DEMONS AND WIZARDS | LIZZY BORDEN

with Tyr

Palladium
Worcester, Massachusetts
September 4, 2019

Photos & Review by Frank Piercy

Now this was a rare night at The Palladium, only three bands on stage this time. But the pedigree is amazing and actually gave all three bands on the bill a chance to do more then just a 20-minute set. How often do you get to see the opening band do more then 20 minutes? Well if you were here this evening, you would’ve been exposed to some very interesting metal. Personally, I had never heard of Tyr, but my normal partner in crime, my bro in law, Scott, was excited and looking forward to them. He was not disappointed. And to be honest neither was I.

TYR Photo Gallery

Tyr is Heri Joensen lead singer and guitarist, Gunnar H. Thomsen on bass guitar, Tadeusz Rieckmann on drums and their newest member from Nevermore, guitarist Attila Vörös. Seeing how I am not really familiar with Tyr, I had to look them up and who knew that Faroese folk metal was a thing and that I would enjoy an 8-song set of Viking Folk Metal. I could not believe how much this crowd was into them.

Their setlist contained songs that covered surprisingly only 3 of their 8 albums,”Blood of Heroes, Mare of My Night, Tróndur Í Gøtu, Fire and Flame, Ragnars Kvæði, Gates of Hel, By the Sword in My Hand, Hold the Heathen Hammer High”. The abundant crowd loved them.

Now back in the 80’s. Yes I am going back to that decadent decade and bringing back one of the most under rated bands and singers that are still with us today. Touring for the first album release in over 10 years, “My Midnight Things”, is Lizzy Borden. Definitely the bastard son of Alice Cooper, both lyrically and visually. The singer (or should I say performer?), Lizzy Borden came to the stage where Joey Scott is on drums, Marten Andersson is playing the bass and Ira Black kicking some major ass on the guitar, dressed in a black robe with a bright metallic demonic mask on. The first of many between song costume changes. With a setlist of 9 songs, a lot of their history was covered, starting the night off with the title track off of their latest album, “My Midnight Things, Tomorrow Never Comes, Red Rum, Notorious, Master of Disguise, There Will Be Blood Tonight, American Metal, Me Against The World, Long May They Haunt Us.”

LIZZY BORDEN Photo Gallery

A great setlist which showed off the talents of not only Lizzy but the whole band. Unfortunately, it was not a headlining set of an hour 15 or 20, but it did leave the crowd chanting for more Lizzy!

Now for the reason that such a great evening of metal and friends was upon us, Demons and Wizards. Created by Blind Guardian vocalist Hansi Kürsch and Iced Earths guitarist Jon Schaffer back in the late 90s, Demons and Wizards is a power metal band that really blow me away. With Jake Dreyer on guitar, Marcus Siepen on bass and Frederik Ehmke on drums, they were really sounding tight.

The setlist was a massive 18 songs, including the encore, consisting of songs from their 2 albums and also a couple of songs from Jon and Hans usual bands, Iced Earth and Blind Guardian. “Rites of Passage”, “Heaven Denies”, “Poor Man’s Crusade”, “Crimson King”, “Love’s Tragedy Asunder”, “Burning Times” (Iced Earth cover), “Welcome to Dying” (Blind Guardian cover), “Wicked Witch”, “Beneath These Waves”, “The Gunslinger”, “Terror Train”, “I Died for You” (Iced Earth cover), “Valhalla” (Blind Guardian cover), “Tear Down the Wall”, “Gallows Pole”, “My Last Sunrise”, and for the encore, “Blood on My Hands” and “Fiddler on the Green”

A solid set of songs and masterful playing by everyone. Hans was fantastic and not exactly the voice you would expect to hear coming from someone who looks like he spends his days in a suit behind a desk.

This night was one of those rare evenings where every band on the bill had the crowd singing along and screaming, literally eating out of their hands. It was FANTASTIC! Unfortunately, it was the 2nd to last show on the U.S. tour for Demons and Wizards or I would say go out and catch them on the road. Keep your fingers crossed that they decide to tour the U.S. again, I know I would love to see them live again.