Two years ago, Rhapsody Of Fire played at the first Epic Fest, and last year they were back at Gimle without playing at the specific festival, so in a way, it felt right that the band should be represented in one way or another (and let’s be honest, there have been a few incarnations over the years). This time, the choice fell on what is called Fabio Lione’s Dawn Of Victory, where Fabio Lione, vocalist of the band for the first 11 years (not counting the Thundercross years), revisits the albums he was part of.

Not only was Fabio Lione part of the festival, he was also the first artist we saw, and the first one ever to play on the new main stage, The Realm Of Might & Magic. He was obviously intent on living up to the responsibility of such an honour, and came prepared with a very special show, including an intro created specifically for Epic Fest, and he played with an entire choir on stage with him! This was the Roskilde Domkirkes Pigekor (Roskilde Cathedral’s Girl Choir), a group of 17 or 18 girls together with their choir leader. They were ready on the majestic stage already during said intro, and sang along to the symphonic tape. Already at this point, it was clear that this was going to be something quite unique and special.
Then the band emerged to loud cheers from the large crowd, and of course they had to open the show with Dawn Of Victory - what else could they have done, really?

Lione wasn’t alone on stage, of course. We’ve already mentioned the choir, but on a more permanent basis, he’s touring together with his old band mates and Rhapsody alumni Patrice Guers (bass), Alex Holzwarth (drums), Dominique Leurquin (guitar), and Eternity’s End’s Justin Hombach (guitar). It was clear for everyone with eyes that the band was having as good a time on stage as the crowd was having off it, and especially Guers was good at using all of the large stage to his advantage, and I was glad to see that he got some time to shine as well through the gig.
Interestingly, especially given how large a place it has in the music, the band was performing without a keyboard player.

Lione was the obvious frontman though, there was no question about it, and he was just the man to lead the fans to victory. On the floor, there was dancing, singing, and above it there were even some crowdsurfers sailing by once in a while. As mentioned, it didn’t take long for the crowd to raise their hands and cheer the band on - with the volume of the cheers between songs, you wouldn’t believe this was the opening act!
Strongest of all was the singing though, which makes sense with all the catchy tunes the band have in their back catalogue. Knightrider Of Doom, a song I’m not personally highly acquainted with got a good deal of audience participation, showing that it was at least a fan favourite, but then the band turned to Unholy Warcry, and this blew all competition out of the water when it came to singing, not surprisingly. Well, and then they played a cover of Queen’s We Are The Champions, and I doubt the festival managed to top that volume for the rest of the weekend.

Not all impressive singing was delivered by the crowd however, some actually came from the stage as well. What I found most impressive of all, was how during The Magic Of The Wizard’s Dream, Lione sang it all, and effortlessly switched between his own high parts and the ultra low parts of the late, great Christopher Lee.
It wasn’t all songs Lione had to front by himself though, as in the epic Symphony Of Enchanted Lands, he was joined by Nicoletta Rosellini (Alterium) for a few passages, and that lent a nice bit of variation to the overall set.

I could wax on about the glory of having this incarnation of Rhapsody open the main hall of the festival this year, but I think you’ve got the point by now. This was just as epic as the festival demanded, and there was nothing I felt lacking when the show was over and done, and the band had taken a deep bow. Good feelings all around, as it should be!

Setlist:

Dawn Of Victory (Rhapsody cover)
Symphony Of Enchanted Lands (Rhapsody cover)
The Magic Of The Wizard’s Dream (Rhapsody cover)
Wisdom Of The Kings (Rhapsody cover)
The Wizard’s Last Rhymes (Rhapsody cover)
Land Of Immortals (Rhapsody cover)
Eternal Glory (Rhapsody cover)
Lamento Eroico (Rhapsody cover)
Holy Thunderforce (Rhapsody cover)
The Village Of Dwarves (Rhapsody cover)
Knightrider Of Doom (Rhapsody cover)
Unholy Warcry (Rhapsody cover)
We Are The Champions (Queen cover)
Emerald Sword (Rhapsody cover)