Xandria - Birmingham Review

This past weekend was another pretty lengthy one, including plenty of travelling, problems on the railway, and live music. My last post here covered an excellent Friday night spent in Bristol in the company of Marillion - one of my very favourite bands. Marillion concerts always feels like special events, and Friday was no different, and it was great seeing the band again - even if it was Marillion show number 13 for me! Whatever was going to follow Marillion was likely to struggle in comparison - and the task fell to the German symphonic metal act Xandria, who kicked off their latest, lengthy European tour last week with a run of UK shows. In support of their strong new album Eclipse (which I reviewed here), Xandria's tour is likely one of the longest they have done for a while - at least as a headline act. I have been following the band since around 2012 but, before Saturday, had only seen them live once before - which was back in 2023 when I saw them opening for Delain in London. That show is one that really lives in the memory - with both Delain and Xandria delivering excellent performances. Both bands at the time had recently undergone pretty significant line-up changes, with both of those line-ups still finding their feet after recently releasing new albums. Both of the break-ups which led to the line-up changes seemed quite fraught, too, so there was certainly a strong vibe of 'please still like us' coming from the stage that night. Three years on, though, the current era of Xandria is now going strong - and with plenty of shows under their belts, plus a second album, so any drama seems long behind them. There has been some changes, though, with band leader Marco Heubaum switching from guitar to bass guitar, at least live, and the band operating as a four-piece, but the current era, fronted by Ambre Vourvahis feels well-entrenched at this point - despite the many eras which have already passed in Xandria's history. Whilst the band are not one of my favourites, I would consider myself quite a big fan - so it is perhaps a surprise that Saturday's show was my first time seeing them as a headline act. They have been pretty regular visitors to the UK over the years - but, for whatever reason, I just never made the effort. I remember that they returned to the UK later in 2023 for a few headline shows, with Skarlett Riot in support, which I was certainly interested in - but sadly any plan to get to one of those shows just did not work. As such, when the band's current tour was announced earlier this year, I knew that I had to try again - and the Birmingham show tied in nicely with the Marillion show that I already had booked. The venue, the O2 Institute 2, is one that I like - but it is not one that I had visited too often. I have never really liked the main room upstairs, but this smaller room has always led to enjoyable experiences - and it has symphonic and power metal pedigree for me as I saw both Edguy and Delain there many years ago. It had been a few years since I visited the venue, though, with a 2022 show by The Quireboys, from memory, my last time there. I will be seeing Haken there early next year, which I am looking forward to, so it will not be such a long wait before my next trip into Digbeth. As such, then, it was from Bristol to Birmingham that I journeyed on Saturday - although the train journey was not as straight forward as it should have been. Nothing was running through Cheltenham Spa due to signalling issues - so I ended up having to travel via Reading, turning an 80 or so minute journey into one that took over three hours. I left much earlier than I had planned to, though, so I ended up in Birmingham around the same time as was originally planned - only to learn that the train I was supposed to have taken was one of the first to travel through the affected area after the lines re-opened.

Travel drama aside, which sadly is becoming a regular feature of gigging trips away, it was good to be back in Birmingham - and soon I was waiting in the O2 Institute 2 for the night to start. I seem to remember reports of the band's 2023 shows suggests that crowds were on the thin side - but the Birmingham show was fairly well attended I thought, at least considering the band's small stature here in the UK. A decent bill likely helped to shift some tickets, though, with the Texan four-piece Tulip kicking things off. I had seen Tulip live once before, opening for Serenity in London in 2024 - but I had not really checked them out properly since. I remember somewhat enjoying their set in London a couple of years ago, and my view on Saturday's set is largely similar. Fronted by Ashleigh Semkiw, Tulip are largely a quite modern-sounding alternative metal band - with the occasional symphonic and atmospheric flourish. The riffing from Colin Parrish (vocals/guitar) and Cody Casillas (guitar) was largely grinding and heavy, with little in the way of instrumental showboating. Parrish did throw in the occasional solo, as well as the occasional harsh vocal bridge, but generally the band's riffs were groovy and heavy - with drummer Dylan Gowan, on loan from and doing double duty with the other support act Seven Spires throughout this tour it seems, laying down some tight, muscular post-thrash grooves. Semkiw's quite poppy vocal approach nicely contrasted with this riffy onslaught - and there was quite a lot of light and shade in the band's sound as a result. In truth, calling Semkiw a poppy singer does her a bit of a disservice. There were certainly more powerful and even some semi-operatic moments from her - but generally she just sang in a pleasingly melodic manner, grooving nicely along with the big riffs. Tulip certainly have something of a distinct sound as a result - and I enjoyed their 30 or so minutes on stage again last night. Given that is twice that I have enjoyed the band live now, I probably should do them a favour and actually give some of their material a proper listen.

There was only a short break between the evening's two support acts so, as mentioned before, it was not long before the Boston-based four-piece Seven Spires took to the stage. Gowan had barely had time to have a break before he was called upon again - with the unique and dynamic band delivering 40 or so minutes of technical, heavy, and symphonic music that is quite unlike anything else. Like Tulip, I had seen Seven Spires live once before -  as I caught them in Manchester last year opening for Sonata Arctica. I have nearly all of the band's albums, and enjoy them whilst feeling that I have only just scratched the surface, but live they are a different beast. If their long albums can be quite hard to sit through due to how much of an aural assault they can be, live the band seem so much more direct. This is likely, in large, down to frontwoman Adrienne Cowan - a singer and performer in a league of her own. She is an excellent musician and composer, too, as the band's albums can attest, but live she gets to focus on singing - with a dynamic mix of warm, powerful clean vocals and black metal-esque shrieks her USP. I enjoyed seeing the band live last year, but I remember the sound mix being a bit muffled - but on Saturday they sounded very powerful indeed. Kicking off with the lengthy Songs Upon Wine-Stained Tongues, the band delivered a headline-worthy performance. Cowan was always the focus, her perfect vocal delivery and strong stage presence capturing every glance - but the rest of the band are just as key. Few can pull of fluid, tapped runs on his instrument like Peter de Reyna (bass guitar/vocals) can - whilst Jack Kosto (guitar) is full of neo-classical tricks to anchor the band's larger-than-life material. There were clearly quite a few fans in attendance, and Seven Spires were likely the band of the night when it came to the audience's reaction. Bands that do something different tend to turn heads - and I am sure that the powerful performance and generous sound mix gained Seven Spires a few new fans. It was good to hear a few different songs to those performed last year, too. Almosttown was an early highlight, with its good mix of gritty power metal and plenty of progressive flair, whilst the somewhat poppy Lightbringer reined in some of the band's usual excess to instead just focus on big hooks. Semkiw joined the band to duet with Cowan on that number, reflecting the two bands' long-standing friendship due to touring together previously, whilst she also showcased some proper operatic tendencies during a brief segment of the lengthy Love's Souvenir - where she followed a particular heavy section dominated by Cowan's harsh vocals with something more angelic. I would have been happy for Seven Spires to play for much longer, but sadly it was soon time for Gods of Debauchery and the end of the band's set. I can only hope that next time Seven Spires return to the UK they do so as a headliner - as hearing more from this excellent band live is something I am keen to experience. The setlist was:

A Fortress Called Home

Songs Upon Wine-Stained Tongues

Almosttown

Succumb

Lightbringer [w/ Ashleigh Semkiw]

Love's Souvenir [w/ Ashleigh Semkiw]

Wanderer's Prayer

Gods of Debauchery

Given the excellence of Marillion the night before, and Seven Spires' strong set, Xandria felt a little destined to disappoint. Whilst I do not think that they actually disappointed, their pretty typical symphonic metal felt a little one-dimensional to what came before. Given that the turnout was not exactly poor, too, the atmosphere in the room never felt that strong. Seven Spires had received a stronger reception, with Xandria instead receiving a warm, if somewhat muted, one. This was a shame, as I still think that Xandira put on a good show - but sometimes a support act just shines that bit brighter. Focusing on the positives, though, the band played much of their strong new album - kicking off with a powerful one-two punch of Eclipse and Colours. These were two of the heavier numbers of the night, with both featuring some harsh vocals from Vourvahis. I remember Vourvahis really impressing as a live singer when I saw the band before, but I did not feel that she was as strong this time. I think that she was having issues with her in-ear monitors at times, which cannot have helped, but she sounded a bit timid and flat at times - which was a shame. This was especially the case on the older songs performed - particularly those from the era where the band went all-out on operatic-style singers. She sounded strong on the more gothic anthem Ravenheart, but Forevermore later on did not fare so well in my opinion. Vourvahis can do operatic vocals to an extent, but she did not feel as powerful as I was expecting. On the newer songs, though, she largely sounded strong. The EP-only anthem Universal was new to me, but it came across well live - whilst the folky single The Shannon's Home was something of a highlight thanks to its big chorus and jig-like melodies. It was also one of the songs which Rob Klawonn (guitar) really shone on. As he is currently the only guitarist in the band's ranks, with Heubaum now on bass as previously mentioned, he had to do a lot of heavy lifting - but his riffing throughout was strong, whilst his soloing was busy. The folky The Shannon's Home allowed for some big guitar leads, too, and he even ended it with some acoustic guitar playing. That folky vibe was later returned to during Northstar, with more excellent guitar playing from Klawonn, but before that there was time for a few different vibes. The somewhat longer Two Worlds allowed for a slightly heavier, more progressive sound - whilst there was also a ballad in the form of The Last Generation played. The latter saw Vourvahis more at her best, and early on she stood alone on the stage to perform the gentle intro - before the rest of the band slowly joined in. Despite enjoying Seven Spires more, I still felt that Xandria's time on stage passed pretty quickly - and it was not long before a main set-closing version of Reborn received quite a strong reception. As the band left the stage, though, there was an awkward silence for a brief period - before some half-hearted calls for an encore started and the intro of Valentine started playing. A three-song encore followed, although I am not sure the crowd really deserved it, with the operatic Valentine and Nightfall looking back to the past somewhat. These were not Vourvahis' strongest moments, either, but the lengthy Lore that ended the night fit the bill more appropriately - with the dynamic and more progressive number a strong way to end the night. The setlist was:

Syzygy

Eclipse

Colours

Ravenheart

Universal

The Shannon's Home

Forevermore

The Grand Delusion

Two Worlds

The Last Generation

Northstar

Reborn

-

Valentine

Nightfall

Lore

I enjoyed my time with Xandria on Saturday, even if the crowd never really seemed to get that into the show - and with Vourvahis perhaps not at her best. It was good to see a headline-length set from the band after so many years, though - and with a decent-sized Birmingham crowd gathered. The band of the night for me though was Seven Spires - and I hope to see them again soon, this time with more time to allow their unique music to truly shine.