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A can’t miss event, Jon Schaffer and Hansi Kürsch have taken a break from their day jobs to finally tour their Demons & Wizards band dubbed as the first and only tour of the act. August 24th brought them to The Summit in Denver, CO. On hand to support was the energetic Lizzy Borden, whom I suspect came away with new converts after his blazing set, and Viking metallers Tyr.

Rounding out the live Demons & Wizards lineup is mish mash of Blind Guardian and Iced Earth members – BG’s Marcus Siepen (bass) and Frederik Ehmke (drums), and IE’s Jake Dreyer (lead guitars). You could see the joy on Schaffer and Kürsch’s faces playing these songs live, like the pummeling “Heaven Denies” and the speedy “Crimson King”. A warm acoustic moment was delivered with “Wicked Witch” and there was a furious rampaging through the last cuts off the ’99 debut (“Tear Down The Wall”, “Gallows Pole”, and “My Last Sunrise”) that poured the crowd into a frenzy. Hansi remarked he could feel the thinner air as Denver is known as the Mile High City, due to its elevation. 

Of course the guys had to pay respects to their main bands by showcasing two each from Iced Earth and Blind Guardian, including “Burning Times” and now I want to hear a recorded version of Hansi singing it because he crushed the tune. The other, and odd choice was The Dark Saga ballad “I Died For You”. Would have expected another romper, but it did go over well with the crowd. The Blind Guardian cuts to pull out was the speedy “Welcome To Dying” and the almighty “Valhalla”. The fans continued to serenade the band with the chorus well after the song was finished which Hansi coyly remark that wasn’t going to earn the crowd bonus points for an encore.

A two song encore consisted of more from the first album, “Blood On My Hands” and then the closer, which many believe to be their best song, “Fiddler On The Green”. See them if you can! Great experience!