Since the last time we saw Iced Earth, which was late last summer, the band had managed to put out a new album, Plagues Of Babylon, which in part at least continued Jon Schaffer’s Wicked saga, and the band members had changed into a much darker biker uniform. That, or they were getting seriously dirty from all the time on the road.
Let’s not dwell on that though, we have a concert to get back to...

“Copenhagen, do you still got the energy out there? We got the energy if you do!”
- Stuart ‘Stu’ Block (vocals)

Elm Street and Warbringer had already taken a good stab at warming Lille Vega up, and now it was time for Iced Earth to deliver the killing blow.
As darkness fell on the nicely decorated stage, a backtrack with the introductory drumming of Plagues Of Babylon thundered forth and the help was in place to hand instruments to the band when they were ready to take the stage – this was done to loud cheers just in time for the when the song picks up the pace and the vocals kick in.
By this time the hall of Lille Vega was well packed and the heat was draining – for us close enough, we would be generously showered in the sweat of the band who might at this time have regretted their choice in clothing. I’m at least certain that Schaffer was grateful for his Volbeat sweatband and usual bandana!
The audience was sweating as well, and for good reason. In the beginning we mostly saw raised hands and heard raised our voices during the sing along friendly choruses that the band are inclined to write, but by the time of The Hunter a moshpit broke out in the middle of the floor, a moshpit that was more or less active from there on out.
People were still happy to sing as well though, this was probably the most noticeable crowd participation of the show, and even though Iced Earth opted out of having a regular shouting/singing contest like some do, or prolonging a certain chorus into infinity like yet others do, there were still plenty of opportunities for us to let our voices ring true – the first encore song of the evening, Dystopia, was a shining example of this but it was far from alone.

Despite the overwhelming response for Iced Earth, the band seemed a bit off in the beginning. Sure, they were smiling, tight and the music was good, but it was as though their hearts weren’t really into it.
This feeling soon abated though, as after only a few songs the band was much into this relationship as the Copenhagen fans were, and through the evening the connection only grew stronger. Sure, it was a Sunday night and work lingered too early in the morning, but here we were allowed to just soak in the present for a precious few hours, and it did us all a bit of good.
The long Worldwide Plague tour was nearing its end, with only a couple of shows in Sweden left after this, but still the band managed to muster up energy enough to deliver a killer performance – Block opened up more and more, and bassist Luke Appleton also proved his worth with a positive performance. There is nothing that can be said about Troy Seele’s playing skills, but I still think he’s rather anonymous when it comes to performing and it would suit him and the band as a whole if he opened up more and claimed his place.
The setlist was a mixed bag of, of course, several songs from the Plagues Of Babylon album and a bunch of more or less played older songs. I haven’t heard Plagues Of Babylon as an album enough yet to have formed an opinion and I also don’t know the songs very well, but they worked well enough live and I’m guessing at least a few of them will find their way into a more permanent set in the future. The biggest surprises came with something called Apocalypse, which wasn’t so much a song as a backtrack interlude between songs where the frontlights went down and the band stood as still silhouettes against a flashing backlight, and the Red Baron / Blue Max speedster from the The Glorious Burden album, a song that despite its 10 years of age I have never heard live before. Then of course there are all the songs that you would have liked to hear but weren’t included, but to this I can only point out that Iced Earth seem happy to change their set up, and that any and every favourite will probably show up at some point. Except possibly Dante’s Inferno which was requested by the audience but shot down by Block, giving the length of the song as reason.

Even though Lille Vega is a bit cramped for a band of this size, it is also cool to get this close to the band (Lille Vega has never to my memory had a security fence so the front row is straight up there in the groin of the band (how positive this is you decide for yourself)). It also holds history for me, as this was the venue where I first saw Iced Earth live. This was back on the Horror Show tour where the band was supporting itself by playing two consecutive gigs the same night, showering us with the classics of the time.
A lot has happened both within and without the band since then, but somehow and despite the much updated setlist, this evening still felt like a nice throwback to those good old days – looking away from the very beginning of the show, the same kind of energy could be found. This was simply a good old-fashioned sing along and bang your head kind of time, the likes of which are few and far between nowadays.

Setlist:

Plagues of Babylon
Apocalypse (segue)
Democide
V
If I Could See You
The Hunter
Burning Times
Red Baron / Blue Max
Blessed Are You
Vengeance Is Mine
Cthulhu
My Own Saviour
The End?
A Question Of Heaven
Dystopia
Watching Over Me
Iced Earth