GAMMA RAY + SONATA ARCTICA + VANISHING POINT
October 18, 2001
MADRID

The Power Kings have landed in Spain at Macumba on a rainy day in Madrid, with Finland's Sonata Arctica and Australia's Vanishing Point as support acts. Gamma Ray are on tour in support of their new CD, "No World Order", a recording that has been garnering them rave reviews everywhere. I arrived at the concert venue at about 18:30 PM. About 50 other fans were already waiting for what would become a great metal evening.

At about 20:30 PM VANISHING POINT came on the stage. By then there were about 300 people present. This is an Australian band and it was their first time in Spain. I think this tour will make them a more well known name on the European metal scene. I heard some pretty positive words about them from different sources and, to tell you the truth, they were better than average. Technical music with some progressive touches but with a distinctively hard edge, the vocalist was pretty good, and had some nice stage presence. I though they were good but I think they did not provide necessary energy for crowd to feed on. I never heard any of their albums before so I don't know any of their songs.

Sonata Arctica             Sonata Arctica

Then a short break followed, which gave me some time to check merchandise. Then it was Sonata's turn. Having seen them before, and being impressed, I was waiting for their show tonight for a long time, and I liked them even more this year. Now the atmosphere began to heat up a little bit and the crowd was getting bigger and bigger. Somehow it seems that everybody already heard about this band. Yes, they released 2 successful CD's so far and in the meantime they have become a big name now in the metal world. Starting the show promptly at 21:15 PM SONATA ARCTICA performed for an enthusiastic crowd. It was clear that the band's hard core following had arrived early to show their support. They sounded very tight and the music is very similar to the way it sounds on CD. The overall sound quality was very good. Amazing musicianship, with the attention being taken at one moment by Jani on the guitar, then Tony on vocals or Mikko on the keys, not forgetting the very solid, yet always interesting beat laid down by Tommy on the drums. Marko Paasikoski remained more on the background. The highlight of the show was Jani's phenomenal guitar work!! He's an incredible guitar player who pleased the fans with fast playing. Audience approval was evident with heads bobbing up and down to the clean solos that are a part of Sonata's sound. Mikko at times makes his keys sound just like a guitar, which resulted into some great duets with Liimatainen. Very impressive! Their set list was a mix of both albums "Ecliptica" and "Silence". From what I can remember they played: "San Sebastian", "Weballergy", "Full Moon", "Black Sheep", "Replica", "My Land", "Revontulet", "Wolf & Raven", "Kingdom For A Heart"... What can I say? Thumbs up! Hope one day they come back to Spain as headliners.

Sonata Arctica         Sonata Arctica

And finally it was time for GAMMA RAY. Do I really need to repeat for the second time that it was a KICK ASS SHOW? I suppose having read my previous show review of Moncofa everyone should know by now... So instead of a general euphorical praising here's some details... At 22:35 the venue was very well-filled by then, if not entirely sold out, the lights dimmed and the crowd exploded, an intro tape sounded ("Induction"), which caused a magical atmosphere in the dark. Dan was seen through the shadows, then Dirk and Henjo came out and broke into the opening riff for "Dethrone Tyranny".

Gamma Ray             Gamma Ray

There was a huge cheer in the audience. And His Majesty Kai Hansen hit the stage, in front of a big "No World Order" backdrop. Gamma Ray started its program with the killer triple-pack of "Dethrone Tyranny", "New World Order" and "Follow Me" from their new album. "Land Of The Free" was euphorically received by the fans and it was followed by one of my favourite tracks from the previous album, namely "Short As Hell". Kai told us to "jump right now!". "Man On A Mission" was a blast, totally amazing to say the least! I was totally shocked by their dynamism and energy. Old and new fans were introduced to more Gamma Ray classics like "Rebellion In Dreamland" and "Abyss Of The Void", as well as a few other cuts from the "No World Order" album, namely "Fire Below" and "Eagle". After "Rebellion...", it was time for a long version of "Somewhere Out In Space". It was once again Kai Hansen who stole the whole performance with his absolutely awesome voice. During this song, the "fangface" appeared on stage and divided the audience into two parts and we had to sing against each other. It was pretty funny. Then they left a crowd full of people screaming for more. After shouting "happy happy Gamma Ray" :-) and before the evening ended, they came back to play "Valley Of The Kings" and the fast "Beyond The Black Hole" (what a hurricane!), Dirk Schlächter has an unbelievable bass solo going into the song. The guys left the stage again, and then they came back to play one final encore. As an encore we got the Helloween classic "I Want Out", with those killer riffs and chorus. This is a bombastic song and the crowd went wild, as usual. To sum up, good choice of the songs played, but the set was short and I'd have liked to see included "Send Me A Sign", "Damn The Machine", "Heaven Can Wait" and "Heaven Or Hell"...

Gamma Ray             Gamma Ray

The musicians are absolute masters and they performed with a lot of energy... I was in awe, standing right in front of Kai thinking "here is the master!" It was clear that Kai had a great night, his voice have never sounded better (too bad in the beginning of the concert the vocals were a little bit behind). Dirk Schlächter's leg had a problem (he had an accident at the Rock Machina festival) but he proved to be one hell of a bass player. He was obviously still suffering from the injury he'd got in July. His usual running around the stage was more of a limping around now... Hope he'll further recover in the time to come. Henjo plays all his solos flawlessly, though he's not really a showguy. Dan Zimmermann played the whole show as tight as he could!! His playing is always very precise. The last song came far too soon... But 1 hour, 40 minutes of Rays, can you expect more? They had given everything, as usual. After the show, I spent around 2 hours hanging out with Kai & Co, talking with them. Kai recognized me right away. Considering that I had only talked a few minutes with him in Valencia, I thought that was pretty cool! :)) They are among the nicest guys in metal you will ever meet... All in all, the Rays again delivered a hurricane of Heavy Metal (as I knew they would). I can't wait for the next time, 'cause every moment of their shows is an exciting experience. -Review & photos by Marina-

GAMMA RAY SET-LIST

Induction, Dethrone Tyranny, New World Order, Follow Me, Land Of The Free, Short As Hell, Man On A Mission, Abyss Of The Void, Fire Below, Eagle, Rebellion In Dreamland, Somewhere Out In Space, Valley Of The Kings, Beyond The Black Hole & I Want Out.


MORE PICS...


Kai & me
Kai Hansen & me

Dirk & me
Dirk Schlächter & me

Dan & me
Dan Zimmermann & me

Henjo, Kai & me
Henjo, Kai & me

Tommy & me
Tommy & me

Jani & me
Jani & me