Bands:\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Van Canto, Grailknights, End Of The Dream<\/div>\n
Van Canto\u2019s popularity seems to be going from strength to strength in England with bigger venues to accommodate fans and touring as headliners . I had reviewed an album of theirs in the past and always wondered how this \u2018a cappella\u2019 band would animate a Metal crowd. Well, tonight I\u2019m going to get the answer to that.<\/p>\n
Both support acts are relatively new to me. Grailknights place a strong emphasis on entertainment and visuals and seem to be an ideal support. Opening act End Of The Dream, however, are a different kettle of fish….<\/p>\n
End Of The Dream <\/strong>(http:\/\/www.endofthedreammusic.com\/<\/a>) <\/em><\/div>\n
Dutch band End Of The Dream play a Symphonic Metal with dark, slightly melancholic, undertones. Their music got me thinking of Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation. Although the band is working on a new album, tonight\u2019s set was taken entirely from the band\u2019s debut album \u201cAll I Am\u201d, released in 2014.<\/div>\n
To be honest I wasn\u2019t exactly in awe of their performance. What they do they do well but the band seemed intent on keeping within the template of this music genre. At least that was my impression. Lead vocalist Micky Huijsmans has a good voice but I felt she lacked confidence and struggled to bond with the audience. On the other hand I was impressed by the skills and versatility of guitarist Armen Shamelian.<\/p>\n
Too much smoke and blinding lights made my job of getting decent photos extremely tricky and also occupied much of my focus. This factor in conjunction with the brevity of End Of The Dream\u2019s set, could mean I\u2019ll need another opportunity to objectively assess the band\u2019s stage act. I\u2019ll give them the benefit of the doubt.<\/p>\n
After the performance, I met End Of The Dream\u2019s Micky<\/strong> and Armen<\/strong> backstage for a very quick interview. <\/em><\/div>\nListen to what they told me:<\/em><\/div>\n\nhttp:\/\/powerofmetal.dk\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/EndOfTheDream-InterviewEdit-24Mar2016.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n
$\"End$
End Of The Dream<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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End Of The Dream was:<\/em><\/div>\nMicky Huijsmans<\/strong> – vocals<\/div>\n
Robin van Ekeren<\/strong> – guitars<\/div>\n
Tim van den Hooven<\/strong> – bass<\/div>\n
Armen Shamelian<\/strong> – guitars<\/div>\n
Pim Geraets<\/strong> – drums<\/div>\n
Set-list:<\/em><\/div>\n
Colder<\/div>\n
Follow The Angels<\/div>\n
Shadow\u2019s Embrace<\/div>\n
Collide<\/div>\n
All I Am<\/div>\n
Rating: 60\/100<\/strong><\/p>\n
$\"12-24Mar2016-IslingtonAcademyLondon-ENDOFTHEDREAM-4s\"$
End Of The Dream<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"End$
End Of The Dream<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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$\"11-24Mar2016-IslingtonAcademyLondon-ENDOFTHEDREAM-3\"$
End Of The Dream<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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$\"13-24Mar2016-IslingtonAcademyLondon-ENDOFTHEDREAM-5s\"$
End Of The Dream<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Grailknights <\/strong>(http:\/\/www.grailknights.de\/<\/a>) <\/em><\/div>\n
Grailknights fuse comedy and theatrics with Metal in a similar way to GWAR (though perhaps less grossly). Tonight the theatrics are prevalently inspired by the cheesy cartoon series \u201cHe-Man and the Masters of the Universe\u201d. Although the band is inspired by such cartoons, you could also say that Grailknights take the stereotypes of Metal and magnify them so exponentially as to become comedic.<\/div>\n
Anyway, I have to concede that tonight Grailknights were highly entertaining. Included within their set were enactments of some of their song themes. From what I\u2019ve understood, these were mainly centred around one Dr. Skull stealing the holy grail (a \u2018golden\u2019 chalice) and, subsequently, the Grailknights setting out to reclaim it. The culmination of this quest involved a hilarious slow-motion swordfight (with plastic carnivalesque swords). Equally funny was the Grailknights’ preparation for the showdown with Dr Skull, something the band calls the ‘superhero workout’.<\/p>\n
As musicians Grailknights proved to be competent enough but their image and attitude are integral to the band and the whole package is something you couldn\u2019t resist being drawn to. Besides, this was the only time where you could hear a Slayer riff, a Judas Priest melody and a Power Rangers tune in the same song….and actually enjoy it!<\/p>\n
At the very least. an interesting discovery!<\/p>\n
Grailknights was:<\/em><\/div>\nSir Optimus Prime<\/strong> (green knight) \u2013 throatwork (vocals)<\/div>\n
Sovereign Storm<\/strong> (purple knight) \u2013 metalaxe (guitars)<\/div>\n
Earl Quake<\/strong> (blue knight) \u2013 metalaxe<\/div>\n
Count Cranium<\/strong> (red knight) – battle-bass (bass)<\/div>\n
Lord Drumcules<\/strong> (yellow knight) – hammer and anvil (drums)<\/div>\n\u00a0.<\/div>\n
Set-list:<\/em><\/div>\n
Dead Or Alive<\/div>\n
Morning Dew<\/div>\n
Beer Beach<\/div>\n
Nameless Grave<\/div>\n
Black Knight<\/div>\n
Grailrobic (superhero workout)<\/div>\n
Schwertkampf (sword fight)<\/div>\n
Superhero medley<\/div>\n
Grail<\/div>\n
Grailquest Gladiators<\/div>\n
Rating: 78\/100<\/strong><\/p>\n
$\"37-24Mar2016-IslingtonAcademyLondon-GRAILKNIGHTS-14s\"$
Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"Dr$
Dr Skull (Grailknights)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"23-24Mar2016-IslingtonAcademyLondon-GRAILKNIGHTS-4\"$
Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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$\"21-24Mar2016-IslingtonAcademyLondon-GRAILKNIGHTS-2\"$
Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"25-24Mar2016-IslingtonAcademyLondon-GRAILKNIGHTS-6\"$
Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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$\"18-24Mar2016-IslingtonAcademyLondon-GRAILKNIGHTS-setlist-2\"$
Grailknights setlist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"43-24Mar2016-IslingtonAcademyLondon-GRAILKNIGHTS-20s\"$
Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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$\"53-24Mar2016-IslingtonAcademyLondon-GRAILKNIGHTS-30s\"$
Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"Grailknights\"$
Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Grailknights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Van Canto <\/strong>(http:\/\/vancanto.de\/<\/a>)<\/em><\/div>\n
Love them or hate them but there\u2019s no denying that tonight Van Canto put on an eminently enjoyable show. At times I almost forgot it was just voices (and drums) that I was hearing.<\/div>\n
Particularly well delivered was \u2018Rebellion\u2019, the Gravedigger classic, effective in stirring up the audience. Manowar\u2019s \u2018Kings Of Metal\u2019 was great too and felt appropriate within tonight\u2019s set, with songs of bravery and noble battles<\/p>\n
\u2018Fear Of The Dark\u2019 (by Iron Maiden) brought Van Canto\u2019s set to a momentous end. Though not entirely convinced by \u2018Wishmaster\u2019, the singing of Van Canto\u2019s Inga Scharf felt strikingly similar to Tarja Turunen\u2019s. With regards to Van Canto\u2019s own songs, \u2018Bard\u2019s Call\u2019, from the brand new album \u201cVoices Of Fire\u201d, had the makings of an instant classic. \u2018Dragonwake\u2019, too, sounded great. Not even the set\u2019s mellower moments watered down the performance.<\/p>\n
A festive ambience and the perfect antidote for the week\u2019s mundanity!<\/p>\n
Listen to Van Canto\u2019s Stefan and Ross describe the band\u2019s London visits:<\/em><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/powerofmetal.dk\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/VanCanto-InterviewExcerptForGigReview-24Mar2016.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n
$\"With$
With Stefan (left) and Ross (right) of Van Canto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Van Canto was:<\/em><\/div>\nPhilip \u2018Sly\u2019 Dennis Schunke<\/strong> \u2013 lead (male) voice<\/div>\n
Inga Scharf<\/strong> \u2013 lead (female) voice<\/div>\n
Ross Thompson<\/strong> \u2013 higher rakkatakka<\/div>\n
Stefan Schmidt<\/strong> \u2013 lower rakkatakka<\/div>\n
Jan Moritz<\/strong> \u2013 bassvoice<\/div>\n
Bastian Emig<\/strong> \u2013 drums<\/div>\n
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Set-list:<\/em><\/div>\n
Clashings On Armour Plates<\/div>\n
Dragonwake<\/div>\n
Time And Time Again<\/div>\n
All My Life<\/div>\n
Battleday<\/div>\n
Firevows<\/div>\n
Ronja + Pathfinder<\/div>\n
Speed Of Light<\/div>\n
Kings Of Metal<\/div>\n
To The Mountains<\/div>\n
Rebellion<\/div>\n
Metal Song<\/div>\n
Wishmaster<\/div>\n
Bard\u2019s Call<\/div>\n
Mission\/Battery<\/div>\n
Fear Of The Dark<\/div>\n
Rating: 84\/100<\/strong><\/p>\n
$\"Van$
Van Canto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Van Canto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Van Canto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Van Canto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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$\"71-24Mar2016-IslingtonAcademyLondon-VANCANTO-16\"$
Van Canto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Van Canto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Text and all live photographs by Chris Galea<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Location:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Islington Academy, London (England) Date:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 24th March, 2016 Bands:\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Van Canto, Grailknights, End Of The Dream Van Canto\u2019s popularity seems to be going from strength to strength in England with bigger venues to [Read \u00bb]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":7734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1122,870,868],"class_list":{"0":"post-7732","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-live-reviews","8":"tag-end-of-the-dream","9":"tag-grailknights","10":"tag-van-canto"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7732","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=7732"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7819,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7732\/revisions\/7819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsite.powerofmetal.dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}