Concerts I've seen

Liking both bands on the bill, this one was a no brainer for me. Both delivered as expected. Absolva are just getting better and better. For me, the earlier material was stronger, but that could just be because I'm more familiar with it. My highlights were "Never a good day to die", "Code red" and "From beyond the light".

Similarly, Fury are at this point a very well oiled machine and are a very formidable live force, with a tightness that comes from putting in the time on the road. The only slight downside was a muddier sound than usual, particularly further towards the back of the room which made JJ's vocals hard to pick out at times. Tonight saw a cover of Mercyful Fate's "Evil", a nod to Becky's at the time temporary but now permanent position as said band's bass player. "Prince of darkness", "Who are you" and "Casino soleil" all stood out tonight. The encore saw Luke Appleton once again joining in for "A tale of silver", followed by a seasonal cover of Wizzard's "I wish it could be Christmas every day".

This show was originally booked for The Underworld. However, when I arrived the venue was closed. The bouncers at The World's End said the show had been postponed. I double checked on the Internet and found that it hadn't been postponed - just moved to The Dome, a venue I'd driven past on the way in. So I drove back out, but by the time I got there, I'd missed the opening band Secret Rule.

I'd seen COP UK supporting Rage before, and they were doing so again here. Based on previous performances, they were never going to rise to great heights and that was once again shown here. They were, however, much better, and I think this was the best of the times I've seen them so far. They're a melodic metal band, playing relatively lightweight songs, but they do it well. The songwriting is perhaps lacking in places and the reason for their lack of progress, but overall not a bad performance. Helped by a solid cover of Journey's "Separate ways (world's apart)".

So on to Rage. Now touring on the back of their 25th studio release, there's no shortage of material from which to draw. The choice of COP UK as a support act became clearer when guitarist Jean Bormann took to the stage, playing for both bands here. The last couple of times I'd seen the band, Peavey had been unwell and relegated to intermittent vocal duties. This time he was back at full strength. He seems to have made a conscious decision to steer the band more in the direction of ther earlier, slightly heavier material and that was reflected in the setlist. Highlights for me were "Great old ones", "End of all days" and the obligatory "Don't fear the winter" and "Higher than the sky" in the encore.

No support for this one, just two sets from Uli. He seemed to largely have the same backing band as when I last saw him, albeit this time with the addition of his daughter Akasha on keyboards. The first set was a little subdued, with a mix of Electric Sun material, a track from his brother Zeno and a few relatively obscure Scorps tracks, ending with a magnificent "Sails of Charon".

After a brief intermission, the band returned for a second set of Scorpions classics, notably including "Polar nights", "We'll burn the sky", "In trance" and "Pictured life". Uli is truly a master of the guitar and makes everything look so effortless. An encore brought covers of "All along the watchtower" and "Little wing" to round out another strong performance.

Somewhat surprisingly, Phantom Elite were the opening band tonight, despite being the main support for the tour. I'm guessing that they've bumped Skarlett Riot up for the UK dates. I'd enjoyed Phantom Elite when I'd seen them previously, and did so again tonight. But in truth they were a bit flat here in comparison. Marina's voice was good, and it's hard to pick any one area where they weren't firing on all cylinders, but something was a bit lacking. I wonder if they were a little dejected by the relatively poor turnout and the performance reflected that.

Skarlett Riot are a band who were never going to make the big time, but I quite enjoyed them when I first saw them. However, they seem to be heading backwards. As when I saw them at Bloodstock, Chloe's vocals were flat for far too much of the set and they just don't have strong enough songs to make up for that.

This was the first time I'd seen Xandria since yet another lineup change. This one was not just the vocalist, though. This time, Marco replaced the whole of the rest of the band. So how were they? Actually pretty good. Lisa, Manuela and Dianne are tough acts to follow and Ambre has some big shoes to fill. While it wasn't all plain sailing, she did surprisingly well, particularly with the more operatic parts. Rob is also a very good guitarist, and it was gratifying to see an out and out proper shredding guitar solo (in the form of "Toccata and fugue" as the intro to "Nightfall"). Such things used to be the staple of rock shows, but you don't see them much these days. Highlights were an acoustic "Ravenheart", the aforementioned "Nightfall" and of course the set closer "Valentine".

Solid performances from Phantom Elite and Xandria, then, but nothing to set the world on fire and both have been better in the past.

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No support for this one, just Russ playing. At a new venue for me too - and one in walking distance of my office, too. While I'd seen Russ guesting with Rainbow before, this was my first time seeing his solo performance. He may be 78 but the voice is still strong, and of course he has a fantastic back catalogue from which to draw. The highlights for me were "New York groove", "Hold your head up", "Liar", "Since you've been gone" and of course the encore, "God gave rock 'n' roll to you".

This show was originally booked at The Dome. But I'm guessing they didn't shift enough tickets to justify that, so it was moved downstairs to what was once the Boston Music Room, but which has now been rebranded as Downstairs At The Dome.

There was no support for this show, just a two hour set from Imperial Age, dominated by tracks from the last two albums. Backing tracks are very much in evidence, and I'd prefer to have more of it being played live. But an enjoyable show nonetheless. My highlights were "To the edge of the unknown" and "Turn the sun off!", along with "Call of the towers" providing an epic encore.

One of the problems with moving out of London is that it can prove difficult to get into the city for shows with early doors. I left straight after work, but still didn't arrive at the venue until after the first two bands had played. I suspect I didn't miss much with Bulletbelt, but I'd have liked to see Mesmerized. Still, it wasn't to be.

Systemhouse 33 were frankly weak. Chugging riffs, albeit with barely audible guitars for much of it, along with shouted harsh vocals. There were occasional melodic sections, but not enough and not high enough quality to sustain my interest. At the end of the set, they brought members of Bulletbelt onto the stage to join them for a cover of Pantera's "Walk".

I'd originally planned to see Semblant in April 2020, but the pandemic put a stop to that. The show was rescheduled maybe 4 or 5 times before it eventually went ahead in 2022, but I was unable to make it and so this, their second UK show was the first time I got to see them. They put on a solid performance, if a slightly unspectacular one. Maybe just due to familiarity, but the best songs of the night were those for which I'd previously seen videos - "What lies ahead" and "Purified".

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An early start to the evening meant that I missed the first band, Dead Happy. Vanitas were a prog metal band, but one with less emphasis on the prog than I'd initially feared. Musically they were OK without being groundbreaking, but the songs were lacking. The distorted vocals were OK, but the clean vocals lacked conviction and wavered in pitch. I'd expected better from Jade, who I'd previously seen singing with Fury and who, as a vocal tutor, should really be doing better than this. The attempts at crowd participation felt forced and clumsy. Overall, the band just seemed to be trying too hard.

Nameless were a last minute stand in for The Black Hounds, who'd been forced to pull out due to injury. The riffs were OK, but that's about it. Their shouty mix of hardcore and nu-metal really did nothing for me, and I found them forgettable. Kensei were a bit better, even if their melodic death metal wasn't much to my tastes either. However, they had some excellent guitar work, the song structures were better and if they'd use solely clean vocals (or at least only use occasional harsh vocals for emphasis) they'd be really interesting.

Tooth And Dagger were a strange mix. They describe themselves as alt metal, which is broadly accurate. But the vocals alternated between hard growls and almost pop punk vocals, which was a little unexpected. Despite being reasonable to my ears, they garnered very little interest from the crowd, which flattened their performance somewhat. The band members jumping off stage and mingling with the crowd really didn't work and smacked of desperation to me. Born Zero are described as a mix of metalcore and death metal. But actually they weren't quite as bad as that might imply. Their performance wasn't great, but it was decent enough. The clean vocals were a little weak, but the performance was good and they went down well with the crowd.

Despite Vanitas being my favourite of the bands, the flaws in their performance meant that I didn't think they deserved to go through on merit. I'd have said Kensei slightly edged Born Zero for that. Naturally, Nameless, my least favourite band of the night were actually picked to be the winners.

After the competition bands, the night was rounded out by a guest headline slot from Fury. I've seen them many times before, and for my money, they're probably the best live act in the UK right now. Every show is exceptional, and this was not the one to buck that trend. This was the first time I'd seen them with new guitarist Aki, and he seems to be a great fit. The gulf in class between Fury and the bands in the M2TM competition was quite startling. If any of them wanted to know what they should be aspiring to be, they need look no further than tonight's headliners. Another fantastic show, with my highlights being "If you get to hell first", "Embrace the demons" and "Casino soleil".

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