The co-headline is a safety net for many involved. The two headliners get support from each other’s fanbases and the audience gets to experience another band that they may not have previously engaged with, with the security of knowing they’ll like at least one band. This latest co-headline tour features Epica and Amaranthe, two powerhouses of European power metal, albeit with very different interpretations of the genre. Charlotte Wessels acted as direct support.
First up was Charlotte Wessels, a highly versatile vocalist most notable for her time in Delain. For a power metal band, their sound had a great deal of heaviness as the extended range guitars had this brilliant snarl and drummer Joey Marin de Boer delivered a bombastic performance that managed to have some versatility and subtlety when it needed to on tracks like ‘The Crying Room‘.
Guitarist Timo Somers also had some stellar guitar work throughout the set and fit in some iconic guitar faces as he filled out an already massive sound. Charlotte sounded amazing as usual, and with the upcoming bill being filled with some of the best vocalists in the genre, it was a relief to see her hold her own amongst titans of the genre. Tracks like ‘After Us, The Flood‘ and ‘The Exorcism‘ showed off a progressive side of the band with grand and elegant storytelling. Be sure to check out their latest album, The Obsession, you won’t be disappointed.
There’s nowhere else to put this but the bassist’s name is Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije. The only thing better than his performance is his name.
Next up was Epica, a band that helped shape the symphonic metal genre into what it is today: an expansive, sprawling, borderline progressive metal empire. The haunting intro of ‘The Apparition‘ saw vocalist Simone Simons backlit as some kind of spectre, accompanied by supremely heavy guitar riffing and symphonies that filled out this already massive sound.
While I started the show from the standing area, I moved upstairs to the Apollo seating area and that’s when the show really showed off its scale. Tracks like ‘Unleashed‘ and ‘Cross the Divide‘ were accompanied by these epic visuals that were, by some miracle, not AI. It seemed like all these visuals were carefully thought out and accompanied the music beautifully. Further tracks like ‘Fight to Survive‘ featured some of the most metal screensavers ever devised and it was glorious.
The highlight of these moments was the duet between Epica and Charlotte Wessels during ‘Sirens‘. The stage was flooded by dry ice fog as the two gave a stunning performance with some of the most incredible vocal chops you’re likely to find in the entire landscape of power symphonic metal.
The set was full of symphonic metal playlist essentials like the iconic choruses of ‘Cry for the Moon‘ and the emotionally demanding ‘Tides of Time‘. The show ended with the bombastic futuristic guitar work of ‘Beyond the Matrix‘, a staple of Epica‘s live show that fully encapsulated the sheer magnitude of the band as guitarist Isaac Delahaye and keyboardist Coen Janssen worked together to deliver an epic moment of power symphonic metal synergy.
Epica is an essential band for any self-respecting symphonic metal fan and their live show matches the sheer power they harness on the record. For some, this was the end of the night but for everyone else, it was just beginning.
Finally, Amaranthe appeared on stage accompanied by dramatic lighting and haunting spoken word passages before exploding into the one-two punch of ‘Viral‘ and ‘Fearless‘. The setlist was full of quite a bit of modern Amaranthe stuff, so if the peak moment in the band’s history is Manifest and The Catalyst then this is the show for you.
The older albums are still represented with tracks like ‘Digital World‘ and ‘The Nexus‘ still showing up, but it’s a bit disappointing noticing the absence of tracks like ‘Call Out My Name‘ and ‘Hunger‘ being left out of the setlist. The Eurovision-inspired metal is the biggest draw of Amaranthe and these later tracks don’t really give the best impression of them as it feels like they’ve toned down the cheese.
Amaranthe is once again a victim of the co-headline curse. Their shows with DragonForce in 2023 saw them struggle to keep up with the raw power and scale of DragonForce, and this is a similar situation. Epica thoroughly dominated and the sheer magnitude of their set absolutely dwarfed any attempt to match them. Amaranthe may have had more energy but at this type of show and venue, it’s all about presentation.
It’s unfortunate that Amaranthe were met with indifference by the Epica crowd, but it’s a risk that goes with taking part in a co-headline. There were still tracks that got high energy responses like the gamer anthem ‘PvP‘ and the overwrought power ballad ‘Amaranthine‘, which featured an American Idol-worthy performance from Elize Ryd. You could tell that there were still members of the audience that were very much into the show but not enough to carry them.
Amaranthe ended their set with ‘Drop Dead Cynical‘, a powerful bouncy track that got a solid reaction from even the most resistant of concertgoers. Perhaps it’s time for Amaranthe to have a go at solo headline tours in smaller venues at this point. Simply put, Amaranthe were epic but the other band was Epica.
Overall, it was a fantastic show with some minor gripes, but the highs massively outweigh the lows. The standard co-headline problems were there but at least each fanbase was introduced to a brand new band, and maybe they didn’t walk out as new fans but at least they showed up to support heavy metal and that’s really what matters, right? RIGHT!?!?
