PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Kobra and the Lotus had the job of opening tonight’s strong lineup. The Canadian band played their first every UK show almost exactly seven years ago playing to a dozen or so people, and have toured a lot since then, building up a support base the old fashioned way – through good music and lots of hard work. When they take to the stage it’s clear they have plenty of fans in the audience. Singer, Kobra Paige is a frontwoman who knows how to get the crowd going and is constantly on the move. The band interact well with each other and all look to be having a great time as they race through their set which contains some great songs. With Kobra’s voice and stage presence and a strong band behind her, I’m amazed they’re only the opening act rather than headlining venues of this size.
Next up are Evergrey, touring in support of their latest album, The Storm within (which is a great album). For some reason they apparently chose not to use the lighting engineer that does the lights for Delain and Kobra and the Lotus, and opt instead to use their own guy. This means that while Kobra’s lightshow was excellent and really made them look good, Evergrey are made to look pretty awful visually as they’re bathed either in solid red or solid blue lighting. Happily though while the visuals disappointed, the music certainly didn’t disappoint and they put in a great set which goes down very well with the crowd. A band that’s well worth going to see if you get the chance.
Finally it was the turn of Delain, who like Evergrey are touring in support of a new album – Moonbathers. Delain are another band that has toured the UK regularly to build a fanbase and the fact they’ve filled Koko is proof that they’re succeeeding as their previous London dates have been at the Garage or Islington academy which are far smaller than Koko.
This is Delain’s 10th anniversary year, and that non-stop touring shows in how polished the band’s performances are – they always put in a great performance, and more importantly always have a good time on stage and that fun and energy on stage transmits to the audience who react well. It’s the bits of interaction between band members that show how much fun they’re having.
Tonight’s set is a long one – 18 songs including the encore, with six coming from the new album which shows how happy they are with it as normally you might get 3 or 4 new songs in a set rather than 6. Apart from the new material, the set includes songs from the “April Rain”, “Lucidity” and “Human Contradiction” albums – so a career spanning set. They really do go down superbly well and I wouldnt be at all surprised to see them playing bigger venues soon.
A great end to a great night of music. All three bands were excellent and the fans left happy.
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