Avantasia - PlayStation Theater - New York City - April 15th, 2017

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 As all of us fans of Rock and Metal know there are many bands and tours out there that we would like to see but for some reason such as distance, money, tour not stopping in your area etc. just cannot make it happen. A lot of the bands that we love are from Europe and don't tour at all over here in the U.S., or just do a very limited tour with a few dates only in the major cities as the fan support for these bands just is not there. Yes, we that support and love the music are here, we can be VERY passionate about it, but don't have the numbers as they do overseas. 

 One band that has been on our bucket list is Tobias Sammet's Avantasia. Tobias is lead vocalist for the German Power Metal quintet Edguy, and Avantasia has been his side project/baby for the past 16 years, they have toured throughout Europe numerous times as well. When we found out that Avantasia was doing a show in New York City, we knew we had to fly up from Florida to see it, especially knowing that a friend of ours was one of the promoters for this show. 

 So we bought our tickets, booked airfare and made our way back to New York City for this "Once in a Lifetime" show. There was no opening act at all, we were getting three hours of nothing but Avantasia. Tobi, along with Edguy/Avantasia drummer Felix Bohnke, guitarist and vocalist Oliver Hartmann, and keyboardist Miro Rodenberg, were accompanied on this tour by vocalists Michael Kiske of Helloween fame, Eric Martin (Mr. Big), Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids), Jorn Lande, Herbie Langhans (Sinbreed), and Amanda Somerville. No one vocalist sang through the entire show, Tobi and company all took turns with vocal duties. They played to an enthusiastic, almost sold out crowd. We bought our tickets the day they went on sale as we were worried about the show selling out immediately, to our surprise there were still some (but not many) tickets left on the day of the show. We ran into quite a few of our friends who we haven't seen in close to 8 years since we moved from New Jersey to Florida, and it was awesome to see them again & enjoy this epic show. We knew that people would be flying in from around the world for this show as it was one of only 2 US appearances on the Ghostlights tour. We were surprised and somewhat disappointed that there was no merchandise at the show for sale, as unfortunately they ran out in Europe and did not have time to have any more made before the US and Canada dates.

 
We wandered around Times Square for a bit, we ran into several friends outside the venue and met up with others at a local Irish Pub before the show. Being back in New York City was a great time as always. After dinner and drinks we made our way to the venue and picked up our photo pass. The band went on just after 8pm and proceeded to blow us away for the next several hours! We stood there in awe of this Once in a lifetime event the entire time and they even went over curfew by about 10 minutes with Tobi saying "It's not your fault we talk too fucking much so we're gonna play the full set and pay the stupid fines!" That's what you call a true rock star! 
All in all it was an AMAZING show, after 16 years we can finally check Avantasia off our our bucket list! Thank you Milton / Infinity Concerts for making this happen!
 

Setlist

Mystery of a Blood Red Rose
Ghostlights (with Michael Kiske)
Invoke the Machine (with Ronnie Atkins)
Unchain the Light (with Ronnie Atkins & Michael Kiske)
The Watchmaker's dream (with Oliver Hartmann)
The Scarecrow (with Jorn Lande)
Lucifer (with Jorn Lande)
What's Left of Me (with Eric Martin)
The Wicked Symphony (with Jørn Lande, Herbie Langhans, Eric Martin, Amanda Somerville, Oliver Hartmann, without Tobias)
Draconian Love (with Herbie Langhans)
Farewell (with Amanda Somerville & Michael Kiske)
Stargazers (with Jørn Lande, Ronnie Atkins, Michael Kiske, Oliver Hartmann, without Tobias)
Shelter From The Rain (with Michael Kiske & Amanda Somerville)
Let the Storm Descend Upon You (with Jorn Lande & Ronnie Atkins)
Promised Land (with Jorn Lande

Prelude

Reach Out For The Light (with Michael Kiske)
Avantasia (with Michael Kiske)
Twisted Mind (with Eric Martin & Ronnie Atkins, no Tobi)
The Great Mystery (with Eric Martin)
Dying for an Angel (with Eric Martin)
The Story ain't Over 

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Encore

Lost in Space
Sign of the Cross/The Seven Angels (everyone)