Italian power metal band Wind Rose recently announced their first-ever headlining North American tour with special guests Xandria. We were lucky enough to be at the Oklahoma City stop on this tour when they played to an almost sold-out historic Diamond Ballroom crowd.
The evening began with an awesome trio of local Oklahoma bands, Cyanide Hook, Shame in Nothing, and Depraved. These bands were given the task to warm the crowd up and get them ready for the festivities. They all delivered exactly that. Giving the crowd their different styles of metal, these local bands are top notch and showed exactly why they were chosen to open up this show.
When the lights went down, and the slow intro music for the German symphonic band Xandria began, the whole tone of the room changed. Each band member made their entrance onto the stage before beginning their set with “You Will Never Be Our God”. From the first note from vocalist Ambre Vourvahis, the crowd was transfixed. Her vocals are strong and powerful. Her range is near perfection. And then you add in the absolutely awe-inspiring chemistry between bassist, Tim Schwarz and guitarist and founding member, Marco Heubaum, you are guaranteed to remember this band and the performance they give. The fans were loving every single minute of this set, and it was a performance I will not soon forget.
The lights went down one last time as the crowd was eagerly anticipating their headliner for the evening, Wind Rose. It was very fitting that the same day of this show, Norman, a southern suburb of Oklahoma City was also having its Renaissance Fair. This meant the fans could go to the fair and then come rock out to a metal show and not even have to change clothes. The crowd was full of fans dressed in costume. And if they were not in costume, they adorned an inflatable pickaxe, which they purchased from the merch booth during the show.
Fans of all ages were chanting “Wind Rose…Wind Rose” prior to the band starting, and as soon as they started, they were singing right along with vocalist, Fransesco Cavalieri. Prior to the song “Drunken Dwarves”, keyboardist, Federico Meranda, ran to the front of the stage to help get the crowd going. Then the guys in the band had a nice long swig of a Modelo Especial beer. The band entertained the crowd with a great mix of their songs, which of course included “Diggy Diggy Hole”. The band wrapped up their nearly hour and a half set with the song “I am the Mountain”. It was an awesome evening of metal from all over the world, and the fans will not soon forget it!!
