Powerwolf: SWG3, Glasgow (20th January 2019)
with Amaranthe and Kissin' Dynamite
Playing the largest room in the relatively new SWG3 venue in Glasgow (Galvanisers), Powerwolf's first visit to Glasgow drove a dedicated crowd to this 1000 capacity gig. Accompanied by Amaranthe and Kissin' Dynamite as support, this was definitely a night to remember for fans of cheesy metal. Having been my first time in this particular part of the SWG3 (I've been to one gig in the TV Studio before), the bricks and mortar feel of this renovated room would go on to suit the feel of this gig quite well.
Starting the cheese off therefore, was the German glam-tinged heavy metallers, Kissin' Dynamite. I had listened to this band a little bit before this gig, and thought they sounded right up my street. Sadly, due to an early start time, I only managed to catch the very end of their set. They looked exactly how I though they would judging by their sound. All of the tousled hair and leather trousers. I didn't see enough of the set to really judge how good they were but they seemed to have much of the room, which was about half full by this point, enthused about their performance. They seemed to exude a particular sense of charisma and enthusiasm which is often lacking with bands of their type. I thought they sounded pretty good too. I'll need to check them out a bit more in the future.
Up next were the Swedish pop-metal band Amaranthe, who really brought the cheese to the table. Before this gig, I had a bit of a soft spot for some of their catchier material on record as they sound like Eurovision meets metal. Win-win, right? Wrong. Turns out Amaranthe were far less fun to watch as a live band than I anticipated. I knew that this band were going to be poppy, but I didn't quite anticipate how soulless they would feel. After the first few songs, which drew a lot from their most recent two albums, I couldn't help feel a nagging sense that Amaranthe were just playing over a backing track. Nothing about this band felt particularly live. Having three singers on the one stage, one which was reasonably small at that, made each of them look generally awkward and stagnant standing around while each of them waited for their next part. In the rare times where the vocalists would attempt to fill the void, this would consist of posturing, synchronised headbanging and forced crowd interactions which were more than a little off-putting to watch. I'm not sure whether the singers were miming or not, as something about the vocal performances didn't seem to match up with what was coming from the speakers, but perhaps this is just me being cynical. Regardless, the vocal performances didn't seem to contribute much more to their recorded equivalents. Much could also be said about the actual instruments. When placed up against the overwhelming reliance on backing tracks, rather than bringing in a synth player, the basic nature of the guitar, bass and drums parts were incredibly obvious. I could have done without the bassist coming onstage and getting people to drop to the ground and jump up during one of the song drops as well, even if most people around me seemed more than happy to oblige.
That's perhaps what has confused me the most about this performance. All of this just made me feel a bit cold, but I seemed to be largely in the minority. I couldn't help feel that I was watching something which was horribly manufactured, unpleasant, and worst of all, boring. I thought pop was intended to be at least exciting to watch, if not lacking in musical ability. Amaranthe weren't the worst support band I've ever seen, but they're not all that far off. I suppose if I do ever have a notion to indulge in some guilty pleasures from them in future, it will only be with a couple of their songs. I don't need to see this band live ever again.
If you want to check out one of their songs, however, I've got a video at the bottom of the page...
Onto a band who could definitely not be described as either lifeless or boring, Powerwolf really pulled out all the stops here. With a particularly elegant gothic stage design for the relative size of the stage, accompanying their characteristic spooky priest costumes, the German power-metallers were reminiscent of early Iron Maiden on some of their smaller shows. The scale of the visual aesthetic was perhaps more impressively matched by the sound and performance of this band. Where Amaranthe felt hollow and characterless, Powerwolf excelled in narrating their respective characters through the powerful song performances. Frontman Attila Dorn in particular, really does have a strong baritone voice which would be perfect for musical theatre. He really does sound even more powerful sounding in the live environment, which is quite a feat. Equally, the band's keyboardist (which felt so crucial here for all those awesome organ tones), acted as Powerwolf's jocker-esque conductor, jumping around the stage and hyping up the crowd within and between songs. The tones of those twin guitar lines sounded absolutely huge here as well. Unreal that this band doesn't have a bassist live as you would honestly never know by listening to them. Spanning an impressive 18 songs, I didn't really feel like there were any particular dips within this set. Even though I was mostly only familiar with songs from their newest album (which sounded colossal live, by the way), the scale of all of the songs, as well as the enthusiasm from both the band and the audience made this feel like a special gig.
Most songs garnered a huge response from the crowd, some of whom seemed like they had waited years to see Powerwolf play a Glasgow show. If this really was their first gig in Scotland, it certainly would be difficult to top that, in my opinion. Just everything you could want in a over-the-top heavy metal show, really. I would definitely see this band again if we were ever to cross paths again, and would recommend others do the same.
Check out a few of my videos from their set below.
Starting the cheese off therefore, was the German glam-tinged heavy metallers, Kissin' Dynamite. I had listened to this band a little bit before this gig, and thought they sounded right up my street. Sadly, due to an early start time, I only managed to catch the very end of their set. They looked exactly how I though they would judging by their sound. All of the tousled hair and leather trousers. I didn't see enough of the set to really judge how good they were but they seemed to have much of the room, which was about half full by this point, enthused about their performance. They seemed to exude a particular sense of charisma and enthusiasm which is often lacking with bands of their type. I thought they sounded pretty good too. I'll need to check them out a bit more in the future.
Up next were the Swedish pop-metal band Amaranthe, who really brought the cheese to the table. Before this gig, I had a bit of a soft spot for some of their catchier material on record as they sound like Eurovision meets metal. Win-win, right? Wrong. Turns out Amaranthe were far less fun to watch as a live band than I anticipated. I knew that this band were going to be poppy, but I didn't quite anticipate how soulless they would feel. After the first few songs, which drew a lot from their most recent two albums, I couldn't help feel a nagging sense that Amaranthe were just playing over a backing track. Nothing about this band felt particularly live. Having three singers on the one stage, one which was reasonably small at that, made each of them look generally awkward and stagnant standing around while each of them waited for their next part. In the rare times where the vocalists would attempt to fill the void, this would consist of posturing, synchronised headbanging and forced crowd interactions which were more than a little off-putting to watch. I'm not sure whether the singers were miming or not, as something about the vocal performances didn't seem to match up with what was coming from the speakers, but perhaps this is just me being cynical. Regardless, the vocal performances didn't seem to contribute much more to their recorded equivalents. Much could also be said about the actual instruments. When placed up against the overwhelming reliance on backing tracks, rather than bringing in a synth player, the basic nature of the guitar, bass and drums parts were incredibly obvious. I could have done without the bassist coming onstage and getting people to drop to the ground and jump up during one of the song drops as well, even if most people around me seemed more than happy to oblige.
That's perhaps what has confused me the most about this performance. All of this just made me feel a bit cold, but I seemed to be largely in the minority. I couldn't help feel that I was watching something which was horribly manufactured, unpleasant, and worst of all, boring. I thought pop was intended to be at least exciting to watch, if not lacking in musical ability. Amaranthe weren't the worst support band I've ever seen, but they're not all that far off. I suppose if I do ever have a notion to indulge in some guilty pleasures from them in future, it will only be with a couple of their songs. I don't need to see this band live ever again.
If you want to check out one of their songs, however, I've got a video at the bottom of the page...
Onto a band who could definitely not be described as either lifeless or boring, Powerwolf really pulled out all the stops here. With a particularly elegant gothic stage design for the relative size of the stage, accompanying their characteristic spooky priest costumes, the German power-metallers were reminiscent of early Iron Maiden on some of their smaller shows. The scale of the visual aesthetic was perhaps more impressively matched by the sound and performance of this band. Where Amaranthe felt hollow and characterless, Powerwolf excelled in narrating their respective characters through the powerful song performances. Frontman Attila Dorn in particular, really does have a strong baritone voice which would be perfect for musical theatre. He really does sound even more powerful sounding in the live environment, which is quite a feat. Equally, the band's keyboardist (which felt so crucial here for all those awesome organ tones), acted as Powerwolf's jocker-esque conductor, jumping around the stage and hyping up the crowd within and between songs. The tones of those twin guitar lines sounded absolutely huge here as well. Unreal that this band doesn't have a bassist live as you would honestly never know by listening to them. Spanning an impressive 18 songs, I didn't really feel like there were any particular dips within this set. Even though I was mostly only familiar with songs from their newest album (which sounded colossal live, by the way), the scale of all of the songs, as well as the enthusiasm from both the band and the audience made this feel like a special gig.
Most songs garnered a huge response from the crowd, some of whom seemed like they had waited years to see Powerwolf play a Glasgow show. If this really was their first gig in Scotland, it certainly would be difficult to top that, in my opinion. Just everything you could want in a over-the-top heavy metal show, really. I would definitely see this band again if we were ever to cross paths again, and would recommend others do the same.
Check out a few of my videos from their set below.
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