A Saturday evening completely abandoned in the capable voices of great women; that’s how this Italian night feels. March has just started, Milan seems more alive than ever, and Frozen Crown is scheduled to present their fourth album to the world in an incredible event at Legend Club Milano. What else can a girl ask for?
The photos are, as usual, by our very own Silvio Colombo!
VOLTURIAN: dancing metal
The club is packed with fans and the trepidation can be felt through the air: Volturian unfortunately run into some problems that delay the start of their act, and for the first couple of songs, they have some trouble with the mics as well. The frontwoman, Federica, handles everything with complete professionalism, and by the third song everyone is jumping up and down, veins full of music and heartbeats dictated by the drums and no longer by the need to stay alive. It’s a nice new discovery for me, a group that at times reminds of that Serj Tankian’s kind of sound, charming and so enticing it has everyone dancing with their beers loose in their hands, even if the fog blocks most of the view.
Setlist:
- Rebirth
- Stay
- Harley
- Haunting Symphony
- Days Before You Died
- Broken
- The Killing Joe
- Between The Sleepers
- Torn Asunder
NOCTURNA: less is more
The second band is stripped down to the bones: just Rhen, Grace and a guitarist (Federico Mondelli), but it’s more than enough for Nocturna to enchant the entire Legend Club. The second the chords start, and Grace’s vocals ignite the stage, I’m a goner. It’s their first ever – and I hope just the epic headliner of a long, long list – acoustic performance, but it sounds like what they were always meant to be doing. Music stripped to its core, whichever genre, is ethereal: it’s an experience worth a million concerts in its own simplicity. I could see people singing along, moving in tandem with the beats marked on the side of the guitar by tireless knuckles, and getting transported away by the perfect mix of tonalities, that dichotomy that are Rhen’s and Grace’s voices. It was that seamless atmosphere of a melancholy concert full of swaying lighters, a magical moment stuck in a constant state of becoming. I hope they start putting an acoustic song in all their performances: less is more.
Setlist:
- Sea of Fire
- Darkest Days
- The Trickster
- New Evil
- Daughters of the Night
- The Sorrow Path
- Blood of Heaven
FROZEN CROWN: explosive greatness
The band everyone was waiting for comes on stage with the smugness of the headliners that know they’re about to knock everyone’s socks off, and no one is complaining. Frozen Crown present their new album, “Call of the North”, all the while inserting here and there some of their old classics. The surprises, fuelled by a vigorous power metal that resonates in everyone’s bones, seem to keep coming: the first to join Jade on stage is Federica from Volturian, then Grace, and Rhen to follow, both from Nocturna, both an exquisite addition to the seemingly unimprovable performance. Truth is, the whole band is playing magnificently: everyone a piece of a puzzle flawlessly falling into place. It’s a night to celebrate their music, but also the women of metal. So much is obvious when, to close the night, all four singers come together to scream out with the crowd “I Want Out” by Helloween. It really is true: poetry comes in many forms.
Setlist:
- Neverending
- The Water Dancer
- Fire In The Sky (live premiere)
- Black Heart (live premiere)
- Kings
- Far Beyond
- Angels in Disguise (feat. Federica Lanna)
- Call of the North
- I Am The Tyrant
- Crown Eternal
- In The Dark
- Across The Sea
- Forever
- The Shieldmaiden
- I Want Out (Helloween cover)