As stated before, the crowd was not quite sold out, but still pretty full. It seemed to empty out a little bit before Epica went on. I was surprised that this was not sold out, but also it was also a Tuesday instead of a Friday. Still, there were several hundreds were in attendance.
There was a ton of merch, much of the Eluveitie merchandise was the same as last time, but with maybe a new shirt or 2 for the tour. There were abundant CDs and other merch as well. I think things were mostly decently priced. I didn't get anything. Epica had a bit of merch as well, including a pretty ham fisted shirt w/ Simone on it.
 |
| The Agonist |
 |
| Miss Vicky |
The Agonist was on when I got there a little late, finishing up their last 2 songs. I thought they sounded meh again, but this time they had their new, non Alyssa White-Gluz singer, Vicky Psarakis. I didn't get into them, whatever the case. Related, when I went to see The Agonist headline, it was similarly underwhelming.
 |
| A Thousandofld people on stage |
Eluveitie from Switzerland would be next, and would arguably have the most energetic crowd of the evening. I am a fan, but not a super fan. They played mostly stuff I've heard before live, but still were pretty good. I don't know why, but it seemed more subdued (but there were still pits!) than last time. They seemed to have a good mix of songs, and obviously got rowdier near the end. There were a ton of people on stage which was a bit ridiculous, I don't see how everyone stayed on without bumping into each other.
 |
| Flutes and stuff |
I know a couple of friends who were in attendance who don't 'get' folk metal, and were confused by the flutes, bagpipes, and the like. To each his own, I suppose- but there were certainly some great comments and jokes arising from that ;3
 |
| Different type of Metal, calling from the mountains |
That being said, I thought Eluveitie was good, but I thought they were better last time. The mix was mostly fine, but some of the flutes/folk instruments were a bit drowned out at times, which always has been a Folk Metal Live problem. But you could hear the growls and the drums, and most of the guitars fine.
Epica from the Netherlands was headlining this one, which was great seeing as Simone Simons had to leave for a family emergency about a week later, and basically drop Epica off the tour. As this was the first night of the tour, I was taking many notes, but haven't had a chance to do a writeup until a month or so later. But as this was one of the few dates Epica DID play, I suppose it was worth the trip out.
Epica's mix was unfortunately a bit odd, as Simone was way too low in the mix, even overshadowed by samples at times. All the keyboards seemed to be piped in as well (as expected, but it seemed a bit odd- even though that is how we expected them to reproduce those multi-layered and many faceted ). There was a wall of death at "Consign..." for some reason as well.
 |
| Oh yes this is my Sensorum |
I enjoyed the older stuff much more than the newer tracks, but the crowd that remained seemed to eat it all up. Simone was obviously the focal point for the audience's cameras. She was as energetic as ever, and they did their mini disco interlude at one point. There unfortunately was a drum solo, which I could not get into at all. Absolutely boring.
One fan from the front unfortunately had some issue, and we saw her vomit. She was fine after a bit of a break, but it seemed abrupt. The crowd had a little bit of moshing, but not as much as for Eluveitie. There was a different vibe for Epica, and I was a little underwhelmed by their set a bit. It's not that they didn't sound good, I just don't think I was in the mood for them that night.
 |
| Utopia Unchained |
Last time for Epica, there was a small crowd in DC, and they joked that next time they would book Jaxx/Empire. Unfortunately Jaxx/Empire closed, and we had to hoof it to Baltimore instead. The attendance seemed like it was more full, so good for them!
 |
| Crying for the Moon |
Overall, it was nice to have a double headliner (1.5 hrs for each), but I don't think I'm as big of an Epica fan as I thought I was. It was not as amazing as I would have hoped, unfortunately. OH WELL.
Next show: GHOST
Photos
Setlists
The Agonist (- ~7:29)
- Follow the Crossed Line
Eluveitie (8:00- 9:30)
- King
- Nil
- Thousandfold
- Slanias Song
- Omnos
- De Ruef vo de Bärge / The Call of the Mountains
- From Darkness
- Brictom
- Scorched Earth
- Meet the Enemy
- Neverland
- A Rose for Epona
- The Siege
- Quoth the Raven
- Tegernakô
- Havoc
- Alesia
- -
- Inis Mona
Epica (10:00- 11:29)
- The Second Stone
- The Essence of Silence
- Sensorium
- Unleashed
- Martyr of the Free Word
- The Obsessive Devotion
- Chemical Insomnia
- Victims of Contingency
- Unchain Utopia
- The Phantom Agony
- -
- Cry for the Moon
- Drum solo
- Sancta Terra
- Consign to Oblivion
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thoughts? Gripes? Additions? Hate? Leave a comment!