[DimitrisK] This was a gig that I would not miss for anything! The last BLAZE BAYLEY album was a Metal blast - at least for my taste -. Blaze has gone through fire the last five years or so but he did manage to overcome everything and gave us a killer album. So, I got there on time to for the interview with the man himself that you will read it in the following days (keep your eyes peeled) and realized that the attendance would be really weak.

I cannot think a logical reason that 4BITTEN came on stage in front of no more than 70 faces. I know that many will complain about the improper venue, the ticket price or the fact that the next day ARCH ENEMY would also play in Greece. But wait a minute; how many chances do we get to have such a true Metal like BLAZE BAYLEY gave us? Nevertheless, the Greece based band tried to warm up the indifferent metalheads with some energetic tunes enhanced by the very good female vocals by Fofi Roussos . The sound was quite good and the very good guitar lead did not get lost by the drums that dominated everything due to stage arrangement. The gig was already delayed so 4BITTEN had to play their setlist almost back to back. The 30 minutes performance showed a solid band with members who knew what to do on stage feeling quite confident with their music. During the seven track setlist I managed to distinguish Jaded and Lightning Crashing that were carrying the band's personal sound. The BLACK SABBATH cover on Neon Knights was nothing special apart from the vocal side where Fofi did well reminding Dio's timbre.

4BITTEN setlist:

01. Jaded
02. Live For Today
03. Games You Play
04. Follow
05. Neon Knights
06. No More Sins
07. Lightning Crashing

[Maria 'Woodstock' V.] After the very good performance of the hard rockers 4BITTEN, it was time for FURY UK to step on the tiny stage of On Stage club. It was twenty minutes past ten and the Metal trio from Manchester was literally in front of us ready to give a small taste of the latest album VR and make us interest in the music. Chris on guitar and vox, Luke on bass and the 'mighty' Martin on drums (great beard, mate!) presented a set full of energy and pure rhythm Metal that shook a lot of heads that night. Although, it was their first performance out of UK, they did great despite their anxiety in the beginning. The selection of songs was a great starter for the upcoming breathless show of Mr. Bayley.

Highlights of their 40 minute appearance were definitely Brotherhood (with a little essence of epic, Irish guitar melodies) and the last song of the night, Death By Lightning that reminded us METALLICA's Kill 'Em All days. Extraordinary riffs by one guitar that filled the music and the passionate support of the bass player with his non stop headbanging were the main ingredients of FURY UK. Without any doubt you've got to check them out immediately as we did that night in the merch stand.

FURY UK setlist:

01. The Last Invention
02. VR
03. The Hostage
04. The Human Condition
05. Brotherhood
06. Call To Arms
07. Death By Lightning

[DimitrisK] After having a small talk with FURY UK we found a nice spot to enjoy the headliners. I already knew that Blaze had a terrible headache and taking into account the venue and the attendance I had some second thoughts about the band's appetite to perform.

The lights went out and the recorded intro brought the band on stage with my personal favorite and homonymous song from the last album The Man Who Would Not Die. The second thoughts I mentioned above were blown away as soon as Bayley showed up. He seemed so passionate with the music that managed to gather around him almost everyone present in Onstage club. It did not take much time for the band to show everyone that if you love what you do and if you respect the people who are buying your music then you are unaffected by the limited facilities and - as I said - limited turnout. No pause and Blackmailer was next giving additional reasons to headbang and join Bayley's craziness. I mean you had to be present to see his expression! This guy is so true and shame to everyone who chose to spent that Friday night differently.

Personally, I really enjoyed the fact that we were in such a tiny stage with an underground feeling all around since it went hand-in-hand with the band's in-your-face and Metal attitude. It was not just Bayley who put 100% of his heart on this gig; the rest of the band looked like having an excellent time and joined the guys in the front rows sweating their arses off. Things went better and better and it was time to have the first IRON MAIDEN tune Futureal. Of course, this track made everyone in the venue join the onstage festivities but also made me think that many metalheads came just to have some MAIDEN songs... no comment here. Blaze has a great respect to IRON MAIDEN for giving him the chance to revive his career and he is always honest to admit it. Vocally Blaze did an excellent job and proved my personal belief that his performance with MAIDEN was hiding most of his potentials. The show was closing a climax hitting us with the excellent Tenth Dimension and the fast Kill And Destroy. The charismatic frontman said that This is special night for us preambling two songs from the latest album (At The End Of The Day and Waiting For My Life To Begin - fuck yeah) and a brand new track Watching The Night Sky. The latter song was fast and riff driven making me really anxious to get my hands on the album that already sounds promising.

Back to the MAIDEN tunes with The Clansman and Man On The Edge that took the band off stage for the classic encore. Alas, the audience was so lame that started talking to each other instead of shouting for more (shame on them #2). Once again the band did not choose to walk away and returned to give us two more songs. Blaze thanked us in a genuine and honest way that I believe touched most of the metalheads present. Alive was the last tune that night making me feel deeper respect for this band. If you have a chance to catch BLAZE BAYLEY on this tour go ahead and get the visual definition to what is true and what is not! I would like thank Anna for the excellent arrangement and the band for such a good performance!

BLAZE BAYLEY setlist:

01. The Man Who Would Not Die
02. Blackmailer
03. Smile Back At Death
04. The Launch
05. Futureal
06. Samurai
07. Voices From The Past
08. Robot
09. Tenth Dimension
10. Identity
11. Kill And Destroy
12. At The End Of The Day
13. Waiting For My Life To Begin
14. Watching The Night Sky
15. The Clansman
16. Leap Of Faith
17. Man On The Edge
Encore:
18. Stare At The Sun
19. Alive

(photos by the photographer who would not die)

4BITTEN

FURY UK

BLAZE BAYLEY