History lesson, but in cool – SERENITY in Leipzig

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Did you know that I really wanted to be an archaeologist when I was younger? I always found history incredibly exciting as a child and even though I wasn’t drawn to this field in the end, the fascination has somehow remained. Maybe that’s also the reason why I love music with historical themes so much… One band that has always stood out for me in this context is SERENITY. On their tour, there was a stop in Leipzig on February 17th, which of course I couldn’t miss! Also on the bill were TEMPERANCE, TULIP and FLOWERLEAF.

Huge thanks to Stefan Bollmann for the pictures! Make sure to check out hie new Instagram page @mainlyguitars!

FLOWERLEAF

I have to admit right at the beginning that I missed half of the set, which was very short anyway. Unfortunately, when you do interviews, things sometimes get delayed.

Stylistically, the band around front woman Vivs Takahashi played clean and solid Symphonic Metal, which certainly suited the broad taste of those present.

Unfortunately, it didn’t really speak ti me. There is a lot of competition in the field of Symphonic Metal and at the moment I don’t think FLOWERLEAF are able to stand out musically. If the band finds something that makes them really unique and makes them stand out, it could be really good. At the moment, I’m still missing that. The individual band members were also a bit restrained, but this will certainly improve with more live experience. I’ll keep an eye on the band and see how they develop. Then my impression will certainly change again!

TULIP

Under the aforementioned circumstances, my expectations of TULIP were all the higher. I hadn’t heard of the band from Texas before, so I was immediately surprised!

TULIP also play Symphonic Metal, which is complemented in places by almost metalcore-like stylistic elements. The mixture was really interesting and really appealed to me. The band also seemed more at home on stage, so the energy they conveyed immediately felt much better to me.

Only the cover of KATY PERRY’s Dark Horse was a bit too much for me. In my opinion, if you don’t have much time anyway, you should rather present your own songs than cover songs by other artists.

TEMPERANCE

But then it continued on strong with TEMPERANCE. The Italian-American band opened their set with Daruma and proved to me once again why I love listening to them so much! In addition to the relaxed way they perform, all the band members simply have so much fun with their art that you just have to join in.

The set was a wonderful mixture of well-known songs from the band, such as Diamanti, and also songs from the current album Hermitage – Daruma’s Eyes Pt. 2, such as Welcome to Hermitage. If you like Symphonic Metal, you simply can’t ignore TEMPERANCE! From the vocal power to the good songwriting to the simple joy of the music, everything is on offer here. Simply amazing!

SERENITY

I already said it in November, on the occasion of the POWERWOLF show, but SERENITY are simply a band close to my heart. Of course, that also means that I have certain standards when it comes to the live performances…

The long-awaited headliner of the evening around singer Georg duly kicked off the 1.5 hour set with the song The Fall of Man. The current album, Nemesis AD, is also a musical history lesson, so everyone present certainly learned something new!

Musically, there was a lot to get out of the evening, after all, it was the first time I’d consciously heard Velatum live! For those who don’t know, this was the first single for which there was a video and that was so long ago that Georg still had hair!

I also particularly enjoyed the joint performance by Souls and Sins, for which TEMPERANCE singer Michele found his way back on stage.

Unconventional, on the other hand, was a small, built-in acoustic set that included FALLEN SANCTUARY’s Broken Dreams and my personal favorite song from their latest album Soldiers under the Cross. The atmosphere reminded me a lot of their performance at the Hard Rock Cafe in Innsbruck 2019 or their Memoria record. If you couldn’t be there on these occasions, you can at least get a taste of the Memoria feeling!

It’s always difficult to get a good atmosphere out of the calmer acoustic sets, but the band did a very good job of it by heating up the party atmosphere again with Legacy of Tudors.

All in all, it was another incredibly wonderful evening with a band that always makes me laugh and dream and for whom I would gladly go somewhere again anytime!