KARLA TALLAS - REPORTS WITH GOTTHARD IN JAPAN | Page 37
home country of Switzerland and can fill venues
with a capacity of 20,000 people or even more,
but they don’t underestimate any show. It doesn’t
matter if there’s 20,000 or 1,000 people, their
attitude is the same – to give the best to anybody
who’s supporting the band and who’s coming for
a show. From the beginning of their shows, you
can feel everybody on stage is just enjoying his part
and GOTTHARD shows are more in the party spirit.
because they really admire the guitar players a lot.
You could hear the fans screaming the name of
Leo Leoni very often every night in the audience.
The second show in Tokyo was probably the best
show on the tour in every way, and also as I heard
from the drummer Hena, one of the best shows
the band has ever played together. You could really
feel a special vibe that night, the great chemistry
in the band and overwhelming reactions from the
audience. The fans accepted Nic incredibly well
and he got lots of amazing reactions immediately
after the first show. After the second breakthrough
show in Tokyo, the reactions of the audience were
the same for the rest of the Japan tour.
There’s only one change during the Japanese
tour in the setlist. For the first 2 shows in Tokyo,
GOTTHARD have 5 minutes less on stage, which
means 1 song less to play than the rest of the tour.
I would call the first night in Tokyo as the checking
night. From the reactions of the audience it’s clear
they already know the songs from the new album
“Firebirth,” but they needed to check out how the
band sounds and how it works out live with a new
singer. The fans are listening very carefully to every
line Nic is singing and they also pay a big amount of
attention when he’s talking in between the songs.
Since the beginning of the first show they’re looking
at the band with much respect, but they really need
a little time to be sure and to get used to a new
situation. I would call Japan the land of the strings
The party can start and “Dream On” is a great
choice to open the show and put the audience
right at GOTTHARD’S ease. To keep the tempo
and let the great atmosphere just go on, the
band continues with the catchy “Gone Too Far”
which is from one of the best GOTTHARD albums
“Domino Effect” and is also the only song from the
album in the set. The time has come to introduce
“Firebirth.” The first piece which is also the second
video clip called “Starlight” and it’s the first time in
the show Nic also plays the guitar. The following
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