Within Temptation

Live at Club Nokia

Los Angeles, California

September 26th, 2014

Review and Photos by Travis Baumann

Dutch symphonic metal superstars, Within Temptation grace our presence once again with their headlining tour in support of their latest release, "Hydra". Having seen Sharon and company perform seven years ago, I have been anticipating their return for quite some time.

Their stage setup was the most elaborate it has been for their tours, featuring a series of LED panels behind the band that showed video backdrops and imagery. The drum kit was staged in a plexi-paneled enclosure in the center , the keyboards just off to the left. In addition they had two guitarists and a bassist playing strings and then finally, the illustrious Sharon den Adel on vocals.

They started off the set with their hit single off the latest release, "Paradise (What About Us?)". The studio release features Tarja Turunen of Nightwish fame however, Tarja did not tour so they used backing tracks for her part of the song.

Sharon exudes a massive charismatic charm and her smiling face and soaring vocals really let her soul shine out in an infectious wave of positivity. The entire band was happy to be performing and you could feel it from the stage.

The set list was a great collection of favorites from throughout their eighteen year history. They played "Faster", "Let Us Burn", and "In the Middle of the Night" in rapid succession, all of which are some of the fan favorites from different albums. Sharon would add little bits of information and address the crowd at times throughout the performance, really drawing the audience into the experience.

They did "Fire and Ice" followed by "Our Solemn Hour" before she gave some background on how she wrote the anthemic "Stand My Ground" for all the people going through hard times or being bullied for being who they are and not succumbing to outside pressure to be something they are not.

She followed up that awesome song by introducing the next one as a cover of Lana Del Rey's "Summertime Sadness". I am not familiar with the original but I am pretty sure it sounds nothing like their version as it felt very much a Within Temptation song.

They continued the set with "The Cross" leading into "And We Run", and then one of my favorites, "See Who I Am". They did another song off the new album, "Dangerous" which also featured a guest artist on the recording but had backing tracks for the male vocals in the live setting.

The set was already immense but they were still going strong. They played "Edge of the World" building up to the crowd favorite, "What Have You Done", the audience screaming the song's namesake lyrics in deafening resound.

For the last song of the set they played one of my favorite songs of theirs, "Mother Earth" that just gives me goose-bumps seeing it live. I was so caught up in the moment, I remember thinking, "This is my church".

After a short interlude the band returned to the stage, goaded by the intense shouting and chanting from the audience. The encore began with "Covered By Roses" followed by acoustic versions of "Never-Ending Story" and "Sinead" before bringing up the intensity to full volume again for the epic show ender, "Ice Queen".

It was an amazing show, they pretty much played twenty songs if you count the instrumental intro from "The Silent Force" and even though it was a fairly large venue, it felt so intimate the way Sharon communicated with the audience.

I had the privellage to see a short acoustic set at the record release party for "Hydra" not too long ago, and I have to say that they are immensly talented being able to convert any of their powerful, epic metal songs into equally satisfying acoustic ballads with just two guys on guitar and Sharon's amazing voice. They are really personable and add to that their attitude and energy, it really is a great thing to witness.

This was an absolutely great experience that I am glad I had the opportunity to be a part of.

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