After AVATAR proved again and again over the past few years that they are real headliner material for festivals and that they had honestly earned this through hard and consistent work, I was happy to finally see the wacky Swedes around front clown Johannes Eckerström at a headliner to experience tour. Also there were KASSOGHTA, who I didn’t know at all, and the guys from VEIL OF MAYA.
Unfortunately, when we arrived at the so-called Theaterfabrik in Munich, the first group mentioned was already finished with their gig, because it started at 6:30 p.m. But we were all the more astonished about the location. Noble chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the walls were decorated like a ballroom and on a balcony in the back there were unusual shop windows that suggested, among other things, a sexy nightclub. The hall was well filled and then accommodated a total of 1200 fans who should experience an unforgettable evening.
Previously boarded VEIL OF MAYA motivated the stage and played their gig confidently. A mix of Metalcore and Deathcore with a rather dull, undifferentiated sound was offered by Americans, who will be celebrating their 20th anniversary next year. Unfortunately, despite an agile and visibly motivated band, the whole thing seemed a bit monotonous and colorless. Accordingly, the atmosphere was rather mediocre and somehow I also had the feeling that the troupe just didn’t fit in with AVATAR. Well, that’s not so easy with the unique sound that the Swedes bring with them, but a little more pep in the opening act would have been nice. Nevertheless, frontman Lukas Magyar, who also seemed quite inconspicuous but had a powerful voice, tried to keep the fans happy and saved a lot with his commitment and sympathetic demeanor.
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But let’s be honest, 99.9% of those present have been waiting longingly for the extravagant performance of AVATAR and I too was extremely excited to see what kind of show the gentlemen were going to put on this time and was a bit skeptical at first about the sound of the supporting band and the rather small stage, but Johannes and his boys should already blow away all fears in the intro.
The intro to the title track of the new work „Dance Devil Dance“ matched the mood perfectly. The chandeliers went out, wafts of fog rose and promising spotlights discreetly illuminated the stage and the roar was already loud when drummer John mechanically climbed onto the stage structure and raised his fists. The guitarist Tim followed with a stoic look and King Jonas was just as serious as bass player Sandelin before the crowd completely freaked out when Eckerström appeared and it was already going wild. The new song immediately shot something good and the overlying anthem “The Eagle Has Landed”, in which the frontman did his crazy dance, was frenetically cheered and loudly roared along. Then there was the first announcement in charming German with a Swedish accent and the stage pig Johannes was already making people laugh with his dark, lascivious voice, which is worthy of a Bond villain. With the words “I have to destroy something”, the ö damn long drawn out, the r rolled, he wanted to see the first moshpit, but it shouldn’t be a human moshpit, but the “Chimp Moshpit”, as the furious new track is called.
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AVATAR skilfully led through their discography with great stage presence and hit after hit and anthem after anthem and, apart from “Paint Me Red”, which unfortunately was canceled on this tour, left nothing to be desired. From the violent and crazy “For The Swarm” to the haunting “Bloody Angel” to the horror circus hit “Puppet Show” everything was there. In the case of the latter, the frontman suddenly appeared sideways on a balcony, conjured up a balloon animal and unpacked the trombone before disappearing again. The next announcement left no eye dry again when he joked about his German mother and his bad German, which is better than our Swedish. The next slaughter was called “Do You Feel In Control” in which the guitarists dueled magnificently. In addition, Munich was praised as being special, since at the beginning there were only eight spectators in all of Germany, while there were at least twelve present here. After a short break, he jumped out of a package with balloons ES-like and sat alone on the stage with a small piano to intonate the beginning of “Just Dreamed” by NENA, who had meanwhile gone pretty crazy, which caused roaring laughter , before the gloomy-sad “The Tower” guaranteed goosebumps in its piano version.
Another break followed, and the band and standing drums took the stage in formation for the haunting “Colossus” and “Let It Burn,” before crowning Jonas with “A Statue For The King.” Shortly thereafter, the last three encores really followed and I absolutely couldn’t believe that at the end of the show two hours had passed and I could have easily “held” another hour. But before that, “The Dirt I’m Buried In” was supposed to make people go crazy again, “Smells Like A Freakshow” was supposed to make people freak out and “Hail The Apocalpyse” was supposed to unleash the same in the theater factory.
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Setlist AVATAR:
Dance Devil Dance
The Eagle Has Landed
Valley Of Disease
Chimp Mosh Pit
Scream Until You Wake
Bloody Angel
For The Swarm
Puppet Show
When The Snow Lies Red
Do You Feel In Control
Black Waltz
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Only Dreamed (NENA)
Tower
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Colossus
Let It Burn
A Statue Of The King
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The Dirt I’m Buried In
Smells Like A Freakshow
Hail The Apocalpys
Thank you AVATAR for this special evening! We laughed, we had goosebumps, we were touched and above all we were extremely well entertained for two hours! In addition, we now know what a freak show smells like, namely sweat, passion and also some sex! If the word avatar makes someone think of the bald element heini manga or the giant Hollywood Smurfs, then they’re definitely missing out. So Avatar live? Immediately again!
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