Italy's RAIN were chosen to be the openers tonight. Despite the fact that this quintet has been around since 1980 already, I had never heard of them, let alone any of their music, although they have released something like five CD's already. In fine tradition they started out slightly late (only 8') for what was to be a 38' set. I can't say that I was all too impressed by what RAIN had to offer : definitely heavy metal, but nothing too exciting, nor innovative. The likes of Blood Sport, Fight For Power, Heavy Metal, Serial Killer, Only For The Rain Crew, ... aren't bad but they lack the necessary sparkles to convince. In fine KILLER (Belgium) tradition the vocalist and guitarist walked into the audience ... How cool?!?! After having witnessed the band's entire set, it was quite obvious why I hadn't heard of them before. As far as Italian bands goes, I'd rather bet my money on bands like WOTAN, THUNDERSTORM, DOOMSWORD, WOTAN, ...

Up next were Germany's LIGEIA. By the time they enterred the stage there was a 30' delay compared to the schedule, but fortunately LIGEIA did stick to their allowed 45'. For those unaware, LIGEIA is a female-fronted quartet and they took their name from an Edgar Allan Poe novel. They released their official debut CD (Gloria) earlier this year through Iron Glory Records, but of course I wasn't familiar with any of their songs prior to tonight. I did however make sure to pick up a copy of Gloria the very next day at the Metal Market! That's always a good sign! All the positive things that I had read about LIGEIA turned out to be true. In fact, they are in the old school heavy metal vein, and clearly influenced by the likes of WARLOCK, JUDAS PRIEST, STORMWITCH, ... The gorgeous Dani Unglert has a strong voice and a stage personality to match, and the likes of Walpurgisnight, Angelwitch, Mistress Of The Night, Gloria, ... convinced most of the audience easily. Quite naturally the band played a selection of their best songs (plus a doomy cover version, the name of which escapes me right now) on this occasion, but Gloria also includes a couple of less convincing tunes, as I found out later. Nevertheless a good performance by a promising outfit!

Sweden's RAM is rapidly becoming a household name amongst heavy metal fanatics worldwide. This was the third time in four months that we saw the band live, so it came as no surprise that they were just as energetic as before. Their set was made up of songs from their Sudden Impact mCD and a bunch of new ones. No real surprises there either, except that the running order was twisted around a bit, compared to previous encounters. They were once again announced by Bruder Clé and managed to attract the biggest crowd attendance and participation of the night. It just goes to show that people are still interested in real 1980's heavy metal, as RAM's songs are clearly influenced by earlier JUDAS PRIEST stuff. Not surprisingly the band was called back for an encore (Judgement & Punishment), which concluded an effective and versatile 55' set. All that we can do from now on is wait for the band's full-length debut, and be on the lookout for more RAM live gigs!

Another Swedish band had the honour to conclude the warm-up show : none less than DESTINY. These guys have been around for decades, yet they never quite made the step to the next level. Also, the band has been inactive for several years over the course of their career, and the only remaining 'original' member is bassist Stefan Björnshög. Another familiar face in their nowadays quintet line-up is FALCONER vocalist Kristoffer Göbel. By the time that 'Sweden's darkest progressive power metal band' started out (00h13) they were almost one hour behind schedule, and not surprisingly they would be forced to cut their set short, due to curfew regulations. Just to say that being a headlining act can turn out to be a pain in the ass sometimes. And to make matters worse, a lot of people left as the band proceeded their set. I must admit : I have all of the band's releases, except for their most recent one, Future Of The Past. Tonight's set included, I believe, songs from all five of their releases, including recent ones such as Magic Forest and Flying Dutchman. Plus 'oldies' Nothing Left To Fear, Tomorrow Is Yesterday, Rest In Peace, ... My personal highlights were Devil In The Dark and Who Am I. In the end I was left with mixed feelings, as I had anticipated a longer set, but on the other hand I had expected the band's performance to be more convincing as well. But I have to admit : Kristoffer's performance was excellent, and in my opinion this style suits him better than the FALCONER one that we witnessed at last year's Sweden Rock Festival.

And thus ended another warm-up show. That was around 01h05, so we were able to get back to our Bed & Breakfast place by 02h00, enabling us to have at least a couple of hours of sleep. Suffice it to say that RAM and LIGEIA were the most convincing bands tonight, with DESTINY being okay but not extraordinary, and RAIN being the only real letdown. This new place was of course a better choice than before, from all points of view, and thus the next warm-up show will once again be at the Pfarrkeller, on April Fool's Day 2005. Already announced for that occasion are Belgium's AFTER ALL & Holland's MARTYR. See you there!