Sweden is sporting quite a few progressive metal bands in this day and age, and one of them was the support act for Kamelot this evening. The band was Evergrey, hailing from Gothenburg, and having quite a few albums of their own to pull from (eight to be exact).
I first came in contact with the band back in -99, after the release of their second album; Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy, but I haven’t really kept up to date with all their doings since then.
Now, more than ten years later, a lot of water has passed under the bridge, and vocalist/guitarist Tom S. Englund is the only one left from back then. Still, worth giving a go, ey?

Now, I have already mentioned that Evergrey stick to the progressive school, and the quite melodic version of that, so what is one of the primary corner-stones which need to be in order to fully appreciate music of this calibre? You’re right (I hope), the sound!
Sadly, upon beginning to play their set, it was close to disastrous (Englund’s vocals were completely inaudible for the first line or so!), and it soon became apparent that no one had any plans of doing anything about it!
Well, that certainly worked against the band, but shame on those who give up, am I right? What the band may have lacked in sound-quality, they evidently tried to make up for in spirit; the feeling conveyed by their facial expressions and body language spoke tons in comparison to the aforementioned problem.
Still, the band had a hard time pulling a great reaction from the Danish crowd, and only got really enthusiastic shouts and clapping when they asked for it themselves. At these times it worked like a charm however, which makes me pretty confident in saying that there was nothing but amicability from the crowds side, just as it seemed to be from the band. Especially the calm keyboard part of Wrong got a huge and loud response.
Englund wouldn’t let the crowd get off that easy though, and by commenting on how said Wrong, which was the first single off their newest album, had sold gold in a very short time in Sweden, and how it hadn’t even reached that position by this time in Denmark, he tried to get us to show just a bit more appreciation.
His efforts were completely overrun by the first support-band, Amaranthe, and the Swedish touring crew, as they all got on stage during and danced around. Some of them only in their underwear. Apparently to celebrate Sweden’s defeat to Finland in a hockey game. Odd, but certainly entertaining. As this was the last show of the tour, I suppose some form of trouble-making was to be expected, and they did good.

Even with this, there was one mayor flaw for me (apart from the aforementioned sound) which I cannot look away from, and that is the fact that Evergrey have never managed to get under my skin. I appreciate and acknowledge their great musical talent and professionalism, but I lack the feeling and the heart of the endeavour, and this of course made it impossible for me to fully appreciate the show.

Setlist:

Leave It Behind Us
Monday Morning Apocalypse
Wrong
Blinded
The Masterplan
Recreation Day
Frozen
Broken Wings
A Touch Of Blessing