The Bloodstock Chucklefactor
Edguy are generic. There is no way of getting around this fact. Everything here has been done before. Iron Maiden, Hammerfall and Manowar are all heavily borrowed from. However, Edguy have added one thing to the mix that these other bands simply didn't have - humour. Tobias Sammet, Edguy lead vocalist, is exceptionally funny. The jokes he made throughout the show were very funny, and he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand the whole time.
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So as a result, Edguy aren't really that generic in a live setting. Edguy did not play as many songs as most of the other bands, because both the band and the crowd were much more energetic and interested between songs rather than during them.
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However, this is a metal festival, and as a result the people want metal, and metal is what we got. By the bucketload. Indeed, Edguy's set was a strong choice, the absolute highlight of the show being 'Tears Of A Mandrake', an epic seven minute sing along, neatly moved the crowd into the second half of the set and the roars of laughter from the crowd brought yet more people to experience a comedy act. Even the rain could not drive away the crowd, and as a result a huge proportion of the entire festival got to see a classic comedy metal act.
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On a more negative side, the infamous outdoor sound systems cursed Edguy. From my position of seven rows back, we could not hear any guitar or bass until the second half of the set, which was a great shame. Furthermore, due to the nature of Edguy's live set, they simply didn't have enough time to cover their vast discography, and as a result we missed rather a lot of the new album 'Hellfire Club'.
So whilst die hard metal fans may have been rather disappointed at Sammet's joking, anyone with a sense of humour had a big grin on their face, and when you've got thousands of people at a heavy metal festival smiling, you've got something pretty special.
To view all photos taken during this set click here. There are 37 available.