The lights dimmed and the intro went out over the speakers: "From White Russia Victor Smolski... From the United States of America Mike Terrana... and from Germany Peavy Wagner". Then the almighty RAGE made their entrance to a warm reception from the awaiting crowd. The show was opened by the first track from their critically acclaimed new album "Unity" (album of the year, in my opinion), "All I Want", just the right sort of aggressive opening tune, followed by "Paint The Devil On The Wall", the first of only two songs from their previous album "Welcome To The Other Side" and "Insanity". One of my favourite tracks from the new album came next, "Down", with a great lead guitar. People were jumping up and down and singing along during this one. Peavy asked the audience to light their lighters and the show went on with "Set This World On Fire", which began with a nice acoustic guitar intro before finally erupting into a powerful metal track. Next up was one of the heaviest songs of their set, "Straight To Hell" and it really rocked. Then they did an amazing version of the instrumental "Unity" on which Victor made his guitar smoke. Then we got a nearly 10-minute drum solo... wow, it was shocking and Mike... unbelievable as always!!! He kept the audience constantly amused with his antics. Terrana is THE MACHINE, and the crowd even joined him with some sing-along stuff (by the way, I was lucky enough to catch a drumstick!) The first "oldie" in the set was the amazing "From The Cradle To The Grave" (definitely my favorite Rage song). Maestro Smolski was flawless during his 5-minute guitar solo and then we went back to "Unity" with "Dies Irae" with a sampled choir and, again, another amazing lead guitar by Victor. Another crowd favourite came next, "Don't Fear The Winter", Peavy invited us to sing along with him. The guys left the stage but the loud chants for an encore by the fans brought the band back for the obligatory and singalong "Higher Than The Sky" (this song was extended a bit as usual), the crowd predictably went really mad again and then it's all over.... Rage provided a very good performance and these guys proved once again they are absolute masters. The crowd's response was fantastic. The song choruses of classics as well as newer material have all been sung along. It's hard to pick out particular highlights, but for me, "Down", "From The Cradle To The Grave", "Dies Irae" and "Higher Than The Sky" were all superb. All in all, an outstanding show, and it's hard to fault it at all. The only flaw I could find was that they didn't have a long enough set and that they didn't play more oldies. Hmm, it seemed like Primal Fear were going to have some trouble keeping up to that :-)

     

During the break I was chatting with a couple of guys from Barcelona I met on the internet (HI!!!!! if you are reading this!) and then I made my way back down to stage front to await the entrance of PRIMAL FEAR , touring on the back of a great new album, "Black Sun". They were much the same as when I've seen them previously. However, the sound was significantly better tonight and they used more pyro this time. So the lights dimmed again and the opening sound effects of "Countdown To Insanity" came blasting through the speakers. Within seconds to the roar of the crowd, the band appeared on stage and started grinding out the opening chords of "Chainbreaker" followed by title track "Black Sun" and "Church Of Blood", the first of three tracks from the "Jaws Of Death" CD. By this early stage in the show it was clear to everyone that Primal Fear had lots of fun on stage and they gave everybody in Razzmatazz the opportunity to share that fun with them. Next, they propel directly into "Mind Control" with not a breath taken. A selection from their previous albums came next: one of my favorite live songs "Running In The Dust", with Ralf hitting the highest notes, "Under Your Spell", preceded by a short guitar solo courtesy of Henny, "Silver & Gold", "Eye Of An Eagle" and "Nuclear Fire". Then another short guitar solo, this time courtesy of Stefan, which leads into another track from the new album, the fast and furious "Fear". The brilliant "Tears Of Rage" slowed the pace down a little for before the next onslaught. The final three songs were the highlight with a very heavy "Armageddon" driven by the twin guitar attack of Henny and Stefan and "Final Embrace" leading straight into the storming "Angel In Black" (this is Primal Fear at their best). The first encore consisted of "Living For Metal" and a medley of Gamma Ray's "One With The World", Thunderhead's "Satisfied", Sinner's "Born To Rock" and Judas Priest's "Metal Gods". After a few seconds off-stage, they came back and as a second encore we got crowd favourite "Battalions Of Hate", the fans went berserk, fists pumping, head-banging... A standing ovation ended a very entertaining performance by a great band. Personal highlight of their show was probably "Tears Of Rage", but they didn't put a foot wrong all night and I couldn't fault any of the songs. Songs like "Fear" or "Mind Control" from the new album or "Running In The Dust" from their debut were perfectly suited for banging your head off and that's exactly what the people did.

           

Overall, excellent gig! -Review & photos by Marina-

RAGE SET-LIST

All I Want, Paint The Devil On The Wall, Insanity, Down, Set This World On Fire, Straight To Hell, Unity, From The Cradle To The Grave, Dies Irae, Don't Fear The Winter & Higher Than The Sky.

PRIMAL FEAR SET-LIST

Chainbreaker, Black Sun, Church Of Blood, Mind Control, Running In The Dust, Under Your Spell, Silver & Gold, Eye Of An Eagle, Nuclear Fire, Fear, Tears Of Rage, Armageddon, Final Embrace, Angel In Black, Living For Metal, Medley (One With The World, Satisfied, Born To Rock & Metal Gods) & Battalions Of Hate.

MORE PICS...

Ralf & Mat & me	Stefan Leibing & me	Henny Wolter & me

Peavy Wagner & me	Victor Smolski & me	Mike Terrana & me