Venue: The Underworld, Camden, London        Date: 7th February, 2002

Setlist: Forever, Shadow of Uther, The Spell, Wings of Despair, Don't You Cry, The Fourth Legacy, Lunar Sanctum, Until Kingdom Come, Desert Reign / Nights of Arabia, Call of The Sea, Elizabeth.
Encore: Karma

Absent-mindedly forgetting my ticket meant a journey home after work rather than going directly to the venue, hence I missed out on not only both support bands (Axxis and Cyberia), but also 15 minutes worth of the headliners.  I thus arrived midway through 'Wings of Despair' from the current 'Karma' disk.

It was disapointing to find the venue less than full, but this did have the benefit of affording me a position from which I could watch the band quite well. However as I began to sup my pint, I almost spilled it in shock as Roy Khan walked off the stage, microphone in hand, and walked straight past me singing the beautiful ballad 'Don't You Cry'.  He then proceeded to take a tour of the venue, all the time singing this track from 'Karma' while several of the musicians on stage took the opportunity for a breather.

From that point on the band turned back towards their earlier studio release, 'The Fourth Legacy', a favourite disk of mine from 2000. The brief instrumental 'New Allegiance' led into the album's title track, which was followed by the equally good 'Lunar Sanctum'.  The sound was very clear and powerful and the musicians reproduced their polished studio sound - all the time being driven by drummer Casey Grillo, who was unrelenting in his pounding of his double bass drums. It was however the voice of Khan and his onstage theatrics which were captivating me, and the following two cuts from the same album - 'Until Kingdom Come' and the more symphonic 'Desert Reign / Nights of Arabia', were perfect vehicles for his stunning vocals.  The second of these tunes even managed to get the somewhat subdued crowd screaming along with the chorus.

At that point Khan announced 'The Call of The Sea' a cut from one of the band's earlier disks and a live staple which can also be heard on their recent live disk 'The Expedition'.  A lengthy number which involved some crowd participation, it also gave Khan the opportunity to introduce his fellow band-mates - Tom Youngblood on guitars, Glenn Barry on bass, Casey on drums and a Norwegian keyboard player who was accompanying the band on this tour - having taken over the touring position from Vanden Plas's Gunter Werno.  As each was introduced, they played a short, sometimes very short solo, but overall I found it a rather disappointing tune; quite unlike the current material.

As the synthesiser introduced the next song, cheers went up from the crowd as they recognised the final, climactic number from 'Karma' - the 'Elizabeth' trilogy. Recounting the oft-told story of Elizabeth Bathory, it begins very pleasantly with Khan theatrically describing the incident in which the Countess discovers the rejuvenating properties of fresh virgin's blood and becomes more and more aggressive as the countess's demands for a continual supply mount and the tale becomes increasingly gruesome.

The band left the stage briefly to recuperate. Drummer Casey Grillo was the first to return and quickly got himself back in the grove with a pounding drum solo, before his colleagues joined him for an encore of 'Karma'. This incorporates all of the elements which typify the band's current sound.  Besides Casey's driving drum assault, Glenn's pounding bass and Tom's driving guitar are equally important, but the symphonic polish brought to the party by the keyboards and the shining vocal talent of Khan are the elements which add a certain magic to the group and separate them from the also-rans of power-metal.

With the clock fast approaching the venue's normal curfew time, there was no opportunity for any further tunes, but I for one was delighted to finally be able to see and hear Roy Khan sing live.  The man simply is outstanding - unbelievably good. He has range, power, beauty and a certain timbre to his voice which is unique and he could sing the most sugary pop nonsense and make it sound phenomenal to my ears! That aside, Kamelot aquitted themselves very well and I was particularly impressed with drummer Casey Grillo's performance.  Though the turnout may not have been spectacular, I certainly hope that it was sufficiently large to convince them to return again in the future.

Charlie