Seven deadly sins…seven ways to win? Opening up for Epica, Seventh Sin could hardly be called the winner tonight. The audience was clearly waiting for Epica. Singer Monique Joosten shows that she can sing pretty well when they played their ballad song; unfortunately she struggles with the heavy songs in the set. She’s pretty close to the edge and regularly tips over. Maybe some singing lessons will help her. Besides that, there are just too many bands around in this genre. Most of them are way more distinctive. However, they did manage to get the first few rows enthusiastic. A spark, but not enough to set Perron 55 on fire.

 

No fire extinguishers needed when Epica walked on stage, but damn it was hot! And not because of the always lovely Simone Simons. By now the place was packed and Epica already won the audience completely over before even hitting a note. Obsessive devotion indeed. Working effortlessly through their setlist, Simone walks on and off the stage when she has no vocal lines. It gives me the feeling that she’s like a guest singer, I could be wrong though.

The contrast of two extremes, death grunts on one side, and female melodiousness on the other isn’t exactly my kind of stuff. But it is the kind of music that sells nowadays. As a testimony to their popularity, even the bartenders took pictures of the band. Almost every song is enthusiastically greeted. Only the Death cover ‘Crystal Mountain’ raised a few eyebrows and was clearly unknown to the younger part of the audience. Closing their set with ‘The Phantom Agony’ leaving the audience satisfied.