CandlemassZH

11.05.2003

CANDLEMASS

Dynamowerk 21 - Zürich -13.04.2003

Candlemass in Zürich! Messiah & Co. today evening in one of those "small" but important venues that are flowering in Switzerland. They will play at the DynamoWerk21, in particular the so called Keller, a kind of picturesque place that seems the cellar of a castle, or of an abbey , methinks the ideal place for Messiah or not? Could the Swiss part of gryphonmetal lose this event? yes it would have been possible, yesterday i was feeling not fine at all ( people! such a stomach ache..eh well metal journalists too can be affected sometimes by some disease...) and i had to miss a gig in Stuttgart with Sulpher, damnation! But i had to recover soon cause this evening 2 dear friends of ours were flying from England in order to attend together the No Mercy Festival. And it was an idea of these 2 friends and of Stefan to undertake a kind of 2 days metal super adventure adding this gig to our program. So we have just been at the Zürich airport to pick up our mates and let's go!! immediately from airport to Dynamowerk. Oki, i couldn't be more content above all cause i can show this particular venue (hehehe..batcave ;)) ) to our friends, it can sound a blasphemy but Candlemass for me was just a side thing. Our staff man in Greece Dimitris has already written for us all cool live reviews about Candlemass in Thessaloniki and i am curious anyway. Moreover the importance of Candlemass in the metal panorama is out of question, so good occasion! Still thinking of the missed Sulpher gig though!. Anyway let's see, let's see together what Candlemass will do. But before, i have to say that Candlemass were supported by Crown of Glory that, due to the circumstances, we couldn't see. So we 4 enter the crowded venue just before Candlemass take the stage, we have some minutes in order to speak and to look around "admiring" the medieval-like cellar. Now it's time!! so hurry up forcing a bit our way through the crowd reaching the stage. There is no protection gate, and is recommended, in italian too, that crowdsurfing and jumping on the stage will be not tolerated. In the name of Metal, Candlemass appear on the stage among true ovations, the small crowded room (well anyway we have surely around 200 people here if not more ) begins to show the first sign of high temperature. Classic Candlemass Leif, Mappe, Jan and Lars , powered by the terrible monk Messiah start off with Crystal Ball: and the audience begins practically at once to jump and to make headbanging , many throng for what it is possible the monk, while the hair of lead guitarist begins to fly at the small wind of the artificial ventilation. The enthusiasm is not to be taken down. Now Candlemass propose Well of Souls, followed by Black Stone Weilder and Samarithan. Marcolin is really impressive, cool voice and a big entertaining attitude, though, to tell the truth, i still prefer Gerre from Tankard. The crowd is really in seventh heaven and shows a warm participation that could be described as authentic mega- rapture: "Can-dle-mass, Can-dle-mass!!" and bursts of applauses and ovations of every kind. From his side, our Messiah is not less crazy: he shakes hands , bends over the fans, speaks a lot, hits and definately pulls away a panel from the not high ceiling, and ,above all ,tries to communicate some pearls of wisdom in Italian, from the moment there is a good number of Italians here tonight, showing up with an Italian flag that puts on his head too. Wow me as Italian i can only be amused, i would give him the nationality immediately. "Bellissimo! io mangio sugo pomodoro ogni giorno! viva Italia - viva Switzerland - viva Sweden !" shouts Messiah, so ... offering to him an Italian passport is the least we could do! Anyway before telling that this show will see 3 , three, i repeat 3 !, encores , it seems right to me to underline that the doom attacks mixed with galloping and hammering riffs of Candlemass' songs are really outstanding in itself, but i personally don't like everything it is proposed. While the audience, in complete worshipping, sings along with such a deep ecstasy and enjoys the gig like hell, i have so many moments of boredom afflicting me. Yes it's so, and to be 100% honest i can only really enjoy, stage acting apart, "At the Gallows End" which i consider a prodigious and winning track! The rhythmic session is doing a great work, impeccable, while the lead guitarist, to whom i would personally deliver the Nobel prize for utter dislike (my opinion, i really cannot stand that guy) is providing guitar lead solos and riffs technical good as much as absolute boring. The almost 2 hours-long show is enriched by instrumental moments, a small drum solo made by Marcolin in person during the second encore and the general doom mania of the crowd that calls 3 encores being rewarded by the big amount of songs proposed , Under the Oak included that closes the third encore. It's useless to say that this was a success, cause it was simply a cult, an adoration and the general appreciation of Candlemass music. Candlemass from their side have offered a long super gig greeting a lot their fans at the end of the show. Surely they can sell themselves very good. The band is super without discussion, but i remain with some perplexities, doom metal is not necessarily Doom Death metal, and i have a kinda bitter aftertaste. Maybe it's the stomach ache...

dalia di giacomo

Setlist: Crystal Ball , Well of souls, Black stone weilder, Samarithan, instrumental, Ancient Dreams , Bells of Acheron, Solitude, Mirror, Mirror, At the gallows End, Bearer of Pain , Somewhere in nowhere, Bewitched + 3 encore with Under the Oak

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