Xandria
Bare Infinity, Crimson Rivers
Eightball Club, Thessaloniki, Greece
07/05/10.
First of all I must say that this is my first time that I write for this webzine and I am very happy to do so cause I like to share my point of view with friends. Of course another Friday evening was here and what a great beginning for the weekend to start with a live gig. I know that I didn’t have plenty of choices – you never have when you live in Thessaloniki – and the only one was Xandria.
I must admit I am not a big fan of this kind of metal music with the operatical female vocals and the power metal chords so I didn’t have any expectations .All these bands with female singers with the only exception of The Gathering at the Anneke era are for me just music to spend some relaxing coffee time.
The time was around 21:00 and everything was ready for the first band of the concert. The name of it could be Crimson Rivers but due to some problems with their keyboardist they canceled their appearance. So Bare Infinity took their place on stage and start playing their music. The fact that this is a local band from Greece wasn’t evident unless you knew who they are and only when they were intercepting between their songs to prologue the next one .They continue to play for an hour or more and they managed to warm up the audience pretty well for the German Xandria. Their tracklist presents us a good taste of their only album “Always Forever” with the nice orchestrations of Gothic Metal songs. From the same titled song to “Serenity” and the power ballad of “I Dream Of You” we received their gothic vibes from their really good sound .The energy was infect to us from their professional appearance and the time to leave the stage for the headliners of the evening has arrived.
The attendance was not too high during the time that Bare Infinity played their songs but surprisingly it was increased to twenty persons more. The crowd who was waiting Xandria to appear was no more than a hundred. The time came and for the first time in Greece the first notes of “A New Age” was sounded from the speakers. The Gothic Metallers from Bielefeld started their show with great positive energy and the people was reacting well .After the end of their intro track Lisa Middelhauve greets us on fluently Greek. Not only the typical greetings but also a couple of phrases that personally left wonder. The continuation of the show remained in the same energy and the positive attitude from the band. Their songs ware taken from all their career and their tracklist was filling enough for any fan of them. From “Ginger” of “Kill The Sun” to “Emotional Man” of their last album “Salome – The Seventh Veil” they seemed that they were tireless. The voice of Lisa was enchanting and the movement of her co-musicians might never to be ceased if it wasn’t the time to end the show. Nils , their bassist , could be long distance runner as he ran over the stage again and again for less than two hours. The thing that left me speechless was the ease that Lisa turn from cute gothic vocals to brutal whenever she wanted although as she confessed that after two years returning to the band’s tour was really anguished her. The encore was of three songs with their super-single “Ravenheart” not being their closer .
“Black Flame” ring the bell for the end of the concert and I think it’s not an exaggeration to say that Xandria really touch my soul and made my head banging as I could never expect. The aftertaste of the gig was honestly sweet and I hope that you will make it and watch them live. It is your last chance to see Lisa Middelhauve on stage. I know I would do it again.
Track List:
1. A New Age
2. Now And Forever
3. Emotional Man
4. Save My Life
5. Snow-White
6. Ginger
7. The Lioness
8. On My Way
9. Eversleeping
10. Salome
11. Fire Of The Universe
12. Fight Me
13. The End Of Every Story
14. Darkness
15. India
Encore:
16. Firestorm
17. Ravenheart
18. Black Flame
Kostas Triantafilidis.