Bands: Firewind (Greece) + Vicious Rumors (USA) + Kiuas (Finland)
Place: Sala A (Vigo) - Spain
Price: 23€ (26€ entrance)
We came there just in time when the soundtrack of Conan was playing like introduction to Kiuas.
Kiuas is a finnish band that plays a kind of mix between Sonata Arctica with melodeath touches. Just with 3 albums they became known (Reformation from 2006 is great!) and developed an original sound that nowadays few bands can reach.
The concert started with "The Decaying Doctrine" and really strongly. Sound was one of the best I've ever heard in that place (where usually I go out with a terrible whistle in my ears when concerts).
Ilja, in the vocals showed a very good voice and great singin' style. His stumbles with micro made us to think he drunk maybe some "estrellas", but he never sang out of tune and his attitude is strong over the scenary. The rest of the band were just great, "a capella" time of some of them included!
So, great sound, and great concert of Kiuas, under my point of view. Pity they just played around 30 or 40 minutes and with no bises :(
Kiuas - The Decaying Doctrine
The next band coming after a short stop were the USA Power Thrash Metallers, Vicious Rumors. Quite an old band, in fact they were formed in 1980!
And if I have to be sincere, I didnt listen anything from them in the last 10 or 15 years :D
The previous afternoon I thought about recalling old times and put something from them, but I forgot.. so I left it to the concert evening :)
Anyway, they werent one of my favourites... I think they are a quite normal band and not something really awesome...
They started with a lot of energy but sound didnt join. First 2 songs we could just hear drums and bass... but later... ouh no :S the amazing sound technician again....
As he realized there were 2 guitars lower than the rest of instruments... in the 3rd song he decided to make us suffer rising the volume of both... so... sound seemed to be clear but too loud.. and in one of the last songs I just didnt know what I was listening but boooooooooooommmm.
Anyway public seemed quite happy with this band, though I found it as many USA 80's power metal bands... funny and interesting at the beginning, and rather boring at the end.
I couldnt remind almost any riff but the 2 I already knew...
Though it doesnt mean that was so boring concert, the band showed a great experience over the scenary and they are great musicians, so for the ones that like to see nice guitar solos it wasnt that bad. Moreover, the singer, who could be almost my father was full of energy in all the concert and could sing really high and I think not making so much effort as I would guess :O
So, Vicious Rumors in general.. nice to see once, but no more.
No bises for them either.
We found a chinese girl behind us and decide to take a pic.. but she was hidding behind my friend awww :D
One of the best moments of their show:
Vicious Rumors - Soldiers Of The Night
Waiting moments before Firewind....
... and then they came...
Though Firewind is a good european band of Power Metal, I think they are not so big as to be the main protagonist of a tour like this. Some people think Vicious Rumors should lead a tour like that.
Well, I was happy that Firewind played more because I know them better than VR...
Anyway, they started with the first song of their last album Premonition: "Into The Fire", a perfect first song for a concert, I would say. After that "Head Up High" and made a look into the past but always with the last album present. So the setlist was mostly based in Premonition.
I have a problem with this band... I like a lot 2 albums of them but not the rest (almost at all) So when they played from Burning Bridges and Premonition I was yeeeeeeeaaaaaaah but from Allegiance and other past stuff.. ouffhhhh
I didnt like also that they skipped 2 of my favourite songs of them "I am the anger" and "Brother's Keeper" :((( This last one, probably the best they have ever done.
The singer didnt look like the typical "heavy metal singer". He looked more like a pop-rock singer-star. Not almost a trying of headbanging.. most of the times he just showed "rock-star" movements and tried to cheer up people, who were a bit more silent after Vicious Rumors. Anyway, I think he did great and with experience, his voice was perfect.
Between some people we recalled when watching him and his movements to another singer taken a lot of years ago from a kind of "spanish idol contest".... who also looks very similar to another friend of us... but I will ask him to make a "reasonable similarities" first, I fear he wouldnt like (he is a bit bad-tempered hihi)
Bob Katsionis, the keyboard-guitar player, a great instrumentist. I was shocked when I saw so many bands he has had before!!!: Bob Katsionis (the band), Nightfall (Grc), Imaginery, Zion (Grc), Overlord's Perpetual, Star Queen, Skyward (Grc), Karmic Link (Guest), Septicflesh, Fatal Morgana, Mirage (Grc), Encomium (Grc), Casus Belli (Grc), Francesco Fareri, Mike Dimareli Artical, Ioannis Anastassakis, Minuetum
The sound was still too loud since VR, and it gave me a bit of headache at the end of the concert, but it was ok after some beer :P
It was quite funny the detail when the singer was introducing every member of the band and afterwards he run away (?) and the guitarist Gus G. took the micro and said... as singer I'm glad to introduce you... Apollooooooo! and Apollo appeared running from the same place he went out just 5 seconds ago XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
So, nice concert, but not worth of 23-26 € .... too expensive for crisis time.. and they are not so big bands at the moment.
Public answered like many other times in this land... apathetic in general, and I even thought there would be less than what I saw...
I need a better cam, my friend's one record much better sound than mine, so when he join me to some concert, I prefer he records videos meanwhile I can take pics :S
Firewind - Into The Fire
Some pics with people from Kiuas and the singer of VR, seems that Gus G. and others from Firewind are too stars to go out and take a pic and talk with fans, they were closed in the backstage quite a lot of time, we just saw the tall drummer Mark Cross there.
