LIVE REVIEW

LEGEND in Dormagen 2016

TankStelle, Dormagen, Germany

13th October 2016

Written by Silke Jochum

Published at Reflections of Darkness

A few weeks ago I was really thrilled to hear LEGEND was going to play a show in Dormagen. I immediately saved the date and impatiently waited for the day to come. Would they play songs of the upcoming album? I really hoped so! So last Thursday I packed my camera bag and drove to Dormagen, which is nearby Cologne. The location called TankStelle was more like a bar with a little stage, than a large venue - I liked that! It created a very cosy and personal atmosphere.

When the doors opened at 7 pm I was one of the first guests. I took the chance to take a look around and say hello to Krummi and the other guys from LEGEND. They were just preparing their merchandise, which they sold by themselves. That was a great opportunity for the fans to say hello, while buying a t-shirt or CD and maybe get an autograph.

Around half passed eight, the show started without a support band. The four guys from beautiful Iceland - Krummi Björgvinsson (vocals), Halldór A Björnsson (keys), Frosti Jón Runólfsson (drums) and Bjarni Sigurdarsson (guitar) - entered the stage and the gloomy sounds of ‘Amazon war’ welcomed the audience. The hypnotic character of this song made it a perfect intro.

Then with the second song, ‘Virgin’, the band made absolutely clear that the time to relax was over. This song got right into your brain and your legs. No wonder that everybody was dancing, celebrating and having a good time. Unfortunately at this time it was definitely hard to see the band at all because there was way too much smoke on stage.

It started as a cool effect during ‘Amazon war’ but it totally got out of control. After a few seconds the band completely disappeared. Out of the smoke we heard Krummi say: “Less smoke please! I can’t even see my own hands anymore!” It took to the end of the song until the stage slowly cleared and we could see the guys again.

While playing ‘Sister’, Krummi impressed us with his fantastic, powerful, but at the same time sensitive, voice and the intensity of his emotional performance.

He deeply touched the hearts and souls of the audience. The show continued with ‘City’, another cool song which made it impossible to stand still. In my opinion, the change between dark, melancholic song and songs to dance and party, created a really good set list. ‘Violence’, another very emotional song, followed and after that the band presented ‘Captive’, the first brand-new song of the forthcoming album ‘Midnight Champion.’ This song thrilled everybody and increased the anticipation for the new album even more, it’s is going to be released next spring. The atmosphere was awesome and the band kept the fans dancing and singing with ‘Lust.’

After this great party-time it got gloomy again. ‘Runaway Train’ is maybe one of the darkest songs of the album ‘Fearless’ and one of my favourites. The black mood literally dripped from the stage and conquered the TankStelle. It was again a deeply emotional moment for everyone and I could feel that I was not the only one, who truly loved this song!

I guess it wasn’t really planned, but the fans insisted to hear another song, so the awesome ‘Benjamite Bloodline’ was played as an encore and once again the band thrilled everybody.

At the end, the only thing left to say was: “And now, let’s get f***ing drunk!”, followed by an obviously happy band leaving the stage. After all, I can say that it was definitely one of the smallest concerts I visited this year, but absolutely one of my favourites. The technical problems with the sound or the smoke-machine were absolutely secondary because the personal atmosphere, the intense performance of LEGEND and the close contact to the guys were the things that counted and will be remembered. I had a fantastic evening and I am really looking forward to getting the new album. Hopefully LEGEND is going to play more shows in Germany in the near future.