DORO Live! – Bringing 30 Years of Rock & Metal to Columbus

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dsc_0494The first leg of the “Love’s Gone to Hell” tour kicked off Saturday Sept. 24 at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus Ohio.  The mini-U.S. tour will make seven Eastern stops before heading back to Germany in November.  The opening night Doro and company gave the crowd a show worthy of a Wacken Open Air experience playing a long, solid show of classic Warlock, covers and solo material. Doro led the crowd with an almost perpetual time-defying energy, excitement and speed.

Dayton Ohio’s Four Star Revival opened, delivering some good ol’ neck cranking noise, and filling the speakers with some hard muscled, working man’s bravado.  Being the sole lead male vocalist that evening, Jack Emrick put a little extra in the lungs for their six tunes as guitarist Benny Bodine took a mini-tour of the venue in the middle of the set, playing a solo mid-crowd center.

They pulled out some original Sabbath on Children of the Grave.   Guitar and bass snarled fast, racing on upcoming EP title track The Underdog, ending with the rip-roar bleeding guitar work of Red.  

Columbus’s female fronted Dio tribute Evil or Divine brought out the horns playing the music of the godfather.  A call to arms came first with Stand up & Shout followed by staple We Rock. The Sabbath came out; don’t listen to fools ’cause the Mob Rules.  They sampled Holy Diver on Shame on the Night and brought the Sabs back on Children of the Sea ending with signature tune Heaven and Hell.

dsc_0948New York’s female led Obsidian made their first trek to the Buckeye state to play on the Alrosa stage.  Led by stage vixen Terry Knight, the five-some started in 2011 building a local rep and they’ll be recording their debut CD later this year.  The opening attitude of Sacred Ground started things off.  Lead guitarist JJ Savage tore up the stage with ‘80s-style licks.  Surrender began with melody and the wounds of a broken heart as guitar notes tried to sew up the fallen pieces. Knight turned on some Grace Slick wailing and soothing on Garden of Eden.  They finished with a KISS of Cold Gin.

Doro brought 30 years of metal strong and proud to the stage with a whirlwind of adrenaline, movement and electricity.  They began, screaming with a Touch of Evil.  It’s almost 30 years later and she still says I Rule the Ruins.  Going back to the mid-‘80s they’re still setting fire to flesh Burning the Witches.  Fight for Rock waved the eternal metal flag for its devoted faithful.

Raise Your Fist continued the theme bringing out solo material.  Thunder cracked as the warlock made his presence felt, it was his night.  Things calmed a bit as Doro dedicated the melodic notes of Without You to Lemmy and all the great musicians we’ve lost recently.  They revved up the crowd with the Metal Racer, staying hard over the years, True as Steel.   She thanked the crowd for all the years of support, keeping her young dream of singing alive and well.

She reached deep inside her heart on the grandeur and bombast of Für Immur.  They went Hellbound on Out of Control.  Johnny Dee took center stage on the kit, pounding away on the skins for a few minutes.

dsc_0724They reappeared as Doro hissed into the mic, “we are, we are”, We are the Metalheads. Revenge was sought and taken.  They took a page from the mighty Priest, praising the lawbreakers.  Dee started the drums on the long time standard staple tune all Doro fans know, All We Are. Guitarist Bas Maas and bassist Nick Douglas went at it face to face, string for string, note for note, bringing out the sounds and facials.

Love Me in Black came next to seduce in metals signature color.  The deep notes of new single Love’s gone to Hell reaped and ripped open heart strings dripping with disheartened sorrow. The warlock smiled, getting the last word on Hellbound.

Images by Mike Ritchie

Website – www.doromusic.de

Twitter- https://twitter.com/DoroOfficial

CLICK HERE to view more pics from the show.

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