On October 30th, DragonForce’s “North America 2023” Tour arrived at the Masquerade Heaven in Atlanta, Georgia with support from Edge of Paradise, Nanowar of Steel, and Amaranthe. Each band brought a unique sound and energy to the stage, making for a fun and magnetic evening.
Opening the show was Edge of Paradise, a hard rock band from Los Angeles, California. Immediately, I was enthralled with the band’s stage presence and lyrical sound. Additionally, the wispy fog and moody lights added to an already atmospheric stage set, which was further accentuated by the band’s outfits–especially those of vocalist Margarita Monet and guitarist Dave Bates. Monet’s black and green dress would glow a neon color under the darker lights, while Bates’s vest had a section in the shoulders that sent green lights beaming across the stage and into the audience.
Combined with Monet’s impressive display of powerful vocals that reverberated through the venue, it made for a compelling set. Edge of Paradise also did an excellent job of showcasing their different styles of music in the songs they presented, which made me want to look into the rest of their discography as soon as I got into my car. Honestly, my only surprise was that the crowd didn’t seem as invested as I would have expected. There was a little bit of headbanging here and there, but that was mostly it. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed watching them, and I hope to see them live again.
Margarita Monet – Vocals
Dave Bates – Guitar
David Ruiz – Guitar
Jamie Moreno – Drummer
Kenny Lockwood – Bass
Set List:
1). Soldiers of Danger
2). Hologram
3). This is Personal
4). Digital Paradise
5). The Faceless
6). The Unknown
7). Basilisk
Next was Nanowar of Steel, an Italian comedy heavy metal band, whose main focus is parodying metal with satire. The moment their set started, the audience was sold. Only seconds in, they were laughing and bouncing along to the band who were dressed in zany costumes as they danced around. With each song, their vocalist, Carlo Alberto Fiaschi would come out dressed in an even more outlandish costume than the last. As an example, in one song he wore an alien head and held a gigantic telephone. In the next, he wore a full owl body suit that had the audience howling with laughter.
Their set was full of colors, not just from their different costumes, but also from the light show, which just added to the band’s presentation. The crowd was certainly invested in Nanowar of Steel’s set, as they jumped up and down, waved their hands from side to side when instructed, and were constantly laughing at the band’s antics. When they announced it would be their last song, the crowd booed, but Fiaschi thanked everyone for coming and said he hoped everyone had a good time, which going by the smiling faces in the crowd, they certainly did.
Potowotominimak (Carlo Alberto Fiaschi) – Lead vocals
Mr. Baffo (Raffaello Venditti) – Vocals
Mohammed Abdul (Valerio Storch) – Guitar
Gattopanceri666 (Edoardo Carlesi) – Bass
Uinona Raider (Alessandro Milone) – Drums
Set List:
1). Uranus
2). The Call of Cthulhu
3). Il cacciatore della notte
4). Disco Metal
5). Norwegian Reggaeton
6). Valhalleluja
The next band to the stage was Amaranthe, a melodic metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. This is a band I’ve personally wanted to see for a while now, and they were just as incredible live as I hoped they’d be. Something impressive about Amaranthe is their ability to effortlessly mix three vocalists without drowning any of them out. Indeed, all three had powerful voices, and even with the three of them, the instruments could still be heard clearly.
For this set, the energy of both the band and the crowd was off the walls. The band made use of the whole stage, while the crowd jumped and headbanged, cheering when their favorite songs were played. It was fun to watch the band members interact with each other between sets as they joked amongst themselves and with the audience. Their chemistry was an easy one, which only made them even more captivating as a band. The first crowdsurfers of the night made their way to the front during a few of their songs, and when one came, several followed.
By the time half of their set was over, the crowd was moving as one, completely energized. In fact, when vocalist Elize Ryd asked the crowd to cheer as loud as they could to see how their noise volume compared to other cities on the tour, the crowd roared so loud that I’m sure people could hear them from blocks away. The crowd certainly proved themselves, and the entire band seemed impressed by the display.
Mikael Sehlin – Unclean Vocals
Johan Andreasson – Bassist
Morten Løwe Sørensen – Drummer
Set List:
1). Fearless
2). Viral
3). Digital World
4). Damnation Flame
5). Hunger
6). Strong
7). PvP
8). The Nexus
9). Amaranthine
10). Archangel
11). That Song
12). Drop Dead Cynical
Closing the show was DragonForce, a power metal band from London, England. They’re known for their songs inspired by video games, which was evident in their elaborate stage set up. On either side of the stage were giant arcade game replicas, while at the back of the stage, was a long screen that would play clips from each video game the current song was inspired by. As someone who enjoys music and video games, this delighted me greatly, especially when they played songs inspired by some of my favorite games.
DragonForce’s energy was infectious as the band rocked along to their songs, encouraging the crowd to do the same. The whole venue was filled with headbangers, moshers, and those who jumped up and down as they screamed the lyrics to their favorite songs as loud as they could. Something impressive about DragonForce was their ability to balance their performing with moments of downtime spent chatting with the crowd. They would make the audience laugh and smile and feel happy to be there, but the moment their songs started, they would be back in performance mode, aweing everyone with their riveting stage presence.
As the show progressed, the crowd became more and more energized, sending one crowd surfer after the other as the rest of them moshed and headbanged. DragonForce was clearly feeding off the crowd’s excitement, and at one point, vocalist Marc Hudson noted that this was the eighth show of the tour so far, but that Atlanta had the best audience they’d seen yet. A little later, guitarist Herman Li looked out at the audience and proclaimed that this was the part when “Normally I ask how you’re doing, but I’d have to be blind and deaf to not know!” The crowd responded with thunderous cheering.
For their encore, DragonForce stepped up their stage design by setting up two enormous blow-up dragons on either side of the stage. Then, to the surprise yet delight of the crowd, they played a cover of Taylor Swift’s, “Wildest Dreams,” followed by a rendition of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” The crowd went wild for both these songs, but especially for Dion’s cover, to which they opened the biggest circle pit of the night.
Overall, I was so impressed with the quality and stage performance of all of the bands that performed. The whole show was meticulously crafted, and it was executed efficiently by all the musicians. If you haven’t seen this tour, do yourself a favor and check it out.
Sam Totman – Guitar
Set List:
1). Revolution Deathsquad
2). Cry Thunder
3). Heroes of Our Time
4). Power of the Triforce
5). Soldiers of the Wasteland
6). The Last Dragonborn
7). Fury of the Storm
8). Black Fire
9). Doomsday Party
10). Valley of the Damned
Encore:
11). Highway to Oblivion
12). Wildest Dreams
(Taylor Swift cover)
13). My Heart Will Go On
(Céline Dion cover)
14). Through the Fire and Flames
I’ve always been the creative type, but nothing quite beats how it felt the first time I picked up a camera. Once I photographed my first concert, I knew I had found my passion. As an avid concert-goer, getting to combine my love of music with my love of photography is like a dream come true!
