Ronnie Atkins. Sign Of The Cross closed the night, with the sight of all vocalists on stage a reminder that tonight indeed did happen….
In this modern world where attention spans keep on dwindling, having something as bold as Tobias Sammet and Avantasia gives us true music fans hope that all is not completely lost and that nights such as tonight are indeed still a possibility. Total respect tonight for Overdrive Touring for bringing this out to Australia and to Tobias for bringing Avantasia to the stage, without any compromise. This was a night that simply won’t be rivalled anytime soon.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Scott Smith: Lens Of Rock
