Rhapsody Of Fire (support: Sage)
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Zagreb / Hard Place / Croatia
If my modesty doesn’t deceive me, Rhapsody Of Fire — Italian grandmasters of epic symphonic, Hollywood power metal — have never graced a Slovenian stage. Outrageous. But unlike that truly dismal statistic when it comes to the band visiting our country, these proud Trieste metallers — practically one of the pioneering acts in European power metal — are treated quite differently across the border in our southern neighbor, Croatia, where they have now been invited for the fifth time in what we can safely call a long and storied career.
Any true power metal fan from our region simply cannot afford to miss the band’s show at Zagreb’s Hard Place. That would be an unforgivable sin, plain and simple. Yet it seems that, even though the show had been sold out for a while, I only ran into two other Slovenians at the gig. We Slovenians really just don’t have it when it comes to power metal. The band’s show in Zagreb — the last time I caught them was in Trieste, when they opened for Scorpions on 13 November 2015 (RockLine concert review) — was a true exclusive. Rhapsody Of Fire received concert invitations for just two dates this March: Zagreb – Belgrade. Two shows played back to back, completely outside of any tour.
But let’s take it slow. Around 8:30 in the evening, Zagreb’s power metal champions Sage took the stage, led by legendary guitarist Enio Vučeta from the cult Zagreb heavy metal outfit Legija. The band, active for thirteen years now, released their debut studio album “Anno Domini 1573” in 2018, inspired by the Croatian-Slovenian peasant revolt. The sextet built most of their set around that album’s material, but new songs are already emerging — the opening Rule Of The World, later Skyes Of The Night, and the closing Infinity War — suggesting the outlines of a new album are gradually taking shape. Of course we were curious about the band’s stage form. Very good sound — worth pointing out. Since the stage was small for six people, the guys and the girl couldn’t really cut loose during the set, but they impressed with very tight ensemble playing and clean execution. So they definitely won over a fussy listener like me. Excellent use of stage time, and a thoroughly confident performance.
Of course the vast majority showed up at Hard Place strictly for Rhapsody Of Fire. Of the founding members who put the band together in the early nineties — for a long time, specifically until 2006, it was called simply Rhapsody — today only keyboardist Alex Staropoli remains. The rest of the quintet consists of: since 2011, top-flight guitar virtuoso Roberto De Micheli (who was originally meant to join the band back at its founding in 1993, but changed his mind), operatic vocalist Giacomo Voli, who has been in the band since 2016, bassist Alessandro Sala, who joined in 2011, and drummer Paolo Marchesich, who has been with Rhapsody Of Fire for the past six years.
A night out with Rhapsody Of Fire belongs in the chapter of those special, unforgettable events. The band is right there alongside you — you could eat out of their hands, which is priceless in a way. I’m talking about that particular connection, that special energy of club shows. Pure chemistry. The way the band members communicate with each other on stage. You can watch it all, clear as day. Everything is so much closer, not just to your ears but to your eyes too. A one-of-a-kind experience. Sound was very good, with the minor note that Giacomo could have been pushed up a little more in the mix — but these are minor details. He sang like a nightingale. The band is perfectly tight. Communication on point. The chemistry between the crowd and the crew on stage built an incredible adrenaline bridge where everything boiled and buzzed like a hornet’s nest. And the minutes flew by like seconds. A small venue, completely sold out, means only one thing: the band’s most passionate devotees had gathered there. Someone waving a plastic sword at a Rhapsody Of Fire show has long since ceased to be anything unusual. I expected to see more of them, but only spotted one. Someone could have come dressed as a dragon, a gnome, or an elf. It would have seemed perfectly normal.
The band played an excellent set — essentially a cross-section of their career, with only the trio of albums released between 2011 and 2016 and the fourth album “Rain of a Thousand Flames” from 2001 left out. Of course the crowd went wildest for the tried-and-tested classics. The band hasn’t put out a bad album in their career. The only issue perhaps lies in the fact that some of their records have been somewhat unfairly overlooked, because the band released certain albums very quickly — one after another, sometimes barely a year apart. But classics are classics. And that final stretch of the show, when everything builds to an emotional fever pitch, arrived all of a sudden. After the more recent Kreel’s Magic Staff, the band smashed into the hugely popular Dawn Of Victory, taken from the album of the same name released in 2000. A track with one of the most infectious choruses you’ll find among Rhapsody Of Fire’s compositions — it brought the whole crowd together. United them. As one. Everyone was singing along. Loud, fierce, relentless! It was a truly unique feeling.
In the obligatory encore, the band first launched into the only “Triumph Of Agony” (2006) track, A New Saga Begins, and then all hell broke loose when two classics from the first two albums followed: Land Of Immortals and then Emerald Sword. Truly the tracks that today — alongside Dawn Of Victory — stand as timeless classics of European power metal. They must not be missing from any Rhapsody Of Fire setlist. And they weren’t missing in Zagreb either.
How do you wrap up a concert review like this? A stunning club night in Zagreb, in the company of power metal legends — the one and only Rhapsody Of Fire. And when you cast a glance back into the past? Where has that distant 25 April 2000 gone, when five packed cars set off from Slovenia to Salzburg for a show featuring the holy power metal trinity: Sonata Arctica (with debut “Ecliptica”), Rhapsody (with “Symphony of Enchanted Lands”), and Stratovarius (with “Infinty”)? Time flies. Silently, but at hellish speed. So every opportunity for a new encounter with the band — like this latest Zagreb expedition — is worth seizing.
Text: Edita Klemen & Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Sage – setlist:
1. Rule Of This World
2. Rebellion
3. Dragon Heart
4. Blacksmith’s Tale
5. Skyes Of The Night
6. Join Us
7. Battle
8. Infinty War
Rhapsody Of Fire – setlist:
1. The Dark Secret II
2. Unholy Warcry
3. Rain Of Fury
4. I’ll Be Your Hero
5. Chains Of Destiny
6. Wizard’s Dream
7. Challenge The Wind
8. On The Way To Aion
9. March Swordmaster
10. Kreel’s Magic Staff
11. Dawn Of Victory
—encore—
12. A New Saga Begins
13. Land Of Immortals
14. Emerald Sword
