Artmania 2013, Sibiu, 9-10.08.13

Day 1

Amaranthe

I used to strongly dislike Elize Ryd, she seemed very stuck up and self centered and vain and cold and unable to interact on stage with anyone else but her hair, but I must admit that she is much more tolerable in Amaranthe than she is with Kamelot. They were surprisingly fun! My favourite was the grunting dude, who's like a little troll in the background coming out to spoil the pretty pretty music of pretty pretty people.
It's a hilarious combination between the cheesy and childlike parts of Elize and the clean male singer on one side and the grunts and stage presence of the big hairy dude on the other side, but it's hilarious in a good way and that's exactly what makes them fun and enjoyable on stage. And Elize, while still having a pretty generic and unmemorable voice and relying heavily on looks (btw, she's smoking hot, gotta give her that), was a whole lot less artificial and vain then what I've seen of her in Kamelot and in videos. In fact, she seemed to honestly enjoy herself and genuinely have fun on stage, both her and the band were a pleasant surprise. I was preparing to hide looks of contempt from the fans, but I ended up smiling and bouncing around. That was nice :)

Haggard

What more can I say about this amazing band after seeing it for the fourth time and still not getting bored of it in the slightest? That they made their soundcheck using the main theme from Game of thrones and everyone started cheering? That Su is gorgeous and talented and sweet and crazy and it’s a pleasure to watch her? That every note of theirs sounds perfect even though they’re a mini-orchestra without a conductor? Or that every time I listen to their beautiful beautiful music and watch them have so much fun on stage and be so genuinely happy to be there is magic? I guess the fact that I went to Sibiu almost solely to see them, even though they’re the only band I’ve seen so many times pretty much sums it up...

Within Temptation

I used to enjoy WT very much, but I’m not really feeling this new direction of theirs and I wouldn’t have gone all the way to Sibiu for them (or any of the other bands except Haggard, for that matter). Once the deed was done, though, I started getting pretty excited about finally seeing them (they once were a favourite of mine, after all), but sadly they turned out to be by far the weakest band of the whole festival. Sharon is a princess, she's lovely, she's talented, she's energetic, she's fun, she's beautiful, she has a voice of gold but that’s not enough to hold a whole band together. I knew she’s the star of the show, but I didn’t know the rest of the band is completely absent. The boys were probably the most uninteresting crowd I’ve ever seen, there was nothing making the band captivating as an audience member other then Sharon’s stage presence.

I’m gonna leave aside the fact that there were too many songs from the last album because I knew this was how it was going to be and chose to stay see them regardless. But it was their overall performance that left me really numb. And judging by the audience’s reaction, I wasn’t the only one. I feel like they didn’t interact with the crowd enough, Sharon said a few words and did the already classic UUU with the audience for Ice queen, but that was pretty much it. Not enough in my book, I felt a barrier between us and them and considering the crowd had been amazing for both the first two bands that night and those the second night (even though the first day was terribly hot and the second day was even more interesting meteorogically), I dare say we were pretty receptive. Everyone else got a really really warm reception, even the opening bands and even those who had to overcome the crappy weather, while Within Temptation, being the headliner and having perfect conditions, barely got the audience warmed up during the encore.

I expected a whole lot more and even though I bickered a lot about them lately, I was genuinely excited, I kept telling my husband that I can’t wait for WT and that it’s going to be one of the best bands on the festival. Unfortunately it was quite the opposite, even the bands I didn’t know very well or didn’t expect to like left me with more positive words to say then WT (in fact, I was pleasantly surprised by everyone else, they were the only ones that surprised me unpleasantly).

Day 2

Xandria

Xandria is another band I used to really like a while back and that I’ve been very disappointed with recently. With Lisa’s departure also left all their individuality and charm and on their last album you could easily mistake them for Amberian Dawn, Edenbridge, Unsun and the rest of the clones that have a classically trained singer and an orchestra and think that's enough to make it in the world of symphonic metal.

However, even if I missed Lisa's arabic inflexions and warm exotic voice that wasn't about getting as high and as powerful as possible, but about matching the ethereal atmosphere of the music, I was in for a surprise. I knew and liked Manuella from Haggard and then was slightly disappointed with her presence in Xandria, but at Artmania I realised she’s actually pretty badass (at least compared to the other ladies with similar voices and fronting similar bands). She has this fierceness about her and she totally dominates both the stage and the audience, she channels a lot of power. I was a bit „mad” with her because she brought this change of style that I don’t like, but she’s really kickass. She’s a very good frontwoman and has an impressive voice, so I’m starting to really warm up to her and she made Xandria’s live performance really enjoyable.

Orphaned Land

No matter how much I love Haggard and how pleasantly surprised I was by Amaranthe and Xandria, it was Orphaned Land that were this festival’s revelation. I knew of them and even saw part of them at Sonisphere a while back, but I don’t know why they never clicked with me. I tend to do that a lot, to not pay much attention to a band and then be completely blown away.... at some point. Usually when I see them live, but I guess it’s also a matter of how, not only of when. Anyway, the time was right for my Orphaned Land obsession to develop :)) Their music is very melodic and catchy (even though they used to be a death metal band and they still have plenty of grunts), Kobi is a very charismatic frontman and even if I heard some people complaining about their traditional Israeli influences and calling them “manele metal”, most of the audience was fascinated. We stayed very far from the stage because my back was killing me and I needed space to sit down, but in the front it was crazy. People were waving their arms and jumping and singing along and even though I was a bit sad to miss all the fun, I have to admit the view of the crowd was beautiful. I don’t think most of the audience knew Orphaned Land well, at first everyone was very contained (which was very atypical for that particular crowd), so the fact the band managed to get such an enthusiastic response from the audience is a testament to how good they were live.

Lacrimosa

Lacrimosa was the most disadvantaged band of the festival. Or advantaged, I still can’t decide which one was it. During the break before their show, the sky tore apart and it started pouring cats and dogs, so everyone gathered under the large umbrellas in the back. Now imagine 2000 something strangers crammed together under six sun umbrellas! We were cold, we were hot and then cold again, we smelled like wet puppies and yet we were all hyped. It was one of the most bonding and energetic experiences we could’ve possibly had. The band tried to postpone the starting hour as much as possible, but when it became clear the rain wouldn’t let down and when we all started to cheer from under our umbrellas far away from the stage, screaming and clapping every time the thunder came like it was a drum solo and not a storm we were witnessing, they decided to finally start the show. And it was magical! I can’t seem to make up my mind about Lacrimosa, sometimes I’m fascinated and intrigued by them, other times I find them boring and too angsty. I guess they’re one of those bands that need a certain atmosphere to be enjoyed properly and there’s seriously nothing better than a cold stormy night to match their music. It was a complete show, in complete unity of the band, the audience and nature and it was grand.