I haven’t slept much the previous night, after the metal party and the Iron Maiden, Helloween and Rage concerts. Anyway, Helloween with Rage being two bands I love, I wanted to see another concert from that tour.

My friends Igor and Ricardo had to go back to Italy this evening, but before taking their planes they went to find Iron Maiden at their hotel.
I went to Christelle’s at 3 pm and we too her car to go to Antwerpen. We arrived there a couple of hours before the show, so we had the time to drink a couple of Belgian beers.

The Hof Ter Lo is a very nice venue. My first concert there was Savatage, in 2001. It’s quite big, it can accommodate maybe some 1700 people, and the floor is inclined like a ramp, so even if you’re in the back, you can see the show.

A very cool in Belgium is that you don’t only have the Merchandising store of the band, you also have a mini Metal Market inside the venue, with stands selling CDs, DVDs and merchandising. Of course, they aren’t allowed to sell anything from the band that’s playing, as there’s the official merchandise stand just beside.

Rage started their show with "War Of Worlds". The sound was good, clear and not so loud. But the light show was quite poor, and on the backdrop you could see the Helloween logo. That’s the problem when being the opening band; it’s someone else’s stage. Being Helloween’s opening band is a great opportunity, but I think Rage, with its long career, deserved a headlining tour. And that’s exactly what they did: anytime I’ve seen Rage afterwards, they have been the headliners.

This one was a good show, but can't be compared to the one the night before. Rage were opening for Helloween tonight, and you could see that it was Helloween's stage. In Paris they were doing a short headlining show, and the audience responded much better.

Anyway, they still played a very good show and gave all they could as an opening act.

Setlist was the same as the night before

Rage Set list: Antwerpen, Belgium, November 23, 2003.

1. War Of Worlds
2. Great Old Ones
3. Medley:
a. Sent By The Devil
b. Firestorm
4. Down
5. Guitar Solo
6. Soundchaser
7. Set This World On Fire
8. Drum Solo
9. Don't Fear The Winter
10. Higher Than The Sky

Links:

Rage Official Website
Rage My Space
Victor Smolski official website
Victor Smolski My Space
Mike Terrana officiel website
Mike Terrana My Space