Mägo de Oz swash bucked into Denver, Colorado at the Summit Music Hall October 23, 2021. The Spanish metal band raised the Jolly Roger over the Summit Music Hall. The Summit Hall Music Hall audience was mainly Hispanic/Latino with a few Caucasians and at least one Asian (me!). Tonight my was an introduction to Spanish folk power metal.
Heavy metal music breaks down all language barriers, like Rammstein singing in German and Galneryus performing in Japanese. Mägo de Oz (Spanish for “Wizard of Oz,” with a metal umlaut) performs and speaks to the packed audience at the Summit in Spanish. Madrid’s Mägo de Oz is a Celtic Irish folk power metal band similar to UK’s Skyclad. Their folksy metal sound has brought together a diverse group of fans tonight. Many in the Summit crowd are not your usual headbangers. Their anthem-like folksy power metal songs had everyone in the audience singing along to every word. There was also some fun folk metal moshing in the back of the audience.
Mägo de Oz is a heavy metal orchestra. The orchestra consists of founding member Txus di Fellatio on drums with Javier “Zeta” Domínguez and Patricia Tapia on vocals. The rest of the band includes violinist Carlos “Mohamed” Prieto, Josema Pizarro on flutes and bagpipes, keyboardist Javi Díez and bassist Fernando Mainer. Guitarist Víctor de Andrés and Manuel Seoane rounded out the nine-piece power metal orchestra. Mägo de Oz’s two-plus-hour live stage performance was astounding. The choreographic performance on this small Summit stage between the musicians is phenomenal. This allows each musician to shine.
Tonight, Mägo de Oz is celebrating their latest album, Bandera Negra (Black Flag in English), with the Summit crowd. All the songs from Bandera Negra have a cheesy Alestorm Running Wild pirate theme. Mägo de Oz starts the evening with Zeta screaming “¡Al Abordaje!” (Get on board!), the first track from Bandera Negra. This gives way to the melodies on the guitar of Víctor de Andrés. This is followed by the quaky speed metal sound from Josema’s flute and Moha’s violin. The eight-minute pirate song was a great introduction to every band member. This included Patricia Tapia’s operatic vocals with Zeta’s rock choruses to the cheesy pirate lyrics.
The best parts of the evening were the interaction between band members and with the fans. This included watching Zeta raise his Modelo beer to the crowd and Fernando letting the fans touch his bass. There was plenty of Irish step dancing by Patricia, Moha, and Josema during the show. The highlight of the evening for me was the haunting “Opera Mortis” (The Works of Death). This was a breather between the pirate folk music of the evening. “Opera Mortis” is very similar to Manowar’s cover of Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma.” The difference is Díez’s beautiful piano intro followed by Tapia’s beautiful soprano vocals. “Opera Mortis” ends with Manuel Seoane moving guitar solo.
The set ended with the title track from Bandera Negra. The instrumental solos had all the musicians doing an Iron Maiden/Judas Priest lineup performance. A four-song encore followed, including the fun “El Cerveza (El árbol de la Birra)” (The Beer – The Tree of the Beer) track with the band drinking and saluting the crowd. Mägo de Oz ended the evening with their signature song, “Fiesta pagana” (Pagan Party). Avast Ye! Mägo de Oz is a fun, eclectic power metal band to see live. Highly recommended concert – treat yourself to some Spanish folk pirate metal if they swashbuckled into your city. They are more entertaining than Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance.
Band:
Txus di Fellatio – Drums
Carlos Prieto ‘Mohamed’ – Violin
Patricia Tapia – Female vocals
José Manuel Pizarro ‘Josema’ – Flute, Bagpipes
Javi Díez – Keyboards
Fernando Mainer – Bass guitar
Javier Domínguez ‘Zeta’ – Male Vocals
Manuel Seoane – Guitar
Victor de Andrés – Guitar
Setlist:
1.) Al abordaje (Get on board!)
2.) El libro de las sombras (Book of Shadows)
3.) El amor brujo (Spell-bound Love)
4.) Astaroth
5.) Xanandra
6.) Diabulus in música (The Devil in Music)
7.) Resacosix en pandemia
8.) La danza del fuego (The Fire Dance)
9.) Tequila tanto por vivir (Tequila so much to live)
10.) La dama del mar (The Lady from the Sea)
11.) Opera Mortis (The Works of Death)
12.) El aplauso herido (The Wounded Applause)
13.) Quiero que apagues mi luz (I Want You to Turn Off My Light)
14.) Desde mi cielo (From My Heaven)
15.) Tu madre es una cabra (Your Mother Is A Goat)
16.) Molinos de viento (Windmills)
17.) Bandera negra (Black Flag)
Encore:
18.) La cantiga de las brujas (The Song of the Witches)
19.) La Vida pirate (The Pirate Life)
20.) El cervezo (El árbol de la birra) (The Beer – The Tree of the Beer)
21.) Fiesta pagana (Pagan Party)
Hi, I’m a professional photographer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I started to take photos at concerts because I get bored very easy and need something to do while watching a musicians or bands perform. So I started taking my point and shoot camera with me and recording what I saw and to show my friends. At first, the camera was just a photographic diary of my concert experience. But after a while I started liking the quality of my shots and concert photography became my hobby. I decided to post my pictures on instagram and facebook. I think fans liked what they saw and started to follow me. Concert photography became my passion and finally I asked All Music Magazine if I could take photos for them. They like my concert photography Instagram page and that opened the door to a whole new area – the photo pit. Now I am happy to say I’m chasing my photography dream – as a professional concert photographer.
