Once again here we are: Two bands, and two live reviews from two cities. Frank Zaber and I caught the double bill of LUCA TURILLI’S RHAPSODY and PRIMAL FEAR at both the Dallas, TX and Philly, PA tour stops. Follow us now to hear all about it:
FRANK: The setting was the legendary Trees Dallas. This is the second time that I’ve seen LUCA TURILLI’S RHAPSODY live, and for the second time, I was completely blown away. There were about 400 people in the crowd for their performance, and everyone was totally into their 75 minute set. The show included standards from Luca’s time with RHAPSODY like “Unholy Warcry”, “Land of Immortals”, and “Knightrider of Doom” as well as a few songs from the new album (“Rosenkreuz (The Rose and the Cross)”, “Il Cigno Nero”, and “Prometheus”) and even “Demonheart”, from Luca’s solo career.
Alessandro Conti’s vocals are even better live than on their recorded material. I was constantly in awe at his range, and he nailed every single note of every song. Luca is a whirling dervish on stage, racing around and spinning – he’s one of the ultimate showmen in metal today, as well as being one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.
After playing for over an hour, they finished up their set with the RHAPSODY classic “Dawn of Victory”, and briefly left the stage, before coming back out and closing the curtain with the amazing “Emerald Sword”, which is one of my favorite RHAPSODY songs of all time.Overall, it was a great show, and PRIMAL FEAR had the daunting task of following such an outstanding performance…but I’m going to defer to The Maestro to tell you about that (spoiler alert: “Kick ass” doesn’t even begin to cover it!)
MAESTRO: Thank you, Frank! I have to agree with everything you said about LTR’S performance, from the band to Alessandro’s voice. And Alex Landenburg is now one of my favorite drummers on the friggin’ planet after watching him live.
This would be my second time seeing the German Metal Gods in PRIMAL FEAR, almost two years after meeting Frank for the first time at their Dallas show in 2014, and I was equally as floored this time as I was last time, maybe even more so. The Trocadero staff is always great to work with, and it’s one of the best live music venues Philly has to offer, bar none. As an added bonus I got to meet my wonderful friend Jeannine in person after being in some of the same metal circles these last few years. The band also made a convert of my friend Bobby who knew almost nothing about them prior to coming with me.
Over the course of 13 songs guitarists Alex Beyrodt and Tom Naumann, drummer Francesco Jovino, bassist Mat Sinner, and vocalist extraordinaire Ralf Scheepers delivered anthem after anthem to the ready and willing masses. Racing out of the gate with “Final Embrace” and new song “In Metal We Trust” from latest album Rulebreaker, the band was in full attack mode and there would be no stopping them. From Nuclear Fire we heard “Angel In Black” as well as the title track, along with “Sign of Fear” from New Religion. This was sandwiched between a pair of new tunes “Rulebreaker” and the breathtaking “The Sky Is Burning”. They really picked the best songs from this new disc to play live because their bite was fierce. This was evidenced by the double shot of “Angel of Mercy” and Mini-Amps’ favorite off the record “The End Is Near.”
Oh, and speaking of his favorites, from Delivering the Black we got “When Death Comes Knocking” (his all-time #1!) before the band swung the hammer for “Chainbreaker’ and “Metal Is Forever” to close out the regular set. For the encore I couldn’t believe we were hearing “Rollercoaster” and we were all there in our fist-pumping, screaming glory. Ralf was smiling from ear to ear for most of the set, but especially after this. His voice was incredible all night long, and there’s a reason why he’s my favorite vocalist in the game. The band kicked 50 shades of ass from beginning to end, making this one fantastic concert experience.
LIVE WORDS: FRANK ZABER (DALLAS)/THE MAESTRO (PHILLY)
LIVE IMAGES: IMAGES FROM THE DARK
