23.04.2011 Leaves' Eyes

Atak, Enschede (Netherlands)

(Pentax k-x with Tamron SP AF 17-50mm 2.8 XR Di II LD Asp IF and Sigma AF 50-150mm 2.8 EX DC APO HSM II)

At 21:15 the main act of the evening entered the stage. Meanwhile the Atak was quite well filled (although not sold out as the gallery was closed this evening and also the audience still had quite a lot of space) and all were looking forward to the gig of Leaves' Eyes. They had, just as Midnattsol too, released their latest album "Meredead" the day before. It seemed that after their last album "Njord" there still was a lot of unused material left at the drawer or they had an extreme phase of creativity as the current album saw the light of the day only 1.5 years after its predecessor. And additionally it was not a bad one.
That you could hear on this evening as new songs like the opener "Spirits Masquerade" or "Melusine" were making the venue boil just like the old classics like "Take The Devil In Me" or "Elegy". Front woman Liv Kristine presented herself in a new Viking outfit and also the rest of the band was perfectly matched to the new album. Of course also her husband Alexander Krull may not be missing who encouraged the audience permanently with his growsl and gestures to give more. That did not wait longtime to follow that invitation and sang along and clapped as good as everybody could.
As a very special titbit for the two songs "Krakevisa" and "Sigrlinn" Livs sister and Midnattsol front woman Carmen Espenaes joined them and sang a really great duet with her. Overall a really perfect gig of Leaves' Eyes what also the audience thought, too. The songs were really nicely composed from all released albums and not only onesided mainly from the latest one. It was a lot of fun and the time went by like nothing although the gig took more than 90 minutes. But after the band left the stage it continued in front of the merchandising booth where not only the complete Leaves' Eyes band after a short time appeared for a signing session but also the other two bands Midnattsol and Serenity were already waiting. As not all seemed to be in a hurry it was a quite chilled atmosphere and the possibility to one or the other chat was given. Really great! And so I am already looking forward to the Leaves' Eyes gig in October at Wieze on the Metal Female Voices Fest IX.