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Events and Reports - Airbourne - Live with Enforcer and Black Spiders at Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark - 7th of November, 2010
I've been a very big fan of Enforcer since their debut album, Into The Night, so when I noticed the Swedish rockers gracing my hometown with a visit, I was euphoric. Unfortunately, I never bothered to buy a ticket for the show. It was in the main hall of the venue called Vega, which is pretty huge. And it's Heavy Metal, right? Heavy Metal isn't big in Denmark. It has a small, dedicated following. Everybody knows it.
So.it was with a huge scream of anger I looked at the website of the concerthall,on the day of the show. Sold out! Oh. My. God! The concert had been downsized, moved from the main hall to the smaller concert hall. I was desperate, as I headed for the show, hoping to manage to get in, some way. But lady luck was on my side, as I was offered a ticket by a nice guy outside the hall, just minutes before the beginning of the first support band. I ran up the stairs to the hall, and just managed to grab a quick beer in time for...
Black Spiders
I had never heard of this British support band before, and had no idea, what to expect. The band started pretty early, so I missed a little of the first song. The band has a very old school feeling to their sound, thus fitting today's bill perfectly. I would almost say a mix between Black Sabbath and Ac/Dc isn't too far off a description. Very heavy and Sabbath-influenced riffs, mixed with the catchy refrains and devil may care attitude of acts like Ac/Dc, catchy but still with that rough rock 'n' roll attitude.
The band gave it their all on stage, clearly enjoying the performance, big smiles on their faces. The music was delivered with much vigor and self confidence, clearly a band that believes in their own material and love to play live. There was a lot more people in the front than I expected; especially many teenagers had found their way to the edge of the stage tonight. The catchy songs immediately drew in the fans, and I was actually surprised at the enthusiastic feedback from the crowd. After all, Black Spiders haven't even released their first album yet! And still, heads were banging in the front, and the cheering was loud between songs. The band played less than half an hour, way too short for any band, support band or not! But a very solid performance from the young hopefuls.
Enforcer
I've been a big fan of Enforcer's Iron Maiden/Metallica/Saxon/NWOBHM-styled tunes since the debut, Into the Night. The new album, Diamonds, offers even more old school onslaught, and almost surpasses the debut, so it was with great excitement I waited for the Swedes to take the stage.
My anticipation rose, as Judas Priest's Diamonds & Rust was played over the PA, as I know the band often enter the stage with that song, and just as the song neared its end, the curtain fell and the guys appeared on the small stage.
Opening with Midnight Vice, the band was on fire right from the start! Unfortunately, the sound quality was horrible in the beginning of the show, but thankfully quickly improved. The band was jumping around, reaching out to the crowd and getting the fans full attention from the start. For such a young band, Enforcer is very experienced as a live act, and that clearly showed tonight. From their 80's inspired attires to giving it all on stage, it is clear that the band doesn't forget about the show side of playing live.
The energetic Mistress Form Hell and the awesome, slower rocker On The Loose really heated things up. The band is fond of instrumental tracks, at least both albums contain one, and they often play one live, even today with such limited time we got Diamonds, the title track of their latest album, and that was a cool little showcasing of the young talented instrumentalists in the band.
There wasn't much talk between songs, which is a good thing when the time is as limited as was the case tonight. Singer Olof Wikstrand was really fired up on stage, running and jumping and even letting himself fall to the ground once, just for show.
When they played Scream Of The Savage, one of my favorite Enforcer songs, I exploded in a whirlwind of hair, as I banged my head as hard as I could, screaming my lungs out! What a song!
The fan support was very good, which surprised me. I thought no one else knew the band, and even felt a little like an outsider in my Enforcer shirt, but people were really into it, rocking hard and striking their fists to the sky. Really great to see an audience this dedicated to the show, supporting all three bands that were playing tonight! It makes my old Metal heart melt a little bit! Also nice to see such a mixed crowd, everyone from very young teenagers to middle-aged family dads seemed to have found something to like in tonight's line up. A testament to the wide-ranging attraction of Rock/Metal.
Unfortunately, Enforcer's set was way too short, but the performance was fantastic!
Setlist:
Midnight Vice
Mistress From Hell
On The Loose
Diamonds
Scream Of The Savage
Walk With Me
Take Me To Hell
Airbourne
After an anticipation building sing-a-long to old classic songs from bands like Kiss and Iron Maiden over the PA, the audience was in a perfect mood for tonight's main attraction. The Australian rockers took the stage, and immediately grabbed the attention and hearts of everyone, firing on all cylinders from the get go. The band was simply one huge tornado of energy, running around and embodied the energy and positive attitude of their party songs perfectly.
After a couple of songs, I started feeling that watching Airbourne is very similar to watching Dragonforce; the same one song is being played over and over, but the delivery is so intense and charismatic, that you still feel entertained! The band's Ac/Dc rip-o.I mean, ehh, influenced music works very well live, especially after a couple of beers. Its great party music, and the stage presence of the guys can only be described as high energy and filled with nerve! Singer/guitarist Joel O'Keeffe even jumped on the shoulder of a fan, and rode around the entire concert hall on his shoulders while shedding his guitar! Very entertaining for all, maybe except for the poor guy who was forced to play the horse!
The band played a nice mix of songs form their two albums, as I only own the first one, those songs marked the highlights for me personally. A song like Diamond In The Rough is just so catchy, you can't help but sing a long, and you'll have to be the grouchiest person in the world, if songs like Girls In Black and Too Much To Young To Fast doesn't put a smile on your face.
Towards the end of the show, singer Joey O'Keeffe made a small hole in a beer can and banged it against his head so the beer poured out in a long thin line, giving us in the front a nice little beer shower. Haha! A Band-Aid on his forehead witnessed that this was unlikely the first time he'd done some strange thing like that. When he opened the second beer and did the same thing, I realized just how much the band relies on the same gimmicks, both performance wise and musically. Nevertheless, it is very entertaining!
The show ended with en energetic version of Runnin' Wild, and as I joined in the choir of howling voices, I just couldn't help but bang my head and feel pretty great!
Just like the two support bands, the show was much too short! All in all, I don't feel satisfied about the playing time of any of the bands. The support bands played less than half an hour each, and Airbourne played for around an hour and ten minutes. I might be old fashioned, but a headliner should play for one hour and a half, minimum, and rather two hours! This fact, plus the fact that the show had been moved down to a smaller hall than initially planned with a inferior stage and people who wanted in, when the show was sold out, marks the low points of the gig. I am mainly pointing to the organizers here, moving the concert and not giving the bands some more playing time was a mistake.
Except for that criticism, I enjoyed the evening! After grabbing a new Enforcer T-shirt on the way out, I headed for the nearby bar for more drunken madness!
| | Written by Nina
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 |
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