Avantasia @ Jailbreak 2024
"TIME! HAS! COOOOOOOOOO-O-O-OME!"
It amounts to a minor scandal that throughout a 25-year career, Avantasia, even being from just south of here, has never played in Denmark. All the more so, it's nothing short of a scoop for that lucky Danish booker who got to come first. Kinda like whoever got to de-virginize Natalie Portman back in the day, you'd imagine.
How wonderful, then, that Jailbreak – the new hope for major Danish metal festivals – got to pop that cherry. But still not as wonderful as the actual experience turned out.
There's a tangible air of pure, hungry expectation surrounding us long before the front-drop falls to reveal a Burtonesque environment of wrought-iron gates, gnarled tree branches, and cemetery crosses contrasted against a foreboding twilight sky. The band – nine people in total – lean gently into an equally ominous and crystal clear "Spectres", exploding in grandeur on par with any of Avantasia vocalist and mastermind Tobias Sammet's biggest sources of hard rock inspiration.
And as Sammet announces magnificent, symphonic power metal anthem "Reach Out For the Light", I don't know what to do with myself. Except, of course, frantically rock out and helplessly wail along with the, what, 10.000 people around me, by some of whose enthusiasm it's clear that this has been too long underway. This is more special than just that every-third-year-at-Wacken show that some of us have experienced over the years. Much more special.
And as a melancholic, Celtic theme signifies the immense title track from 2008's "The Scarecrow", it would seem we're in for a pure hit parade. And yes, we're all well aware of the many Avantasia songs featuring Pretty Maids vocalist Ronnie Atkins, and yes, we've all discussed the virtual inevitability of him joining the band for a coupla tunes tonight. But we still explode with ecstasy as he boards the stage, and we all sing along as though these words were the most important ones imaginable:
"RII-ISE TO-OO FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!
TIME! WILL! COOOOOOOOOO-O-O-OME!"
And even though the hit parade continues with stadium-crowd-jump-inticer "Dying For an Angel", we do get several deep cuts. Which, for me, is one point of criticism. Because even though Avantasia did keep on releasing solid albums, they still never surpassed that magic combination of gigantic production, irresistible melodies, and thrashingly virile drives from those two first "Metal Opera" LPs. While I do enjoy revisiting a song like "Farewell", it was always the least interesting cut from the debut. For an occasion like this, "Chalice of Agony" and the band's titular hymn in lieu of some of the other tracks would've made me whip out the top rating.
One element that does keep us on our toes, though, is the guest vocalists. Even though "Alchemy" is far from the most memorable cut off of 2019's "Moonglow" album, there's an almost electrical curiosity scattering throughout the crowd as this bespectacled, wide-brimmed hat-wearing, circle beard-sporting character enters the stage… "Who's that?" "Is that Geoff Tate??" "That's not Geoff Tate, is it?" "OHMYGOD THAT'S TOTALLY GEOFF TATE!!"
And in the same way, even though "The Story Ain't Over" is hardly very memorable, either, I can't control myself as Bob Catley enters. Just like Sammett, his voice is as rich and awe-inspiring as always – and at 76, that is pretty fucking impressive. Shit, I have to shed a single tear right here. Because so help me God, I love Magnum more than I love my girlfriend, and I will forever mourn the fact that I will never see them play again. And as Sammett acknowledges Catley's guest appearance by calling Magnum "the biggest band of our time", you'd better fucking believe that the man not only means it, but also knows what he's talking about. Greatness is much, much more than just album sales.
One huge moment, then, is when Catley rejoins for a blistering "Shelter From the Rain", as equal parts frenzied and lucid as it was ever played. The sound tonight is bombastic and sonorous, not a single note getting lost in the otherwise impossibly huge soundscape. You get the impression that the band itself is able to do anything, the dynamics and skill level of guitarist Sascha Paeth and drummer Felix Bohnke being impeccable. I had the utmost pleasure of witnessing the musical genius of the almighty Toto earlier this summer; the pure musicality of Avantasia gets close.
Yes, even though earlier today, Paul Gilbert and Billy Sheehan from Mr. Big made me lose my jaw in disbelief several times, Avantasia may very well be the second-best playing band at this entire festival. And in any case, they get to take home the honor of having put on the biggest triumph of a show. "Sign of the Cross" might be a predictable ending, but in all its skull-smashing pathos, it is glorious far more than anything else. And as every single one of tonight's guest singers backs up the equally glorious segue into "The Seven Angels", you'd have to be deaf and blind to not have experienced one of the top shows of the year, right here.
Rating: 5.5 out of 6
Genre: Hard rock / power metal
Venue: Jailbreak, outside stage
Date: Fri., Aug. 16th, 2024
Setlist:
- Spectres
- Reach Out for the Light (feat. Adrienne Cowan)
- The Scarecrow (feat. Ronnie Atkins)
- Dying for an Angel (feat. Kenny Leckremo)
- Alchemy (feat. Geoff Tate)
- Invincible (feat. Geoff Tate)
- Promised Land
- The Story Ain't Over (feat. Bob Catley)
- Let the Storm Descend Upon You (feat. Herbie Langhans and Ronnie Atkins)
- Farewell
- Shelter from the Rain (feat. Kenny Leckremo and Bob Catley)
- Lost in Space
Encore: - Lucifer
- Sign of the Cross / The Seven Angels (feat. every guest artist)