Report
Blind Guardian Thrills The Kentish Town Forum In London
Band Photo: Blind Guardian (?)
It’s been a while since I’ve been to the Kentish Town Forum, but it’s a venue I’ve always liked. I often find the staff to be excellent and the ampitheatre itself to be rather grand for a relatively small place. Fortunately, nothing seems to have changed and the welcome is as warm as ever. It’s an exciting night in the English capital, with a sell out crowd eagerly awaiting the arrival of one of power metal’s most revered bands, Blind Guardian. They’re a mainstay at festivals throughout Europe and you’re guaranteed to find their shirts at metal markets, but a headline show in Britain feels like a special event, let alone three. Tonight marked the final date of their trip to the island, before they fly out to the United States in a few days for a headlining tour and rest assured American fans, they’re bringing their A game.
Filing in were metal fans of all kinds of backgrounds, all united by their shared love of the music and it wasn’t long before we got the evening’s appetisers, The Night Eternal. Hailing from Essen, Blind Guardian’s compatriots may not be the most well known young metal band from Germany, but if this performance is anything to go by then that could change very soon. With two albums under their belts already, The Night Eternal are very much heavy metal in its classic sense. The traditional heavy metal sound with a modern edge to it, fronted by Ricardo Baum, who has an absolutely amazing voice, belting out hard hitting metal very naturally. The group has a solid stage presence too, coming across as very confident while playing to the biggest audience of their growing career.
Blind Guardian are known to take their time and enjoy their sets and so at 8:45pm, the sextet entered the stage to kick off the show with “Imaginations From The Other Side,” which went down a treat. Much like the recent Firewind show in Camden, the crowd were excited about every note tonight and repaid the musicianship with rabid enthusiasm. The second song, “Blood Of The Elves,” was the first of three helpings from the latest album, “The God Machine,” along with “Secrets Of The American Gods” and “Violent Shadows.” These new tracks fit perfectly with the old material and the audience seemed just as excited to hear them as they were to hear the likes of “The Script Of My Requiem” or “Sacred Worlds.”
Speaking of older tunes, it was the thirty fifth birthday of the band’s sophomore album “Follow The Blind” and so, after a particularly enjoyable rendition of “Nightfall,” Blind Guardian celebrating this milestone by performing, “Banish From Sanctuary,” which sent the crowd even crazier. For all the excitement, there was still time for a couple of ballads, which came in the forms of “Skalds And Shadows” and, of course, “The Bard’s Song. It’s easy to see why Blind Guardian are as beloved as they are, as vocalist Hansi Kuersch has a great rapport with fans and the whole unit plays together seamlessly. After “Lost In The Twilight Hall,” it was time for us all to pretend that they were finished for a few minutes, before returning with a sublime encore that included “Time Stands Still” and “Valhalla,” which the audience frankly refused to stop singing. Eventually, the band were able to announce their final song of the night as “Mirror Mirror,” before actually surprising fans with an extra song, “Majesty.” This was an incredible night of metal music, which delighted fans and won over neutrals. Blind Guardian will forever reign as one of the kings of power metal.
Ollie Hynes has been a writer for Metal Underground.com since 2007 and a metal fan since 2001, going as far as to travel to other countries and continents for metal gigs.