Some might wonder why Haggard aren't listed in the title as they were headlining, but I rely on public transport and concerts at Zeche Carl with more than 2 bands usually means I can see just part of the headliners show. When Crow7 entered the stage it was almost 8:30 PM, the change over for Coronatus took longer than expected and when Coronatus left the stage it was almost time for me to leave - otherwise I would have had to face a night at Düsseldorf main station. So, sorry if you expected a Haggard review, but this is only about Crow7 and Coronatus.
To be honest, I haven't heard anything about the opening band Crow7, came across the name the first time when I saw the tour dates. So I was curious what Crow7 would present us. Concert beginning was announced for 8 PM, but it was almost 8:30 PM when they entered the stage. The 4 guys mix 80's hard rock and hair metal, the songs have a rock vibe and make it easy to get into the Crow7 sound. After the first two songs guitarist and singer Corbin welcomed the attending and announced that after 2 songs from their current album Light In My Dungeon they will play Fallen Angel from their debut The Picture. Fallen Angel was heavier than the opening tracks, more metal so to speak. Crow7 have a modern edge due to bassist Gideon's harsh shouts / growls. He also joins Corbin at lead vocals, the dual vocals are more powerful - especially live a good idea. At some song they use female vocals which as well as keyboard weren't live. Later I saw at the website that they have a female singer, but they didn't mentioned her or why she wasn't with them... Anyway, after a short introduction of the band they presented the title track of their current album - Light Up My Dungeon. Then Corbin explained that they are in the studio working on their new album and just took a break from recordings to support Haggard on their European tour. They plan to release the album in fall, but they wanted to present one of the new songs - Winter Breeze - which starts with keyboards and vocals. Very balladesque opening, but then they add heavy riffs and head into a kind of power ballad. With Heal Your Wounds they continued and with Name The Liar they offered an song against war / war mongers. A passage off a speech - of an US president? - let into this one. Corbin put his guitar aside and concentrated on his vocals while Seth played guitar. They were running out of time and so they finished their set with Out. They obviously made some new friends - and will at other shows at this tour -, so mission accomplished for Crow7.
The change over took a bit longer than expected, Coronatus are just doing part of the tour and so the local crew and the support bands had to manage the change over as they don't have their own crew. Anyway, at 9:40 PM the lights turned down, the band entered the stage and kicked off with Geisterkirche. Coronatus have been through some changes lately and so it was a new line-up on stage. Ada Flechtner is back, but she confessed before the show that she's a bit nervous, coz tonight she has to sing the soprano part, usually Carmen Lorch was singing soprano and Ada did the rock vocals. Now Ada's counterpart is the blond singer Mareike Makosch. Like on Fabula Magna they continued with Tantalos. In my opinion live the songs are much stronger than on CD. Coronatus hired Psalm 88 to play keyboards on this tour who blend in perfectly. Mareike tried to cheer up the people, but with the first songs they already won over most of the attending. Geisterkirche was well chosen as the opener. Especially Mareike was always up front, cheering up the fans, dancing, banging... She's a real entertainer. But I don't want to minimized Ada, she warmed up during the set and I think it was her being nervous which made her step back a little. With The Scream Of The Butterfly they offered a song from Lux Noctis, their debut album. Followed by another track of the debut, the Latin Requiem Tabernam. But first Mareike asked if someone speaks Latin, then asked the ones who does not to listen to closely to the worlds. With Silberlicht another German tune should follow, also from their debut album. After Beauty In Black Mareike asked the audience if she is unfriendly, coz bassist Dirk told her to be more friendly on stage. The first reaction was indifferent, so she tried a different way, acted like a nice girl and the reaction from the audience wasn't any better, so she stated "I like to be mean!" and the audience responded loudly. While Mareike turned to Dirk with a smile on her face and happy to proof him wrong Ada announced "We have a song for you which fits perfectly! It's called Exitus!" And they headed into the track from Porta Obscura. "I love you!" Mareike stated after this one, "this is fun!" They kicked off the catchy Cast My Spell. The girls interacted with guitarist Aria Keramati Noori and bassist Dirk Baur, but the guys also delivered a good show, switching sides and teaming up for some head banging. The girls thanked the audience for the great support and then it was time for the catchy closer - Kristallklares Wasser! Another highlight of their set which offered songs of all 3 Coronatus albums.
Obviously the fans would have loved to hear more of Coronatus, but it was getting late. Let's hope that no more line-up changes will slow them down and that with their next album they can hit the road and play more shows. I bet the majority of the attending would love to see them again - and play a longer set....