Live Reviews : Epica & Voyager @ Max Watts, Sydney 19/03/2016

Words: Martin Michea

Images: Carl Neumann

(Click here for the full gallery)

As autumn slowly creeps in over Sydney it seems only fitting that we gather for an evening of beer and epic(a) metal!

I arrive at Max Watt’s in Sydney fairly early this evening and there’s a pretty decent line outside already. When the doors opened up at 8.30 you could feel the anticipation rising as punters of all ages made their way into the venue.

Voyager is up first tonight, being special guests on the entire tour. At 8.55 the Perthians takes the stage to a decently crowded floor. This is the second time I have had the pleasure of watching Voyager on a somewhat bigger stage. My absolute love for the band is no secret, and I feel that I should be getting tired of repeating myself after each of their shows, but the fact is that they truly are the best Australian live band out there. The band slotted in perfectly as special guests, as their epic pop prog metal takes hold of every person that witness it live for the first time. The majority of the crowd might not be jumping around with every limb flailing like the crazy people on stage, but it seems like they appreciate the band all the same. Voyager covered most of the later part of their career during the night’s set. There are the obvious fan favourites such as Hyperventilating and Lost (which transitioned into Sandstorm by Darude, a masterstroke that got most of the audience going) but also some wildcards like You, the Shallow. When the 50 minutes are up, I asked the Epica fans around me what they thought about the set, and they all came to the same conclusion: “that was f***ing awesome!”

One of Voyager’s absolute key strengths, apart from the trademark energy is the sound. Somehow, no matter where they play or who they’re supporting the sound is always spot on. This would become even more evident later on in the night. I do believe that the band gained a fair few new fans tonight, and they completely deserve it.

After a brief pause, it is time for the main act of the evening. Epica is a band that I’ve been meaning to explore for many years. Before the beginning of this year I pretty much knew about two songs of theirs. As the Sydney concert was looming closer, I gave myself a crash-course in Dutch metal. I really love what I’ve heard so far, especially the songs from the band’s latest release The Quantum Enigma.

Max Watt’s isn’t quite sold out tonight from what I can tell, there’s a pretty big gap at the back of the room. Not that it really mattered however, as the people who turned up really gave it their all to make the band feel welcome. I’m half wondering if the fact that Sevendust are playing in the same city on the very same night had an impact on the ticket sales at all. I for one would have loved to attend both shows, but alas, one can’t have everything in this world.

Epica are sporting a wonderfully long and well-balanced setlist tonight, playing songs from every single album they have released. Opening up with one of many crowd favourites, The Second Stone, the band instantly sets the tone and tempo for the rest of the concert. Simone Simons isn’t doing much small talk between the songs and they’re progressing through the setlist in rapid fashion. Having been a fan of similar music to Epica’s for about a decade now I have obviously heard of Simone in the past, and I must say that she fronts the band in an excellent fashion. She definitely knows how to handle a crowd, and when to step back to let the other band members share the spotlight, which they did, be it through solos or talking to the Sydney punters. Guitarists Mark Jansen and Isaac Delahaye also know how to work the stage, and it’s clear that they’ve been doing this together for many years. Overall the band’s performance is extremely professional. Some of the highlights of the night are the moments when keyboardist Coen Janssen picks up his portable keyboard (maybe there is a word for this?) and walks around the stage. I really liked the setup tonight, having the guitarists flanking Simone, behind them Janssen is slotted to the left and drummer Ariën van Weesenbeek to the right. Bassist Rob van der Loo is wandering around all over the place most of the time. The band also rotates seamlessly on stage, making sure that each side of the crowd gets their fair share of every member.

I was curious about how Simone Simons would sound live, as she’s widely recognised as one of the best female metal vocalists today. After almost two hours I had mixed feelings. On one hand, her vocals are truly magnificent and at times jaw-dropping. But I also felt that there were some problems with Epica’s sound overall. I tried walking around the whole floor to see if I was just standing in a bad spot, and whilst the sound improved slightly at the back, it was still quite disappointing. The many backing tracks that holds a key role in the band’s sound were partially drowned by an overpowered bass and the kick drums. At times even the keyboards and Simone’s vocals took a backseat role in the sound picture. This is a shame. There were a few moments tonight that were goosebump-worthy, like the intro of Unchained Utopia for example. This is where this band truly stands out live, with the atmospheric and stripped down sound. However, it felt like some of my favourite studio tracks like Cry For The Moon and The Obsessive Devotion were close to becoming piles of mess. I felt that the sound was miles better during Voyager’s set and it’s a shame that the sound wasn’t at the same level during the main act.

I know that this sounds quite negative, but I think it is mostly because my expectations were really high tonight. I truly enjoyed myself for most of the time, but there were just small things that took away from an otherwise great evening.

All in all it was a great Saturday night in Sydney, where two bands brought truly epic metal to the table. Music is all about having fun after all, and this tour package made sure that the punters did just that. Keyboardist Coen Janssen told the audience that he’s hoping that they won’t have to wait another three years to come back to Australia. Based on the crowd’s energy tonight, I do believe that they agree completely.

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