Powerwolf – Cologne, 5 September 2015

Location: Live Music Hall, Cologne

Date: 5 September 2015

Bands: Xandria, Orden Organ, Powerwolf

The wolf is back and howling again! But has Powerwolf ever been gone? At least not from the hearts of their fans who came to the venue to join the pack. But the wolves did not come alone. They were accompanied by two other bands who did their best to prepare the crowd for the headliner Powerwolf.

Xandria

Xandria opened the gig and were quite entertaining. In fact, Dianne van Giersbergen would make an ideal partner for a duet with Attila Dorn. Both have a great voice and both have a sense for the theatrical, which made their gig a pleasure both for the ears and eyes. In that order. As a side note: It was amazing to see how agile Dianne was on stage in her high heels!

Ordan Ogan

Ordan Ogan was the next band to hit the stage with their mixture of Power Metal, Melodic Metal and Folk Metal. Think of a band that could open for Manowar, Korpiklaani and even Nightwish. Also, the voice! The singer is no Michael Kiske, but his voice was much clearer than one should expect from such a huge guy. Curious? Then go and see them on their current tour with Powerwolf!

Powerwolf

And last, but definitely not least, the headliner: Powerwolf!

After a magnificent entrance, the band started with their set. Attila Dorn delivered the vocals and Matthew and Charles Greywolf went wild on stage and switched places time and time again. Even the keyboarder Falk Maria Schlegel was running around on stage every now and then when he switched between his strategically placed keyboards. In a way I wish he had shown up even more up front as there was something really special about him. It simply felt like a really shy person had finally found the courage to come out of hiding and that gave his appearances in front something special, something magical! This is not to say that there was nothing special about the rest of the band, it is just that his kind of “special” was a little bit more impressive.

Just the drummer Roel van Helden was hiding most of the time, but I guess that comes with the instrument which is probably the bane of all photographers. But, hey, who knows what the future will hold? A little coaching from Falk Maria Schlegel could go a long way!