It’s been quiet for a while. I didn’t visit many concerts in summer – two more festivals (MPS Bückeburg & Summer Breeze), but due to some difficulties I didn’t feel much like blogging about them. And since I didn’t feel all to well during the show of Insomnium in Essen last month, I also skipped that one for blogging.
So now I’m back with another Illumishade show. Actually the headliner was Visions of Atlantis, but out of multiple reasons I left before the headliner. That means I’ll focus on the opener Seraina Telli and Illumishade as special guest and I won’t say anything about Visions of Atlantis (I plan to see their show on Wednesday in Tilburg)
The Venue
It’s not the first time I’ve been to Turock in Essen, so I’ve already mentioned quite some bits and pieces in my review on Finntroll, Metsätöll and Suotana earlier this year. I have a few additions to make this time, mostly concerning accessibility because I kept my eyes a little more open this time and I’ve noticed a few things:
- There’s a step in front of the entrance door. Towards the side, the step is a little lower, but that’s where they always build a fenced smoking area, so when you actually enter the venue, said lower part of the step is not accessible. I don’t know if there’s any other door for wheelchair users, so I guess to get inside you’ll need assistance
- At this show and at the Insomnium show I’ve been to last month, the merch was not in the back of the room as it was at the Finntroll show, but upstairs next to the women’s toilet. Which means that merch seems not accessible for wheelchair users either
- I don’t know if there’s a women’s toilet for wheelchair users, because as mentioned before: the toilet is upstairs
- And finally: There’s still no designated wheelchair area, which means that wheelchair users will have to shuffle around to find a space as well. Last night, one woman tried to find a spot right in front of the stage but due to the stage monitors present during Seraina Telli’s set, she decided that she wouldn’t see anything there either and went back to the side of the room. So if you come in a wheelchair, be prepared that your vision will be bad.
Other than that, nothing new to add. Still haven’t used the cloak room, so no idea how much it costs.
Before the show: Meet & Greet with Illumishade
To be honest, I’m not a big fan of VIP upgrades and the like. I guess I’ll elaborate on that in a separate post at some point. Anyway, after my first VIP experience was disastrous and distressing, I wanted to give it another chance with Illumishade, since I love this band from the deepest bottom of my heart and I am well aware that M&G options, VIP upgrades and similar are an important income for touring artists these days.
The Illumishade Meet & Greet was 50€ and included an acoustic session (2 songs), an individual photo with the band (polaroid and a digital photo from their photographer), a group photo, a signing opportunity and some goodies. Since Illumishade were „only“ special guests and Visions of Atlantis had their own VIP upgrades, there was no early access, as the Illumishade M&G happened before that of Visions of Atlantis (so people could attend both if they wanted to).
The M&G happened outside, although we were a bit unlucky because it started raining while their merch guy Chad handed out the wristbands. Thankfully, Don’t Panic (the club almost right next to Turock) let us sit in their outdoor area under huge umbrellas for the acoustic session. Illumishade played two songs from their latest album and I absolutely adored it. Both Fabi and Miri are amazing singers and their voices harmonize a lot. Yannick and Jonas had a bit of trouble with their guitars though due to the humid weather conditions. Nevertheless, the acoustic part was definitely worth the money. It was magical.
Afterwards we were lucky that the rain had stopped, so we could take the pictures outside. Everyone got to take a photo with the band, then we took a group photo and afterwards we were given our (signed) goodies and the band also signed stuff we had brought along. But to be honest I had expected a little more opportunity to chat with the band (which is kinda funny because I am so socially awkward that I’m scared of chatting to any bandmembers anyway) and that wasn’t really given that much. They took their time during the signing, they were super sweet, but I feel like trying to meet them at the merch after the show provides you with a much better opportunity to talk to them and it somehow feels less awkward. Especially since, if they’re fit enough, Miri and Fabi will almost always be at the merch right after their show (with Jonas, Yannick and Marc you usually have to wait a bit longer because they have a lot more gear to load in).
So … do I regret buying the M&G option? Not really, because I think they absolutely deserve the money and I enjoyed the acoustic set. Would I do it again? Most likely not, because it’s not my kind of setting and I feel very awkward being amongst other „big“ fans. It always makes me super insecure. Not the band’s fault though.
Rest assured that all Illumis are absolute sweethearts.
Seraina Telli
Now fast forward to the actual show. Opener that night was Seraina Telli, a singer from Switzerland, with her band. I was surprised by their sound, which was kinda punk rock-ish, which I hadn’t expected in a line up with Illumishade and Visions of Atlantis, who are more towards the symphonic side of metal. BUT by no means is this meant in a negative sense. Their show was really good, Seraina Telli has a great voice and is a great entertainer.
The audience mostly picked up their vibe and seemed invested, although the music didn’t quite fit the other bands that evening (unfortunate exception were the – excuse the wording – assholes that thought it was cool to talk over a relatively quiet song loud enough to be audible throughout the entire club. Guys, fuck you. Go to a bar next time if you wanna have a chat and leave those concert tickets to those who want to enjoy the music and are able to respect the artists on stage.) People danced, interacted with her and sang along. Overall, the mood was very good and one could feel that Seraina Telli was able to warm up the crowd and hype them up for the rest of the evening.
Their set was only 25 minutes long, which went by very fast. So definitely a good warm-up.
Illumishade
About 8:10 pm, Illumishade entered the stage to their intro, then started the set with ELEGY (which is an amazing opener btw). There was great energy right from the start and I was very pleased to hear that Fabi had managed to recover from her cold right on time for the tour. It became even more evident during Tales of Time, where she growled Chrigel Glanzmann’s part this time (last time I saw them she just sang it in clear vocals). Absolutely bad-ass amazing.
Another thing I gotta mention is that the sound was outstandingly good, even in the front row, so thumbs up to the sound engineers. Everything was crisp and clear, no mushy loss of individual instruments – to me it seemed very well balanced. I was especially pleased to hear Miri’s synthesizers very well. Great work, the magic of Illumishade’s sound came across more than well.
Their set didn’t differ much from their tour with Delain earlier this year – Crystal Silence and Muse of Unknown Forces were replaced by Riptide and In The Darkness (which is such a banger, I’m incredibly happy that they played it) and the order was slightly different. Basically it was a better glimpse at the „current“ Illumishade sound I would say.
Based on what I’ve seen in the front rows, the audience perceived them well (gotta add though that it was also evident that there were a lot of Illumishade fans present in the front :D) and after the show at the merch it showed that they managed to win over some new people.
All in all, it was a great show again.
Now I only gotta recover from my cold until Wednesday, so that I’ll hopefully be able to see Visions of Atlantis as well. I don’t think I’ll be a big fan of their sound, but I’m very excited to see their visuals. So cross your fingers for me 😀