Now this was an evening i was certainly looking forward to, not only did i get to see Savatage, probably one of my favourite bands ever, but they were supported by Vicious Rumors ! (oh yeah, and Blaze too…can't say that got me excited though).

I still can't understand why a first-class band like Viciour Rumors manages to be overlooked and underrated by so many people. What they showed tonight was sheer class, pure and simple, and would've put many a headliner to shame.
The band took the stage by storm, opening up with the brilliant Digital Dictator, and managed to draw the crowd in almost immediatly with their energetic performance. Especially Geoff Thorpe himself, and singer Brian o'Conner seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely, although the entire band gets a thumb up from me.

Further highlights in the set included On The Edge and March Or Die, and as far as i was concerned, it was a real shame that they had to quit after 35 minutes already to make way for Blaze. Amazing performance !
Okay, so it might be easy to just dish Blaze Bailey & co. completely, but that wouldn't be really fair. The band, again, was very energetic, and Blaze especially put himself into it for 150%, constantly seeking contact with the crowd and running from one part of the stage to another (or to speak in Manowar-esque terms moved like a whirlwind of doom).
It's a real shame that his on-stage performance is a little bit ridiculous at times and that, even though he is an excellent entertainer, he still isn't a very good singer. The setlist of course consisted of a mixture between Iron Maiden songs (Futureal, Man On The Edge & When Two Worlds Collide) and own material (The 10th Dimension & Kill And Destroy) and all in all, the band was really well received and I was quite amazed at how popular Blaze appeared to be. Enjoyable, but nothing more than that.

Of course, Savatage managed to blow everything away. At the moment that the lights went out and the intro tape started to roll the entire crowd went wild, and that would continue to happen during the entire performance (I've seldom seem a crowd so excited!). They band started off with my favourite track from the Poets & Madmen album, Commissar and went straight into Surrender. What followed was impossible to describe in words, and one of those cases of you just had to be there, as it seems mere words don't do Savatage justice.
Damond is the perfect frontman for the band and manages to sing both older and newer material superbly, and many people might not like to hear this, but in my opinion he blows away Zakk Stevens on all fronts (Sorry Zakk! This guy is just unbelievable.), Jack Frost more than adequatly fits into the band, and comes across as a very sympathic fellow, and the rest of the band…well, what could i possibly say that hasn't been said a million times before?
Chris Caffery, Jeff Plate and Johny Lee Middleton are both excellent musicians and performers, but as always, the one person that drew the most attention to himself was the mountain king himself, Jon Oliva. It's hard to describe the charisma that this guy has, as just a simple smile or movement of his hands sends people into a frenzy. Vocally, songs were distributed about equally between Jon and Damond, and the main bulk of the setlist tonight consisted of medleys, most memorable of wich was probably the one they did for Streets (consisting of Streets / Jesus Saves / Tonight He Grins Again / Agony And Ecstacy / Somewhere In Time / Believe). It has to be said though, that the choice of songs was rather surprising, with very little new material (eg. they sadly enough managed to only play two songs from Poets, so no Morphine Child, which was a small bummer) and relatively few of the Zakk Stevens albums as well. (A titeltrack medley, Chance, All That I Bleed & This Is The Time). Then again, who can complain when stuff likes Beyond The Doors Of The Dark, Strange Wings or When The Crowds Are Gone are played?
Surely noone. The most memorable and cute moment might have been when the band were joined onstage by a small girl, who, after some microphone adjustment by Jack Frost, sang along to Believe. So young and already such a good taste in music! Alas, I could probably rattle on for another couple of chapters, but the truth is, Savatage rules, and might very well be one of the best live-bands you'll ever see. If you haven't yet, go check them out, I can promise you will not regret it, and personally can barely wait untill I manage to see them live again.