Kamelot delivered nothing short of a grand performance at the Tannahill Music Hall in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards.
The symphonic metal band is currently making their way across North America on the Awaken the World Tour. The run of 23-dates sees Kamelot hitting markets the band did not play in the fall of 2023. Fort Worth, San Antonio and the Milwaukee Metal Fest are just to mention.
Special guest HammerFall and Swiss / German symphonic metal band Ad Infinitum rounded out the great night of European Metal.
Ad Infinitum vocalist Melissa Bonny pulled double duty due to not only her time on stage with Ad Infinitum. Bonny also took on the role as backup vocalist with Kamelot later in the night.
Even though Ad Infinitum’s stage time was limited to 30-minutes, the band utilized their time and available production wisely. Doing so created a visually engaging performance worthy of mention.
With a quick 20-minute set change, Sweden’s HammerFall promptly took the stage at 7:50 to a solid core of fans.
For the next hour, the band charged forward delivering an impressive set of pure Swedish power metal. HammerFall is supporting their thirteenth studio album Avenge the Fallen. The album slated for an August 9, 2024 release through Nuclear Blast Records.
HammerFall triumphantly marched through their 11-song set that included “Hail to the King,” the first single from Avenge the Fallen. Unfortunately, for the fans who were hoping to hear additional new material, it didn’t happen. The band did perform classics such as “Hammer of Dawn,” “Hammer High” and “Let the Hammer Fall. There was much to the delight of fans in doing so.
In addition to the classics, vocalist Joacim Cans engaged the crowd with raised fists and chants during those classics.
Even though Kamelot rolled through Dallas in September, the capacity crowd showed out for the Fort Worth date.
Dressed in all black with a blue of cool blue lighting, Kamelot announced their arrival and didn’t hold back. From the first, electrified live notes and vocals from Tommy Karevik, Kamelot was packing a punch. The pride of Norwegian melodic metal quickly established command of the stage and crowd.
The band utilized material from seven of the 13 releases. The Awakening representing seven of the 16 songs in the set. That included the tape versions of the show opener, “Overture” and set closer, “Ephemera.”
Fans were treated to material from Karma, Black Halo, Ghost Opera, Silver Thorn, Haven as well as Shadow Theory. The latter albums in the 2010 decade saw two tracks each in the set.
As an added bonus, three risers were placed at center and stage left and right. This allowed for members to elevate themselves higher for the crowd. Even large road cases were placed vertically in front of the stage allowing the members to stand on. This brought band members mere feet from the barricade. Members were easily able to engage the crowd at this distance of a few feet in the already ideal size venue. It’s the happiness witnessed in the faces of those on the barricade that makes adding that logistic worth it.
While Kamelot is in the midst of the tour, the band appeared fresh and fully energized. It’s highly recommended to catch the tour as a whole if possible for a night of pure, clean metal.
