An absolutely legendary show at NYC's Irving Plaza on May 11th, 2008 for the "Tyranny and Bloodshred Tour" - headliners Arch Enemy, with Dark Tranquility, Divine Heresy and Firewind, all in one evening. Sea of Tranquility's Hayley Brooke was on hand, and brings her full show report and photos.

I walked into a packed house of fans while Greek power-metallers Firewind had already taken the stage and were about 5 mins into their set. Led by former touring Arch Enemy guitarist Gus G, the set started out a little lacking in energy from the crowd but the band powered through and you could tell by the end of their set they had won the crowd over. With frontman Apollo Papathanasio delivering soaring vocals, and Gus G shredding the place apart along with keyboardist Bob Katsionis, Firewind definitely warmed the crowd up for the amazing sets to come.

Next up, the latest project from former Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares, Divine Heresy. While the band can definitely work a crowd, I found that their music was quite average. There's no denying that vocalist Jake Veredika (who has since been replaced) delivers a super intense performance, but I don't think he quite makes the break vocal wise. For me, the highlight had to be the precise and explosive set speed demon drummer Tim Yeung gave.

Finally Dark Tranquility took the stage and played a long and intense set giving the crowd their dose of riveting, impressive musicianship, intelligence, and precise guitar interplay which was no surprise since half the crowd was there to see them. Vocalist Mikael Stanne was no disappointment, delivering a great set as usual stalking the stage and entrapping his fans. Some top quality shredding from guitarist Niklas Sundin and Martin Henriksson just prove that Dark Tranquility is a true class act in what we label today as metal. With a mix of older and newer tunes, this was a solid set as always from the veteran Swedes.

In a sea of smoke you could see Arch Enemy finally taking the stage opening up with "Blood On Your Hands", an intense and unrestrained excitement stirring in the air as brothers Michael and Christopher Amott deliver flawless guitar work, as frontwoman Angela Gossow raged in front of them with her fist in the air representing the metal world so finely. Not to forget drummer Daniel Erlandsson and bassist Sharlee D'Angelo shredding on his Ibanez Iceman, I couldn't help but be amazed as they ripped through favorite after favorite so perfectly. I have always been a fan of Angela since she joined AE in '01, but to actually be in front of her as she has that natural stage presence to just make a crowd go completely and insanely nuts with her vocal stopping power and genuine death metal growl, was a real treat. Definite highlights of the show was an amazing version of "Revolution Begins" that led into a technically unforgettable drum solo from Erlandsson and the show's closing set piece: a series of glorious guitar solos continuing on to "Nemesis" and "We Will Rise" to perfectly end the night.

Hayley Brooke

Firewind Set List
Into The Fire
Tyranny
Mercenary Man
Head Up High
The Fire and the Fury (Inst)
Till The End Of Time
Divine Heresy Set List
Bleed The Fifth
Saviour Self
Impossible is Nothing
False Gospel
This Threat is Real
Failed Creation
Dark Tranquillity Set List
Terminus
The Lesser Faith
The Treason Wall
The Wonders At Your Feet
Inside the Particle Storm
Focus Shift
Misery's Crown
Punish The Heavens
Final Resistance
Arch Enemy Set List
(Taped Intro)
Blood On Your Hands
Ravenous
Taking Back My Soul
Dead Eyes See no Future
My Apocalypse
Revolution Begins
(Drum Solo-Daniel Erlandsson)
Dead Bury Their Dead
Last Enemy
I Will Live Again
(Guitar Solos-Chris Amott)
Enemy Within
Nemesis
Encore:
Snowbound (Inst)
We Will Rise
Fields of Desolation (Inst)
(Taped Outro)