AYREON

Ayreon Universe:

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A star-studded live show from Arjen Lucassen and company

an otherwise little-known Dutchman shouldn’t be able to call upon metal and prog-rock icons such as Bruce Dickinson and Mikael Åkerfeldt at one extreme or rick Wakeman and Steve hacket at the other to cast his crazy opera sci-fi tales, but that’s exactly what arjen Lucassen has spent the last 23 years doing. Due to his stagefright, ayreon rarely perform live, but when they do no extravagance goes unsummoned. This magnificently OTT double set from a series of shows in holland revisits all stages of their story, with help from Nightwish’s Floor Jansen and Marco hietala, hansi Kürsch of Blind Guardian, anneke van Giersbergen, Damian Wilson, Katatonia’s Jonas renkse and Tommy Karevik of Kamelot. Stylistically speaking, its mix of symphonic-flavoured metal and galloping, righteous hard rock can be irresistible, though Day Sixteen Loser is too Riverdanceesque for comfort.

FOR FANS OF: AVANTASIA, DREAM THEATER, NIGHTWISH

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