KAMELOT
w/ Battle Beast and Sonata Arctica
The Palladium
Worcester, Massachusetts
September 13, 2019
Photos & Review by Michael LaFleche
Worcester was thoroughly rocked on a full moon Friday the 13th night at the vaunted Palladium with KAMELOT with special guest Lauren Hart headlining a killer power metal lineup including Battle Beast and Sonata Arctica.
First up was Noora Louhimo and Battle Beast of Finland. I am beginning to think all the good music lately comes from Scandinavia… Battle Beast’s brand of viking infused power metal is upbeat and full of good energy. The music is extremely contagious and the live production was great. Every single person in the Palladium were banging fists in the air with Noora. The band is a six piece unit with dual guitars, bass and even a keytar. I left the show that night and the following weekend playing their last two albums “Bringer of Pain” and “No More Hollywood Endings” constantly.
BATTLE BEAST Photo Gallery:
Next up, fellow Finns, the wolf crew at Sonata Arctica with a more melodic metal approach, a bit like the sound of Queen and Metallica mashed up. Lead singer Tony Kakko and the band had a tough act to follow, but they pulled it off. They started off with “A Little Less Understanding” and ended the 8 song set with “Life”. The band was obviously in their prime, hitting every riff, beat and noite perfectly with huge amounts of power.
SONATA ARCTICA Photo Gallery:
KAMELOT was up next. The stage was the most impressive thing I have seen come to a Palladium show, with various landings for drum kits and singing and growling locations for the band to occupy.
Right off the bat, we were all dropping ionto hardcore choas with “Phantom Divine (Shadow Empire)” with the who band of stage made up of master of ceremonies and lead singer Tommy Karevik, of Sweden. Thomas Youngblood longtime guitarist with the band, Oliver Palotai on the keyboards, the dreadlocked Sean Tibbetts hammering on the bass, and Alex Landenburg on percussion. But the star of the first song was Australian lead singer of Once Human, Lauren Hart, who has been touring with the band and using her incredible growling capabilities. If you ever get a chance to meet her or see a show, she is so sweet and speaks with a lovely polite Australian accent, but when she is on stage, she growls louder than a very large and angry panther. She would come back again later in the show for “Veil of Elysium”. Lauren had two more encores including “March of Mephisto” and “Liar Liar”. Also coming back for another round was Noora from Battle Beast for “Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife)”
But the rest of KAMELOT certainly held their own without the guest stars during the rest of the show for their 15 song set. One of the highlights other than the masterful performance and leadership of Tommy included a killer keyboard and drum solo towards the end of the set.
KAMELOT Photo Gallery:
The and will be going right through October throughout the US and Canada until they wrap up in the bands ancestral home of the Tampa Bay / Saint Pete area.
For more news and info on KAMELOT, visit: http://www.kamelot.com/band/