Xandria with Phantom Elite and Skarlett Riot – Club Academy, Manchester

Xandria, the incredible symphonic metal band from Bielefeld, Germany are back in Manchester on their own headline tour. Last year the band toured on a joint tour with Visions of Atlantis but they’re back again with support from Phantom Elite and Skarlett Riot.

Tonight is the night of female fronted bands, showing you just how incredible the vocals these girls have! Sporting all black and long hair is Phantom Elite. I hate that these guys were on so early in the night but when it’s a Sunday the set times tend to be a bit of a letdown, these guys were incredible and an amazing opening act for sure, but this crowd from the second they came on were not fitting the vibe and the energy of the guys on that stage. And sadly this is something that carried on throughout the entire night.

These guys had the energy, they had the attitude and the kind of closeness in a band where just watching you would think they were family by the way they worked with each other on that stage.

Vocalist Marina La Torraca does an incredible job with her vocals, from soft to harsh with a higher pitch to work with Symphonic metal she switches to each level so effortlessly it’s beyond amazing. Guitarist Max Van Esch delivers some incredible riffs with the help of bassist Sander Gommas they make some incredible breakdowns that really get your head banging. Photographing them was a treat, they interacted with the crowd just like how they interact with the camera, with eye contact and intense facial expressions that really bring life into the performance even more.

Still the life in the crowd is none existent, when Marina tries to get the crowd hyped and involved by encouraging them to cheer, the room is met with one person in the corner letting out a very unenthusiastic “whoooa” which made me die a little inside so I have no idea how the band felt in that situation. Half of Club Academy is not even full at this point. I was just really hoping that it would pick up in time for the second support.

Up to try and get this crowd to come alive even by a little bit is Skarlett Riot from Scunthorpe, UK. They’re a band that is a little different to the Symphonic Metal that most in the crowd would be here for, but instead they have the hard rock atmosphere and sound.

Vocalist Chloe Drinkwater has such an incredible voice, her stage presence is beyond amazing. The way she works well with the crowd and also with the rest of the band on stage is exactly what you love to see. She even handles tough situations well when her mic keeps breaking during Gravity, it was like there was a silent signal, Chloe didn’t have to do anything to either stop the song or get others to take over on vocals because they were way ahead of her with guitarist Danny Oglesby and bassist Tim Chamberstaking over whilst she switched microphones.

Skarlett Riot are another band on this line up that have been let down by the crowd, despite an incredible sound and performance the crowd was stiff and quiet you could hear a pin drop, the only hype you mostly had were the ones that stayed at the barrier but other than that the people in the audience were a major let down.

Setlist:

Chemicals
Breaking the Habit
Gravity
Paralyzed
Stronger
Underwater
Hold Tight
To the Flames
Warrior

And now for the band of the evening, I’ve seen these guys three times now and every time they have been incredible and one of my top bands to photograph. The band from Germany have been legends in the Symphonic metal scene for years, and certainty have made their name.

After taking a hiatus in 2013, they returned in 2017 and have since released more albums, their latest one being released in February 2023 titled “The Wonders Still Awaiting”. With their new vocalist, Ambre Vourvahis they are making sure the world knows that they’re back and with a force. I brought someone with me to this show. You had never seen these guys before or heard of their music, and the best way I described them was “Take Amy Lee and put her with pirates” because with those vocals those are the vibes that you instantly get. She has the face of an angel and the voice of one as well, the high pitched vocals that she manages to let out are insane, it works perfectly with the breakdowns and riffs from guitarist Rob Klawonn and Marco Heubaumthe guys in this band can try and look intimidating all they want on that stage, but the smiles on their faces are so clear when looking into the crowd and seeing people sing their lyrics back to them.

Sadly the room hadn’t been filled anymore compared to the start of the night which is really sad to see, considering I know they can deliver a bigger crowd and also get them way more hyped than this. Just because the crowd was meh doesn’t mean they are, this band is incredible and will make such an insane come back into the metal scene the more they keep going. They have found a winner with Ambre being their vocalist, and they better make sure she stays with them.

With smoke machines blasting smoke up into the air with the beat of the music, created a dramatic addition to the performance which fitted the band and their vibe perfectly, they know how to add effects to their shows that works with who they are. With the addition of galactic lights shining onto the stage, bouncing off each of them gave this out of space feel, it slowed down the performance and it brought you into a completely different world.

The crowd may not have been on form tonight, but Xandria definitely were.

Incredible show as always.

Setlist: