I'm exhausted, my legs are aching and my throat is raw, but damn, it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen.
I left the work earlier than usual to be in the first group that will enter the venue, and came there 4 hours before the show. There were only me and two other guys, and about 15 minutes later people started to arrive too, mostly directly from the autograph-session that was held somewhere else. The weather was cold and we were freezing a bit, I chatted with other people, asked the opinions about new album and stuff. From what I've got, it was pretty well received among Russian fans. One guy claimed SC is his favourite DT album, he should register here and post in Controversial Opinions thread.
We were allowed to enter after about three hours. There were three door to enter, I've got in first in our door, crazily ran to the stage only to find out no one even got there before me (as I learned later, there was some problem with the tickets from certain distributors). So I've picked the place directly in front of JLB, and waited. The band started the show exactly at 8 p.m., the intro video was freaking awesome. The crowd cheered most on SFAM (I cheered as hell on this), TOT and 8VM album covers. Then, of course, came TEI, and I hardly could hear James on it. It helped I knew the song and lyrics so I didn't get lost, but everything else was great.
I'm not a big fan of TSF, and while I hoped the live version would improve the song for me, it didn't happen; it ended up being my least favourite song off the setlist. OTBOA, however, was a highlight for me, James made the crowd sing the choir in the beginning, and we all were singing the chorus as well. The song is very recognizable now, and I think the choice to play it was indeed right. Then came TLG, which the crowd wasn't too excited about, unlike Trial of Tears. It was a brilliant performance live, people knew the song (to my surprise!) and we all sang and cheered and stuff, just great.
Enigma Machine looked kinda boring to me on an album, but live it's amazing. The movie really helps, and the drum solo MM is playing is fine: not too long, not too short, just right. AFTR and BAI ended the set on a high note, with people happily singing searching-out part. I'm really surprised at how good the crowd in the front rows was, very active. Only saw this on Blind Guardian concerts before (all this applies only to Russia, of course).
Intermission videos were damn hilarious, fifteen minutes flew by in an instant, and the second set was beyond any expectations. JLB freaking nailed The Mirror / Lie sequence and made it the best performance of the night for me. LSOAD was a breather after this heavy pair (before this song, JLB also mentioned that some guy in the back of the crowd showed him his bare chest while being carried on someone's shoulders and said "I don't want to see this shit, you know"
). Scarred was strange, as much as I like this song, it really doesn't work live very well. SDV, however, was another spotlight. Even though I still like the studio version better, this one was good too.
Illumination Theory is still disjointed, but I appreciate it a lot more after this night. It worked as the set closer just right, JLB was on fire and just owned everything, and then after a short suspense Overture 1928 came in, and the crowd once again surprised me doing the choir on Metropolis pt. 1 melody and on some other parts. TDOE was a bit dull, I felt there were too many instrumentals (although I realise James need to rest during these 3 hours), but Mangini did some crazy work on it still. Finally Free is where I let my remaining energy go, singing "One last time" line and shouting the "As their bodies" part as loud as my lungs and throat allow me.
The band was spectacular. The venue was great. The crowd was awesome. My only complaint is that from about 20 picks JP has thrown at us, I've caught none.
(damn, The Mirror / Lie was so amazing I can't even express it)
Two best pics among the ~50 I've took (mostly during the instrumental parts, because whenever JLB was in front, I was singing):
https://i.imgur.com/RtDSdDu.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/Qhw6Iic.jpg