It’s Wednesday night and the second leg of a mid-week metal double-feature at the Lion Arts Centre in Adelaide. Tonight however the leather, lace and eyeliner of last night’s Wednesday13 audience is replaced with black. Black t-shirts, black jeans, just black as far as the eye could see. It’s evident the crowd are represented by 3 distinct groups. First: the guys with luscious well-groomed flowing locks long enough to be tickling their lumbar vertebrae, second: the guys with no hair up top but equally epic goatee beards, and thirdly and those present in lowest numbers: a scattering of medieval damsels. But despite the uniqueness of each of these groups, there was one thing that has united them all. The ‘dress code’ … metal shirts galore. Shirts emblazoned with band logos you’ve never seen before, and shirts emblazoned band logos that you will likely never see again. But amongst the throng individuality one logo stood out, the band most were here to see tonight – BLIND GUARDIAN.
The early 7:30 kick-off saw Broken Hill lads FIRESTORM take to the stage in front of a more-than-healthy-crowd. If there’s one thing metal fans do best, it’s arrive early to support the opening band, because you just never know when you’ll find your next favourite artists. And they certainly weren’t disappointed this time round. The self-proclaimed masters of ‘power thrash’ delivered a blistering 5 song set, launching with ‘Void’ and highlighted by the crowd favourite ‘Darkness Calls’. But just as it got going, it was over – climaxing quicker than a 16-year-old on a first date, but still getting a boisterous ovation from a now packed house.
FIRESTORM GALLERY
After a brief interlude where the range of discussions overheard around the venue varied from ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ inspired online gaming to Wacken Open Air metal festival experiences, Brisbane-based symphonic folk metal act VALHALORE took to the stage. The tin whistle lead provided the vehicle that help transcend time to a past inhabited by a ‘heavy metal Robin Hood’. The bands very own outlaw up front captivated the audience with an intense stage presence while leading his gang of merry men (and one lady) in a super polished live performance. Audience participation appeared to be a prerequisite more than an expectation, and the audience did just that… going blow-for-blow with the band for the entire set in a way only Viking metal fans know how.
VALHALORE GALLERY
By the time BLIND GUARDIAN took to the stage the band room at Lion Arts was bursting at the seams. Casually strolling onto stage looking like 4 old school metal heads and one guy that just arrived from the office they kicked off with the meandering yet powerful ‘Imaginations From the Other Side’ before rolling seamlessly into the seriously high intensity of “Blood of the Elves”, hooking the crowd in with a well-executed one-two combination.
Yes, I knew of BLIND GUARDIAN from my years of trawling through music stores and European metal magazine. I’ve seen the shirts, I’ve seen the albums and listened to the occasional track here and there, but never in my right mind did I expect Adelaide concertgoers to fill the venue midweek and have it heaving as it was tonight. The band even remarked that they had visited Australia before, but this was the first time they had made the trek to Adelaide and were so glad they finally had.
I’m an unashamed fan of stage banter, and tonight it was delivered by the truck load complete with the gentle subtlety of Deutsche sarcasm. Discussions regarding the weather, the unusual stage set up and anything else they could muster. (But I agree, seriously… just how are they going to get over the 30cm high barrier than runs across the front of the stage. Haha.) Amongst the banter there was still time for a number of crowd favourites to be delivered with German precision with tracks such as ‘Time Stands Still’ and the epic thunderous anthem ‘Sacred Worlds’ whipping the crowd into a next level frenzy.
‘The Bard’s Song’ managed to tighten the reigns somewhat and draw the onlookers into a mellow, yet mesmerizingly jolly sing-along. The sing-along concept was definitely a theme threaded throughout the set with the Scandi-metal belter ‘Valhalla’, which was seemingly destined to end with an all-inclusive audience clapping routine fading into obscurity and silence before, as you guessed it…another sing along! I swear the crowd even managed to completely drown out the band with their singing during set closer ‘Mirror Mirror’.
In the end I don’t know who did more singing – the band or the audience. Whatever the answer, it seems everyone knew the deal coming into a BLIND GUARDIAN show and both parties delivered exactly what was expected by the other. The band performed and the crowd responded. The crowd performed and the band responded. Like I’ve never seen before. With a ‘Guardian!’ chant ringing around arts centre, the band linked arms front of the stage bowing to absolute raucous applause in a final tribute to the evening. I was exhausted just watching, leaving me to wonder how on earth those in the sweating mass front of stage would have enough energy left to row home in their Viking long boats once making their way out of the venue and back into reality.
BLIND GUARDIAN GALLERY
With thanks to Maric Media and Overdrive Touring for the media access.
Photos by Rock Tsar Photography
