Just got back from my world being rocked.
I dallied a bit at the merch stand because I couldn't pass up the green Moonglow t-shirt (it looks so damn good and aside from the Heineken-Haken one, which is dark-green, I didn't have any green t-shirts at all), so I ended up being in the second row to the side instead of front center which I wanted to do; the result was I couldn't hear most of the guitar solos because drums were drowning them out.
But my spot was behind two short girls so at least I could see the stage pretty well. Almost caught a pick from Oliver at the end when he strolled to our side of the stage. Sascha was throwing picks out all night but not even once he threw it anywhere close to me, and I was at his side of the stage too.
Oh well.
The setlist... well, I knew it beforehand, and it's pretty good overall, but I still think the absence of anything from TMoT is a disappointment. Also Lavender isn't a good way to introduce Bob Catley, in my opinion. They also had two Ghostlights songs (Let the Storm... and Master of the Pendulum) almost at the end of the setlist and the crowd seemed a bit worn-out for these songs which weren't as famous as the other ones. Shelter from the Rain, even without Tobias, got a much better reaction. Once again I want to reiterate how good Herbie Langhans is. I even brought my Beyond the Bridge CD in case he would be in the crowd after the show, but no luck, or maybe I just didn't wait long enough.
Surprisingly, I didn't miss Kiske at all, but I saw them live with him twice, so there's that. There are enough singers as it is, and it was really interesting to watch Tate, for example—he said it was a long time since he visited Russia—and man, for all the slack he gets, I thought he was pretty great. The combo of Alchemy / Invincible was one of the show highlights, as was The Raven Child, The Scarecrow (although I couldn't hear the guitar solos at all, which kinda took away from the middle part), Lucifer and The Story Ain't Over. And of course it never gets old to sing along to the Metal Opera tracks. Avantasia was such a joy to sing once again (and true to his tradition to fuck up the lyrics either on this one or Lost in Space whenever he's playing here, Tobias started to sing the second verse right off the bat—which drew a half-puzzled reaction from Tate).
I loved the gig, although I've got to say, three hours of this is almost a bit too much. Then again, it's not like they're playing here every half a year. I'm just glad this didn't take place on a working day.
Worth saying this again: I fucking love this green t-shirt. Everyone should grab it if you get the chance.