I've heard about Murphy's Law plenty of times before in my life, but have never quite felt the full effects of its frustration until recently. The agenda for the night was to bear witness to the truly masterful sounds and styling's of Germany's exceptional power metal force, Primal Fear. Having driven to Anaheim hundreds of times over the years, I couldn't believe that I'd actually miss my turn off, being more than familiar with the route and destination, but nevertheless, I did. After realizing my error, I found myself stuck in traffic trying to get turned around.

 

After some time and persistence we finally arrived at our destination, unfortunately a bit late, and only to find that we weren't on the guest list and had no credentials. I tried getting a hold of their tour manager to no avail and proceeded to try and work my way around back of the venue to locate him. Security was on us rather quickly and after haggling with them for a few minutes, they went and found the TM who was genuinely apologetic and got us squared on passes for the night. Unfortunately, the interview that was scheduled had to be cancelled due to some members being sick and some who were catching up on their sleep. It took three missed opportunities with three separate members and two weeks following to finally get the interview, but....(Thanks Jan) allowed us to shoot the entire show, wow did we feel special!

 

Meeting up with a friend who happened to be Primal Fear's hugest diehard fan and a relatively new one at that, Veiliah, our photographer, offered to let us guys do all the work for this one while she just kicked back and rocked out, just enjoying the show, thus offering us the privilege of using both passes. Our friend Nick was in shock! We'd delivered some of his 138 Water (Awesome Water Company he owns) to the band prior to the show and later, talks following the gig proved to be very positive on that business front as well.

 

There were no opening acts sans a few local bands that we had to skip in order to fully take advantage of the bar scene before indulging in the most awesome Primal Fear show I've seen, ever!

 

Besides the incredible musical talent that Primal Fear exudes, they are some of the most amazing performers I've ever had the privilege of seeing. When you see their show you are without a doubt going to get your money's worth. Ralf Sheepers is an enigmatic frontman who commands the audience at every turn of the page, while guitarist Alex Bayrodt does his best at tantalizing the female fans in the front row with his over the top rock star antics. The band as a whole do very well playing off of each other's strengths which in turn makes them a solid force of musical and theatrical accomplishment; a power  to be reckoned with. The guys delivered an array of fan faves and newer material from their most recent album Delivering the Black. The set included old school gems like "Nuclear Fire", "Seven Seals", their anthem song, "Metal is Forever", the majestic "Fighting the Darkness", "One Night is December" and The epic "When Death Comes Knocking" from the new CD. I have to say that this was a perfect show start to finish with the best sound, lights and performance I've ever witnessed them deliver. Worth every bit of hassle leading up to the event and then some. Can't wait to see them again, they just don't seem to play nearly enough here in the states. Thanks guys for an amazing night. I probably took 1000 pics if anyone would like some.

 

-Priest