Well, that day finally came, April 28th! The first performance in Zagreb one of the giants of power metal, legendary Blind Guardian. On that beautiful and happy Thursday after a busy day and after last lecture at the facutly I came to the club to see live performance for the second time in my life seen of one of my favourite bands that I really respected, equally because of the music and lyrics I don’t  even know what I’d put in the first place. A bunch of metalheads that has been waiting for this concert for years I guess, and I know that many, including myself had the opportunity to see them in neighboring countries and at metal festivals, were impatiently waiting in front of Boogaloo which was really crowded at the entrance. When staff finally about half past eight allowed the crowd  inside, joy knew no bounds, and we came inside to witness one of the best concerts in recent months. This great German band that has a very loyal base of fans and rich discography, can be proud of the fact that they released new, great album in the end of last year,  the ninth “At the Edge of Time”, according to many critics one of their best albums.
The concert was opened by local Infernal Tenebra, death / thrash metal band, which I saw live as the opening act for Grave Digger on April 5th. Alongside their songs  from “The Essence Of Chaos”, they earned a positive reaction from the audience with their interpretation of legendary Kreator hymn “Extreme Aggression”. After their performance, the audience for about half an hour was eagerly awaiting the performance of one of their favorite bands. Crowded Boogaloo, this time almost sold out, which is excellent, if we remember the debacle called “less than 100 people”, that was the case with some concerts in the past several months, began to shout, “Guardian, Guardian!”. At 9:30 the whole Boogaloo was wrapped with magical fantasy atmosphere. I am very pleased when the band begins their performance right on time and as far the professionals such as Blind Guardian, to me, it’s not surprising , but the accuracy and professionalism are always seen from the bands that are at the very top.
Blind Guardian opened  set with one of his best songs from their new album “Sacred Worlds,” which could sound a lot more polyphonous if Boogaloo had better sound- . Classics continue to go on and to audience’s delight, there was plenty of old stuff, that to my surprise they played, and that usually the play rarely, such as the anthem “Welcome To Dying”, “Nightfall in Middle-Earth,” “Fly,” “Time Stands Still” , and to my surprise, there was one from “A Twist In The Myth” album, called “Turn The Page”.On it Hansi’s vocals came out more expressively, but unfortunately his rich vocal sound was not of the best quality possible, as it deserved to be, and we are probably all aware that the acoustics and sound  in the Boogaloo is still standard issue. After very loud and dynamic performance, followed by one of the most beautiful ballads dedicated to the legendary Tolkien’s work, self-titled “Lord Of The Rings,” which the audience sang along with pleasure. Then to my surprise, and this concert was full of many pleasant surprises because I did not expect so perfect set list, thy performed one of the best from the new album, “Tanelorn (Into The Void)” in which the backing vocals were great and amazing coherence of rhythms in such song didn’t dominate over great Hansi’s intonation whose voice apparently can overcome all obstacles. Hansijev contact with the audience was unsurpassed, constantly joking with the audience and with positive critics to the public were present during the entire performance. Unfortunately, we were rapidly approaching the end of the set list and the last part of the set list included the hymns “Traveller In Time”, “Valhalla” and “Imaginations From The Other Side” which provoked a wave of delight and enthusiasm among fans and the crowd was so loud during the ” Valhalla” especially when whole Boogaloo resounded and it created a special fusion between the band and the audience, which was a really fantastic experience. When they performed “Imaginations From The Other Side”, I must admit that I felt tingling due to mystical introduction of keyboards, which always affects people that way. The crowd began protesting a little bit  when Hansi  said that it was the end of the show and it started shouting “We want more!” And the band returned to perform encore and Hansi praised us saying that we were so great that the audience definitely deserved a few more songs. So we enjoyed the next few minutes in the, believe it or not, four songs! The first was the “Wheel of Time”, also from new album with a bit of near-eastern musical influence in the introduction in the beginning. Instrumental performance was excellent, very positive reaction from the crowd and those who knew the words from the new album simply got a desire to sing them. After that nine-minute symphony masterpiece, we all calmed down a bit because Hansi enounced one of the most successful ballad, which is when we mention this band’s name one of the songs that first crosses to our minds, the legendary “The Bard’s Song”. Of course we all sang aloud, and acoustic guitars, thank God, sounded ok. They continued with surprises during encore  and played “The Hobbit”, and in the end “Mirror Mirror”. I have nothing else to say or comment further than just give a number, actually endless praises to this band and their performance. Indeed it was something great, powerful, and contact with the audience was amazing and the band members were very friendly and Hansi was smiling the whole time. He motivated the crowd to be loud, to sing along with the band, saying one moment “Don’t ever disappoint me again”, Which of course was positive message for the crowd to be more dynamic. Indeed, and we were crazy all the time, the atmosphere warmed up, that during the performance we were earning more and more praises from Hansi.
There was simply no place on this concert for inertia and indifference and it was evident that all members of the band enjoyed the gig, especially Hansi for whom it was obviuos that he loved to sing and that he sang, as it can be said, from the soul. For some people music is not just a job, but above all to enjoy and please the audience, but unfortunately, we have to be honest,for  many people music becomes just a job after a while and don’t give the best of them. Blind Guardian really got into this concert, The music style they play deserves the attention it has, and I hope that the fanbase  will  spread because their music has no reason not to continue its evolution. It is true that it took long time to finally play in Zagreb, but in Zagreb becomes more and more an important city for music shows and here come to play more and more prominent musicians of all genres, we hope to see them again soon in Zagreb and hope will be able to dive in another epic fantasy adventure.

Blind Guardian’s set list:
1. Sacred Worlds
2. Welcome To Dying
3. Nightfall
4. Fly
5. Time Stands Still
6. Turn The Page
7. Lord Of The Rings
8. Tanelorn (Into The Void)
9. Traveller In Time

10. Valhalla
11.Imaginations From The Other Side
Bis:
12. Wheel Of Time
13. The Bard’s Song
14. The Hobbit
15. Mirror Mirror

Report: Buna Bernarda Juretić
Photo:  Elena Crnković