I could try and think of a million clever ways to open this review, but today I think I’ll let a comment from the band do the work instead...

”It feels so good to start the tour here in Malmö. Now scream really loud, this is the show we will measure the rest of the tour by!”
- Tobias Sammet (vocals)

Yep, you guessed it; this was the first night of the Age Of The Joker world tour for Edguy, and it was held right here in the cosy venue KB in Malmö. Earlier we had made the acquaintance of the two support bands Fullforce and Kottak, but now it was time for the main event and it could easily be felt. There had been a steady increase in the number of guests throughout the evening and by this time we were all packed together like sardines in a can, and the climate was getting more equatorial by the minute. If this show wasn’t sold out, it wasn’t far from it... Then again, this was Edguy we were seeing, so anything less would have surprised me even more!
Quite predictably on the other hand, the band began the show with a song off of the latest album, Nobody’s Hero, and like it or not half of the set for tonight was also taken from that very album. I know some may whine and complain about that, but if a band can’t introduce new songs on the tour for the album in question, when can they do it?
But we’re sidetracking, so let’s get back on topic shall we? Regardless of people’s feelings towards Edguy’s latest epos, they were more than willing to cheer their favourite power metal outfit on, and I think the humour of the band really helped this along in a big way; it always does when it comes to Edguy. I think Sammet put it best when he said; ”Our new album is great despite what some critics say”. How can you argue with confidence like that?

The performance was rocking as always, but even though the stage had now been opened up as much as possible (the support-bands had very little space to play on), it was still clear to see that Edguy is used to far larger venues than this. For one thing, the members weren’t quite as mobile as they usually are, not for lack of trying though, and Sammet also mentioned that the band had brought along an amazing new stage setup, but it was packed in the truck outside because it couldn’t fit in here. Not that I can see a reason for rubbing our noses in the fact that all other venues got more show for the money, but there you have it. This way they just had to make up for it by themselves, and they were well aware of this...
By this time I think all people who want to see Edguy live have done so at one or more point s in their life already, so I don’t need to point out the fact that this is a band who can totally control a stage and a crowd, but I would like to mention one of the new, fun additions which followed with the new material; as the band played the heavily Irish inspired song Rock Of Cashel we were all asked to step dance because ”...Michael Flatley is Swedish I think...”. Well, not quite, but it got the job done, and pretty soon a large group of people were dancing like they were auditioning for the cast of Riverdance...

”Are you ready for some rock n’ roll from Germany?!”
- Sammet (vocals)

Yes, the crowd participation was not to be mistaken, and when not singing and shouting along to the lyrics, people were more than happy to share their opinions on what should be played; every time Sammet announced a song from the new album there were at least three drunken voices shouting Robin Hood, and every time Sammet replied that no, it was not f-ing Robin Hood they were going to play. Of course, eventually they did play Robin Hood, but only as the last song of the set, from that album at least.
Still, there was no doubt which songs were the crowd-favourites, and even though there was a no-pussy-ballads promise, one eventually snuck in in the guise of Land Of The Miracle, the first song of the encore. Vain Glory Opera had the loudest sing-along though, even with some tough competition by King Of Fools and Lavatory Love Machine.

The fact that this show was a first of the tour could be felt though, and as Lunah Lauridsen, our photographer, put it afterwards, it felt more like a final rehearsal than an actual concert. Not that the band made any apparent mistakes, and I think the comment was a bit harder than the show deserved, but one can’t deny that this was pretty scraped down to the bone compared to what the band usually delivers.
The new songs, with few exceptions, didn’t really do the trick for me, they are still too fresh for that, Felix Bohnke’s drum-solo have been done both better and more entertaining in the past (although the I Am The One And Only part got some good cheers), and the crowd didn’t really let it all out until the latter half of the show.
That being said, I was still royally entertained, and even though this won’t go down as the greatest Edguy show ever, it surely put a big old smile on my face when the night was done, and that’s nothing to complain about.

Setlist:

Nobody’s Hero
The Arcane Guild
Tears Of A Mandrake
Pandora’s Box
Rock Of Cashel
Fire On The Downline
Lavatory Love Machine
Behind The Gates To Midnight World
Superheroes
Ministry Of Saints
Robin Hood
Solo (Felix Bohnke)
Vain Glory Opera
Land Of The Miracle
King Of Fools