Delain "Turn the Lights Out" on Their North American Tour in Cleveland
Last week, Delain completed the second North American tour in support of Nightwish. For a handful of cities, the fans were lucky enough to see Delain continue on for four additional dates with Sonata Arctica, allowing them to play a few extra songs each night.
This Tuesday, Cleveland had the honor of closing out the tour with Delain, and the crowd certainly didn't disappoint.
Delain kicked off the set with "Suckerpunch," their newest single off of the new EP Lunar Prelude, and this tour's staple opening number. The crowd was immediately whipped into a frenzy of excitement, singing along in typical fashion, as though they were fully engaged in the headlining act. Next, a handful of mainstay's before hitting the second track from Lunar Prelude, "Turn the Lights Out." They followed with their anthem "We Are the Others," an exceptional track about alienation, individualism and acceptance, written with a strong influence of the Sophie Lancaster murder case from the UK in 2007. The crowd consistently takes note during this song and reassures the band night after night that they are, in fact, the others (and proud of it). At one point in the set, the crowd broke into a chant of "Head-line-er, head-line-er!" Indeed, they've put a lot of working into building a fan base here in North America, wrapping their fourth tour here in under three years. It's evident that every member of Delain is here to do what they love, and the fans reward it night after night with every ounce of energy in return.
In addition to this being the last date on the tour, everyone was treated to a few additional rare moments including a crowd-initiated Happy Birthday sing-a-long to keyboardist Martijn Westerholt and a rare appearance by Sonata Arctica's frontman, Tony Kakko, while brushing his teeth on stage.
One exceptional addition to the band this time around is the newest member, Merel Bechtold on guitar. While she was a go-to fill-in during previous European tours, her status as an official member took place in the latter half of 2015. She plays with the kind of grace and ease, all while headbanging her hair in a way that is mostly reminiscent of Metallica's late Cliff Burton. Meanwhile, Timo Somers continues to develop into a beast on the guitar displaying an engaging mix of both ferocity and fun while shredding through his parts. With the chemistry displayed on stage, one would think this lineup has been in place for ages. It's hard to imagine the full force of Delain that we'll hopefully get the next go-round when bassist Otto Schimmelpenninck returns to the lineup. (Otto is home welcoming his first child).
With their next North American tour already in the planning stages, it will be exciting to see what new and exciting changes are headed our way to accompany a new full length album. One thing is for certain, Delain has made a lot of fans over these last few years, and will be arriving to an energized crowd ready to sing along with every song, every night.
Setlist:
1. Suckerpunch
2. Get the Devil Out of Me
3. Army of Dolls
4. Mother Machine
5. Turn the Lights Out
6. We Are the Others
7. Here Come the Vultures
8. Sleepwalker's Dream
9. Don't Let Go
10. Not Enough
