![\"01-tourposter\"](\"http:\/\/powerofmetal.dk\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/01-tourposter1.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLocation:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Islington Academy\u2019, London (England)<\/p>\n Date:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>9th<\/sup> September, 2015<\/p>\n Bands:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Powerwolf, Orden Ogan, Xandria<\/p>\n 3 hours before the scheduled opening of the \u2018Islington Academy\u2019, a sizeable crowd has already gathered at its entrance, most sporting Powerwolf apparel…some even with Powerwolf-inspired make-up. So when Powerwolf\u2019s Falk Maria Schlegel approaches them, the fans are all too pleased to reciprocate his greetings.<\/p>\n Orden Ogan and Xandria are opening this Powerwolf tour and having followed Xandria intermittently for a few years, I\u2019m particularly interested in seeing the band prove their mettle in a live scenario. None of the 3 bands have I previously seen live, but all that is about to change…..<\/p>\n <\/p>\n XANDRIA<\/strong><\/p>\n When compared to the studio-recordings, live performances sometimes paint a different picture of a band and its music. And I must say that in this respect Xandria exceeded my expectations. Surprisingly strong riffs and catchy melodies effortlessly hooked the audience in who responded enthusiastically.<\/p>\n Just as I imagined, lead vocalist Dianne van Giersbergen proved to be an excellent singer. From start to end of the performance, her singing was unfalteringly spot-on while her friendly demeanour fostered a strong crowd rapport. Another revelation for me was the talent of guitarist Philip Restemeier….I\u2019ve got to play closer attention to his axework next time I spin my Xandria CDs.<\/p>\n \u2018Cursed\u2019 seemed to be a particularly strong crowd-pleaser. But set opener \u2018Nightfall\u2019 – from the band\u2019s recent \u201cSacrificium\u201d album \u2013 was also excellently delivered. I also loved the neo-classical vibe of the 2 new songs that Xandria played \u2013 \u2018Voyage Of The Fallen\u2019 and \u2018Unembraced\u2019. If the band\u2019s forthcoming album sounds anything like these 2 numbers, then I\u2019m in for a treat.<\/p>\n Perhaps originality was not one of the set\u2019s main attractions but this was undoubtedly a strong performance. I was a bit surprised at how well the crowd received Xandria but I think that reaction was well deserved.<\/p>\n Set-list:<\/em><\/p>\n Nightfall<\/p>\n Blood On My Hands<\/p>\n Unembraced<\/p>\n Stardust<\/p>\n Voyage Of The Fallen<\/p>\n Cursed<\/p>\n Valentine<\/p>\n Rating: 90<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ORDEN OGAN<\/strong><\/p>\n I had heard some songs off their \u201cTo The End\u201d album of 2012 but before this gig I was relatively new to the music of Orden Ogan. Despite the band\u2019s \u2018barbarian-style\u2019 attire, to my ears Orden Ogan are essentially a Hard Rock band in the vein of Takara. The band\u2019s music was musically less heavy than I imagined it would be, more melodic.<\/p>\n The impression I got from the Germans\u2019 performance was of generic-sounding songs. Excellent stage-act, decent delivery but as far as the material itself went, nothing out of this world.<\/p>\n Sebastian \u2018Seeb\u2019 Levermann\u2019s singing was powerful and ideally suited for melodic Rock. His humorous banter with the audience further augmented the feel-good atmosphere that pervaded Orden Ogan\u2019s show. \u2018Ravenhead\u2019 and \u2018The Things We Believe In\u2019 had me instinctively nodding my head and partaking in the festive vibe.<\/p>\n Orden Ogan\u2019s show was a generation-crossing crowd-pleaser.<\/p>\n Set-list (prone to corrections):<\/em><\/p>\n F.E.V.E.R.<\/p>\n Deaf Among the Blind<\/p>\n We Are Pirates<\/p>\n Ravenhead<\/p>\n The Lords of the Flies<\/p>\n Here At The End Of The World<\/p>\n Sorrow Is Your Tale<\/p>\n The Things We Believe In<\/p>\n Rating: 70<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n POWERWOLF<\/strong><\/p>\n Powerwolf are no strangers to England and seem to have established a loyal following over here. To be honest, my prior impression was of a slightly overrated band but tonight I approach the performance with a clean slate of mind.<\/p>\n After Orden Ogan depart, Powerwolf\u2019s crew add to the stage props to make maximum use of the area available and indeed the band\u2019s performance turns out to be highly entertaining. The set\u00a0stopped by\u00a0all of Powerwolf\u2019s\u00a0albums from the band\u2019s 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0full-length until the recent \u201cBlessed & Possessed\u201d. \u2018Cardinal Sin\u2019 was played for the first time in England. But the loudest crowd reaction was for \u2018Coleus Sanctus\u2019, \u2018Lupus Dei\u2019 and set closer \u2018All We Need Is Blood\u2019. A lot of the songs tended to have elaborate intros which sort of helped in creating a sense of anticipation for the actual material.<\/p>\n Band presentation and stage presence were top-notch and there was a great co-ordination between lights, props and the band\u2019s actual performance. Musically, however, I was struggling to share the audience\u2019s enthusiasm…..until \u2018Let There Be Night\u2019 came on around half-way through their set. That was when I got roped into the general frenzy and joined the crowd in cheering and applauding. Special mention goes to Roel van Helden for an impressive drum solo before the rest of the band rejoined him to play \u2018Dead Boys Don\u2019t Cry\u2019.<\/p>\n The material delivered might not have been consistently impressive but Powerwolf were superlatively entertaining tonight.<\/p>\n Set-list:<\/em><\/p>\n Blessed & Possessed<\/p>\n Coleus Sanctus<\/p>\n Amen and Attack<\/p>\n Cardianl Sin<\/p>\n Army Of The Night<\/p>\n Resurrection by Erection<\/p>\n Armata Strigoi<\/p>\n Dead Boys Don\u2019t Cry<\/p>\n Let There Be Night<\/p>\n Werewolves Of Armenia<\/p>\n In The Name Of God<\/p>\n We Drink Your Blood<\/p>\n Lupus Dei<\/p>\n Sanctified with Dynamite (encore)<\/em><\/p>\n Kreuzfeuer (encore)<\/em><\/p>\n All We Need Is Blood (encore)<\/em><\/p>\n Rating: 84<\/strong><\/p>\n Words and photos (except tour poster) by Chris Galea.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Location:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Islington Academy\u2019, London (England) Date:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9th September, 2015 Bands:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Powerwolf, Orden Ogan, Xandria 3 hours before the scheduled opening of the \u2018Islington Academy\u2019, a sizeable crowd has already gathered at its entrance, most sporting [Read \u00bb]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":3359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-live-reviews"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3264"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3360,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264\/revisions\/3360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n