Avatar with Dylan Walshe and The Mahones live at the Backstage Werk. Contributed by Alex Bock

Munich – Febr. 5^th, 2018

An Avatar show is full of surprises, starting with the opening acts they bring along.

Last time it has been Old Kerry McKee, a solo artist that played an acoustic gig and the Hellzapoppin Circus Freak show. Certainly nothing you would expect for opening a metal show.

This time, they brought another surprise along.

Starting with Dylan Walshe, also a solo artist who played an acoustic set with just his guitar and a harmonica. But that’s everything he needed, plus his voice, to create an amazing atmosphere. The audience loved him and clapped along to his catchy songs. Dylan Walshe is from Ireland, but currently lives Nashville. Definitely an artist you should check out and catch live, whenever he’s in your area.

Second act that night were The Mahones. An Irish folk punk band from Canada. Their songs swept everyone of their feet. If you think of Dropkick Murphys and The Real McKenzies, you get an idea of what they sound like. That kind of music and the energy the four piece brings on stage was fun to watch and really got the crowd going. If you’re looking for music that lifts your spirit and gets you into the dancing-clapping-mode, you can sure find it with this band. Keep your eyes open when they play your town and don’t miss them.

Finally, it was time for a trip to Avatar country. To the tunes of ‘Glory To Our King’, the royal chair with the king of Avatar country slowly rose behind the heightened drum kit to the cheers of the attending citizens. This time the band had a platform on stage, that had stairs on either side, so the band members could sometimes go on up there. Since the venues’ ceiling isn’t that high, it probably wasn’t the most comfortable place to be. But back to the show….Many of the songs of the TWO HOUR set were from the bands recent record ‘Avatar Country’, like ‘A Statue Of The King’, ‘Kings Harvest’ and ‘Legend Of The King’. They also played ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ from ‘Feathers And Flesh’ and the gripping ‘Bloody Angel’, ‘Get In Line’, ‘Tsar Bomba’ , ‘Smells Like A Freak Show’ and many more. The venue was pretty packed and the atmosphere was amazing. In-between songs Johannes Eckerström took his time to tell some stories. Not always are long speeches appreciated at shows, but there’s never a dull moment when he talks to the people, esp. since he speaks German fluently. Avatar is a very visual band, but luckily that’s not everything there is to them. They closed the show with ‘Hail The Apocalypse’ and the promise that they’ll be back soon. Can’t wait!

The day after the show Avatar released a ‘Thank you to the fans’ video, you can check out here:

The, in great parts sold out, European tour continues for a few more dates. In May the band returns to the US. They’ll play there with Devin Townsend, Dance With The Dead and 68. Make sure to catch this awesome line-up live!

For more information on the bands, check out their social media:

Avatar

The Mahones

Dylan Walshe

~ Contributed by Alex Bock, https://twitter.com/abphotomjp