Kamelot
Koko’s, London
28 March 2010

Adagio, from France, open the evening with their blend of progressive metal, joined by stand in vocalist Mats Levén (ex Malmsteen/Thérion) having parted company with previous vocalist Christian Palin in February. Fitting in well with an evening of Kamelot, they put in a very competent performance, despite struggling with a poor sound at the start of the set. Stéphan Forté does an excellent job on guitar, bringing real class to the band. Levén also does a good job considering he’s had a pretty short period to the learn the set. Not a bad start to the evening.

Next up are Leaves Eyes. Now playing to a pretty large crowd, Eyes take to the stage to much adoration, fronted by husband and wife duo, Liv Kristine and Alexander Krull, they have a commanding presence and quickly have the crowd on their side. The set is comprised almost exclusively of songs from the 2009 album, “Njord”, most of them are growers, so anyone not familiar with the band may have been having a hard time connecting. Judging by the crowd reaction, though, most people knew who they were watching! A shortish set to make way for the Kamelot, well received and executed.

And so to the headliners, Kamelot. Rather brash and over the top theatrics and, possibly, an over inflated opinion of their position in the metal scene can almost be forgiven. Kamelot put on a big show, a very big show! Lots of presence and certainly no shortage of musicianship. We’re treated to solos at intervals throughout the set, the most impressive being from drummer Casey Grillo who demonstrates he knows his way around the huge framed kit while barely breaking into a sweat. Khan commands the stage, and is joined on vocals by Elize from Amaranthe (who will also be supporting on the Swedish dates). The two work well together. The set is pretty long, covering cuts from the last 4 albums, including “Ghost Opera”, “The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)” and closer “March of Mephisto”. We’re also treated to a couple of songs from the forthcoming album – “The Great Pandemonium” & “Hunters Season” – a good representation of what the band are about in 2010. The crowd laps the whole thing up, and, while it is easy to dislike Kamelot for their showiness and pomp there is no denying that they definitely deliver the goods, and this evening is no exception.

Review by Graham Hilling