Warrel Dane, Hard Rock Cafe, 13.09.16

“Just let us play the fucking song!” Ah, Warrel, such a treat! When he announced that he will play the full Dead heart in a dead world album, I expected emotion, angst and a heartbreaking burden. We got that alright, but we also got a very positive and jovial Warrel Dane. For a man who sings about despair and madness, he really doesn’t take himself very seriously, and it was exactly this unexpected combination that made the show enjoyable. But let’s start with the beginning.

Dreamrites are a young band from Greece that is basically a walking Iron Maiden tribute. The bassist is pretty much Bruce Dickinson’s (looks) and Steve Harris’ (behaviour) love child, the lead singer sounds and acts almost exactly like Bruce and the music…. yup, total fanboys. They even ended the show with a Powerslave cover, to eliminate all doubt, if there was any left. And I say it in the most positive way possible, they were very endearing, especially when they told us it’s the first time they play outside of their country and made the public go “aww, now we really have to make them feel welcome”. They were clearly nervous and the lead singer slipped a few times with his voice, but the music was good and they were friendly so I enjoyed their performance.

And now back to Warrel Dane. I still don’t know if the show was very short or felt very short and it ended rather abruptly, with Warrel declaring that this will be the last song, no discussion, no pretence and going straight into Born. I liked the approach, especially since the “now we’re going to make it look like we’re leaving, but the encore is already written on the setlist we have glued to the stage” trend is a bit ridiculous, but still, he ended the song, waved and left. I didn’t even realise it was over.

Other than that, it was quite a pleasant experience. Warrel is a very quirky fellow (to put it mildly, since I love the guy). On one hand, he’s so theatrical in his performance, moving his hands and literally shaking from the intensity of his singing. It’s impossible to not feel your heart twitch when he’s playing, the music is already emotionally heavy, but when combined with his interpretation (especially live) it’s even more so. There were a few moments when I was in my world, just listening to the music and not caring about anything else. On the other hand, the seconds between songs? Totally different guy. Funny, relaxed, joking, goofing around and arguing with some dude in the audience about the setlist. The best part was that all this show was put up for a handful of people. Don’t get me wrong, I think he deserved a better and larger audience, but the way he acted said a lot about his dedication and professionalism.

There was a thing that got to me even more: we had a very excited fangirl in the front row, singing all the lyrics and waving her arms and generally being over the moon with happiness at seeing Warrel Dane and at some point he noticed her and looked straight at her for almost half of the song. It was like they were singing to each other and there was no one else in the room but them. It was so sweet and I imagine it was very special for her.

I can’t end by not saying a few things about the location because in my opinion it’s the reason this show was ok instead of really really good. To put it shortly, Hard Rock Cafe is not a suitable location for metal concerts in any way, shape or form and I have no idea why the organisers keep using it. Just because it has “hard rock” in the name, doesn’t mean it’s actually destined for it. I touched the issue briefly after the Arjen Lucassen show and I thought maybe the crowd’s apathy had something to do with the artist, or the fact it was an acoustic show, but now I’m starting to think it’s truly because of the location. Leaving aside the fact that it has a giant bar in the middle and several pillars that block the view from probably half of the corners of the venue, the idea of sitting at a table and maybe even eating while an artist is rocking on stage and giving his all is incompatible with the electricity and intensity of metal shows. Even when standing up (which most of us did because seriously, it’s Warrel Dane, not chamber music), there’s still very little room to do anything among the tables and the waiters keep coming and going and you have to look out for them and their porcelains and glasses. I felt I couldn’t let myself loose and judging by how tame most of the people were, I’m thinking I wasn’t the only one.

In the end though I had fun, mostly because Warrel is such an interesting and captivating performer, quickly going from emotion to emotion and taking you along for the ride. He’s “out there” enough to be intriguing and develop an extremely loyal fanbase, but he’s not that out there to stop being relatable and likable. As with many others, I wasn’t very familiar with him as an artist, I just listened to the music without seeing him perform or give interviews. I didn’t exactly know what to expect from him or his show, but he definitely made an impression, he’s quite the memorable showman, in his own special way- which means without “hey hey”, “let me see your hands”, running around the stage, jumping, kicking, rubbing the microphone and all those heavy metal cliches (which work for some, but manage to look forced for most). He just sinks into his music and for me that is more genuine and powerful than all the “entertaining” gestures in the world.