It was one of the last warm and sunny days when we were heading to Verviers to see Fair Warning. The German melodic metal band Fair Warning got their 6th studio album Aura out late July, now 3 shows were scheduled before the fivesome headed to Tokyo. It's always a pleasure to come to Spirit Of 66, unfortunately only a few dozen fans found their way to Verviers to see Fair Warning.
The band entered the stage and kicked off with Angel Of Heaven from Go! and continued with another track from their 1996 album - Save Me. Fair Warning have Henny Wolter (Primal Fear) as a second guitarist with them on tour. Fair Warning never made it big - only big in Japan - as they start at a time when melodic metal was going down, thanks to the uprising of grunge. With Generation Jedi the delivered the first song from Brothers Keeper. It was the first show for them for a long time and the first time playing songs from Aura live. But Here Comes The Heartache worked out well. Even if only a small crowd attended the show the band gave 110% and the small number of fans made more noise then some bigger crowds do. It was obvious that the guys enjoyed being on stage, especially bassist Ule Ritgen and tour guitarist Henny Wolter were joking and having a good time. The set included songs from all their albums and Desert Song was the first to represent Rainmaker. Guitarist Helge Engelke was focussed on his guitar play which is essential for the Fair Warning sound while Tommy Heart added his emotional vocals and entertained the fans. A little later in the set it was time for the balladesque Hey Girl from their latest album! The expressive vocals of Tommy Heart made this one special. I Fight represented Four as it was the only one off this record. Time for some tunes of their debut! The fans appreciated the fact that Fair Warning played Long Gone, Out On The Run and Longing For Love. After some Rainmaker songs, Still I Believe and Gotta Little Closer they came to an end. But they returned for some more! Even a small crowd can be loud and deserves an encore. When Love Fools from their self-titled debut was followed by Man On The Moon and the opener of Aura - Fighting For Love - was the closer of tonight's set. Fair Warning presented a homogenous set and it showed again that they are a class on their own. Helge Engelke's guitar sound is outstanding and make Fair Warning differ from other melodic metal bands. But I think that it's the combination of personalities which creates such a special sound / atmosphere. The show was very cool and hopefully there will be more chances to see them on stage... So far thanks to Francis & Spirit Of 66 for bringing Fair Warning on stage!
Before the show we - Gisela and I - had the chance to talk to Fair Warning's Helge Engelke and Ule Ritgen. Later Tommy Heart joined us. The interview is in German, but I wanted to give you the chance to listen to the conversation. Click here to listen to the interview!