Review and Photos by Fred Kuhlman
Promoter: Lucky Man
Venue: Marquee Theatre, Tempe, Arizona
Date: Saturday October 12th, 2019
It was another night of great Scandinavian metal bands at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe, Arizona. It was kind of a strange mix of musical styles. The first person up played acoustic guitar and played a Dolly Parton song as part of her set. The next up was a Melodic Death Metal band that was definitely the heaviest band of the night. The final band and headliner symphonic metal band. Give the 3 distinct styles, the music did seem to mess well and everyone that was there seemed to have a good time.
Delain
The headliner of tonight’s concert, Delain was a Dutch symphonic metal band from Zwolle, Netherlands. The current line-up for the band is lead singer Charlotte Wessels, drummer Joey Marin de Boer, Martijn Westerholt on keyboards, bass player Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije and guitarist Timo Somers. Guitarist Merel Bechtold has left the group (June 2019) to pursue other ventures. By the time you read this review, it looks like Delain has completed their North American tour. They will be starting their European tour in November. If you want to get more information about Delain or see upcoming concerts, please check out their website: http://www.delain.nl/ .
I first saw Delain when they toured with Nightwish a number of years ago. I was thunderstruck by Charlotte’s voice and her marvelous stage presence. She captivated the audience and had us always wanting more. This is a sign of a fantastic front person and what really makes a band shine.
Well things have not changed. Charlotte is still the exceptional front person and with the other members of the band they are a strong member of the metal community. Otto laid down a strong bassline with Timo providing the power riffs that drove the music. Joey on the drums provided the driving and pounding beat and Martijn pulled it all together with his malonic keyboard playing. Overall it was a great mix of melody and driving sound with stellar singing.
The show was a mix from all of their albums. They have just released an EPS mix, Hunter’s Moon that consists of 4 new songs and live versions of a lot of hits from prior albums. They started the show with a new song, “Burning Bridges” that has not been released on an album yet. They only started playing this song on this North American tour. They ended the show with “We Are the Others”. A large number of fans were singing along with Charlotte and it was awesome. It was a fabulous way to end a terrific show and the audience was extremely happy and cheered and wanted more.
Personally, I love Delain and their music. I have seen them multiple times and they are just getting better. Their music is a mix of both heavy metal and symphonic metal and utilizes the best of both styles. If you get a chance to see them in Europe this November and December, I would highly recommend them. They put on a good show and their music is sensational. Also, Charlotte’s voice is badass.
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2019, All Rights Reserved
Delain Setlist: (Album)
Burning Bridges (Burning Bridges)
Suckerpunch (Moonbathers)
Fire with Fire (Moonbathers)
Stardust (The Human Contradiction)
Masters of Destiny (Hunter’s Moon)
April Rain (April Rain)
Control the Storm (We Are the Others)
Mother Machine (We Are the Others)
Pristine (Lucidity)
Hands of Gold (Moonbathers)
Don’t Let Go (The Human Contradiction)
We Are the Others (We Are the Others)
Amorphis
Amorphis is a Melodic Death Metal band from Helsinki, Finland. They are currently touring in support of their thirteenth album, Queen of Time. The band consists of lead singer Tomi Joutsen, lead guitarist Esa Holopainen, rhythm guitarist Tomi Koivusaari, bass player Olli-Pekka Laine, keyboardist Santeri Kallio and drummer Jan Rechberger.
The majority of their set was from their new album, Queen of Time. The started the set with “The Bee” and “The Golden Elk”. When they played “Amongst Stars”, Anneke van Giersbergen joined the band to sing with Tomi Joutsen. Together they produced a harmonizing sound. Amorphis ended the set with “House of Sleep”.
Amorphis was different from both Delain and Anneke. Tomi had a very strong growling voice. The band sound was also heavier. Esa and Tomi Koivusaari provided smashing power riffs and wonderful harmonies. Oli and Jan provided the bassline and heart pounding sound that drove the music. As with most keyboard players for a metal band, Santeri pulled the entire band’s sound together into a rich melodic sound.
Amorphis is a great band to see live. I believe that to really appreciate their music, you really need to see them live. Their music is so much better live and you get to see a superb band that puts on a wicked amazing performance. Their North American tour is over, but they will be starting their European tour in November. If you want to see more information about the band, their new album, Queen of Time and their upcoming tour dates, please check out their website: http://www.amorphis.net/ .
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2019, All Rights Reserved
Amorphis Setlist: (Album)
The Bee (Queen of Time)
The Golden Elk (Queen of Time)
Silver Bride (Skyforger)
The Four Wise Ones (Under A Red Cloud)
Into Hiding (Tales from the Thousand Lakes)
The Smoke (Eclipse)
Wrong Direction (Queen of Time)
Heart of the Giant (Queen of Time)
My Kantele (Elegy)
Black Winter Day (Tales from the Thousand Lakes)
Amongst Stars (Queen of Time)
with Anneke van Giersbergen
House of Sleep (Eclipse)
Anneke van Giersbergen
The evening started with Anneke van Giersbergen coming out on stage with only an acoustic guitar. Her entire set was just her singing and playing the guitar. It was a mix of multiple styles of music from metal to country. She is from Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands. You can check out Anneke music and upcoming tour dates on her website: http://www.annekevangiersbergen.com/ .
From the setlist below you can see that her music mix was all over the place as far as style. Probably her biggest hit of the night was when she played “Jolene” by Dolly Parton. It was strange that a country song was such a big hit with this metal crowd.
Anneke was very friendly and interacted with the audience a lot. She talked with us and told us about the different shows she was going to play. She asked the crowd to please purchase items from the merchandise table, because unlike her, the bus required gas and could not run on the fan’s love like her. I believe that she would really fit in well at a small venue where the audience is seated. She played Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and did a great job as an acoustic version. Anneke also has a fantastic voice. She came out during the Amorphis set and sang a song with them. She proved that she could also meld her voice well with a strong metal singer like Tomi Joutsen.
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2019, All Rights Reserved
Anneke van Giersbergen Setlist: (Album / Cover)
Ih-Ah! (Devin Townsend Project cover)
Valley of the Queens (Ayreon cover)
Saturnine (The Gathering song)
Circles (acoustic)
Jolene (Dolly Parton cover)
Beautiful One (Agua de Annique cover)
Like a Stone (Audioslave cover)
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd cover)
Cloudbusting (Kate Bush cover)
Wasted Years (Iron Maiden cover)
