Avantasia is a power metal supergroup project formed in 2000 by Edguy vocalist Tobias Sammet. With six albums declaring the project's name, Sammet has done an outstanding job in getting a veritable bounty of collaborators across the melodic metal and hard rock world including Alice Cooper, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Michael Kiskeand Kai Hansen from Helloween, Sharon Den Adel from Within Temptation, Biff Byford from Saxon, Geoff Tate from Queensryche and Arjen Anthony Lucassen from Ayreon to list a few.
With so many popular names involved, assembling a touring package would not be an easy feat. Joining Sammet on this tour are vocalists Michael Kiske, JørnLande, Eric Martin, Bob Catley, Amanda Somerville, Ronnie Atkins andHerbieLanghanswhile Oliver Hartman on guitar and vocals, SaschaPaeth on guitar, Felix Bohnke on drums, Andre Neygenfind on bass and Michael Rodenberg on keyboards round up the line up.
Sammet has said that this tour may be the last Avantasia tour ever although he is quick to highlight that he staked a similar claim on their last world tour. Whatever the decision, the German believes that this could be the last Avantasia activity for some time. Being the sole UK date on this tour and the only other UK outing aside from a slot at 2013's Bloodstock, the Forum is particularly busy with punters this weeknight with the knowledge of no support act and a three hour set proving very appealing.
With the intro tape fading, Avantasia's instrumentalists take the stage one by one, followed by core vocalists TobiasSammet, HerbieLanghans and Amanda Somerville launching into 'Mystery of the Red Rose', a strong choice for opener that sees the audience singing along, but the sound is dominated by the drum kit, particularly rendering the guitars less prominent. Nonetheless, the following song 'Ghostllights' makes up for this as former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske joins the stage, his vocals still sounding like his work in '80s Helloween. Seeing Michael Kiske with a metal band was deemed unthinkable before Avantasia as he had publicly denounced metal. This is a very rare experience for London's melodic metal subscribers.
Working through their setlist, Avantasia see singers joining and leaving the fold for a variety of selections from throughout their career with particular highlights being 'Unchain the Night' with Kiske and Ronnie Atkins, 'The Watchmaker's Dream' with Oliver Hartman, ' Draconian Love' with Langhans,'The Wicked Symphony' with JørnLande, Somerville, Kiske, Langhans and without Sammet, 'Farewell' with Kiske and Somerville and 'Avantasia' with Kiske. Avantasia's sound has been far from stagnant, beginning life with a traditional power metal core and progressing with an abundance of hard rock stylings. The rich sound of having so many vocalists harmonise with each other occasionally gets lost in the venue but this does not subtract from the spectacle being wholly entertaining. Fortunately as the set winds on, the drums become less dominating in the mix. Sammet is his usual chatty self with Kiske, Lande, Catley and Eric Martin also spending a notable portion of time on the microphone. During the show, after Sammet spends some time backstage during a song he was not singing, he returns to the tell the audience that he has been informed that tonight is indeed sold out.
Just before 'Dying for an Angel', Martin announces that this is the final song for the night before admitting that there will be an encore. The song is performed expertly and Avantasia leave the stage. When they return, they play what Sammet admits is their attempt at being radio-friendly, namely 'Lost in Space'. The final highlight of the night is 'Sign of the Cross' with the last verse and chorus switched out with part of 'The Seven Angels'. This sees all the vocalists on stage to democratically sing a few lines each and is absolutely astounding. Ending the show with such bombast certainly leaves the fans fulfilled and Sammet promises that if Avantasia do decide to keep going, they will play London again. Given the strength of their live debut in the capital, it would be a shame if this was a one off.
FUTURE GIGS
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