After their hugely successful show at the first ever Epic Fest last year, Blind Guardian had now opened their eyes (pun intended) to Denmark, and was back at Gimle for more.
Seriously, that show was off the roof, so if you haven’t checked out the review for it already, or just need a reminder, I encourage you to go look at it right now. It’s just below this one in the list. I’ll wait.
Good?
Good.

“Good evening Roskilde! It’s only been a year, but it’s been far too long!”
- Hansi Kürsch (vocals)

As you can imagine, expectations for this show were sky high. The band that completely blew this place apart last year, back again, now headlining their own The God Machine tour? It just had to be good, right? It just had to.
Well, the Danish fans seemed to think so, as the show was sold out long in advance and the hall was absolutely jam-packed with expectant metalheads. It didn’t take long from the band entering into Imaginations From The Other Side, before the crowd joined in on the singing, garnering the positive response from Kürsch that “You take over from the very beginning, don’t you?” as soon as the song was over.
It was, however, clear that the band had looked forward to this reunion as well, and Kürsch gave a heartfelt talk about how happy he and his band mates had been after the Epic Fest show, and how glad they were to back again - I have even heard that they specifically requested to play Gimle again, which should tell you something.
Another thing Kürsch promised us was that they were going to give us things they didn’t give us the last time they were here, also commenting that of course any Blind Guardian track they would choose would be a good choice, as they’re all good songs - with a wink in his eye of course - and for the most part, he kept true to his word. You’ll of course already know that they opened the show with the same song, and certain live staples, like The Bard’s Song - In The Forest and Mirror Mirror are inevitable, but the largest part of the setlist was indeed different from the last time. Blood Of The Elves and Deliver Us From Evil padded out the material from the The God Machine album, not surprising they wanted some more material from that one, but I was also very happy to see Into The Storm and Skalds And Shadows added to the setlist - the latter being one I don’t think I’ve ever seen live before, and it did cause a stir, as we could see a couple of barstools and a couple of acoustic guitars being brought in, as you can imagine.

“Was that Danish enthusiasm? I like your shyness.”
- Kürsch (vocals)

Despite being a very vocal crowd, as he had already commented on, Kürsch couldn’t help but tease us into giving it even more. The aforementioned The Bard’s Song… was not surprisingly a huge hit with the audience, and Kürsch honestly just barely managed to press in a couple or so lines by himself in that one (it was goosebump inducing), but the end of Valhalla also just went on and on and on. And on. Another true fan favourite, and what better place to play it than right here? In case you didn’t know, Gimle is the name of the most beautiful hall in all of Asgaard, and the only building still standing after Ragnarok, making it the place where the last surviving gods and humans gather after the world has perished and been renewed.
The fans weren’t the only ones showing off their vocal skills however, as Kürsch impressed (as always) with a perfect vocal performance throughout, culminating in that insanely high note at the end of Violent Shadows. It can’t be all about the charismatic vocalist however, even though he may beg to differ, as the entire band delivered to their utmost. It was good to see Michael Schüren return to the stage with his live keyboards, and opposite him Johan van Stratum was still kicking ass on the bass, upgrading this time to a nice five-string.
The six-strings were as always perfectly handled by André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen - I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad performance from either - and while there wasn’t time for a drum solo this time, Frederik Ehmke’s enthusiasm wasn’t to be overlooked, and at the end of the show, he had to be reared in by van Stratum so as not to miss out on the band photo for just greeting the fans for so long.

As their journey had come to an end, so does ours here, and all that is left to do is sing the praise of this amazing orchestra. I really couldn’t see how Blind Guardian would be able to top the expectations for this show, but somehow they did, and we’re all the better off for it.
Let’s cross our fingers that this reignited frequency in visiting Denmark keeps up, as I’m certain they’ll always be welcomed with open arms and raised horns.

Setlist:

Imaginations From The Other Side
Blood Of The Elves
Nightfall
The Script For My Requiem
Violent Shadows
Skalds And Shadows
Bright Eyes
Deliver Us From Evil
The Bard’s Song - In The Forest
Banish From Sanctuary
Lost In The Twilight Hall
Sacred Worlds
Into The Storm
Valhalla
Mirror Mirror