Evergrey – The Atlantic Across Europe Tour (Antwerp, Bochum, Nuremberg, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin)

I can't remember when exactly I heard about Evergrey for the first time. They are of course not a new band, they've been around for more than 20 years. What I do remember is that Floor Jansen did a song with them in 2016 on their album The Storm Within and called Evergrey her favourite …

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Behemoth, At The Gates, Wolves In The Throne Room -Ecclesia Diabolica Evropa (Batschkapp Frankfurt, Turbinenhalle Oberhausen, Große Freiheit 36 Hamburg)

Another year, another great package of bands touring together. When the news reached me last summer that Behemoth had announced a European tour, I thought I might go to the gig in my hometown. When I discovered later that besides Behemoth also At The Gates and Wolves In The Throne Room were on the bill …

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls – Be More Kind Tour (Sporthalle, Hamburg)

"Because there's no such thing as rock stars, they're just people who play music..." In spring 2011 I went to see Social Distortion at the last of four gigs in a row they played at the Docks club in Hamburg. Nothing memorable about their show for me... I enjoyed it I think. The support act …

Demonical, LIK, Of Fire – Carnage Manifesto Tour (Bambi Galore, Hamburg)

Billstedt, in the east of Hamburg. You couldn't be further away from the many hotspots of nightlife and live music this city is famous for. Billstedt is rather famous for concrete block buildings that house all kinds of social problems - and for the shopping center that has the only Primark of the city. But, …

Sinsaenum – Repulsion For Humanity Tour (Knust Hamburg)

Sometimes you might feel out of place at a concert because you don't know the main act everyone else is excited for, for example when you came for the support act or when a friend brought you along. When I went to see Sinsaenum, it was the other way round: I felt out of place …

Ghost – A Pale Tour Named Death (Royal Albert Hall, London)

Asked about festival shows in interviews, 'the man behind the mask' of Ghost often says that they should only be considered a trailer for the real headline shows. And even though some of the festival sets I've seen from Ghost are very close to my heart (actually I consider for example the Tuska 2016 or …

Gojira – Wacken Open Air / Into The Grave 2018

Gojira are probably one of the festival bands of this decade. If you've been to metal festivals over the last few years, you will probably have seen them at some point, because they have played a lot! Me, I have seen them at least six times now, and only one of them was not a …

Kamelot (+Delain, Battle Beast) – The Shadow Tour North America (Silver Spring, New York City, Clifton Park)

I've been following various bands across Europe for many years now and have visited many different countries this way, most of them more than once. By doing so, I was never able to bring up the financial means to travel to another continent, since I spent every cent on European roads. At some point, I …

Avatar – Avatar Country World Tour (Sint-Niklaas, Cologne, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Prague, Berlin, Hamburg, Gothenburg)

"In the name of the king, bang your heads!" When Avatar announced their tour in support of the new album Avatar Country, it was out of question for me that I would try to go to as many shows as possible. Too vivid were the memories of the last tour in late 2016, when Avatar …

Franz Ferdinand – Always Ascending (Mehr! Theater Hamburg, De Oosterpoort Groningen)

I don't like listening to the same kind of music over and over again. Especially I don't need tons of bands that all sound more or less the same. On the contrary, I'm always searching for new sounds and things I haven't heard before, bands that surprise and impress me. Which gets difficult after a …