I’ve been a fan of Demons & Wizards, a collaboration between Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian) and Jon Schaffer (Iced Earth) since 1999 when they released their first album. For almost twenty years, I regularly listened to the two albums that they released (doing the inevitable singalong in my car), always wanting to see them perform live. I was not disappointed AT ALL with their performance! You would have thought that they had been non-stop touring since their inception with how incredibly tight they were!
The Show
Well, I’m not sure what to say here that I hadn’t said. Having the opportunity to Photograph Demons & Wizards was beyond my wildest dreams! I’ve been a fan of both Blind Guardian and Iced Earth for more years than I can count, and back in 1999 when Jon and Hansi teamed up to create Demons and Wizards (subsequently releasing their debut album in 2000), I got more excited than a kid getting everything he wanted for Christmas. From that moment on, their debut album was in permanent rotation for my listening pleasure. Five years later, they released Touched by the Crimson King, which was an even heavier album than the first!
Their live set was impeccable, and contained excellent selections of songs from BOTH albums, as well as a couple of Blind Guardian songs (Welcome to Dying & Valhalla) and a couple of Iced Earth songs (Burning Times & I Died for You). Obviously, in typical Blind Guardian fashion, the crowd kept singing the chorus to Valhalla even after the song ended.
They opened their set with Rites of Passage/Heaven Denies and closed it out with the very dark, yet beautiful Fiddler on the Green. From start to finish, this was undoubtedly one of the tightest performances I’d ever witnessed, and I’m so glad that I not only got to see it, but I had the honor of photographing it.
Setlist:
Rites of Passage/Heaven Denies
Poor Man’s Crusade
Touched By a Crimson King
Love’s Tragedy Asunder
Burning Times
Welcome to Dying
Wicked Witch
Beneath These Waves
Gunslinger
Terror Train
I Died for You
Valhalla
Tear Down the Walls
Gallows Pole
My Last Sunrise
Blood on my Hands
Fiddler on the Green
Photos:
Visit the Demons & Wizards Facebook Page
Visit the Official Blind Guardian Website | Visit the Official Iced Earth Website
