By Lisa Burke
December 6th 2015, The Regent, Los Angeles CA: As I’ve mentioned before for those of you who have been paying attention, usually when I go to metal shows I find myself attending the same venue, or the same area of town more than once in the same week despite the multitude of venues that are capable of temporarily housing metal bands. This past week I’ve spent two nights at The Regent because they captured my attention with the best entertainment, and on Sunday December 6th 2015, I attended the Kamelot-DragonForce tour. This show was set up with just two main acts and no openers, so timely attendance was mandatory.
If you’ve never seen DragonForce you are missing out on some very special speedy lighthearted guitar fun, most of which can only be pulled off by the likes of Herman Li and Sam Totman. From Herman’s blue-lit blinking magical ring of power to Sam’s competitive antics mixed with their consistent stage choreography which switches them from one side of the stage to the other sometimes meeting in the middle to share one Ibanez, there is never a dull moment. Herman’s literal guitar licks are something to smile about, not to mention he can flip a guitar mid-air and go right back to where he was playing in the song like nothing ever happened. He can also be caught with a different colored Ibanez every few songs, ranging from purple to orange to black. Also inspiring is the man on the bass, Frédéric Leclercq, who is not only one of the most charming, charismatic players I’ve probably ever witnessed, but as I recall last time I saw them which was a few years ago at the Troubadour, he guzzled a bottle of Jack Daniels while keeping a smile on his face, and still played like a professional. Since 2011, Marc Hudson has taken over on vocal duties and from his humbleness to his passion-filled vocal tonality he has proved more than worthy of his title, and is always a joy to watch. The latest arrival into this band is the drummer Gee Anzalone who stood out in all the right ways and really enhances the overall speedy power metal vibe. Of course last, but not least the keyboard was creatively and speedily utilized, as was the keytar and other various instrumentation including solid backing vocals sung and played by the talented one-man army of Vadim Pruzhanov. It’s always a highlight of my night to hear ‘Through The Fire and The Flames’ which I’ve never seen performed better than on this night, and the picks from the latest album mixed in nicely with the rest. Later on, they played their speed-freak rendition of Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring Of Fire’ with much success, and just when I think I’ve seen it all I noticed there was a very young girl in the audience hopefully contemplating her future career as a rock star. The Regent kicked ass with not too much speedy lighting and clean, clear sound. All’s well that ends well when the band gives a proper front-of-stage full-on hugging European signature unison bow with a sincere thank you to the audience before exiting the stage for good. Just once I’d like to see an American band do that with even just half the effort and passion.
Related: Interview: In Conversation With DragonForce Guitarist Herman Li
Next up on the agenda was Kamelot, a band filled with a variety of members from eclectic backgrounds including a Swedish lead singer as well as a Canadian female backing vocalist and a German keyboardist along with an American bassist and drummer. They are power metal mixed with symphonic, industrial and gothic undertones, and what I do find pleasant is that you know when one song ends and another begins due to the vast variety in their large body of work. This was my first experience with this band live and unfortunately I wish I saw them with their original singer because the tone and overall odd fit of the present singer was mostly just too high-pitched for me to tolerate for too long. I respected the energy in the performance but it made the band seem like it belonged in two different worlds that conflicted with each other. Basically by the end of the set I really was still unsure if I like the band and not the present singer, or if I’m just not into the overall style as it covers too many crossover worlds for me. On a fun note the fans at this show were really die-hard for this band and a couple of them were clearly enthralled by the blonde bass player with long braids because two men in the front row were wearing his same hair style, in wigs of course. Somewhere around midway through, a ballad was played and the audience held up their cell phones and waved them back and forth in tribute because it is now 2015, therefore lighters are overrated. The laser light show and smoke effects were in the vain of a Marilyn Manson show and fit well within Kamelot’s style as well. The drummer was lucky he had skills because his drum set had more cymbals on it than I could count and it looked like it cost a pretty penny. Of course, there was a drum solo to prove that the drumset was worthy, and while I’m not sure it beat out Tommy Lee, I am sure if you put them both in a room together they would have much to talk about. Somehow I made it through an hour-and-a-half of nonstop Kamelot by taking as many outdoor breaks as I could so I could have a fresh angle on the singer’s pitchy voice. The keyboards were great and long-haired guys in long skirts are never a bad concept either. I wished some of the guitar was an octave lower as well, however the fancy fretwork deserves to be commended. There is not much else to say except these two bands definitely have a compatibility factor, yet they still seem worlds apart at times. Each has their own charted path however, and are worth the price of admission for sure. I might have enjoyed it more if DragonForce was headlining, but Kamelot did do a fine job with it, certainly had the material to work with, plus it gave Dragonforce extra tour bus drinking party time. Go see this tour if you can, and watch power metal become your night in shining armor.
Remaining Tour Dates:
12/09 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
12/10 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
12/12 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz