Photo Reports
The Americans of Machine Head and the Swedes of Amon Amarth, along with the Swedish supergroup The Halo Effect as openers, joined forces on The Viking & Lionhearts Tour 2022. It’s not the first time we cover this tour on our website, having attended the epic stops in Helsinki (report & photo report) and Munich (photo report).
This time, we saw them in Vorst Nationaal, Brussels, one of the bigger venues in Belgium that was again well packed, just like the last time Machine Head performed here, in the same venue.
We caught Brymir yet again on one of their shows, this time at their first ever show in Hämeenlinna, at Suisto Club. This show, in a small and quirky venue was quite the contrast compared to their previous show in Tavastia, but not any less enjoyable. I Am Your God already set a pretty good mood and Brymir aced it, playing two extra songs and people still screaming for more.
Sum 41 came to set Vorst Nationaal (Belgium) on fire. They brought Cassyette and Simple Plan to support them in giving everyone a great evening. Due to traffic I missed the first part of her show, but it seemed those who came early were well entertained by all the musical power of Cassyette. Simple Plan passed even more energy on to the crowd by singalongs, jumping, crowdsurfing and creating a big party. Everyone is welcome to the family of Sum 41. They celebrated their musical career so far with all their old and new hits in one hell of a great concert.
Finally Bloodbound came to Finland for their two very first shows here. As a support they brought their countryman Captain Black Beard and Finnish heavy metallers Altaria. We caught them on their show at Tampere’s legendary YO-Talo and we had a great time.
We had the chance to visit the next to last gig of the ‘Symphonic Metal Nights Tour 2022’ which featured co-headliners Visions of Atlantis and Xandria with support from the Swedish pirate folk misfits Ye Banished Privateers. This was not only a highlight for all pirate-themed music fans but quite a large part of the audience in a sold out and packed Cafe Central Weinheim was clearly onsite to see this and dressed accordingly.
The evening was opened up by the Swedish collective Ye Banished Privateers . Presenting their pirate folk music was almost too much for this little stage which was more than crowded with the eight touring members ‘on board’ and set some serious limits to their urge to move around on stage. Maybe good that only 8 of the nearly 30 official members were here… At this point the venue was clearly heating up despite the autumn weather and temperatures outdoors.
Xandria were next to set the heat level even higher and get the crowd to sweat with their new lead singer and new album. They truly rocked rocked and fascinated the audience with their symphonic metal. Everyone got dripping wet of sweat by the end of their great performance.
The last act of the night set the heat notch to the top: Visions of Atlantis. And they brought back the pirate feeling, perfectly combining the themes of the first band with the sound of the band just before them. Everybody was aboard during their set, the harmonizing voices of Clementine Delauney and Michele Guaitoli took the audience by storm.
And even though it was close to the end of the tour, the performances of all bands were stunning. The choreographs were perfect and it has been a very enjoyable event. It was a fantastic night for all fans of symphonic metal. And I have to remember taking a backup shirt next time because you’ll go home completely drenched after such heated up gigs.
Whenever we get the chance to photograph heavy metal monsters like Amon Amarth and Machine Head in a huge room and in front of a big audience, we always feel excited and nervous at the same time. Although we couldn’t attend the concerts in their entirety, for logistical reasons, we felt that it was worth leaving home and face the fears of being face to face with your idols for many years. What we can say about what we saw is that this is one of those tours that you can’t miss. A lot of sweat and explosive energy showing all the power and status that both bands have worldwide. Once again we are very grateful to all the stuff from the magnificent Olympiahalle hall in Munich, they are a great example to be followed in the city by some smaller clubs.
What a show!
If you’re in the market for supporting some of the talented women in the metal music industry, the Amaranthe and Beyond The Black co-headline tour that raged through Europe was definitely the place to be!
Opening for the night is Ad Infinitum! A symphonic metal band formed by Melissa Bonny, who has been catching attention with other projects like Rage of Light and her guest vocal appearances with bands like Warkings and Feuerschwanz, paving the road for second warm up act Butcher Babies! Anyone who has seen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey in action before just knows that they will throw a hell of a performance that gets you pumped up for whoever may come next! Tonight was no exception!
First headliner, Beyond the Black is a German symphonic metal band that has grown into quite the name in only 8 years. The show started a bit strange with 2 large fluorescent lamps as an attribute for singer Jennifer Haben. Besides an outfit change and some percussion, one of the most intriguing parts of the act was a remarkable crown with accompanying mask.
2nd headliner Amaranthe has been on stage for 14 years now and is no longer a stranger to any metalhead who visits a concert or festival every now and then. It is clear to see that everyone has come for this. Elize Ryd and the rest of the guys gave their best with their music that hovers somewhere between pop and melodic death metal and were generously rewarded for this by an enthusiastic interacting audience.
Long story short: we had a beautiful and varied musical evening! Enjoy the pictures!
Opening the night and without being announced on the official line-up was the English artist known as Cassyette, a mixture of nu-metal with some hard rock made the crowd shake and got to know a new name on the current musical panorama.
Around 8pm the Canadians Simple Plan entered the scene. The energy of the stage was easily and quickly passed on to the crowd that was eagerly waiting for them and responded positively singing and jumping in an energetic and compelling way. Highlights of the performance included a cover medley of All Star (Smash Mouth), Sk8er Boi (Avril Lavigne) and Mr. Brightside (The Killers) as well as crowdsurfing by one of the band members with the right to complete disinfection on stage in a demonstration of responsible attitude.
The main band of the night Sum 41 showed that their audience is ageless, everyone is welcome and everyone can party together. During the night the band paraded many of their all time hits, some newer and some older, so that everyone can enjoy their time at their shows. A real punk/pop-rock show with everything you need in a great concert that makes us think that time has flown by, and the money and time invested was worth it.
In short, it was an excellent night’s entertainment, in a spectacular show venue, staffed by a very friendly and professional team, thank you very much for your receptiveness.
The popular Swedish metalcore outfit Dead By April is always a very welcome guest in Finland. With a small tour through Finland, they made a lot of people pretty happy, we’re sure. With them, they brought the UK hardcore band Blood Youth to Finland for the very first time and enlisted the Finnish electro metal band Ember Falls to kick some serious ass throughout the country. We had to catch one of their shows and ended up at the Helsinki stop at Vanha Ylioppilastalo…
Ultima Ratio Fest 2022 was an urban festival that in Munich probably did not work as expected. The evening’s line up started with Americans Hinayana, followed by Finland’s Wolfheart and Norway’s Borknagar. The two co-headliners of the night gave two good concerts with more emphasis on Insomnium, which had a slightly bigger crowd. The audience was practically asleep during all the concerts with the exception of Insomnium, who gave the biggest show of the night. I think the Portuguese band Moonspell deserved a little more enthusiasm in celebrating their 30-year career from an audience that has always been the most loyal to the band since the beginning. Better days will come and better crowds at festivals will surely happen.
