Blind Guardian
Epic Fest - 2023
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
Epic Fest 2023 really only had to do one thing to convince us to show up, and that was to put Blind Guardian on the poster.
Well, they did, but they also gave the band free reigns to play whatever they wanted, for however long they wanted, and that, my friends, was that. We were sold.
“Put your faith in us, we are professionals!”
- Hansi Kürsch (vocals)
The show opened with a symphonic sounding intro, built up by alarm clocks and church bells. This was further intensified by a completely packed hall in which all voices chanted Blind Guardian and Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill). The enthusiasm was understandable; this was, despite their long and illustrious career, only the third time Blind Guardian was a guest of Denmark, and their first time headlining an event which, given the circumstances, was as close to being their own concert as one could get without it actually being so.
Hence, it wasn’t surprising to see the band hit the stage already with big smiles on their faces - they were as ready as the crowd to make this evening a true (metal) party!
“I can only imagine how happy you are to see us live on stage. Trust me, we are very happy to be here as well!”
- Kürsch (vocals)
The actual set kicked off with nothing less than an absolute classic - Imaginations From The Other Side. Thus the path was laid, and as Kürsch commented a short time later, in time for Nightfall (paraphrasing); “It’s nice to play an epic early on, but after that there’s really no other way to go.”
Well, you can put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Not only did Blind Guardian deliver on the epic front (how could they not?), not only on the long set (ca. 2 hours), but they gave us the ENTIRE Somewhere Far Beyond album. This of course had its 30th anniversary last year, so it was almost on topic. For my sake, I was just glad to hear The Bard’s Song - The Hobbit live, a first for me if I’m not mistaken, and all the other deep cuts we don’t usually get to hear. The Piper’s Calling was of course played as a back track, but it also gave Frederik Ehmke a chance to show his skills by adding a drum solo on top of it. This kind of drowned out the back track, but it didn’t hurt the show overall.
“Tack så mycket! Oh yeah, we’re in Denmark…”
- Kürsch (vocals)
On that note, I suppose we should welcome Blind Guardian’s new live bassist, Johan van Stratum (VUUR, Stream Of Passion). Well, apparently he’s been with the band since 2021, but we haven’t seen them in the intervening years, so it was a bit of a surprise to see a new face holding the four string, and seeing them completely without a keyboard player as well.
van Stratum seemed like a good fit for the band however, and while still being relegated to play in the back, as all live personnel of the band for as long as I can remember, he delivered on the performance front as well as the musical one.
The whole band was firing on all cylinders, and as mentioned before, they were having as great a party on the stage as the festival guests had off it. In fact, Kürsch referred to this as the band’s first real concert in Denmark, and they obviously treated it as such as well. Humorously, he likened it to Columbus’ journey to America, although he hastened to point out that the band only had good intentions for the visit.
“I must admit that I have lied in the past, especially to Swedes and Norwegians (loud cheers from the audience), but it is of course here at Gimle that we are closest to Valhalla!”
- Kürsch (vocals)
Saying that the response was overwhelming might be understating the facts. The crowd was so pumped and glad to make their voices heard, their loud and persisting chants of the band’s name between songs ended up holding the concert at bay several times, and the joy simply shone on the faces of the musicians. Another fun comment from Kürsch came a little later in the set, when the chant changed from the band name to his personal name, to which he pointed out that; “If I didn’t stop you before, I’m certainly not going to do it now!”
The Bard’s Song - In The Forest was beyond epic, and Kürsch didn’t get many words in there, as the audience completely overruled him, but it was certainly not the only song where the festival guests sang alongside or instead of the vocalist.
With Valhalla for instance, Blind Guardian created a space where the fans could go completely bananas, first with an epically long sing along within the song itself, and then letting that sing along go on and on after the actual song had rung out.
As you might have guessed by now, Blind Guardian ruled majestically over Epic Fest, and absolutely lived up to the task handed to them. This was a show filled to the brim with enjoyment from one end to the other, one that was equally enjoyed by the band and the fans. It could not possibly have gone any better; they truly put the Epic in Epic Fest.
Setlist:
Imaginations From The Other Side
Welcome To Dying
Nightfall
Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill)
Time What Is Time
Journey Through The Dark
Black Chamber
Theatre Of Pain
The Quest For Tanelorn
Ashes To Ashes
The Bard’s Song - In The Forest
The Bard’s Song - The Hobbit
The Piper’s Song (w. solo - Ehmke)
Somewhere Far Beyond
Lord Of The Rings
Violent Shadows
Majesty
Valhalla
Mirror Mirror
Well, they did, but they also gave the band free reigns to play whatever they wanted, for however long they wanted, and that, my friends, was that. We were sold.
“Put your faith in us, we are professionals!”
- Hansi Kürsch (vocals)
The show opened with a symphonic sounding intro, built up by alarm clocks and church bells. This was further intensified by a completely packed hall in which all voices chanted Blind Guardian and Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill). The enthusiasm was understandable; this was, despite their long and illustrious career, only the third time Blind Guardian was a guest of Denmark, and their first time headlining an event which, given the circumstances, was as close to being their own concert as one could get without it actually being so.
Hence, it wasn’t surprising to see the band hit the stage already with big smiles on their faces - they were as ready as the crowd to make this evening a true (metal) party!
“I can only imagine how happy you are to see us live on stage. Trust me, we are very happy to be here as well!”
- Kürsch (vocals)
The actual set kicked off with nothing less than an absolute classic - Imaginations From The Other Side. Thus the path was laid, and as Kürsch commented a short time later, in time for Nightfall (paraphrasing); “It’s nice to play an epic early on, but after that there’s really no other way to go.”
Well, you can put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Not only did Blind Guardian deliver on the epic front (how could they not?), not only on the long set (ca. 2 hours), but they gave us the ENTIRE Somewhere Far Beyond album. This of course had its 30th anniversary last year, so it was almost on topic. For my sake, I was just glad to hear The Bard’s Song - The Hobbit live, a first for me if I’m not mistaken, and all the other deep cuts we don’t usually get to hear. The Piper’s Calling was of course played as a back track, but it also gave Frederik Ehmke a chance to show his skills by adding a drum solo on top of it. This kind of drowned out the back track, but it didn’t hurt the show overall.
“Tack så mycket! Oh yeah, we’re in Denmark…”
- Kürsch (vocals)
On that note, I suppose we should welcome Blind Guardian’s new live bassist, Johan van Stratum (VUUR, Stream Of Passion). Well, apparently he’s been with the band since 2021, but we haven’t seen them in the intervening years, so it was a bit of a surprise to see a new face holding the four string, and seeing them completely without a keyboard player as well.
van Stratum seemed like a good fit for the band however, and while still being relegated to play in the back, as all live personnel of the band for as long as I can remember, he delivered on the performance front as well as the musical one.
The whole band was firing on all cylinders, and as mentioned before, they were having as great a party on the stage as the festival guests had off it. In fact, Kürsch referred to this as the band’s first real concert in Denmark, and they obviously treated it as such as well. Humorously, he likened it to Columbus’ journey to America, although he hastened to point out that the band only had good intentions for the visit.
“I must admit that I have lied in the past, especially to Swedes and Norwegians (loud cheers from the audience), but it is of course here at Gimle that we are closest to Valhalla!”
- Kürsch (vocals)
Saying that the response was overwhelming might be understating the facts. The crowd was so pumped and glad to make their voices heard, their loud and persisting chants of the band’s name between songs ended up holding the concert at bay several times, and the joy simply shone on the faces of the musicians. Another fun comment from Kürsch came a little later in the set, when the chant changed from the band name to his personal name, to which he pointed out that; “If I didn’t stop you before, I’m certainly not going to do it now!”
The Bard’s Song - In The Forest was beyond epic, and Kürsch didn’t get many words in there, as the audience completely overruled him, but it was certainly not the only song where the festival guests sang alongside or instead of the vocalist.
With Valhalla for instance, Blind Guardian created a space where the fans could go completely bananas, first with an epically long sing along within the song itself, and then letting that sing along go on and on after the actual song had rung out.
As you might have guessed by now, Blind Guardian ruled majestically over Epic Fest, and absolutely lived up to the task handed to them. This was a show filled to the brim with enjoyment from one end to the other, one that was equally enjoyed by the band and the fans. It could not possibly have gone any better; they truly put the Epic in Epic Fest.
Setlist:
Imaginations From The Other Side
Welcome To Dying
Nightfall
Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill)
Time What Is Time
Journey Through The Dark
Black Chamber
Theatre Of Pain
The Quest For Tanelorn
Ashes To Ashes
The Bard’s Song - In The Forest
The Bard’s Song - The Hobbit
The Piper’s Song (w. solo - Ehmke)
Somewhere Far Beyond
Lord Of The Rings
Violent Shadows
Majesty
Valhalla
Mirror Mirror
Blind Guardian
