Kamelot/Dragonforce – The Regency, San Francisco, CA 5/15
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal bands that have the epic qualities of Kamelot are few and far between but when they do come along you know it with one listen. On that note Kamelot have just dropped Haven, their magnum opus and as of this writing the #1 album on Billboards Hard Rock Charts. Kamelot have reached new creative heights with Haven and the fans have swarmed in droves to buy this, just their acknowledgment that the band has arrived yet again. So out on the first leg of the Haven tour, they are playing to packed theaters with Dragonforce as their power metal foil. If you have yet to see either of these bands live you have no idea what you are missing out on.
Dragonforce is well known for their powerful shows and musicianship that is second to none in the realm of power metal and they had it on display tonight. Maximum Overload is what they are out supporting and the theme was wrapped around that. Initiating fury in front of a backdrop of the album cover, they spun sonic gold as they weaved through sinister cuts from Maximum. The fans freaked over The Game as well as Symphony Of The Night, Three Hammers and the insanely good cover of Ring Of Fire. I like it when a band comes out and forces the new album down your throat to make you want to buy it but they did mix in the older stuff to appease with Operation Ground And Pound and set closer Through The Fire And Flames which drew rave screams. Herman Li and Sam Totman are pure shredders and the songs tonight were better for it.
Kamelot, what can I say, they dominated. Their set was amazing and their stage presence was awe inspiring. From the first notes of Ghost Opera’s Rule The World they had the fans in their grasp. It seems that every time Kamelot comes around the crowds get bigger and The Regency was packed and it was louder than Fuck as they seeped deeper into the set. This was my first time seeing Tommy Karevik fronting Kamelot and I was taken aback. He was taking the older material and making it his, immersing himself into the songs as if he belonged there. Ghost Opera’s title track followed and the tension in the room grew as the feeling from the stage grew more intense. The Great Pandemonium, my fav track from Kamelot, period, followed and I was awe struck at how Tommy sunk into the feeling of the song and the band backed him to the hilt. Thomas Yougblood and his searing ESP screaming out the monster riffs as if his life depended on it as the band plowed hard into The Great Pandemonium. The fans wanted new stuff and they were justly given it, Veil Of Elysium was dealt for the attendance to devour. This being just Tommy’s second foray into recording with Kamelot it seems though he has been there since day one. Veil is one of the more powerful statements from Kamelot and the crowd ate it up. They dialed it back for a moment with Song For Jolee and with the fans lighting up the place with their lighters and phones to make the moment even more serene but the momentum was thrust back in with the jolt called Karma. Haven was again represented by Revolution, Fallen Star and the remarkable Insomnia as I feel the fans were witnessing the best of what Kamelot could do with the new material in the live setting. As darkness hung over the crowd and the band raged under the stage lights magic was being created. The connection was made and when the fans left they would not forget tonight. But before they left the encore saw the insanely good Sacrimony and March Of Mephisto and just like that it was over. The band gave all they could and the fans screamed their lungs out, both parties were satisfied.
Official Kamelot Site
Official Dragonforce Site
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal bands that have the epic qualities of Kamelot are few and far between but when they do come along you know it with one listen. On that note Kamelot have just dropped Haven, their magnum opus and as of this writing the #1 album on Billboards Hard Rock Charts. Kamelot have reached new creative heights with Haven and the fans have swarmed in droves to buy this, just their acknowledgment that the band has arrived yet again. So out on the first leg of the Haven tour, they are playing to packed theaters with Dragonforce as their power metal foil. If you have yet to see either of these bands live you have no idea what you are missing out on.
Dragonforce is well known for their powerful shows and musicianship that is second to none in the realm of power metal and they had it on display tonight. Maximum Overload is what they are out supporting and the theme was wrapped around that. Initiating fury in front of a backdrop of the album cover, they spun sonic gold as they weaved through sinister cuts from Maximum. The fans freaked over The Game as well as Symphony Of The Night, Three Hammers and the insanely good cover of Ring Of Fire. I like it when a band comes out and forces the new album down your throat to make you want to buy it but they did mix in the older stuff to appease with Operation Ground And Pound and set closer Through The Fire And Flames which drew rave screams. Herman Li and Sam Totman are pure shredders and the songs tonight were better for it.
Kamelot, what can I say, they dominated. Their set was amazing and their stage presence was awe inspiring. From the first notes of Ghost Opera’s Rule The World they had the fans in their grasp. It seems that every time Kamelot comes around the crowds get bigger and The Regency was packed and it was louder than Fuck as they seeped deeper into the set. This was my first time seeing Tommy Karevik fronting Kamelot and I was taken aback. He was taking the older material and making it his, immersing himself into the songs as if he belonged there. Ghost Opera’s title track followed and the tension in the room grew as the feeling from the stage grew more intense. The Great Pandemonium, my fav track from Kamelot, period, followed and I was awe struck at how Tommy sunk into the feeling of the song and the band backed him to the hilt. Thomas Yougblood and his searing ESP screaming out the monster riffs as if his life depended on it as the band plowed hard into The Great Pandemonium. The fans wanted new stuff and they were justly given it, Veil Of Elysium was dealt for the attendance to devour. This being just Tommy’s second foray into recording with Kamelot it seems though he has been there since day one. Veil is one of the more powerful statements from Kamelot and the crowd ate it up. They dialed it back for a moment with Song For Jolee and with the fans lighting up the place with their lighters and phones to make the moment even more serene but the momentum was thrust back in with the jolt called Karma. Haven was again represented by Revolution, Fallen Star and the remarkable Insomnia as I feel the fans were witnessing the best of what Kamelot could do with the new material in the live setting. As darkness hung over the crowd and the band raged under the stage lights magic was being created. The connection was made and when the fans left they would not forget tonight. But before they left the encore saw the insanely good Sacrimony and March Of Mephisto and just like that it was over. The band gave all they could and the fans screamed their lungs out, both parties were satisfied.
Official Kamelot Site
Official Dragonforce Site
