By Lisa Burke
October 4th 2016, Fonda Theatre, Hollywood CA: When it comes to heavy metal bands from other countries where English is not their first language singing the majority or all of their songs in English, Germans happen to be among the most talented in pulling it off, and on Tuesday October 4th 2016 at The Fonda Theatre I witnessed two bands very influential to the power metal and speed metal genre, both developed in the early eighties, Grave Digger and Blind Guardian. This was the perfect line up with just these two German bands and no openers to clutter anything up. This meant they both had ample stage time, which they both used wisely.
Grave Digger has gone through quite a few member changes in the last thirty-six years, but of course the singer remains the constant throughout. Chris Boltendahl has a wide range where it starts clean and then travels into a rough-around-the-edges tough guy voice, slightly reminiscent of Lemmy who they dedicated a song to during the set. Axel Ritt on the black-and-white striped guitar with the same pattern on the strap was quite the entertainer as he even busted out a speedy solo while laying on the stage. He also had the appropriate European power metal attire consisting of a leather vest with no shirt for the win. The reaper character with top hat and mask was amusing as the keyboardist, who also did a short bag pipe number as well. The best part of their set list was starting at the beginning of their career with their first album ‘Heavy Metal Breakdown’ featuring the song ‘Headbanging Man’, and then ending the set with the title track off that same album. They really stay true to that classic power and speed metal sound of the genre they helped to create and still contain the capability of putting on a very entertaining show.
Grave Digger set list:
01. Headbanging Man
02. The Dark of the Sun
03. Wedding Day
04. Ballad of a Hangman
05. Season of the Witch
06. Tattooed Rider
07. Highland Farewell
08. Excalibur
09. Rebellion (The Clans Are Marching)
10. Heavy Metal Breakdown
Apparently one of the favored audience participation projects at a power metal show are the clap along moments as they were in high demand on this evening. Blind Guardian had their share as well as Grave Digger who started the madness. Blind Guardian has adapted their style a bit over the years to encompass a strong progressive sound which is a slightly odd mix with power metal, yet it is not a bad one by any means. Some die-hard fans refer to the specific style of Blind Guardian as nerd metal because it is very much filled with fine lyrical tales of folklore in the realm of dragons, dungeons, and magic evoking images of fantastical scenes one might find in Lord Of The Rings. On this night they played only one song off their latest 2015 album ‘Beyond The Red Mirror’ along with a varied selection of other songs on other albums including of course ‘Valhalla’, but they mainly concentrated on performing the album ‘Imaginations From The Other Side’ in its entirety. This made for an exciting show on all fronts and somehow playing a whole album live comes across as a heartfelt performance to the audience as it relives an era to the fullest. With six members on stage including the keyboardist and the dueling guitarists front row they somehow exiled the bass player to the back row which I suppose gave him and everyone else more elbow room, but seemed a bit odd since the stage was plenty big enough to accommodate four in a row. Never the less, the crowd was full of anxious metalheads preparing to nerd out to the music and lyrics of Blind Guardian. The acoustic guitars even came out of hiding for the ballad tale of Merlin and Arthur, but favorite tunes were of the speed variety and included ‘I’m Alive’ and ‘Nightfall’. The most progressive tunes were as well written as the rest of the lot, yet the guitar tone at times could be mistaken as sharp until it worked its way through enough riffage to unify the sound and act in an appropriate progression. A noted unique attribute to these German heroes is that they all get a chance to harmonize on back-up vocals from time to time, and while that makes for a significant number of microphones for the sound guy to check, it also makes for well-rounded songs. The pit was going strong all night and it was a happy-go-lucky sing-a-long party kind of evening for the majority of participants.
With an abundance of other choices of shows to attend this night, including the ever popular Alice In Chains, there were no regrets, the crowd still filled up nicely, and the loyal fans were all in attendance. I still feel like this genre is a bit underrated for unknown reasons, but with the quality and the history both these bands bring to the foreground it is hardly a show to come in second place. Music history always fascinates me, but even more so is how different cultures created and influenced those near to them as well as those from afar. I definitely recommend catching this tour, if possible, as both bands make it an evening well worthy of your time.
Blind Guardian set list:
01. The Ninth Wave
02. Welcome to Dying
03. Nightfall
04. Fly
05. Imaginations from the Other Side
06. I’m Alive
07. A Past and Future Secret
08. The Script for My Requiem
09. Mordred’s Song
10. Born in a Mourning Hall
11. Bright Eyes
12. Another Holy War
13. And the Story Ends
Encore:
14. And Then There Was Silence
15. Valhalla
16. The Bard’s Song – In the Forest
17. Mirror Mirror