  
You'd think that on one of the hottest days of the year, it might be a good idea to turn the venue airconditioning on, but if you think that then you clearly don't work at the Garage - the airconditioning was not turned on, so it was hot in there even as the doors opened, and things just kept getting hotter as more fans poured into the venue.
By the time Savage Messiah came on stage only five or ten minutes after the doors opened, the place was like a sauna, and some of the best stage lighting I've seen at the venue just made it hotter still - I felt sorry for the band sweating away on stage.
Despite the heat they put in one hell of a show - full on high energy thrash metal. There was plenty of headbanging during their set - both from the band on stage and the fans in the crowd. I've seen the band a few times and this was probably the best I've ever seen them - they put everything into it and went down a storm with the crowd. When the opening band on a bill is this good you have to wonder how on earth anyone can follow it.
Next up came Bloodshot Dawn. By this time the temperature in the venue had changed from "bloody hell its hot" to "It's a damn sauna in here" thanks to the queue of people finally all making it into the venue, so the place was absolutely packed. The last time I'd seen these guys play was at Bloodstock where they were very impressive, but like Savage Messiah they took it up a level tonight and put in a superb performance. The heat was taking its toll on the crowd though, so that plus the fact that the band are a lot heavier and have more of a growling style of vocals than Wintersun meant that although they got a very good reception, it wasnt quite as good as they deserved.
Finally it was time for the headliners Wintersun. Except they decided to spend an age getting set up, and after finding their fan didnt work and the roadie had mopped up the bottle of water he'd knocked over onto the guitar pedals, their 20 minute changeover had become 50 minutes, so they were half an hour late by the time they made it on stage. Tempers had been fraying in the crowd during the wait, but once the intro tape started all that was forgotten. I have to wonder why the hell they wasted more time with playing the intro tape - when you're running late and are going to have to cut the set short, surely it makes sense to skip the intro and play another song?
Once they started their set the fans went crazy - I really don't know how so many hot, sweaty and exhausted people managed to suddenly find the energy to jump around, headband and generally go nut, but that's the power of Wintersun. They put in a staggeringly good show - it was seriously impressive stuff. Musically they're quite hard to pin down as they have elements of folk metal, power metal and symphonic metal all fused together to create one hell of an impressive sound. Sadly the curfew meant that they cut the set shorter than planned, but despite that, it was still a great night. Wintersun are a band that are
definitely worth going to see live.
Wintersun setlist:
When Time Fades Away
Sons of Winter and Stars
Land of Snow and Sorrow
Battle Against Time
Sleeping Stars
Beautiful Death
Darkness and Frost
Time
Beyond the Dark Sun
Starchild
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