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Events and Reports - King Diamond - Live with Loch Vostok and Secret Sphere at Train, Aarhus - April 17, 2006
Let me begin out with the conclusion: The concert was great! Go see King Diamond live if you get the chance.
With that out of the way, let me continue with the beginning, namely the two opening bands, Loch Vostok and Secret Sphere. The place was packed with people, most of them not the average metalconcert attender, but a lot of different people, most of them not looking much like metal fans. I guess a lot of the people here grew up with King Diamond and whether they are here this night only for nostalgic reasons or if they still listen to metal is not known and not important right now, 'cause the show is about to begin.
Loch Vostok play progressive metal with a lot of different elements, especially experimenting with a lot of different vocal styles. I didn't know the band beforehand, but my impression is that there are a lot of good ideas in their music. Their live act, however, left a lot to be desired. I don't think it's a good idea for the singer/guitarist to keep his eyes closed for whole songs, no matter how cool he thinks it looks. Kinda hard to keep the contact with the audience with your eyes closed...
Secret Sphere is an italian powermetal band and if you from these words immediately think Rhapsody, you aren't that far off. I have their first two albums and liked them a lot at that time, though there certainly is a cheese-factor involved here. I must admit that they looked a bit out of place, a bunch of Italian kids on stage here in Denmark, far, far away from home. But they played really well, especially the lead guitarist, keyboard player and singer stand out as masters of their instruments.
Even though the audience responded quite well to the opening acts, there was no doubt who they were here to see. The main area in front of the stage filled up as people impatiently waited for the one and only King in the state of Denmark at this point in time. The crew cleared the stage after the first bands and quickly changed it from a stage into a graveyard, complete with a high fence in front of the audience and a small coffin in the center, about the size of a small child.
And as the well-known Funeral intro began to play, the crowd went crazy. The band entered and King quickly went to the center of the stage and started preaching. Right from the start you know that this is not just a concert. A King Diamond show is just that: A show. And King is very much a showman. Everybody who has read the concept stories of his albums know that the stories take on a life of their own, making them perfect for a live stage adaptation. With a few accessories, an actor and a charismatic King, we watched a show that's just miles ahead of the competition.
King waved a baby puppet in the air, telling us the well-known story of Abigail LaFey, whom we now know was first born dead on The 7th Day of July 1777. The little girl who was to take up a big part of the concert. We are treated with mostly old Abigail songs and a few from part 2, probably since we never got a European tour for the Abigail part 2 album.
Of course there were also a few songs from The Puppetmaster. Even though Blood to walk isn't my favorite, So Sad more than made up for it. The actress, Jody, who had different roles in the songs, made a great impression of a puppet on strings, of course with King controlling her. King later introduced her as "Hende den skøre" in Danish ("that crazy girl"), very fitting since she really put her soul in the characters and made them come alive. It also helped that she is damn hot! Another girl on the stage was Livia Zita who did the part of King's love on The Puppetmaster. She did well and she added even more diversity to the show.
The band behind the man is pretty impressive. I've always been a big fan of Andy La Rocque and his instantly recognizable solos. And lately with the arrival of Mike Wead, I see the band as close to perfect. Bassist Hal Patino did a great job entertaining the audience with his very energetic way of playing and being all over the stage at the same time. And his choice of clothes deserve special notice. But it's the twin guitarists I'll remember, nailing every solo and rythm part perfectly.
The concert left me with great respect for a man who has created his own niche in metal for the last 20 years or so. Not only does he manage to put out one great album after another, he also manages to put shows together that stand out among so many mediocre others. No doubt that this show is on my all-time top 5 concerts. And when he on top of that manages to be very modest, yet charismatic as few others on stage, what can you do but respect him. So let me repeat what I said in the beginning: A King Diamond show is something special. Go watch it if you get the chance.
Setlist:
Funeral
Arrival
A Mansion in Darkness
Black Horsemen
Spare This Life
Mansion in Sorrow
Sorry Dear
Come to the Sabbath (Mercyful Fate)
Eye of the Witch
Sleepless Nights
Blood to Walk
So Sad
Welcome Home
The Invisible Guests
Halloween
Evil (Mercyful Fate)
| Click pictures for a bigger version
Loch Vostok
Secret Sphere
King Diamond
All pictures taken by Steen | Written by Tajs
Tuesday, June 6, 2006 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Steen (Staff) - Tuesday, June 6, 2006 | 
View Profile
Comments: 518 | | The Aarhus concert was a great one. My favorite moments were Sleepless Nights, Welcome Home and Invisible Guests. Fantastic songs that were performed with skill and a ton of energy. Unfortunately they only played my two least favorite songs from The Puppetmaster and there were far too many Abigail 1 & 2 songs for my taste. While the setlist was disappointing to me the energized show made up for it.
Posted by Steen (Staff)
Tuesday, June 6, 2006 |
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| Comment by Anders (Anonymous) - Wednesday, June 7, 2006 | Sounds like a great show, I wish I had been there!
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| Comment by dewon (Anonymous) - Sunday, July 23, 2006 | KING DIAMOND is Super gothic horror vocalist.KIng Diamond is Legend.i want search videos all . thank.
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| Comment by arska666(FIN) (Anonymous) - Sunday, November 12, 2006 | I was there.. I saw it.. heard it.. I experience it. I saw the KING first time in my life and I will never forget the moment when he looked at me and said: "THE EYE" and smiled.. That was the time I will never ever experience again.. That was the moment.. whwn I see GOD
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| Comment by arska666(FIN) (Anonymous) - Sunday, November 12, 2006 | I was there.. I saw it.. heard it.. I experience it. I saw the KING first time in my life and I will never forget the moment when he looked at me and said: "THE EYE" and smiled.. That was the time I will never ever experience again.. That was the moment.. whwn I see GOD
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