Spring has finally started to feel like it’s expected self and with this a healthy heaping of Heavy Metal concert tours are being announced. We recently heard about the Soulfy/Soilwork one and now its clear to me that one of the hottest tours for this Metal Year 2015 will hit us in the Fall as Blind Guardian returns to our shores with support from the one and only Grave Digger for a tour they are calling “Beyond The Red Mirror” Tour. Check out the poster and official press release about the tour below and then we can discuss a little more.
Press Release:
Triumphantly returning to North American shores in support of their Billboard-charting new album Beyond The Red Mirror, Germany’s favorite sons BLIND GUARDIAN are pleased to announce the western hemisphere’s portion of the 2015 World Tour, commencing on October 27th in Baltimore, Maryland and concluding November 28th in Orlando, Florida with special guests Grave Digger. Tickets for all of the shows go on sale on Friday, May 8th
Blind Guardian’s lead vocalist & lyricist Hansi Kürsch commented about the upcoming tour:
“Finally, the wait is over! It is almost impossible to tell you how thrilled we are about the announcement of this upcoming North American Tour. Don’t miss your chance to meet Blind Guardian at our best shape ever. We are coming to blow your minds away. Let the games begin!!!”
With the support of one of the most loyal fan bases in the worldwide heavy metal community, Beyond The Red Mirror, the tenth studio album by epic metal’s most exalted storytellers BLIND GUARDIAN, attained the highest first-week U.S. sales numbers for the band in the history of their existence and debuted at #132 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, and #6 on the Top Hard Music chart. In Canada, BLIND GUARDIAN nearly doubled their first-week numbers from 2010, resulting in Beyond The Red Mirror debuts at #49 on the Top 200 and #4 on the Top Hard Music charts.
Four-and-a-half years in the making, Beyond The Red Mirror was recorded at Twilight Hall Studio in Grefrath, Germany and produced by Charlie Bauerfeind (SAXON, HAMMERFALL, HELLOWEEN). The album’s spellbinding tracks showcase BLIND GUARDIAN’s long-awaited collaborative work with three different classical choirs from Prague, Budapest, and Boston, plus two grand orchestras – each featuring 90 musicians. An endeavor demanding that attention be paid to the lyrics as much as to the music, Beyond The Red Mirror is not only a milestone in the band’s career, but a desperate search for truth, an exploration of the relativities of good and evil, a testimony of the consequences of lost opportunities, a glimpse into a distant universe’s dystopian society, and a story about a prophecy, a promise of revolution, a plot for revenge, and a miracle machine with powers far beyond what mere mortals could have dreamed possible.
Tour Dates:
10/27/2015 Baltimore Sound Stage – Baltimore, MD
10/29/2015 Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON – CANADA
10/30/2015 Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre – Montreal, QC – CANADA
10/31/2015 The Palladium – Worchester, MA
11/01/2015 Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
11/03/2015 Webster Hall – New York, NY
11/04/2015 Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall – Munhall, PA
11/06/2015 The Crofoot – Pontiac, MI
11/07/2015 House Of Blues – Cleveland, OH
11/08/2015 Concord Music Hall – Chicago, IL
11/09/2015 Mill City Nights – Minneapolis, MN
11/11/2015 The Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO
11/13/2015 MacEwan Hall – Calgary, AB – CANADA
11/14/2015 Union Hall – Edmonton, AB – CANADA
11/16/2015 Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC – CANADA
11/17/2015 Studio Seven – Seattle, WA
11/19/2015 The Filmore – San Francisco, CA
11/20/2015 Ace Of Spades – Sacramento, CA
11/21/2015 City National Grove Of Anaheim – Anaheim, CA
11/22/2015 The Marquee – Tempe, AZ
11/24/2015 Gas Monkey Live – Dallas, TX
11/25/2015 Warehouse Live – Houston, TX
11/27/2015 The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
11/28/2015 The Plaza Live – Orlando, FL
PiercingMetal Thoughts: There are few bands that have excited the Metal senses as much as Blind Guardian have over the years and they remain an influential force across the Power Metal genre to this very day. It’s great to find them returning as it’s been a few years since they last played NYC with their show at the Best Buy Theater. How many of you Metal Legions were there with horns raised proudly in triumph as their melodies cut through the air? I know I was. Now let’s add the absolute coolness of the band bringing along Grave Digger as well because this is a fantastic band that far too many people on this side of the ocean only barely know about. The show that will be hitting the Big Metal Apple is going to be at Webster Hall where we have seen a lot of our favorites coming through over the last couple of months. It seems as though they are filling the gap left by the absence of Roseland Ballroom in some sense. I know that I am going to do my best to be a part of that show. What do you readers think about this one? Does it raise the bar for the Metal scene in NYC in your opinion? Let me know in the comments below because I always welcome your thoughts about what is hitting the road and heading our way.
Official Website: http://www.blind-guardian.com
Official Website: http://www.grave-digger.de