The first day of this festival is always something special and this time we get an unplugged session with the greatest ladies and fresh talents from the female fronted metal world! It’s literally from all over the world: Canada, US, Chile, Japan, Spain, Greece …
Metal bands going acoustic are always fantastic as it’s the best way to hear who really has a great voice and who not. Tonight we’ll get some special and exclusive duets. I couldn’t wait for this day and here we are in Metal heaven! I must say that it was pretty hard to match the names of the guests and the title tracks, so I hope I got it all right …
Kirsten Jörgensen (Evig Natt) opens with the fantastic and o so fragile version of In my death I dream of you. Kassandra Novell (Mercy Isle) joins her on stage to perform Fallen. It’s clear that this asks for an album version: the way their voices blend in is just amazing. It’s a bit strange to see them on such a small stage, but it gives it an intimate touch (just like the minimal white light). On stage I see an acoustic guitar, a piano synth, sometimes an electric guitar, but time after time they surprise you with their minimalistic approach. Andrea Casanova (Rainover) plays one of her own songs Cycles (what a voice and what a figure on stage).
Aziza (Aria Flame) brings magic with her sad song My own little Hell. Normally we would have seen Karolina (Skeptical Minds) on stage performing Faerie Queen, but she couldn’t attend, so Aziza goes on with the help of Daniel (guitar). Phyllis Rutter (Eynomia) and Mike LePond play two tracks which simply touch me deeply with the help of Gaby (known from Diskelion): Break Free and I Can Tell (party time too, lots of clapping hands and yelling along).
Mourning Sun sends their singer from Chile Ana Carolina to play a track from The Gathering (her version comes pretty close to the original, just mind blowing). She deserves our gratitude for that! Satsuki from Japan is the special guest. He brings together with Lindsay Schoolcraft (Cradle of Filth) an unbelievable version of the golden classic: My Immortal (Evanescene).Kassie jumps in and goes on with Satsuki for one of his own songs YOU and it finishes in beauty. I’m very happy to see him for the first time on stage and hope to see him again (in full version)!
Kassy and Aziza start the second part with Saying Goodbye and close with If I could (a great momentum). When Aziza leaves, Kassy is joined by Phyllis and sings for us the beautiful track called Sleeping Sun. Party time with Stand My Ground, sung by Iliana (Enemy of Reality) and Sanna Salou(Oracles).
Maxi (Jaded Star) jumps on stage as Sanna leaves, it’s a last minute change, but we are very grateful as this also means she’ll be back on Sunday too! They party on with Solitary Ground. Sanna and her friend on electric guitar bring us a Blues Pills cover No Hope Left For Me followed by High Class Woman. Kirsten sings one of my favorite Evig Natt tracks and silences the audience with her beautiful and angelic voice. My god, can she sing! She gets a massive positive feedback from the audience! A lot of people start telling they will rush tomorrow to see her as starter of the new day! I Die Again is simply great! Lindsay (on piano) and Andrea sing together Nymphetamine. They also manage to silence the audience. Lindsey goes on alone singing Emily (another jewel). Gaby Koss (Diskelion) and Phyllis jump on stage and try to use a small radio to play the melody of a Diskelion track. The radio resists until a miracle happens, but as the sound is not loud enough they put a mic in front of it and as somebody has to hold it I volunteer for it. It’s a bit of an awkward moment. Broken Dreams is a great track (check out the album), but sadly not like this (and ok: it was all a bit last minute), and that makes me sad (and for sure for Gaby & Phyllis).
Andrea closes this unforgettable night with a song from one of the greatest metal women on earth: Anneke from The Gathering with Saturnine and gets help from everybody. It’s nice to see them all together as one big happy family and that is the right feel for this great festival!
I also know that there wasn’t much time to get it all good and that some things had to be changed last minute, but that’s life and we all enjoyed it! As always the first day of this festival is special and I don’t know what they will invent next time, but it will be at least as good as what it was this year! For the fans it was also a perfect way have a meet and great, talk with the stars, take some selfies, have fun, talk about their music …
It was pure fun and magic, so thank you all for everything and more! See you tomorrow!
