Written by:	Ivor
Published:	April 10, 2015
Event:	Evergrey: European Spring Tour 2015
Location:	Factory, Tallinn, Estonia
Galleries:	Evergrey - Factory, Tallinn, Estonia, 26.03.2015 by Ivor (40)

Evergrey have been long-awaited guests around these parts. Even though they come from a country so close, it's apparently still a lengthy journey to drop by. To some, Evergrey are a band about 10 years past their prime, but their latest album seems to have gotten the blood flowing again and has gained some good attention. Regardless of the reasons, it was a pleasure to see them hit the stage in Tallinn as part of the Tallinn Music Week festival.

TMW is becoming one of the most important musical highlights of the year in Estonia and it is gaining more and more notoriety in music circles around Europe with each passing year. It is both a music festival and a conference at the same time, uniting bands, listeners and the people within the industry alike. Concerts of any genres, talks, show-cases, one-time events, etc. take place around the city and it is a great place to play whether you're an upstart band or a well-established act.





However, playing an event like this can also be a tough challenge, and this is something that became apparent when I arrived at the venue. Factory is not a new location as such. A disco club used to operate in the same rooms a while ago. Now under the new name, however, metal-oriented events slowly seem to be migrating here from Rock Café - which in itself isn't bad, as Factory feels somewhat more pleasing and spacious. And here's the thing: when I walked in, the first band of the evening was already on stage playing to a rather large and mostly empty hall.

G.O.S.H. is an all-girl rock band whose acronym stands for Girls On Stage Hot, which, frankly, doesn't inspire much confidence in their musical abilities. However, contrary to what the name might suggest, the emphasis of the performance is not made on the looks. They are of course pleasing to the eye, but the girls do know their way around their musical instruments to be able to play a good live show. Whether you like the kind of pop rock they play is another matter, but something light-weight as a starter course for the evening went down well, I think.





The one thing about Soul Thrower that I will remember forever is their positioning of the drummer. He was sitting on the left side of the stage, behind the speaker stack, facing left. I mean, he was positioned as if the band were trying to say, "look, we don't know him, he's not with us!" I can understand that probably there wasn't enough room on stage but it still looked so comical in and of itself that it rendered the whole performance quite unnecessary and didn't let me enjoy much of the band's performance. Great groove is about all that I remember from their music. That and the fact that it was not interesting enough to be memorable.

I always feel kind of sorry when support bands get to play a very sparse crowd. However, I feel disappointed and ashamed when the main act gets to perform in front of a half-empty venue. Evergrey got even less than that. While being part of a festival like TMW can bring you the attention of people that normally wouldn't chance to see you, in reality the aforementioned challenge is how to stand out and get enough people to your gig at all while there are myriad events taking place all around the city.





The concert in Tallinn was the first of this part of the tour, so a somewhat slow start might have been expected. The real reason for that, of course, was the overnight ferry from Stockholm called Romantika. Anyone familiar with the ferry line will know what this means in reality. So, truth be told, I'm rather amazed the band was in a rather good shape and spirits and up for playing a two-hour-long set with a hangover.

Slicing through most of their albums, I was actually surprised how consistent the band's catalogue is music-wise. Usually it still ebbs and flows even if the band is cherry-picking the songs. To me, Evergrey have always been a bit of a puzzle. Whenever I've checked out their music, it's always been neither here nor there for me, and I've always wondered about the hype around them. But I got a glimpse at what there is to this band. Whether it was them getting into gear or there's really something special in their older albums, half way through the show the atmosphere and the feeling hit home. The build-up started with songs off In Search Of Truth and reached the high-point during "Solitude Within" and "Nosferatu." That was the moment in the show that the band earned my deep respect for their music.





Set list:
1. The Awakening (Hymns For The Broken)
2. King Of Errors (Hymns For The Broken)
3. Leave It Behind Us (Glorious Collision)
4. The Fire (Hymns For The Broken)
5. Monday Morning Apocalypse (Monday Morning Apocalypse)
6. Black Undertow (Hymns For The Broken)
7. The Masterplan (In Search Of Truth)
8. Rulers Of The Mind (In Search Of Truth)
9. Mark Of The Triangle (In Search Of Truth)
10. Blinded (Recreation Day)
11. Solitude Within (Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy)
12. Nosferatu (Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy)
13. Wake A Change (Hymns For The Broken)
14. A New Dawn (Hymns For The Broken)
15. I'm Sorry (Dilba Cover) (Recreation Day)
16. Missing You (Hymns For The Broken)
Encore:
17. When The Walls Go Down (The Inner Circle)
18. Recreation Day (Recreation Day)
19. Broken Wings (Torn)
20. A Touch Of Blessing (The Inner Circle)
21. The Grand Collapse (Hymns For The Broken)

The concert was long but went by fast, leaving behind first and foremost an impression of musical consistency, and that over the somewhat dodgy sound that not only was different in various spots in the venue but also somewhat varied over the course of the gig. The other thing to remember this gig by is Tom Englund's powerful voice. And last but not least is that as a live act the band delivers a delightful show. They may have been better in the past; I wouldn't really know that, but it was pretty good stuff that night. Trust me on that.