Even if it seems strange, that was the first ever tour of SHADOW GALLERY in 20 years! Despite being considered to be among the best progressive Metal bands and having released great albums throughout the years, this band had never toured before. So, obviously this tour was eagerly anticipated by all their fans around the world and also was for their Greek fan base. Since we didn't know what to expect from their live the question was: "Would be able to perform their great songs in top quality?" Well, the answer given the night with SHADOW GALLERY exceeding everyone's expectations by putting on a stunning performance! But let's take everything from the start.

After a really small delay of around 10 minutes the first support act THE SILENT RAGE, from Greece, took over the stage. The second drum kit that was on stage for their set unfortunately forced the 5 members of the melodic Power Metal band to be almost static due to lack of space, however that didn't stop them from giving their best on stage. Despite having undergone many line-up changes the band was energetic and put on a very good performance managing to warm up the audience in Kyttaro Live Club. THE SILENT RAGE in their 30 minute set played mostly songs from their two demos and a new one "Harvester Of Souls" (the band is currently preparing its debut album)along with two covers; "Accident Of Birth" of Bruce Dickinson and "Roll The Fire" of CONCEPTION. In the end they won the warm applause of the fans who were also very supportive during their set.

THE SILENT RAGE setlist:

1. "Perished In Flames"
2. "Leading The Legions"
3. "Wings Of Tragedy"
4. "Accident Of Birth" (Bruce Dickinson cover)
5. "Harvester Of Souls"
6. "Roll The Fire"(CONCEPTION cover)
7. "Litany Of Imprisoned Souls"

Then, it was time for the Greek quartet MAPLERUN to start their live performance. The fact that the band was chosen to support SHADOW GALLERY during their entire European tour says a lot about their abilities and potential. During their set they were full of energy enjoying every single second on stage and really gave their best. Despite the fact that their modern Metal, with lots of alternative elements, style is far away from what a fan in a progressive Metal event would like to hear, they managed with their really good performance to win the warm applause of the audience and I heard only very good comments about them from the attendees. The set was focused on songs from their critically acclaimed debut album "House On Fire" (released in 2008) along with a couple of new songs and even one that they haven't a given a title yet.

MAPLERUN setlist:

1. "Tear Me Up"
2. "Unstable"
3. "So Sad"
4. "Ones We Hate"
5. "Fade Away"
6. "Bombs"
7. -Untitled-
8. "For You"
9. "Lack Of Words"

At around 22:20 the lights went off and QUEEN's "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the intro used in every set marked the beginning of the headlining live event we have been waiting for. SHADOW GALLERY started their live performance with 3 songs from the great "Tyranny" and the fans went simply ecstatic full of enthusiasm. The band from the beginning was totally energetic, passionate, giving their heart and soul onstage and the reactions from the audience were incredible. And this was something that was going to continue throughout their entire live performance. Of course, the band didn't forget to mention the late Mike Baker, who died 2 years ago, with whom as their lead vocalist have reached the peak of their career. The setlist was perfect containing songs from all their albums and all the fans were completely satisfied.

It's really hard to describe what we lived that night and what was happening onstage. SHADOW GALLERY consist of great musicians which are also multi-organists, from time to time the band did some gorgeous improvisations and the performance of all the members was simply fantastic . The lead singer Brian Ashland proved with his great voice that he is totally worthy of his position in the band and the perfect replacement for Mike Baker. He also played keyboards and guitar and proved to be a really good guitarist surprising us with his solos. The mainly keyboardist / rhythm guitarist Gary Wehrkamp gave us also some impressive solos with both of the music instruments and even played temporarily drums in the first part of"Strong". Also the drum solo of Joe Nevolo was stunning. It is impossible to describe in detail what he did. During his solo he used every single item there was on stage from his drum kit up the microphones and even a steel pillar of the stage. As for the lead guitarist Brendt Allman and the bassist Carl Cadden-James they put on an excellent performance and were full of energy from the beginning till the end, but from these great musicians we were pretty much expecting such a performance.The reactions from the fans reached their peak in "Crystalline Dream" singing along all the lyrics and it simply cannot be described what we lived.

In the usual encore the band returned with "Room V" and finished their 110 minute live with "Gold Dust" , during which Brian Ashland crossed all the arena while singing and the band left the stage under a thunderous applause by the fans. All around me I could see people full of enthusiasm, smiling, having enjoyed such stunning performance. I really don't know how many progressive Metal bands can play at that level… What we witnessed was a progressive Metal feast and I must admit that this was one of the best live performances I have seen lately.

SHADOW GALLERY we salute you!

SHADOW GALLERY setlist:

1. "Stiletto In The Sand"
2. "War For Sale"
3. "Mystery"
4. Deeper Than Life"
5. Pain"
6. "Destination Unknown"
7. "Questions At Hand"
8. "Ghost Of A Chance"
9. "Digital Ghost"(Intro - Guitar solo)
10. "Strong"
11. Drum solo
12. "Strong Pt. II"
13. "Andromeda Strain"
14. "Crystalline Dream"
15. "Haunted
16. "Room V"
17. "Gold Dust"

(photos by Panos)