On stage: Primal Fear

 
- W.O.A.
 
- August 1999
 
- Wacken (D) -


 
- Primal Fear, Metalium & Sinergy
 
- Sep. 1999
 
- Offenbach (D) -


 
- Bang-Your-Head
 
- June 2000
 
- Balingen (D) -


 
- Primal Fear & Rage
 
- Sep. 2002
 
- Barcelona (E) -


 
- Bang-Your-Head
 
- June 2004
 
- Balingen (D) -


 
- Primal Fear
 
- Mar. 2010
 
- Moutfort (L) -


 
- Primal Fear, Brainstorm 6amp; Palace
 
- April 2012
 
- Bochum (D) -

- Primal Fear, Brainstorm & Palace -
- April 14th 2012 - Bochum (D), Matrix -






 

  


  

























  
  

Primal Fear is back on tour and again they have Brainstorm with them. Additionally they have German heavy metal outfit Palace opening for them. To be honest, I haven't heard about Palace before, but by now I know that the guys are around for about 20 years and in 2011 they released their 6th studio album. So I can't tell you much about this quartet. Their traditional heavy metal partly reminded my of Accept and AC/DC... They were out to promote their latest album Dreamevilizer and I know they played the title track and Between Heaven And Hell.



After a quick change over it was time for Brainstorm. They kicked off with Worlds Are Comin' Through off Liquid Monster. A good move, coz so everybody could sing along. As usual the band was enjoying being on stage and they delivered a good show. They continued with In The Blink Of An Eye. Taking photos was difficult, coz the stage wasn't lit up and it seemed that Andy B. Franck tried to avoid taking the spotlight... Before Redemption In Your Eyes Andy welcomed that fans and expressed that Brainstorm are happy to be back in Bochum. Songs like Shiva's Tears, Temple Of Stone and Fire Walk With Me should follow. Brainstorm had about an hour stage time and so they presented a kind of best-of spiced up with songs of their current album On The Spur Of The Moment. Guitarist Milan Loncaric and bassist Antonio Ieva were switching sides, but center stage was Andy's territory. With a short bass solo Antonio Ieva connected Shiva's Tear and Temple Of Stone. One of the highlights was Shadowland. The fans loved Below The Line and In These Walls. Actually there wasn't any low point during the set and so time was flying.



The Brainstorm screens have been taken away and revealed metallic screens. Then it was time for Primal Fear to enter the stage, they kicked off with Unbreakable Pt 1 (as an intro) and Strike! As a photographer I was happy to see that they used some brighter colors from up-front and due to the lights reflected by the metallic screens the scene was lit up. Made me wish more band would be so much metal! ;) Time to Give 'em Hell! It didn't take long and the guys in stage as well as the audience were sweated. Between the classics Nuclear Fire and Seven Seals they presented Unbreakable Pt. 2, but more classics should follow. After Black Sun it was time for drummer Randy Black to do a solo and give the other guys a short break. Guitarist Alex Beyrodt led into an 'Angel's medley' starting with Where Angels Die and going through Demons And Angels and Angel In Black. A balladesque intermezzo followed by killer tune Metal Nation. "Someone want to join the Metal Nation?" the singer asked and invite the fans to sing along - and they did! Ralf Scheepers was obviously impressed and commented "You are the best!"

Mat Sinner was delivering powerful backings assisted by Alex and Constantine. Guitarist Magnus Karlsson wasn't able to do the tour and so the Germans asked Constantine to give a hand and do the tour. And it looked like he's part of Primal Fear for ages! After Jaws Of Death Ralf introduced the band, but I think everybody in the house knew who's on stage... With Metal Is Forever they closed the set, but returned for an encore. And it was time for Bad Guys Wear Black - the song they choose to make a video for - and the closer Chainbreaker. And one more time it seems to be over too soon...



An evening of power metal came to an end and once again it showed that Brainstorm and Primal Fear are among the best power metal band Germany has to offer. If you missed them on tour... Well, what can I say... You missed a great show!

  
  







Claudia Ehrhardt



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- Primal Fear - March 26th 2010 - Moutfort (Luxembourg), Centre Culturel -






 

  


  

After all the years in the Metal Circus, and all the concerts in various places in Europe, it took me last weekend for the first time to Luxembourg. What luck, I can say afterwards! But let's take one step after another...



In the moment it becomes clear that Primal Fear will headline the Metal Night in Moutfort on 26th March 2010, there is no doubt for the Metal Commando Germany that we will join this event!



Unfortunately, not everything runs on schedule first, so we have to skip out plans for a common drive to the location and so two teams start from different places, but with one and the same goal: our meeting point in a hotel in Luxembourg.

Lucky me I have purchased a new GPS a week ago :-), a real brilliant piece of modern technology! This leads me not only perfectly to the goal, but thanks to its modern technology, we leave difficult traffic chaos behind us and additionally hands-free phone calls while driving make the long time in the car pass quicker. Last, but not least this great system calls me again and again to slow down the speed at speed limited parts, haha.



After three hours we reach the meeting point and the excellent service already starts at the hotel: our rooms are booked by the organizer, everything fits perfectly.

After our team is completed and everything settled so far, a quick call is enough and few minutes later our shuttle is ready to take us to the concert hall.

Boris, our nice driver for this evening, brings us safely to the scene, where Francis Rollinger gives us immediately a warm welcome. Our backstage passes are waiting for us, now the great evening can start!



I must admit that we do not notice much from the opening acts. After the long trip, we go to the first Italian restaurant around the corner and then end up at the merchandise shop, where we sink into a long talk with our friend Krusty.



Full of praise I want to mention at this point that not only the location is great and offers a very good sound and atmosphere, but also the operation of the beverage stalls is smooth and nice, just like the security, which today is not necessarily self-evident.



Furnished with a delicious, cold beer, we wait in anticipation for Primal Fear. When it is getting close to 10 p.m., we are of course already totally electrified waiting in the front row.



Then we hear the intro and the obligatory goosebumps arises immediately. A great audience gives Primal Fear from the first second a warm welcome and a great feedback! We can feel that the spark jumps over from the beginning on both sides - band and fans - and this always is a special kick for a concert.

The setlist is pure power and gives us one quick hammer song after another. Taking deep breath or relaxing stands not on the program :-), just more rockin', head banging and singing along, like there's no tomorrow. It's exactly like a metal show should be!

The band smashes hits from the current album such as Riding The Eagle, or the title song 16.6. like a thunderstorm, and during the show they play songs from nearly each and every album. Title track numbers such as Nuclear Fire and Seven Seals are as much part of the set as the good old stuff like Running In The Dust, Chainbreaker and the hymn Metal Is Forever, just to mention a few of them.

A real highlight is the soulful ballad Hands Of Time, where Mat takes over the main vocals.

This is something completely different and for us it's finally time to breathe a little :-). Seven Seals and this pearl are really the only exceptions where the tempo slows down.



After more than 90 minutes full of a tremendous playing, Primal Fear leave the stage and what remains, is a satisfied crowd of metal heads.



After this performance and our action in the front, we need a moment to relax, so we sit down with another beer, and enjoy the D.J's playing.

But soon Francis leads us into the VIP area, where we meet some nice people, and get offered some delicious and very creative arranged appetizers. Soon Ralf Scheepers joins us, and then Mat and Henny follow. We end the evening in a large and nice round all together before our shuttle brings us back to the hotel again.



The next morning we have a breakfast together with Primal Fear, before we finally spread away and leave all in different directions.



At this point, we express our special thanks to Francis Rollinger and his team, for a perfect organization and warm hospitality. Also a big thanks for a memorable evening and a great time together goes to 'our Primals' - you're the best! :-)



See you soon, when it's time again for a loud "Metal Is Forever"!

  
  


  
  







Report: Katharina Syczewski

Photos: Jörg Hilbert



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Primal Fear & Rage

- September, 28th 2002 - Barcelona (Spain) -





 

  


  

Well, well... What a great show we had Saturday September, 28th here in Barcelona!! Both bands were playing as co-headers of the tour, so none acted as a support band. Let's go with some details. Rage played first. It was the first time I saw the band, 'cause I missed their gig in the Rock Machina festival (I missed all the festival due to a surgical intervention). My friends told me it was one of the best concerts in the festival, so I wanted to see them.

The band is only formed by 3 people and it's really amazing how they can make such great tunes. Mike Terrana plays the drums like he's fighting with them, putting on an angry face (really scary), headbanging, kicking and beating it like mad man, hitting his own head and also playing easily with the drum sticks while he's still playing, making 'em roll around the fingers, leaving 'em hanging in the air... Impressive! He made a 15 minutes long solo that made everybody's jaw drop to the floor. He played all kind of rhythms, even samba-like (welcome to the jungle!) and swing while he sang "Somewhere, beyond the stars..." Then it came the time "to destroy this fucking drum kit" and started kicking and beating it like a possessed man, making everybody go mad. The show continued and then came Victor Smolski' solo, also very impressive. It's amazing to see him playing on the strings pole, making great riffs and nearly shredding the guitar. There were times when it seemed to be 2 people playing the guitar, he achieved some fantastic sounds. That's what I call virtuosity. During the show in a middle of a song he swapped guitars without stopping playing (it was handed by an assistant) and then swapped back to his guitar without stopping again the tune. Sometimes I wondered if it wouldn't be better for the band to have another guitarist, but after seeing Victor's amazing skills I doubt they could sound better. With such music monsters in the band Peter 'Peavy' Wagner seems the 'weakest piece', but he makes a great work as a frontman, playing the bass, singing and connecting very well with the people. The show lasted for 1 hour and 20 minutes and they seemed to be sad for leaving the stage, surely they would have played even more, but time ran out. Everybody was truly satisfied with such a great show.

Then after some minutes to swap instruments and testing them started the Primal Fear show. It started in a very confusing way. The lights turned off and then it began to play... A part of the Lord Of The Rings soundtrack! Everybody was puzzled 'cause we all expected the show to start with Countdown To Insanity (Black Sun's intro). After some time the intro started to play, but still there wasn't anybody on the stage. People was more puzzled. When the intro was ending finally the members started to appear on the stage, but at the end of the tune, when everybody was waiting for Black Sun songs they started playing another song from another album. Well, it seems people didn't care, 'cause everybody started jumping and headbanging and when finally Ralf Scheepers appeared all the people went like mad. They played songs from all of their albums (I expected more songs from Black Sun). During the first songs Ralf's voice couldn't be heard as clear as everybody wanted. In both concerts the sound was a bit saturated and the voices were the ones that suffered the biggest loss of quality. In Rage's show I didn't care a lot. Peavy has a potent voice, but not as personal as Ralf's. Everybody wanted to hear his high-pitched screams. Luckily the sound engineer fixed it and after 3 songs or so the voice could be heard better. All the band played great, with Ralf as the front man encouraging everybody, Matt Sinner running from one side to another of the stage and both guitarists playing fast, making both solos that were used in the final notes to start all the group a new song. The show lasted for 1 hour and 40 minutes, they did 2 encores and everybody was really pleased with such dedication. After both concerts my friends and I were totally thrashed... 3 hours of non-stop jumping, headbanging, singing and yelling. But we were happy... This was an awesome concert and both bands were excellent. They're still on tour, so if you get the chance to see them don't think it twice. It's a show worth enjoying.
  
  






Xavi San Antonio

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Primal Fear, Metalium & Sinergy
- September, 25th 1999 - Offenbach (D), Hafenbahn -





 

  


  

On a Saturday evening the German power metalheads Primal Fear showed up in Offenbach. The Hafenbahn was packed and it was hot! First Sinergy entered the stage. The band around Kimberly Goss presented 35 min. of power metal. The ones who didn't knew the debut album Beware The Heavens, were a little surprised. They expected a more black metal like sound, coz Kimberly worked in the past with Therion and Dimmu Borgir and she was teamed up by the members of In Flames for the recordings. Live Kimberly got a helping hand from Erna Siikavirta on keyboard, Alexi Laiho (g, Children Of Bodom), Marco Hietala on bass, Tommi Lillman (dr) and Roope Latvala (g), coz In Flames are on tour, too. Beside that rehearsing was a problem, coz they live in different places. Roope is one of Finland's most famous guitarists! Beware The Heavens live... It was obvious that the line-up hasn't any live experience. Kimberly told me that the band had just 2 weeks to get prepared for the tour. I had the chance to see the package again at the end of the tour and they got better! At all shows Sinergy had a few fans which sang along and got more fans. Beside songs of the debut Sinergy played a cover tune... and everybody sang along to Warlocks All We Are!

After a short break Metalium opened with Fight. When the band entered the stage many fans were disappointed that Savatage guitarist Chris Caffery didn't play. Chris was replaced for the tour by Seven Witches guitarist Jack Frost. Metalium play most of the songs from the debut Millennium Metal Chapter 1 incl. the Deep Purple cover. Smoke On The Water. During the cover version bassist Lars Ratz spit fire. When singer Henne Basse introduced the band he explains that Chris Caffery is sorry that he couldn't play this tour, but he is in the studio recording the new Savatage album! Jack is a very good guitarist, but plays a different style. Personally I missed the aggressive guitar Chris Caffery plays and I think many fans felt the same. Anyway, the songs are great and live they are even stronger. Songs like Revelation, Void Of Fire and Metalians rocked the metalheads. For the ones who saw Metalium on the festivals... The band got better, forget the embarrassing performances of the festivals where just Chris Caffery and Mike Terrana or later John 'Ozzy' Osbourne showed a good performance. Ozzy is the new drummer and even if he's technically not as good as Mike Terrana, he's an amazing drummer! Luckily Chris Caffery brought him and also Jack Frost into the band, good choice! Metalium will record their second album in February. We have to wait and see, if this band will make it. It's very important that the band will have a stable line-up.

Primal Fear got on stage with a big bang! The German rockers started with Jaws Of Death and for the next 2 hours they played a kind of personal best of incl. Silver & Gold, Church Of Blood, Under Your Spell, Chainbreaker, Tears Of Rage and Promised Land. When the smoke of the pyros fall down the fans had to face the next change! Instead of Tom Naumann guitarist Alex Beyrodt (Sinner and The Sygnet) plays. What happen? After the show Alex told me that Tom left for personal reasons. As far as I know Tom's father is seriously ill and he took over the family business. Alex jumped in just 2 weeks ago, but did a fantastic job! Primal Fear mastermind Mat Sinner and his mates presented themselves as a very energetic union. It looks like Alex been in the band for a longer period! Often Primal Fear plays a Judas Priest cover Grinder and sometimes Another Thing Coming, beside that they play a Gamma Ray song as a tribute to Ralf Scheepers past and with Used To The Truth a Sinner song. It's obvious that they enjoyed themselves and the audience had fun, too. A great show! The next album will show if Primal Fear are able to stay on the top of the German power metal scene, but the future seems bright for the quintet!
  
  






Claudia Ehrhardt

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