Concert Date: April 10th 2011
City: Madrid, Spain
Venue: La Riviera

Manowar do not want to come to Italy? Then Metallus.it goes to Manowar in Spain!

It’s the last date of the “Battle Hymns 2011 Tour”, so this is the last chance to enjoy the fantastic “Battle Hymns”, just recently re-recorded, live and in full.
Do I really need to tell how immense, powerful and devastating this concert was? It shall be done!

5 pm: Get the ticket at the box office – it took 1 minute sharp – this already makes you think.
7 pm: We take our place in the line. It is already long, around 3000 people. In spite of the fact that the Spaniards are not famous for being cold and quiet, the line is neat and goes nicely from the club “La Riviera”, downtown Madrid, without any pushing! You can think about this half an hour for each word.
8 pm: We get into the venue and in 5 minutes we get our “Road Warrior T-Shirt” because we travel from abroad. How many bands do something similar and for free and every single date of the tour? Keep on thinking…
9 pm: On time as taxes, the light goes down and the stage is taken by the (not anymore) “dressed in underwear” MANOWAR.
A wall of sound. This would be enough. A very high volume, but clean, incredibly clear. You can distinguish every single instrument; the rhythmic section does not overpower the voice, which is so important in the sound of Manowar. In Italy, a venue that can sustain such volume does not exist, and I keep on thinking.

The band plays the entire album “Battle Hymns” to perfection, while “William’s Tale” was played later by DeMaio only. The title track is truly incredible, your eyes get wet while listening to one of the most intense song of epic metal. The power and the intensity of the songs played live grow to such level that you can only be stunned and impressed.

The band gets a little break while Karl plays his solo ”Sun Of Death”, showing a technique not always so evident in studio. Then the tempo picks up again with “Brothers Of Metal”. The crowd sings every single move and looks from DeMaio and Adams brings the public to a delirium.

The setlist has never been so rich and varied. Needless to point out every song, just keep in mind that every one has been played to perfection, with no break in between for a total of 2 hours and a half (keep thinking about concert lasting 1 hour and 10 minutes, and they charge 40 Euros).

After the “Fighting The World”, the band stops for a second and on stage comes DeMaio alone with the usual beer can in one hand: we all know what he is about to say, this is not the evening for exalting true metal, this is the evening to celebrate a fallen brother. From Valhalla Scott Columbus for sure appreciated the ovation from the crowd and “ Gates Of Valhalla” dedicated to the drummer who passed away on April 4th.

“Heart Of Steel” makes you emotional, but then “The Gods Made Heavy Metal”, “Hail And Kill” and the rest of the songs bring back the spirit of the warrior in all the 3000 people present.
“The Power” closes the official concert, and the encore begins including “Warriors Of The World United” and the classic “Black Wind, Fire & Steel”, noticeably longer in the end, with DeMaio that breaks the strings off the bass and give them away to the fans in the front row.
We miss “Kings Of Metal”, but looking at the set list we are just as happy!

They may be exaggerated, they may be without style, they may be some f*****g hotheads, we accept that. But you will never find a live show like this with any other band. We are talking about an over all look, we know that Iron Maiden fill a stadium, that Judas Priest are the founding Fathers of Metal, that Dream Theatre are some technical genius, but tonight we have witnessed a true Heavy Metal concert, as it should always be played and lived.

Looking at the individual performances, they were all even, but what always amazes is the power of Eric’s voice.
Even being a fan of the band, I would never have imagined coming out from one of their shows so happy and fulfilled. A mystical experience.

I will close now sending a big thank you to my dad, who shared this wonderful experience with me (he is 50 years old!)! He rocks!

“Other Bands Play, Manowar KILLS! ” … Holy words

Read the original article in Italian here: http://www.metallus.it/concerti/manowar/ 
Metallus.it by Tommaso Dainese