The Bard Song - In Chicago

My musical bucket list reads something like this:

1) Experience Inno A Satana with Emperor

2) Make funny faces while playing air guitar at an Immortal show (I can cross this off my list in February!)

3) Chant The Bard's song at the top of my lungs with a thousand fellow Tolkien nerds and the best power metal band ever; Blind Guardian. Check.

Its been four years since Blind Guardian last crossed the Atlantic, mounted on dragons wielding flaming steel (Ok, maybe not, but imagining Blind Guardian traveling by conventional means really ruins the illusion). So to my surprise and delight they announced a few months ago that they would be touring North America to support their utterly brilliant new album At the Edge of Time.

Chicago's Bottom Lounge is your typical small club, a cement box, with a stage and a makeshift bar. They crammed the merch table in the bathroom hallway, forcing everyone to shimmy and shuffle along the brick wall, past everyone with fistfulls of dollars, patiently waiting  to look at the collection. Admittedly this was my first power metal show. On most occasions I don't have a taste for it. Its cliche, and often poorly done, but Blind Guardian are so damn good at what they do they transcend any genre barrier that could ever get in my way. As such, the crowd differed greatly from the Cannibal Corpse shirt wearing, beer slamming, 300 pound heavy weights I was accustomed to fighting against for a spot on the rail. The same Blind Guardian crowd would have been just at home at a Magic the gathering tournament, or in front of their computers, slogging away at World of Warcraft. As I waited for the bands to take the stage I heard enthusiastic arguments about which fantasy novels were the best and how they compared to Tolkien; vivid descriptions of epic quests in video games to Blind Guardian albums; the terrible translation of many classic fantasy series into movies and mini-series. Interestingly, it seemed most people could care less about the hierarchy of Blind Guardian albums (I heard no discussions about whether Imaginations was better than Nightfall, or where At the Edge of Time ranked against its predecessors). Rather, Blind Guardian albums were ranked according to listener's experiences with the albums. One person behind me raved about how fantastic Nightfall was because he listened to it for the first time while reading his favorite fantasy series.

At five til eight, the lights dimmed and Seven Kingdom's emerged from their mother's basement, overweight, balding, and socially awkward. It was every power metal cliche rolled up into one package, right down to the flaming Warlock guitar. For young bands in attendance Seven Kingdoms provided a riveting lesson on what never to do on stage. The lead singer, a small blond , wearing skin tight jeans and a skimpy top wiggled around on stage like the old VH1 video vixens, blowing kissing to enthusiastic audience members, and making every form of "sexy face" possible. While I admire her confidence, her feminine schtick seemed to derive more than anything from an accustomedness to being the only girl in the room rather than a natural attractiveness. In a genre which requires frontwomen to be powerful and demanding, her performance fell woefully flat (as did the vast majority of notes she delivered). As the band paraded around stage, they threw the horns at every possible moment, tried the ridiculous 80's glam back to back guitar solo technique. The only member with some sense of stage presence was the the bass player, who, ironically enough, was relegated to the back. Despite the bands stage performance, the actual music was decent, typical power metal fare for hardcore power metal fans (which I am not). Harmonized guitar leads, chanting choruses, and a galloping kick. The music was well executed (except the lead vocals), and for the most part well-composed. I would expect Seven Kingdoms at my local watering hole, but they seemed completely out of place and unprepared to tour with the reigning kings of power metal.

Completely unfamiliar with Holy Grail I expected another hard to swallow dosage of watered down power metal cheese. I couldn't have been more wrong. After a 15 minute set change (15 minutes!! tour managers take note) Holy Grail (formed of ex-White Wizzard members) transformed the Bottom Lounge into a time machine, transporting us all to the late 70s, when Iron Maiden and Judas Priest proved night after night that metal lived for the live environment.  In a matter of seconds James Paul Luna, Holy Grail's charismatic and talented lead, seemed to flip the "on" switch and the crowd roared to life. Reminiscent of a much younger Kai Hansen, Luna shrieked with fury and easily could have done without his microphone. For their 40 minute set, Luna was the biggest man in the room. He moved with a tightly controlled fluidity, hypnotizing audience members and inciting furious head banging from a rather docile crowd. The band stood in stark contrast to Seven Kingdoms, epitomizing everything a band should do when in an opening slot. They were the best kind of appetizer, the kind that leaves you hungry for more, if only the entree wasn't so good.

After thirty minutes the lights went dim, and the orchestral opening to "Sacred Worlds" slammed through the House PA. The crowd pushed forward and Frederik Ehmke, Blind Guardian's new drummer (since A Twist in the Myth), mounted his throne. The crowd roared. A minute and a half later, André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen emerged in time to play the sick metallic clang that transitions from the opening to the meat of the song. The crowd roared. Then, just in time, Hansi Kürsch, sprinted onto the stage and it seemed the crowed multiplied by 20, and with a deafening roar, greeted power metal's greatest frontman.

Despite the enthusiasm the crowd was tough. One attendee informed me that when Blind Guardian last came to Chicago, the crowd was unable to sing "The Bard's song", a staple of all BG live sets. This time around, the Chicago crowd  once again boarded the struggle bus.  After Sacred Words, Hansi set up one of his classic song intros, "Welcome to....", and rather than responding with a roaring "Dying" the crowd just milled about. After a snappy retort, Hansi successfully tried again. Later during the set, Hansi applauded the Bears for their victory over the Eagles the day before. The fact that a German bothered to look up the scores of a sport he likely cars nothing about demonstrates an incredible commitment to the crowd, but rather than cheering, the the Chicagoans booed. Apparently football doesn't compute. After that, Hansi gave up with the between song banter and stuck to a rather minimal script. 

Blind Guardian's set flowed between eras, highlighting crowd favorites and easy to chant choruses, executed to perfection. I was curious to know how Hansi's voice matched up to the immense power he displays on record (I swear this guy must carry his balls around on a cart), and I was blown away to discover his exactness. Wail after wail, high and low, he hit it all. Although the albums benefit from multi-tracking and numerous vocal harmonies, his live delivery completely offset the lack of additional vocal tracks. Add in a few hundred fans singing at the top of their lungs and the effect is stunning. Nightfall and Valhalla particularly stuck out as songs benefiting from a thousand additional voices.

Blind Guardian's decision to close their main set with "And Then There Was Silence" was the night's biggest surprise. Although they sacrificed "Imaginations From the Other Side," the inclusion of the best song from A Night at the Opera more than made up for the loss.

Although Seven Kingdoms strongly dilutes the memory of the show, Holy Grail absolutely slayed, while Blind Guardian proved once again why they are Germany's biggest metal export.

 -Mike Lang

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