Author: Rok Klemše
Location: Kompleks / Ravne na Koroškem / Slovenia
Concert date: May 1, 2010
Attendance: 200
Ticket price: €10.00 (with reservation) / €15.00 (day of show)
Kompleks in Ravne na Koroškem is well known as the home of the annual Winterstrike shows, but this time the organizers pulled off a big coup and got the former frontman of Iron Maiden into the hall. These days he’s got an enviable career of his own, with five studio albums behind him that pump out quality heavy metal. Blaze Bayley came to Ravne na Koroškem, with Dawn Patrol and Metalsteel keeping him company.
Dawn Patrol looked really good for the first time in ages, and when contagious riffs close in on you and an incredible vocal fills your ears, you quickly realize what you’ve been missing. After bassist Ana left on maternity leave, Dawn Patrol beefed up the lineup with bassist Kipar (Eliminator), who proved he’s the right pick for the band. He nailed his bass parts, the excellent sound pushed the bass lines dominantly to the front, and he’s almost as pretty as Ana, hehe. Despite a few minor slip-ups, Iztok and Jan showed they’re one of the best guitar duos in Slovenia, and classics like Rockstar Ate My Hamster, Control and others hadn’t been heard on stage for (too) long. Dawn Patrol wouldn’t be the real deal without energetic, charismatic Aleš, who on top of everything has one of the best vocals around, and whose stage energy is way too big for such small stages. The Wicker Man came off great (despite a bit of missing vocal steam), and the finish was fantastic, with one of the best creations of the local metal scene, the phenomenal Fortress. I just hope we get to see Dawn Patrol on stage more often and that they’ll serve up a fresh track or two.
The heavy metal warm-up continued with the veterans of the local heavy metal scene, Metalsteel. Lately you can often see the band on stage in the company of the legendary James Rivera (Helstar, Seven Witches etc.), since they play as his backing band Sabbath Judas Sabbath, but at Kompleks they served up a set of their own songs. Metalsteel always deliver energetic shows, mostly thanks to the excellent technical chops of every member, which lets them totally relax on stage. The guitar duo Beny/Rok once again dished out a varied batch of riffs and ferocious solos, and energetic, charismatic bassist Matej is increasingly close to stealing the frontman spot, stepping up front and to the mic again and again. The biggest progress, though, was surely made by Daša, who this time hit the snare so hard she blew apart a drumstick. No way around the local heavy metal classic Heayv Metal is Our Religion, and the new song Candy Eyes also worked well live.
Then, after a short break, the man we’d all been waiting for finally stepped on stage… the man who won’t die… Blaze Bayley! He greeted us with Madness and Sorrow from the current album Promise and Terror, which Blaze and his band use to prove that the previous record The Man Who Would Not Die wasn’t just a one-off attempt at a comeback from the dead. What’s more, Promise and Terror is an opus with which Blaze lets everyone know that despite all the tragedies of the last two years, he’s walking tall on his chosen path: serving fans excellent heavy metal records! The band put the setlist together thoughtfully and took us through the last two albums in the first quarter of the show, and Blaze proved in the opening moments that he’s a true vocal beast. His bass-baritone gives his music a recognizable, unique stamp, and his deep, commanding, dark voice creates a one-of-a-kind atmosphere. In the low and mid registers Blaze simply shines, and into every single song he puts the most important thing: every verse, every stanza and every chorus is sung with such feeling that every hair on your body stands up! Vocally, Blaze is today a big middle finger to everyone who poured manure on him when, between 1994 and 1999, he put out with Iron Maiden one of the best records of their career (The X Factor!) and Virtual XI, which is probably indeed the low point of the Maidens’ career, but mostly because of Harris’s weak songwriting contribution. But that’s another story, because since leaving Maiden Blaze has lived a rich songwriting career, with five albums of excellent heavy metal behind him and a, granted, small but loyal fan base! No doubt one of the strongest in Slovenia too, since Kompleks in Ravne was eating out of Blaze’s hand and followed him loud and proud on both the new songs and the old ones. First to take us back in time was the title track of the third album, the phenomenal Blood and Belief. With that rasping deep voice Blaze comes across on stage like a mighty mystical beast, but when you talk to him one on one he seems small and humble, which is one more proof of his stage greatness. It’s clear, though, that Blaze has four excellent musicians behind him, who are an important part of the Blaze Bayley lineup. The guitar duo Jay Walsh and Nico Bermudez spent the entire show firing off punchy riffs that sometimes border on thrash, and with surgical precision they traded spectacular solos that came spectacularly out of their instruments. The lower-tuned guitars and the occasional seven-string axe fit brilliantly with Blaze’s deep and mighty vocals, which surely shook Peca too, and the aggressive, dynamic riffs are prime headbanging material. Praise goes to Italian drummer Claudio, who filled in for Larry Paterson on the tour. Claudio learned extra songs in a mere two days and drummed them with pinpoint accuracy, flawlessly and with real feeling. On stage there’s the unmistakable, lively bassist David Bermudez, who fills the stage just like his mop of hair does, but he’s not just posing and strolling around, he’s also playing fast-fingered bass, and he really shone on the Maiden songs, where Harris’s bass lines are proverbially demanding. Blaze made us happy with two Maiden classics, first Lord of Flies and then Futureal, and reminded us that during his time in the legendary Brits he contributed some excellent songs himself! The crowd was grinning right along with the band on stage, since they probably really didn’t expect such a response, mostly because of the cooler reception at last year’s Paranoid Open Air festival, where Blaze wasn’t in the best of moods either. After the Maiden nostalgia Blaze turned his attention back to his solo career, took us through some new songs very much worth hearing, interrupted them with the classics The Brave and the fantastic Leap of Faith with its super-excellent chorus, plus the crushing opening of the new album, Watching the Night Sky, and led us through the valley of death with the samurai and on to the Scottish highlands. Of course, with one more Maiden classic, The Clansman, and before it he reminded us how important freedom is, the very freedom thanks to which we came to Kompleks and freely chose to listen to metal! Blaze’s banter between songs occasionally came across almost like life advice, but above all it was sincere and genuine. “Motherfucking Man on the Motherfucking Edge” reminded us of crazy Michael Douglas in the movie Falling Down, and the deep crusher The Man Who Would Not Die felt like a living testament to Blaze’s life. With the fantastic chorus of the brilliant Robot and the classic Kill and Destroy, we sadly got to the end too fast. Even though the band played for two hours, 22 (!) songs, the longest show of their career!
It’s hard to grasp after a show like this how Blaze can be so overlooked. From the beginning of his metal career with Wolfsbane, through two Iron Maiden albums (one heavy metal gem and one average effort), and now with his fifth album, he proves that metal lives and breathes, just like the metal on his albums has been living and kicking with full force since the debut Silicon Messiah. Blaze Bayley is living proof of why metal is the most honest genre of music in the world, because he creates what he feels, what he wants and what he knows the fans want. Despite all the shit he’s been through in recent years he stays grounded, and even though he’ll probably always play clubs with a capacity of 500 (even though he more than deserves a 1000+ crowd), for me Blaze is a heavy metal icon. The organizer’s faith in metal is also the reason Blaze played in Ravne at all, and judging by the response the band got, we have no doubt we’ll get to see Blaze and his band here again soon.
photos: Martin Prezelj
Setlist
DAWN PATROL:
1. Rockstar Ate My Hamster
2. Dark Side of Society
3. Control 4. Ghost
5. Alcoholic
6. The Wicker Man
7. Ametist
8. Fortress
BLAZE BAYLEY:
1. Madness and Sorrow
2. Voices from the Past
3. City of Bones
4. Blackmailer
5. Faceless
6. Smile Back At Death
7. Blood and Belief
8. The Launch
9. Lord of the Flies
10. Futureal
11. Letting go of the World
12. Waiting for my Life to Begin
13. God of Speed
14. The Brave
15. Leap of Faith
16. Watching the Night Sky
17. Samurai
18. The Clansman
19. Man on the Edge
20. The Man Who Would not Die
21. Robot
22. Kill and Destroy
Photo gallery
