AVANTASIA
The Esperantohalle - Fulda, Germany
December 18, 2010

OK, I saw Avantasia in Kaufbeuren two weeks earlier, but sometimes one gig is not enough.
This Avantasia tour is something historical and this concert was going to be a big party.
Why? Not only because it was saturday night, but mostly because Fulda is the hometown of Edguy, Tobias Sammet's main band.

But it was not easy.
If you were travelling in Europe in December 2010, you certainly remember the chaos that snow caused.
Cancelled planes, traffic jams, late trains, uncertainty at train stations and airports… I was trapped in different means of transports during the whole day, starting at 7AM, but I finally could make it to Fulda for the Avantasia show, after 13 hours of travel!

I got to the Esperantohalle a bit late so I was furious! 13 hours of travel and I missed the begining of the show! But I was there, and that's what matters!

The concert in Fulda was sold-out and the atmosphere was incredible! Most people were singing the songs, and among the first rows everyone was headbanging, dancing and moshing.

Avantasia didn't have an opening band, so they played a 2:40 long setlist!
That's something great, and also quite rare.
Few bands play that long nowadays. I think that in 2010 I only saw Guns'n'Roses and Metallica playing for more tha 2 and a half hours...

Tobias Sammet was in a really good mood. He made a lot of jokes during the whole show, and wrned the rest of the band about not saying bad words because his mother was in the audience ;-)

He said this was the first concert in Fulda for everyone in the band, except of course for Tobi and Felix Bohnke, who play in Edguy too.

This was the next-to-last concert of the Avantasia Metal Opera Comes To Your Town Tour, so Tobias said a few words about the other dates... He said they've been to Sweden, where is very cold, to Japan where men have different eyes, and to South America... He stated that when they came back to Germany it felt like the holiday was over, but instead they found themselves at home in Fulda for the best concert of the tour!
"Fulda, ihr seid die Geilsten!"

I must say that I agree with him! Altough the Kaufbeuren concert was great, the atmosphere here was wonderful!

Tobias' sense of humour also served to introduce the song Lost In Space as "a sh*t pop song" which reached n°8 in the German charts, thus making Avantasia a band of sell-outs!

When introducing the band, Tobias used superlatives for all the musicians: Olliver Hartmann as the best guitarist, Miro as the best keybord player, Robert Hunecke as the best bass player and Felix Bohnke as the best drummer in the world.

About Sasha Paeth, he said he was the best producer, and the man without whom Avantasia wouldn't exist today!

And because Avantasia is "a real metal band", they needed another guitar player: Kai Hansen, who played the encores.

Tobi also introduced Kiske as every wanted to: Michael Kiske from Helloween! Well, the Helloween years are long gone but the albums he recorded remain a great influence for many musicians.

When Tobi said that people were waiting for this moment for almost 20 years, well Michael Kiske replied that a lot people in the audience were not even born 20 years ago!

Tobias also talked about football, as there were some games that day... he announced some results on stage... and everybody screamed when he spoke about St Pauli FC.

As the show was coming to an end, all singers got on stage and during The Seven Angels, I was so touched that I even drop a few tears...

What a magical evening!

Next step will be Wacken 2011, but an indoors show is never the same than a 80 000+ people festival.
But it seems that the last Avantasia concert with this line-up will be at Wacken, so be there if you have the chance!

As for this tour, it will remain forever in my mind as one of the best I've seen!

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Setlist Avantasia – The Esperantohalle - Fulda, Germany – December 18, 2010

01. Twisted Mind
02. The Scarecrow
(with Jørn Lande)
03. Promised Land
(with Jørn Lande)
04. Serpents in Paradise
(with Jørn Lande)
05. The Story Ain't Over
(with Bob Catley)
06. Prelude
07. Reach Out for the Light
(with Michael Kiske)
08. The Tower
(with Michael Kiske)
09.Death Is Just a Feeling
(with Kai Hansen)
10. Lost in Space
11. In Quest For
(with Bob Catley)
12. Runaway Train
(with Jørn Lande,Michael Kiske,Bob Catley)
13. Dying for an Angel
(with Michael Kiske)
14. Stargazers
(with Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Oliver Hartmann and without Tobias Sammet)
15. Farewell
(with Amanda Somerville)
16. The Wicked Symphony
(with Jørn Lande,Michael Kiske,Oliver Hartmann)
————————————
17. The Toy Master
(with Kai Hansen)
18. Shelter From the Rain
(with Michael Kiske,Kai Hansen on guitar)
19. Avantasia
(with Michael Kiske,Kai Hansen on guitar)
20.Sign of the Cross / The Seven Angels
(with Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley,Oliver Hartmann, Amanda Somerville, Kai Hansen on guitar)

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Avantasia Line-up: