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Concert Review – Blind Guardian (Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Toronto, ON, 11/29/2025)

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And the bards brought to Toronto another unforgettable night of first-class, undisputed Heavy Metal.

OPENING ACTS: Seven Kingdoms and Ensiferum

What an unforgettable night of first-class, undisputed Heavy Metal this Saturday in Toronto at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, courtesy of the most ass-kicking bards in history, the unstoppable BLIND GUARDIAN, supported by SEVEN KINGDOMS and ENSIFERUM, during their must-see Somewhere Far Beyond North American Tour 2025. I need to personally thank Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment for bringing the bards back to the city less than two years after their phenomenal concert at Rebel in 2024, and I must say this time the entire show was even better, more powerful, and more exciting. Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi and I were lucky enough the be there to cover such a metallic party, and judging by the reaction of the crowd during the entire night, all metalheads in Toronto will keep talking about the three bands for a long time, wishing they could go back in time to experience everything all over again, and again, and again.

Deland, Florida’s own Power Metal brigade SEVEN KINGDOMS kicked off the festivities around 7:20pm with a highly energetic performance led by frontwoman Sabrina Valentine, properly warming us up for the upcoming attractions of the night. Blending songs from their already solid discography, including their 2022 album Zenith (available on Spotify), the band whose name was taken from The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros in George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire did exactly that during their short but sweet performance, setting fire to the atmosphere with their classic blend of Heavy and Power Metal (although I have no idea why they don’t have a bassist). Camden Cruz was absolutely phenomenal armed with his axe, kudos to Kevin Byrd for sporting a classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt (and if you don’t like the TMNT, you’re not a good person), and as the icing on the cake, or maybe I should say on their cheeseburger, we got the indomitable Krista Shipperbottom, former frontwoman for Canadian melodeath band Lutharo, as the night’s cheeseburger. Yes, we definitely need more Seven Kingsdoms and more cheeseburgers in Toronto soon.

Setlist
Diamond Handed
A Silent Remedy
The Serpent and the Lotus
Valonqar
Wilted Pieces
Through These Waves
In the Walls

Band members
Sabrina Valentine – vocals
Kevin Byrd – guitars
Camden Cruz – guitars
Colton Zietler – drums

After a short break (and certainly not enough to brave the endless line for merch for all bands) it was time for Helsinki, Finland’s Epic Folk Metal warriors ENSIFERUM to bring a true winter storm to the stage with songs from all of their albums, including of course their latest one Winter Storm, released in 2024, all available on BandCamp and on Spotify. Petri Lindroos, Markus Toivonen, Sami Hinkka, Pekka Montin, and Janne Parviainen put on a fantastic show for an already packed venue, yielding their sonic weapons in great fashion for the delight of everyone inside the considerable circle pit that was moving frantically in the middle of the floor section. Their maniacal bassist Sami Hinkka didn’t stop screaming, running around the stage, jumping up and down, headbanging, and of course hammering his bass not even for a single second, and it was beautiful witnessing that extreme energy flowing from him into the hearts of all fans at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. What a great performer, my friends. And of course, with a name like that, which if you don’t know is Latin for “sword bearer,” the top moments of their concert were the fighting songs Guardians of Fate, Into Battle, and the classic In My Sword I Trust, turning the venue into a true battlefield. Please return to Toronto as soon as you can, Ensiferum, because you guys rock.

Setlist
Aurora
Winter Storm Vigilantes
Way of the Warrior
Andromeda
Fatherland
Heathen Horde
Guardians of Fate
Into Battle
In My Sword I Trust

Band members
Petri Lindroos – harsh vocals, guitars
Markus Toivonen – guitars, backing vocals
Sami Hinkka – bass, clean and backing vocals
Pekka Montin – keyboards, clean and backing vocals
Janne Parviainen – drums

BLIND GUARDIAN

I honestly have no idea why Teutonic Power Metal masters BLIND GUARDIAN decided to do this Somewhere Far Beyond North American Tour only in 2025, as they already celebrated 30 years of the album Somewhere Far Beyond back in 2022, having even released in 2024 a live album of that tour recorded at Rock Hard Festival in June 2022, but who am I to complain about that, right? Quite the opposite, it was a dream come true watching the iconic Hansi Kürsch & Co. deliver a flawless live rendition of one of their classic albums, plus of course a bunch of other superb songs. The first part of the set itself was already worth the price of the ticket, as Into the Storm, Blood of the Elves, Nightfall, and Violent Shadows are killer metal tunes, with all fans already losing their voices screaming those songs together with the bards.

Hansi was in an excellent mood, showing once again he’s not just a phenomenal vocalist, but also a great frontman and entertainer, keeping the audience engaged and hypnotized form start to finish. After they started playing Somewhere Far Beyond, with Time What Is Time and Journey Through the Dark sounding incredible, Hansi joked about the fact he was surprised that they said in 2024 they would return soon, and they actually did. The crowd was on cloud 9 with each and every word pronounced by Hansi, but it was of course when they played The Bard’s Song – In the Forest, and The Bard’s Song – The Hobbit, another majestic moment of the show, that the whole venue turned into a true celebration of heavy music and bards. One of those moments in the life of a person that confirms we all made the right choice in becoming metalheads.

And then came the encore. But it wasn’t just an encore. It was THE encore, one of the best I’ve ever experienced in my life. When the crowd started chanting “Majesty! Majesty!” I had on idea the band was actually going to answer our call. Hansi even joked about it saying that we were not allowed to ask for what we wanted to hear, but we were lucky that was exactly what they were going to play anyway. It was beyond orgasmic seeing them playing Majesty live. I pretty much lost my voice screaming. Then came the biggest surprise of the night for me, Lord of the Rings, and then I lost the rest of my voice. Simply incredible. I don’t know how I was still able to scream with the band during the epic Valhalla and Mirror Mirror, and when we all thought the show was over, the band fired upon us the also breathtaking Lost in the Twilight Hall. What an epic conclusion to a concert full of mosh pits, fists and horns in the air, ad the certainty that the bards will return to Toronto again, hopefully sooner than later for the “surprise” of Hansi and his henchmen themselves. Thank you once again, Blind Guardian. I’m a very happy man.

Setlist
War of Wrath
Into the Storm
Blood of the Elves
Nightfall
Violent Shadows

Somewhere Far Beyond
Time What Is Time
Journey Through the Dark
Black Chamber
Theatre of Pain
The Quest for Tanelorn
Ashes to Ashes
The Bard’s Song – In the Forest
The Bard’s Song – The Hobbit
The Piper’s Calling
Somewhere Far Beyond

Encore:
Majesty
Lord of the Rings
Valhalla
Mirror Mirror
Lost in the Twilight Hall
Sacred Worlds (Orchestral outro)

Band members
Hansi Kürsch – vocals
André Olbrich – lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars
Marcus Siepen – rhythm and acoustic guitars
Johan van Stratum – bass, backing vocals
Kenneth Berger – keyboards, backing vocals
Frederik Ehmke – drums

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Concert Review – Blind Guardian (Rebel, Toronto, ON, 05/09/2024)

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The most talented bards and demons in the world took the city of Toronto by storm on a more than beautiful night in celebration of pure heavy music.

OPENING ACT: Night Demon

What a fantastic night together with the bards in Toronto, my friends! And all started when we decided NOT to park at the parking lot in front of the venue, the revamped Rebel, which looks amazing from the inside and with a really cozy and ample patio, but which is also a nightmare when it comes to leaving the parking lot after the show is over. The best option is parking at the Distillery District, which is cheaper and just a 15-20min walk from the venue, plus the fact there are countless good options to eat and drink there before heading to the show. And as we’re always all about the music, let’s cut to the chase and talk a little about the unique experience of watching live NIGHT DEMON and BLIND GUARDIAN during their breathtaking The God Machine Tour 2024, another striking event brought to the city by  Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment. Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi and I wouldn’t miss it for the world, and my excitement for seeing the bards after almost 20 years was beyond visible to anyone who knows me.

The doors at Rebel opened at 7pm, giving all concert goers enough time to have some drinks, chat outdoors (as it was a gorgeous night in Toronto, with a beautiful sunset), and buy some quality merch before Ventura, California’s own Heavy Metal trio NIGHT DEMON began their thrilling performance precisely at 8pm. Still promoting their 2023 album Outsider, the band formed of Jarvis Leatherby on vocals and bass, Armand John Anthony on the guitars, and Brian Wilson on drums put on a very energetic and fun warmup for Blind Guardian, impressing anyone who was already at the venue with their charisma and dexterity onstage. Keith said those guys sounded much more powerful live than in the studio, and I fully agree with him as the live versions of their songs do sound a lot better, which is an amazing thing because live music is what we truly love, right? And if you know nothing about those guys, go check their music on BandCamp and on Spotify, because they live and breathe Rock N’ Roll and you’ll certainly have a blast whenever they invade your city with their awesome creations.

Setlist
Prelude
Outsider
Screams in the Night
Escape From Beyond
Dawn Rider
The Howling Man
Beyond the Grave
The Wrath
Welcome to the Night
The Chalice
Night Demon

Band members
Jarvis Leatherby – vocals, bass
Armand John Anthony – guitars
Brian Wilson – drums

BLIND GUARDIAN

The excitement started to grow stronger and stronger inside Rebel until all hell broke loose when it was around 9:30pm, as German Power Metal bards BLIND GUARDIAN ignited their unforgettable performance in the city, already blasting our faces mercilessly with the all-time classic Imaginations From the Other Side. You know, when a band kicks off a show with such a deep, bold song like that, the night will be beyond amazing, of course. I bet all fans at the venue felt the exact same when André Olbrich, Marcus Siepen, Johan van Stratum, Frederik Ehmke, and obviously the band’s iconic frontman Hansi Kürsch hit the stage with their fantasy-fueled Power Metal almost nine years after their last show in Toronto.

Speaking of Hansi, I honestly don’t know how he has managed to sound the exact same for almost 40 years, stunning us all with his unique, deep vocals from start to finish. Seriously, that guy is a beast on vocals, never sounding tired or out of tune. His vocals are so impressive to the point you can play to me any live version of any of their songs, and I wouldn’t be able to say the year that was recorded. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what makes him one of the best vocalists and frontmen of the entire metal realm, and if you’ve never had a chance to see Hansi singing live, you don’t know what you’re missing. Let’s say it’s like a mandatory experience for anyone who enjoys good music, not only metal.

Back to the concert itself, the band blended some of their best, most majestic classics including Nightfall, Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill) and Lost in the Twilight Hall, and the biggest surprise of the night (at least for me, the thrilling Into the Storm, with newer songs from their 2022 album The God Machine, those being Blood of the Elves, Violent Shadows and Secrets of the American Gods, and don’t think that because those are new songs that they sounded out of place during their set; quite the contrary, the new songs had the same impact and energy of their classic, which goes in line with what I was saying about Hansi, as his vocals turn every Blind Guardian song into a timeless sonic voyage. The reaction of the fans to all songs, including the new ones, was fantastic, with endless fists in the air, horns raised high, lots of screaming, and even some mosh pits were generated during the concert’s faster songs and moments. The sync between the band and their fans was a thing of beauty the entire night, I must say.

Any Blind Guardian concert is not complete without The Bard’s Song – In the Forest, and of course Toronto also had the pleasure of singing it along with our beloved German bards. It was simply epic, with every single person at the venue putting their hearts and souls into singing, proving why that is one of the best metal ballads of all time. And what about the encore? I was honestly getting worried they didn’t play Bright Eyes during the “regular” set, but when Hansi and his henchmen began playing it during the encore I really felt it in my heart. Right after that, let’s say it was pure metal madness with the Power Metal hymn Valhalla, with it’s iconic chorus being sung in full force by everyone at the venue, making Hansi truly proud and excited with the more-than-warm reaction of the band’s Torontonian fans. When they started playing another undisputed classic, Mirror Mirror, closing their concert on a high note, I was just a tiny bit disappointed that Majesty was left out of the setlist in Toronto, but let’s say we can’t win it all, and that their setlist was 99.9% perfect, alright? Maybe next time they visit Toronto we’ll have the pleasure of seeing them playing that classic live, because based on their successful concert in the city, the bards will be back really, really soon, no doubt about that.

Setlist
Imaginations From the Other Side
Blood of the Elves
Nightfall
The Script for My Requiem
Violent Shadows
Skalds and Shadows
Into the Storm
Secrets of the American Gods
The Bard’s Song – In the Forest
Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)
Lost in the Twilight Hall

Encore:
Sacred Worlds
Bright Eyes
Valhalla
Mirror Mirror

Band members
Hansi Kürsch – vocals
André Olbrich – lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars
Marcus Siepen – rhythm and acoustic guitars
Johan van Stratum – bass, backing vocals
Frederik Ehmke – drums

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