Kamelot (supporting Nightwish)
September 13th, 2012
Center Stage Theater
Atlanta, GA
Kamelot is one of those bands that never really seemed to be more than just a blip on my radar. I had given their material a listen in the past and while I somewhat enjoyed their 2007 album Ghost Opera, I found myself somewhat annoyed by the voice of their former singer Roy Khan. There was just something about him that didn’t click with me so I just figured that was that. In late 2011, Kamelot announced that they were parting ways with Khan and replacing him with Seventh Wonder vocalist Tommy Karevik. This news seemed to make a huge splash in the metal community and the more my friends kept talking about how amazing this new singer was, the more intrigued I got. Well, I finally got my opportunity to witness this new highly regarded union for myself here in Atlanta and let me just say that I was floored.
Kamelot (who was supporting Nightwish) took the stage for the 2nd of two sold out nights and from the first notes of the epic, symphonic opener “Ghost Opera”, I was sold. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have sworn that Kaverik was the only singer Kamelot has ever had. He has such a dynamic and magnetic presence that you can’t help but be drawn to him and love what he’s doing. He interacts with the audience and possesses a Bruce Dickinson like quality in that he delivers these songs with pure, unbridled adoration. You can’t help but just absolutely love this guy. If this guy would have been the only singer Kamelot ever had, I would’ve been a Kamelot fan a long fucking time ago. “Soul Society” was an amazing 2nd song that was welcomed with a huge roar from the crowd and upon finishing the song; the audience began to chant “TOMMY! TOMMY! TOMMY!” If that right there doesn’t’ let him know that he’s been accepted by this diehard fan base that I don’t know what would. Kamelot performed a great mix of songs spanning their career but it was “Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife) from the forthcoming Silverthorn album that really wowed me. From the reaction of the audience, I would say it’s pretty safe to say that Tommy Karevik will have a great career as the new front man of Kamelot.
In addition to the fantastic vocals of Karevik, Kamelot recruited Swedish vocalist Elize Ryd as guest female vocalist. Ryd’s presence adds both musical depth and visual appeal to the band but what I love is that they don’t try and turn it into a sex show by exploiting the use of an attractive female singer. Instead, Kamelot solely keeps it about the music and the blending of Ryd’s voice with Karevik is beautifully haunting. It was a really great dynamic and Ryd and Karevik really played off each other extremely well. The rest of the band played with so much enthusiasm and excitement while lead guitarist Thomas Youngblood almost played a sort of Steve Harris role as he worked the crowd while making his way from one side of the stage to the other. It was really hard to believe that Kamelot was the opening act for this show. This was a band who was taking complete ownership of the evening. They performed with all the passion and energy of a headliner and you can tell that these are seasoned veterans.
Kamelot left the stage making sure that everyone in the sold out Center Stage Theater was knew just who they were, if they didn’t already know. Kamelot is a band that completely won me over with a larger than life performance that could barely be contained within the walls of this sold out theater. Its shows like this that make me so excited to be a fan of a band. Kamelot has a fan in me without a doubt and I’m already looking forward to the next time.
Kamelot Set List
Ghost Opera , Soul Society, Center of the Universe , Karma , Eden Echo, Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife), Forever, March of Mephisto
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