On September 1, San Francisco's Regency Ballroom is a mainstay of metal shows. I've seen countless shows here. Its formal name is the "Scottish Rites Bodies Regency Center" and first opened in 1909 as a masonic lodge. It's been many things over the years including a movie theater, a banquet hall, a dance studio, and finally in 2002, a concert venue. When sister venue Warfield Theater closed in 2008 for renovations, the Regency Ballroom became the go-to for shows. Upon the Warfield's reopening, they then began sharing hosting duties.
As mentioned, Xandria has a whole new lineup. Xandria's first incarnation was formed in 1994 by Marco Heubaum and has undergone a few changes over the years, with its current lineup consisting of Heubaum on rhythm guitar, Rob Klawonn on lead guitar, Tim Schwarz on bass, Dimitros Gatsios on drums, and Ambre Vuorvahis on vocals. They released their eighth album, "The Wonders Still Awaiting," in February of this year.
As openers, Xandria had limited time to play, but came out strong. They led with You Will Never Be Our God, one of the singles from "The Wonders Still Awaiting." This was followed by Reborn, which was the first song revealing the new lineup. The single Ghosts rounded out the songs from the new album. The band did not feature only their new material but also brought in Nightfall, from their sixth album, "Sacrificium," and Valentine, from their fifth album, "Neverworld's End."
Ambre brings the ability to mix both clean and harsh vocals. She may not be able to pull off quite the same operatic performances of her predecessor, Dianne van Giersbergen, but she's no slouch in that department. Growls expand the band's organic capabilities and help bring some punch on-command. I'd be interested in seeing her rendition of We Are All Murderers. One of the memorable points of their previous US tour was seeing that song performed alongside Once Human's vocalist Lauren Hart supplying growls.
Xandria is still the symphonic metal band I came to love so many years ago. Heubaum has kept the band's identity together even throughout various band member and vocalist changes. This can be a challenge for a band, especially over the course of decades. The sound has evolved, but at its core, it is still very much "Xandria." Heubaum knows how to utilize the strengths of each vocalist, and he's found a good one in Ambre.
It was a treat to see Ambre live in America. Hopefully, we'll be able to see them more soon.
Battle Beast has quickly picked up in popularity over the years. They may no longer have Anton Kabanen at the reins, but this does mean that the band has been able to truly grow into its own. It's less 80s and more of a modern kind of sound. Battle Beast plays a brand of power metal that I'll just call "dance metal." Much like Kabanen's current band, Beast in Black, Battle Beast makes you just want to groove.
A lot of Battle Beast's current strength comes from their longtime vocalist Noora Louhimo, who has been with the band since 2012. Founding members Juuso Soinio, Eero Siplia, Janne Bjorkroth, and Pyry Vikki present a link to the band's origins. Joona Bjorkroth, brother of Janne, joined the band after Kabanen's departure and took up the role of lead guitar.
The band released their most recent album, "Circus of Doom," in 2022. The band does not have as much of the cyberpunk and Berserk-based music as in previous days but this has not slowed the band down at all. They've rapidly grown in popularity.
Tonight, Noora once again wears a pair of horns upon her head. Describe Noora's outfits as being a goddess, a witch, or what have you; she oozes power and strength, and she's got the voice to back it up.
Much of the setlist tonight consisted of "Circus of Doom" with the titular lead track, Circus of Doom, leading off the charge. It is accompanied by Eye of the Storm, Where Angels Fear to Fly, Wings of Light, and Master of Illusion. Straight to the Heart and King for a Day from "Bringer of Pain" rounded out the set. King for a Day is a strong representation of what I mean when I say "dance metal." You just unconsciously start to sway to the music, and it's kind of fun, honestly. The very final song was Eden, from the previous album, "No More Hollywood Endings." This is by far one of Battle Beast's best songs out of their entire discography, and I hope to see it every time they play live. Eden's hook and chorus are very, very memorable. Everything about the song is just so damn good.
And thus, that leaves us with one more band: Kamelot. Kamelot is, technically, a US band, but you'd never guess it based on the lineup. Thomas Youngblood and Sean Tibbetts are the longest-standing members of the band ever since its days in Florida, but the band also counts Oliver Palotai, Alex Landenburg, and finally, Tommy Karevik, as part of it. Karevik followed in the steps of Roy Khan, whose voice and vision helped put Kamelot on the map. He's more than made his mark on the band over the last decade of time. On a side note, Landenburg was not present due to the birth of his child; Adde Larsson rushed to America in order to take over his role.
Kamelot is an exemplar of the power metal and symphonic metal genres, and a heck of a visual show all on its own. You will not find Kamelot lacking in terms of audio or spectacle.
Accompanying Kamelot on this tour is Melissa Bonny, on loan from Ad Infinitum (a band I hope to see soon on tour in America!). She assists with both clean female vocals and growls, substituting for names like Alyssa White-Gluz from Arch Enemy. Melissa also features on the best song from "The Awakening," New Babylon. It's a song I was dearly awaiting and loved every moment of it.
The Kamelot set list is the longest of the night, as is due their headliner status. As a band spanning more than two decades of time, that is quite a lot of albums to pick songs from. I've opined as much in past articles; when you've got so many good songs, how do you choose just a few to be featured on a live set?
Rule the World, Karma, Forever, and March of Mephisto represent some of the older albums. All good songs. I would like to hear a little more of the older albums; as mentioned, I cut my teeth on the albums "Karma" and "Epica." I would love for Center of the Universe, The Mourning After (Carry On), or III Ways to Epica to be played live. It's kind of weird realizing how I've been listening to the band for twenty-odd years, but the same can be said for Nightwish, who I've also covered as a crossover in the past.
The final three songs of the night would be Phantom Divine (Shadow Empire), One More Flag in the Ground, and Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy). Phantom Divine has quite the catchy chorus and I've got it stuck in my head as I write.
I'm quite pleased that Melissa Bonny was used for much of the night. Seeing her name listed for almost half of the set was a joy, and will have to do until Ad Infinitum comes to town.
The set list is quite balanced, to be honest. Even with "The Awakening" as their newest release, it only garnered four songs tonight. On a lot of tours for a band, you'll hear half of the set for a tour in support of an album, but not here. There were two or three songs from most of Kamelot's albums from the last decade and a half with the exception of "Poetry for the Poisoned," which I guess has fallen into a black hole. I still remember being hyped for the 2010 tour and then being disappointed upon the news that the tour had been postponed not even a week before the show.
It was brought up to me that with the vocalist shift in 2012, people from the old days like myself have gotten fewer and far between. Given how it's been more than a decade since Karevik joined the band, I suppose I might be of a dying breed. Those who were able to see Roy Khan live may have dropped the band after the shift, and those who came after Tommy joined may not be interested in the older albums for a similar reason in the opposite direction. I do think that not listening to all of Kamelot's albums is a mistake; they're all damned good, no matter which vocalist you first heard.
If you're a fan of bands like NEMOPHILA, Lovebites, Yousei Teikoku, or Aldious, I think you should give the bands tonight a shot.
If you're reading this, you've still got a few more chances to see Kamelot, Battle Beast, and Xandria live. Don't miss out, especially if you're close to Atlanta. The ProgPower festival is this weekend, and it'll be a hell of a lineup. Ad Infinitum will be present at the show. I had been hoping the announcement of their ProgPower performance meant a tour would be coming too, but, alas. Kamelot, Unleash the Archers, Ad Infinitum, Visions of Atlantis, Delain, Wind Rose, Battle Beast, Seven Kingdoms, and Beast and Black. Wow, that's a lot of names there. That's not even the whole list.
As for me? I'll be going to see PASSCODE in Los Angeles come Thursday. It's their debut tour in America, after all.
