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Rating: I returned to Rome today in the late morning and I feel compelled to share my testimony about last night's amazing concert!
Let's start by saying something about the Astral Doors, supporters of the legendary Blind Guardian on their European tour: I admit I don't know them very well, but from what I saw and heard at the concert, I give my judgment: strong, really good.
Faced with a band you don't know, obviously, you don't show enthusiasm right away, but after the first song, they truly managed to involve everyone, I imagine there were those who knew them very well, but it seemed to me that the entire Saschall theater was captivated by their somewhat short but effective performance! Unfortunately, not knowing them well, I can't provide you with the setlist of the pieces performed, but I believe two were called "Time to Rock" and "Evil is Forever" (the titles were clearly sung as refrains, so it's easy to imagine that's what they were called!).
Therefore, a very positive judgment, they have my admiration and I intend to learn more about them!
After what I would say was a rather nerve-wracking break (interrupted only by pleasant moments when we drowned out the crew's recommendations to stay calm and not push the front rows with our screams...YEAH RIGHT!!!), the Guardians finally took to the stage, introduced by the famous intro "War of Wrath" followed by "Into the Storm", a phenomenal start straight from "Nightfall in Middle Earth", and that's perfectly fine! The (our, I was there too eh eh) reaction was great, the massacre was confirmed from the first song, we were already sweating like beasts and moving in a sea of shouting crowd, all with arms raised supporting a band among the most beloved ever!
I open a parenthesis to say that, due to the excitement of seeing one of my favorite bands live, I might surely forget some songs played, or maybe get the order wrong, I apologize for that, perhaps in the comments you who were also there can correct or add information!
They continued with tracks like "Born in a Mourning Hall", "Bright Eyes", "Nightfall" then to the wonderful ballad "A Past and Future Secret", sung really loudly by everyone, a beautiful moment, really in tune with the band!
I must say what struck me most was the ability of Blind Guardian to be a band very close to their audience, it truly seems that success hasn't inflated them at all! It was really nice to see Hansi's happy smile as he noticed how we all knew all the songs and how we reacted to each one (genuine deafening roars!).
Still in this first part of the concert, they played the new "Fly" and I was very curious to see how it would perform live: a masterpiece. Engaging, powerful, perfectly nailed!
After a false finale (and of course, no one believed it!), they returned and in the second part performed, not in order: "Valhalla", "Time Stands Still", "Welcome to Dying", the new "Another Stranger Me" (well, I really loved it live too!), "Imaginations from the Other Side", "The Bard Song In The Forest" (it was truly emotional and spectacular to sing it all in chorus, so much that Hansi left the task exclusively to us, great man!) and "And Then There Was Silence" (15 minutes of perfectly executed song!!), announcing it as the end of the concert.
But it wasn't really possible to end. Virtually (meaning what we down in the crowd wanted) this concert could have ended on the morning of the 12th, practically this was resolved by the Blind coming back on stage once more for the ultra-demanded "Mirror Mirror", a worthy finale to a great, very successful (and sweaty as hell, damn) concert.
I spend the last words to emphasize the technical skill of this band, they manage to bring to the stage with extreme ease the atmospheres and power you find on disk, and I also want to witness Hansi's skill as a frontman and singer, truly great. In short, a band besides being good, FUNNY!
And that's a great quality, especially when you see the little kiddie bands all sharp and still with the outline of the kicks in the ass they received to get where they are, pulling it on stage and maybe even playing like crap.
Long live Metal, long live Blind Guardian, long live the Germans, long live beer but above all long live the sandwich vendor outside the theater who made me an amazing sausage, peppers, sauerkraut, and ketchup sandwich!!!
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