Delain were joined on the tour by scene veteran Damian Wilson and the UK post-grunge act Stone Broken - but sadly the latter had to pull out of the last three shows of the tour due to illness. I was looking forward to catching them again, as it had been a couple of years since I had last seen them, but it was not to be. Hopefully I will get to see them live again soon. As such, there was a bit of a wait until the music started - with Wilson hitting the stage at 7pm. In truth, though, he kept the crowd entertained sporadically before his set - as he had previous walked up the line of those waiting to get in and introduced himself to everyone, before walking around and talking to people in the venue before his set started. As a big Threshold fan, I had seen Wilson live a couple of times - but I did not really know what to expect from him on his own. I own one of his solos albums which I enjoy, but it is not one that comes out too often, and solo acoustic support acts are not generally my thing. Despite this, though, Wilson impressed. He is such a character that he basically won everyone around immediately - and his first song was sung without a guitar or even a microphone, with his voice just filling the room. He even stunned some of the talkers by the bar into silence for a brief moment - but it was business as usual following this stark intro, and he filled the next 45 minutes or so with his huge voice and emotive songwriting. I think that it is fair to say that Wilson is known more for his work in the hard rock and metal worlds than he is for his poppier solo material. He is the current frontman of Arena and has had three stints in Threshold. He also fronts Headspace and has done a lot of work over the years with Arjen Anthony Lucassen. This set was different from all those things, but the voice was the same - and he was easily the most powerful acoustic support act I have seen. His voice just commands attention and the melody choices and inflections that has made his work with other bands so memorable remained in place - it is just that all that was backing him was an acoustic guitar. He proved to be a pretty adept guitarist, too, and his songwriting was tight and memorable. As I do not always focus on lyrics I tend to find acoustic support acts dull, but the melodies and music were also interesting throughout Wilson's set - and his banter with the crowd was also great. He is clearly made for the stage - and I do feel that Threshold, despite how great a singer Glynn Morgan is, miss something live when he is not fronting them. There were a couple of songs he played which I recognised from the album I have and from other things of his I have heard over the years - but generally the set was new to me. It flew by, though, and it was a great way to open the evening. I need to dig that album of his out a bit more often - and there are others which I clearly need to seek out.
The plus of having an acoustic opening act is the fact that there is not much gear to clear away. As Delain's gear was already set up, there was only around 15 minutes between Wilson's set finishing and Delain hitting the stage. The venue was looking a little sparse at first, but it had filled up somewhat during Wilson's set. I had expected the place to be a bit busier, especially on a Friday, but the turnout was certainly not poor. The crowd seemed to take a bit of time to warm up, probably literally, so the atmosphere during Delain's set took a while to fully form in my opinion. As such, the show was not as electric as last year's London effort - but the band still put on a great performance and the crowd did start to feel more involved as things progressed. The 17-song setlist was quite different to last year's, too, with two new songs being played and a few different older tracks making the cut this time. The show opened with the same three songs, though, with newbie The Cold having really cemented itself as a great opener. The four musicians took to the stage to start the song, with frontwoman Diana Leah coming on afterwards to huge cheers. Her voice is very pleasing and suits Delain's sound perfectly - so she sounded powerful for the most part. I did wonder if she was perhaps suffering a little with illness, though, as she did pull out of a few lines here and there rather unexpectedly. There is certainly a lot going around at the moment, as I can attest to, but it did not affect her performance much at all - and I think she has done a great job since taking over as Delain's frontwoman. One thing I noticed, though, was that she still did not do all that much talking with the crowd. She did some, but generally Ronald Landa (guitar/vocals) was the main voice from the stage - as was the case last time. It seems that this is going to be the dynamic going forward - but I do wish she took on more of that role so that her personality and confidence could flourish further. That being said, though, she was still great - with Suckerpunch and the dramatic Burning Bridges showing off her talents early on.
Given the strength of Delain's catalogue it is hard to pick out highlights, but it was fun to hear new track The Reaping live for the first time - and I enjoyed the sweet and groovy Army of Dolls returning to the set. The anthemic April Rain was a big highlight, though, as it always tends to be - with Landa peeling off a guitar solo during it. Newer cut The Quest and the Curse has also become a big live favourite already, which Leah sang with all of her charm, whilst the duelling harsh vocals of Landa and Ludovico Cioffi (bass guitar/vocals) added weight. Most of the songs which returned to the setlist which were absent last year all tended to be favourites which have been played live a lot over the years, but it was great to see Leah tackle them. She particularly shone during the poppy Get the Devil Out of Me - but she sounded at her best on her material, such as an excellent rendition of Queen of Shadow with Landa covering the male vocal part. Perhaps the set's overall highlight, though, was Wilson joining the band for a barnstorming version of Your Body Is a Battleground - where he duetted powerfully with Leah. This was the set's last true heavier moment, though, as the rest of the night was largely made up of melodic singles. The Gathering had the crowd jumping as it tends to do, before the disco grooves of Don't Let Go showcased every ounce of Martijn Westerholt's (keyboards) synth prowess. Perhaps the best pop track of the night, though, was Leah's signature piece Moth to a Flame which has already become a Delain classic in my opinion. Dance with the Devil may not be that far behind it, though, with Cioffi adding some growls, but Moth to a Flame feels like the current line-up's biggest live triumph so far. With no encore break, the band just barrelled through - and ended, customarily, with We Are the Others and plenty of singing from the crowd. The setlist was:
The Cold
Suckerpunch
Burning Bridges
The Reaping
The Glory and the Scum
April Rain
Army of Dolls
The Quest and the Curse
Here Come the Vultures
Get the Devil Out of Me
Queen of Shadow
Your Body Is a Battleground [w/ Damian Wilson]
The Gathering
Don't Let Go
Moth to a Flame
Dance with the Devil
We Are the Others
Whilst I do not think that last night's show topped that excellent London gig last year, Delain still brought their A-game to Bristol last night. It was just a shame that it seemed to take the crowd a little while to get going and that the turnout was not a little better. Performance-wise, though, Delain were great. I think that the current line-up has a lot to add to the band's legacy and I really like Leah as a singer even if she still seems a bit reserved as a frontwoman. The band are sure to keep growing, though, and I will always make the effort to see them when they return to the UK.
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