Kamelot closed out their North American tour at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Sunday night, and I walked in a lapsed fan. I haven’t kept up with them, and only vaguely remember that Khan left the band well over a decade ago. I knew even less about the openers, Visions of Atlantis and Frozen Crown.
The last time I saw Kamelot was at Jaxx on October 16, 2008, with Edguy in support, during the Ghost Opera tour cycle. I took my brother. It was his first (and, unfortunately, also his last) power metal concert; he has since passed.
Both Kamelot and Edguy were great in that little shit dive of a venue, and Kamelot closed the encore with “March of Mephisto.”
Doors
For tonight’s show, the upstairs at the Fillmore was PREMIUM ACCESS ONLY. Virginia did not take it quietly. “Are you fucking kidding me? The balcony standing room is the best view in the building. Everybody who’s been here knows it. Now it’s a curtain and an upcharge.” She glared at the PREMIUM sign like it owed her money. The merch line for Kamelot wrapped around the foyer and back into the main venue while soggy fans sought shelter inside from the rain.
Frozen Crown
The crowd immediately loved them. This is their first US tour ever.
Frozen Crown are technically a six-piece: Giada “Jade” Etro on vocals; Federico Mondelli, Alessia Lanzone, and Alexandra Lioness on guitars; Francesco Zof on bass; and Niso Tomasini on drums. They played this tour as a quintet, with Zof staying home in Italy after the birth of his daughter (per reviews of the Las Vegas and Denver stops). Congratulations, Francesco.
I did not know this at the time.
“Is that… is that a six-string bass guitar?” I asked Virginia, squinting at the stage.
“That’s a guitar. It’s just not a Flying V.”
“Wikipedia says they have a bassist.”
“Wikipedia isn’t onstage.”
Virginia was right. Don’t believe your lying eyes, especially when they’re mine.
Frozen Crown’s sound lands somewhere between Unleash the Archers (thanks to Jade’s voice; big ups to Brittney Slayes over there) and the very tasty tri-guitar attacks of Iron Maiden or Helloween, with flashes of ’80s thrash à la Metallica or Testament.
The strongest songs were the teasers from The Legend of the Six Kings, out this Friday: “Who Wants to Burn in Heaven,” “Reborn,” and “The One.” So was the closer, “I Am the Tyrant,” from their 2018 debut. The band calls “Who Wants to Burn in Heaven” its natural follow-up, so at least my taste is consistent. Their Goo Goo Dolls cover was delightful; they essentially did a punk version of “Iris.” It’s on the new record, too.
I met Ian, in a Sabaton shirt, while in the Frozen Crown merch line afterward. “They’re who I came to see,” he said. He had never listened to Kamelot before. “It’s interesting going to a show with a headliner I’ve never heard before.” “Iris” was a surprise to him, and a smart one: “As an opener, it’s good to add a song everybody knows, get everybody hyped up. They have really good opener energy.”
We will watch their frozen reign with great interest. I bought the shirt.
Watch the official music video for “I am the Tyrant” by Frozen Crown on YouTube:
Visions of Atlantis
The Frozen Crown merch line was now longer than Kamelot’s. Members of the band rotated in and out of a side door to grab cymbals and other pieces of merch to sign.
Megadeth’s “Symphony of Destruction” on the PA. Then “Balls to the Wall” by Accept (be still, my heart). Then The Lonely Island’s “Jack Sparrow,” the one where Michael Bolton won’t stop singing about pirates. I wasn’t sure what that was about until I noticed people in the crowd dressed as pirates. I met Steve, whose card identifies him as a professional Jack Sparrow impersonator. He does parties and claims he built the stage set for Visions of Atlantis (I have no reason to doubt him).
Then I noticed the stage itself: a hand-crafted captain’s cabin at the back of a sailing ship, replete with intricate gilded woodwork and assorted maritime and privateer details.
Visions of Atlantis came on in full pirate regalia: Clémentine Delauney and Michele Guaitoli sharing lead vocals, Christian Douscha on guitar, Herbert Glos on bass, and Thomas Caser on drums, the only founding member still aboard since the band formed in 2000.
Pirate metal is older than you’d think (Running Wild hoisted the Jolly Roger in 1987), but Alestorm made it a party about two decades ago. Visions of Atlantis took that idea and ran with it, leaning into the storytelling and symphonic elements (duh) while being just slightly less booze-soaked. Clémentine wore a crimson dress, which Virginia appreciated.
During the second song, a man in an octopus costume showed up on stage. Another pirate with a cutlass fought the octopus. Steve, the Jack Sparrow stage builder, was surprised at the sight. Everyone in the band is clearly having fun with it. It’s the last show of the tour; I’m sure more antics will abound.
For “Pirates Will Return,” Clémentine donned an Atlantean crown, and Michele Guaitoli ordered everyone down on the deck to row. That’s when the Atlantean magic took hold. The whole floor started to row. Salt spray came off the stage monitors. The Fillmore was a galleon, and we were its galley crew, pulling oars in perfect time. The octopus, defeated two songs earlier, had signed on as a deckhand.
When Amon Amarth played National Harbor in May, Johan Hegg turned the pit into a longship, complete with a topless taskmaster whipping the rowers with his shirt. Tonight the whole floor signed on. By “Melancholy Angel” we had made port in Silver Spring, none the worse for it.
Before “Armada,” Guaitoli gave a grateful speech, thanking Kamelot and giving shout-outs to Frozen Crown on their first US tour.
Watch the official music video for “Armada” by Visions of Atlantis on YouTube:
Kamelot
Right after Visions of Atlantis’ set wrapped, I met Tim on the main floor. He was here for Kamelot and had never heard of either opener. “I saw Kamelot was here, and I was like, alright, I’m going for Kamelot. Let’s see what else they got as openers.” And Visions of Atlantis? “They’re my new favorite pirate metal band.” He got into Kamelot around Karma, when “my computer was running Windows XP.” He wanted to go to that Jaxx show in 2008 and missed it, “blindsided by life.”
The line for the Visions of Atlantis merch table was now the longest. Ben, in a pink death metal shirt, was in it, maybe for Frozen Crown merch too. “Why not both?” He came to the show “because I felt like the openers were stacked”; Kamelot was the cherry on top. Frozen Crown? “Criminally underrated. Very glad to see they’re starting to get a little bit of attention in the US.”
At the bar off to the right of the floor (stage left), I met Bill and Wayne, here for all three bands. They had seen Visions of Atlantis two years ago in a small upstairs room at the Fillmore in Philadelphia, opening for Delain. “They’ve really grown,” Bill said. “Stage show, musicians.” They bought everything at the merch table. “Everybody seems to love it. They know all the songs from every band.”
Finally, Kamelot took the stage: Tommy Karevik on vocals, founder Thomas Youngblood on guitar, Sean Tibbetts on bass, Oliver Palotai on keys, and Alex Landenburg on drums. I leaned over and asked Virginia what Karevik was wearing. “It would appear to be some sort of cuirass with pauldrons,” she said. I deferred to her expertise.
Jade from Frozen Crown came out for “Ashen World” to do the harsh vocals with the band. The drummer and keyboardist sit on offset risers of equal height, stage left and right, flanking a gothic throne in the center, which I’m sure will be used at some point. The new album they’ve been touring in support of, Dark Asylum, is set in RavenHill Asylum (obviously) that used to be a cathedral.
Landenburg’s drum set is a wild rig: two VERY TALL cymbal stands hold a large and a small crash, looking like an alien crab, while the rest of the kit’s accoutrement sits at a much more modest chest height. A unique choice for sure.
Youngblood had ample guitar solos all throughout the night. Tibbetts was a constant presence on stage, whipping his hair all about while smashing that bass guitar.
Early on, Karevik kept touching his in-ears and wireless pack, presumably dialing his monitors in for the best possible performance. He’s a consummate professional, with all the range he would ever need for Kamelot, and more.
Palotai switched to a keytar for “The Great Pandemonium.” It’s sick looking: all black keys, oversized body. Tuomas from Burn the Ballroom would have loved it.
“Rule the World” followed, and then came “Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy)” with Jade from Frozen Crown once again taking the stage alongside Karevik.
Then they busted out “Karma,” dusting it off. Karevik called it “one of my favorite songs from the band,” and it took me all the way back to high school in 2001, when the album debuted. He does the Khan-era song justice. It’s weird to think it’s 25 years old. The crowd adored it, singing along to every word.
I was bitter in 2008 that they didn’t play it at Jaxx, so I’m quite delighted I finally heard it live. Virginia was already on her phone. “They played ‘Karma’ in Mokena, Illinois, two nights after your Jaxx show,” she said. “Sucks to suck, Evan.” Eighteen years of grievance, dismissed in one sentence.
Stream “Karma” by Kamelot on YouTube:
For “Revolution,” Karevik occupied a pulpit, and Palotai did the screaming. Jade came back out for “New Babylon.” She has good charisma and stage presence with Kamelot, and it’s surprising she handles both the symphonic female vocals AND the harsh vocals.
Can I just remark for a second: the term “harsh vocals” is doing double duty. It elevates the art of screaming into a formal, labeled singing style (i.e., an instrument, like soprano and alto, tenor and baritone), while also sanitizing, to a degree, the impact of the act. Helps the medicine go down, I suppose.
Then Karevik leaned into his microphone and intoned, “We would like to welcome you… to the Dark Asylum.”
Hey man, that’s cool and all, it really sounds like fun, but I’m gonna have to pass. I made for the exit and found a RavenHill orderly blocking it, my intake paperwork already in hand. Virginia had signed it. Under “reason for admission,” she’d written still bitter about 2008.
I tried to explain myself to the orderly. “Y’all have fun, let me know how it goes and all that, but this asylum business isn’t really meant for me.” He consulted his clipboard, took me by both elbows, and marched me back into the crowd. Orders from the pulpit.
Karevik asked for lighters (phones) to be swayed during the slow song, “Ivy, My Dear.” I kind of hate this trend. No one smokes anymore, so I get it.
The drum solo was actually an orchestral interlude, with Landenburg playing along to a symphonic recording. I’ve never seen that before. Drum solos are usually freeform, but this was in service of Kamelot’s Symphonic Metal aesthetic. Landenburg is a company man!
They came out swinging with “One More Flag in the Ground,” Karevik brandishing their standard. It reminded me of Nocturnal Rites, Iron Savior, Savage Circus… you know, Power Metal with a capital P – but with SYMPHONY. It’s the Kamelot brand; they are the kings of Symphonic Metal, after all (Dimmu Borgir would like a blackened word). Then Palotai played a piano piece by himself.
For “Sanctuary,” Karevik donned a reflective metal cloak over the cuirass and took the asylum throne. Resting there, armored and cloaked in resplendent reflection, he looked like the Super Shredder.
Jade and Clémentine (who sings on the studio version) came out for the song, and Karevik never left the throne; he’d ceded the stage to the ladies from Frozen Crown and Visions of Atlantis. At least until the key changed, when he took his hood off and joined them.
He counted into the “last” song, “Veil of Elysium,” in Swedish. It didn’t take long for the Kamelot chants to start, and they didn’t make us wait long for the encore.
Watch the official music video for “Veil of Elysium” by Kamelot on YouTube:
Straight into a pre-recorded intro for “March of Mephisto.” Lanzone and Lioness from Frozen Crown came back to play snares for the march. Jade did the Shagrath parts, in addition to the clean female singing.
Kamelot brought harsh vocals in as a character on this song: Shagrath from Dimmu Borgir played Mephisto on The Black Halo, back in 2005. The last time I heard it live, my brother was in the room. Tonight, Jade from Frozen Crown played the devil.
Karevik told us we’d been a great crowd, and insisted he meant it: “Thank you for coming. We’re not just blowing smoke up your butts. Also, thanks to the moshers over there, you guys are awesome.” (There was a mosh pit!) Then: “This one is near and dear to me, because it’s my first song on vocals with the band.” “Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife)” brought Clémentine back out, and Jade. Palotai’s turn on “Revolution” aside, every harsh vocal tonight came from a woman. The crowd was in awe of the spectacle.
They closed out triumphant, a month on the road behind them all.
Verdict from the lapsed fan: Karevik won me back with a song from 2001, Dark Asylum made me stay (the orderly insisted), and the openers claimed the rest of me. I came for one band and left with three. Each band’s merch line had its turn as the longest in the building.
Nobody on this bill was an opener.
________________
Setlists
Frozen Crown
1. Kings
2. The One
3. Neverending
4. Who Wants to Burn in Heaven
5. Reborn
6. Iris (Goo Goo Dolls cover)
7. I Am the Tyrant
Visions of Atlantis
1. Master the Hurricane
2. Clocks
3. Tonight I’m Alive
4. Legion of the Seas
5. Hellfire
6. Pirates Will Return
7. Melancholy Angel
8. Armada
Kamelot
1. Ashen World (with Giada Etro)
2. The Great Pandemonium
3. Rule the World
4. Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy) (with Giada Etro)
5. Godlike Alchemy
6. Karma
7. Revolution (with Oliver Palotai on harsh vocals)
8. Nocte Veritas (interlude)
9. New Babylon (with Giada Etro)
10. Dark Asylum
11. Ivy, My Dear
12. Drum Solo
13. One More Flag in the Ground
14. Keyboard Solo
15. Sanctuary (with Clémentine Delauney and Giada Etro)
16. Veil of Elysium
Encore:
17. March of Mephisto (with Giada Etro)
18. Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife) (with Clémentine Delauney and Giada Etro)
Here are some photos of Kamelot performing live at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Sept. 27, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Gerald Henry.
Here are some photos of Visions of Atlantis performing live at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Sept. 27, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Gerald Henry.
Here are some photos of Frozen Crown performing live at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Sept. 27, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Gerald Henry.
