Things went very fast with Edge of Forever with me. I had not heard of the band until January. Then I saw Frontiers releasing an album in January on the very same day as Giant, Kandia, The Ferryman and Lalu. I ended picking up Giant and Lalu, but listened to some clips and liked Edge of Forever as well. Then I saw they would come to play Holland at Bel Air Breda. Well those plans were made, when we were in lockdown still, so what to trust? Actually it was even hard to get this show confirmed for me and only this week I could buy a ticket at the Bel Air page. Then Edge of Forever remastered their first three albums and released a box last week. Again Youtube gave me the chance to listen to these albums and they sounded at least as stromg. So my mind was made up I needed to see this band live. Lukewarm review in Aardschok or not (70 points, but compared with old Harem Scarem) So after an evening of Spanish Thrash metal in Baroeg I was now training the same way south, stopping a bit further down for some Italian melodic metal.
Well not just Italian, as Max Pie from Belgium would open the evening. I did not know what to expect on the audience side, but feared the worst. First the endless stream of good releases on the Frontiers label, makes that bands can get overlooked and second Bel Air remains this venue for the connaiseurs, but not the masses. Upon arrival I bumped into Wendy at the door, so beers could be shared during the evening and talks updated after a two year blackout. She knew the vocalist of Max Pie, as he turned out to be the man behind PPM festival, that legendary Power and Prog metal event in Belgium I managed to miss every year. At least it brought hopes up for the Max Pie show with me and they were a nice band indeed. Maybe not the most original which happens in this style, but decent songs and good playing made it a pleasant opener. Pity that the vocals were a bit soft in the mix. A nice way to open teh evening indeed.
After a very short break Edge of Forever kicked of their show with their epic title track of the last album Seminole. Well that was a shock, as they were much heavier than on CD and sounding perfect. At first I thought that animal (Marco Di Salvia) behind the drums would be the hero of the evening, as his opening hammering was amazing, but it turned out that all four musicians were of the outstanding kind. This was a show I was so much looking out for. Not only bringing me back to live music, but also straight back to the late eighties. I did see where the Harem Scarem comparison came from at times, but also the heavier end of a band like Tyketto popped up with me at times. On vocals Alessandro Del Vecchio turned out to be a killer vocalist. And during a few songs he showed to be a decent keyboard player as well, after all on the first albums he did not sing yet. The set of some 75 minutes flew by in a haze and man was I pleased to be in Bel Air last night. The last song of the regular set was according to Alessandro their best song. Indeed Wrong Dimension was a killer track and suddenly we got all kinds of Dio vibes coming of the stage. Opening in a Stargazer way, through Heaven and Hell and several Dio like tunes this was a highlight. I found a new favorite melodic metal band, that I definitely will follow closely from now on.
The merch stand had their full discography including the remasterd opening trio at decent prices, so expect a ranking later this year, when I know all better. Live music is back and now we realize how much we missed nights like this. On that subject, I want to suggest a rule with all touring bands. Both bands tonight (as well as the bands yesterday) stated how pleased they were to be back on stage. This is the truth, even more so for the bands themselves than for the fans. So in March every band can repeat they misssed touring and meeting their fans. In April bands already played for weeks and the really gig-going fans saw a few shows already as well. So the incrowd knows we both missed each other. Luckily yesterday I saw some more familiar faces and it was not completely empty in Bel Air. Yet those thousands of people posting over the past two years how much they missed live shows, tonight apparently preferred to watch some telly at home. I can not recommend my friends to go and see Edge of Forever as tonight they play already in Switzerland. Alessandro and Marco will be back in Bela Air with Hardline 9 April. Unfortunately I am back in Portugal by then, still I can recommend you go and see them.
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