Dragonforce / All That Remains / Firewind

13 December 2006

London Astoria




There`s a wide age range in the Astoria tonight, with Dad`s with sons spotted a few times. Certainly there was youthful enthusiasm down the front, where a mosh broke out as Firewind opened with Allegiance. Continuing with Insanity, Gus G`s shred fest was a joy to watch and then you notice Bob Katsionis is simultaneously playing a guitar and keyboard solo!



Taking a leaf out of Dragonforce`s book, the band seem more mobile on stage than previous experiences and singer Apollo Papathanasio worked his socks off to keep the crowd involved. Having said that the audience was more than willing to indulge in some fist pumping action to the staccato chorus of Til The End Of Time and a bout of singing back to Apollo post Falling to Pieces.



Special guest vocalist Tara was introduced for Breaking The Silence. Most seemed oblivious to who she was, including myself though have since learned she`s a Dutch pop singer who lives in Sweden.



Tyranny closed out the support slot which Firewind must be loving if they`re getting reactions like this every night, which do know harm to their profile in the UK.



Firewind set list:

Allegiance / Insanity / I Am The Anger / Till The End Of Time / Falling To Pieces / Breaking The Silence / Tyranny




Some had criticised the inclusion of All That Remains on this bill, but the crowd reaction to a Trivium song played between bands highlighted the crossover appeal of Dragonforce. Having been somewhat impressed with All That Remains latest disc The Fall Of Ideals I was looking forward to seeing what they could offer, though as it turned out this fell sadly short.



Admittedly, you can`t blame the band for the technical issues that robbed bassist Jeanne Sagan of sound through This Darkened Heart, but the rest of the band`s reactions seemed to be one of confusion rather than just getting on with it. Shouter Phil Labonte seemed ill at ease with an extended spot talking to the crowd as the problem was rectified and looked much happier skipping forward and backwards across the stage when It Dwells In Me finally commenced.



The Weak Willed was announced as "as close to death metal as All That Remains get" and it was indeed furiously entertaining. But that chink of light past quickly with guitarists Mike Martin and Oli Herbert looking as bored as I was through The Air I Breath. This Calling sparked recognition from the crowd but not enough to save a somewhat shambolic set.



All That Remains set list:

This Darkened Heart / It Dwells In Me / The Weak Willed / The Air That I Breath / Become The Catalyst / This Calling




It`s a brave band that has Slayer`s Raining Blood as their intro tape, but that`s what Dragonforce went with as a digital clock counted down to their arrival. The band are famed for the energy of their live shows but on tonight`s evidence they appear to have reigned in the theatrics in favour of tight musicianship. That`s not to say Dragonforce have become static. Indeed, not by a long shot. What they have finally achieved is the right balance.



Looking round the venue at the packed out crowd, remembering this is just the first of two nights in this venue is a reminder of how far Dragonforce have come. This is echoed by the professional stage set up, with the keyboards and drums left and right, three podiums across the front of the stage and of course the now infamous Dragonforce trampets. The band had run a competition to allow girls to bounce on these and they appear prior to the band, bouncing to a sign saying "Tits out", which didn`t happen.



Revolution Deathsquad kicks things off with vocalist ZP Theart immediately pulling his "rock god" poses and tossing his mic stand to the side of the stage. On record the song features a snippet of death metal vocals, which tonight are supplied by the band`s newest member Fredric Leclercq. Leclercq is obviously firmly ensconced in the Dragonforce camp and is not only afforded a bass solo spot prior to the encore, but also shows that his background is as a guitarist, joining Herman Li with a six string for a guitar solo.



Of course Li`s usual partner in crime is Sam Totman and by second song Fury Of The Storm, they`re already showing off, playing over the tops of their fretboards. It`s obviously a big deal for the band headlining two nights at the famous Astoria and Theart tells us "We`ve been around the world and all we want is Astoria noise". Unsurprisingly, in usual gig pantomime style, we`re apparently not loud enough on our first attempt.



Operation Ground and Pound is up next with Totman running round with a flying V guitar. Not content with his station at the back, Vadim comes running down to the front during the solos complete with key-tar, with odd lights flashing across his knees and ankles. At the songs conclusion the band pause to let the crowd sing the final lines of the song.



Heart of A Dragon was one of only two nostalgic trips back to the band`s debut album and is followed by the big ballad Trail Of Broken Hearts, which saw Herman opening the song strumming a stand mounted acoustic guitar. A lot of the kids here tonight are too young to smoke, so whilst there may be a lack of lighters aloft, Theart leads us in some left to right arm swaying.



The previously mentioned solos come next, with Vadim leading the charge proclaiming "Let the underage drinking begin!". His, as usual, bonkers solo led into Li and Leclercq`s appearance which included Vadim joining in on the triangle.



The crowd response to Storming The Burning Fields is judged six out of ten by Theart and Totman who threaten that if the crowd don`t pick it up they will play three My Chemical Romance songs back to back. Totman then briefly proves he knows them as a warning. Things obviously did warm up as, much to the young ladies delight, Theart loses his top during Soldiers of The Wasteland.



Body Breakdown is one of my personal favourites for the guitar and bass interplay, which is flawless and only distracted by the return of the bouncing girls. By this point Totman had obviously made his way through a number of the cans fastened to his mic stand and announced My Spirit Will Go On with, "Guess what, the next song is the same as all the others", comically poking fun at an often heard criticism. In truth however, through this near two hour set, the interest didn`t wander as the playing was spot on.



Returning for a much deserved encore Dragonforce wrap things up with Through The Fire & The Flames and of course Valley Of The Damned. The band have worked hard to where they are today and the constant touring has matured them as a unit into genre leaders.





Dragonforce set list:

Revolution Deathsquad / Fury Of The Storm / Operation Ground & Pound / Heart Of A Dragon / Trail Of Broken Hearts / Keyboard & Guitar solos / Storming The Burning Fields / Soldiers of the Wasteland / Body Breakdown / My Spirit Will Go On / Through The Fire And Flames / Valley Of The Damned






LINKS:

Dragonforce

All That Remains

Firewind