Bout time I get around to reviewing it.
The venue was a tiny place called "The Opera House." It was probably a small stage theater about 60 years ago... 1000 peep occupancy, max. No seats. So a very cozy concert.
The Toronto fans were amazing. I've never been to a show with that much energy being directed back to the band... you can tell the musicians loved it. The singer even commented on it several times through the show...(German accent) "Even though there's no oxygen in here, you people seem to be in a good mood so we'll keep going." And, "You fuckers are crazy. Ok, we do a few more songs. " That sort of thing.
Me and my old lady were DIRECTLY behind and against the producer cage in the middle of the crowd, actually leaning against the little fence circling the engineers. We weren't front row/mosh pit but I could see the veins on the arms of the guitar players... I figure we were in pretty good position. I could see the set list over one dude's shoulder... BG actually deviated from the set list once due to crowd demand. I forget which tune they skipped, but the crowd was chanting "Majesty!" so they played that instead.
The bad: The singer, Hansi Kursch, can't hit the high notes he hits on the albums. Could be due to "studio magic," but I'll choose to believe it is the aggressive touring schedule. According to the t shirt I bought, they were driving about 1500 miles a week and doing a show 6 nights out of 7. I can imagine a voice can get a little rough with that much abuse. The playing, otherwise, was perfect. All in all an excellent concert.
The opening act: "Leaves' Eyes."
Never heard of them before this show... but dizzam. Definitely on par with BG. Best opening act I've ever seen, possibly. Even the crowd wasn't hostile, which says a lot.
These giant metal gods lumber out in the beginning. They take their power stances, picks ready. Out walks this willowy blond lass in a flowing red dress, and stands center stage. She sings out this sweet little melody... and pauses... and all of a sudden the metal gods begin their sledgehammer assault on their guitars, heads banging, hair flying, and the sweet looking little blond girl in the red dress is headbanging and flashing the sign of he devil right along with them. It was surreal. And fucking awesome.
She spoke a bit between tracks, here's what I gather: They are Norwegian (except for their Transylvanian lead guitarist...metal). They do a lot of songs about Vikings, which is very metal all by itself. The blond chick is married to another vocalist in the band, a typical "growler"-type singer... their singing styles counter-pointed each other very well. Very kick-ass metal. Even my old lady liked them.
I put their albums in my "purchase sooner rather than later" queue.
Final judgement: if you like metal, see the show. If they're still touring. I'm a little late with this review.