An evening with Ignea
It is an early Saturday afternoon and I have made my way to Batschkapp in Frankfurt. I have a good reason. The reason has a name. The name is Ignea. I once saw them “ages ago” in 2018, nearly forgot about them but my dear friend Terrell Stewart nagged on me for quite a long time, to be precise three years, and made me aware of Ignea again. Long story short, in spring 2023, I reviewed their new masterpiece “Dreams Of Lands Unseen” and interviewed vocalist Helle. So here we are, queueing up for the concert tonight, or better this evening. It is a set of four bands, Ghosts of Atlantis, Ignea, Butcher Babies and Fear Factory.
Meet and Greet
Doors already open at 17:00 which is quite early and the first band of these four will start playing at 17:30. For that very reason and a very tight schedule, the meet and greet of Ignea has to take place at their merch table instead of meeting somewhere else prior the show, having a walk or sitting in a café together. Well, the industrial surroundings of Batschkapp and the weather conditions are not very inviting anyway.
Patreon
Most bands sell Meet and Greet tickets as an upgrade additionally to the regular tickets so the total price can easily be doubled. Ignea go a different way. Their meetings are exclusively reserved for their Patreons and participation is otherwise for free. Usually you also get a little gift from the band, can take photos, get personalised autographs, etc. and just hang around with Ignea. That is lovely and a really fair deal and appreciated very much. Here are some impressions of the meeting.
Ghosts of Atlantis
First band this evening is Ghosts Of Atlantis from Ipswich in Suffolk, England. Their music can be described as a mix of Extreme Symphonic Metal and Metalcore and sounds really fresh. Stage outfit and unique make-up make them very interesting to watch AND listen. Funny side fact, most of their light show was very blueish. Maybe because Atlantis is related to water? Just have a look.
Finally
After a short break it already is time for my favourites to enter the stage. I don’t talk about Mom and Dad but Helle Bohdanova – vocals, Yevhenii Zhytniuk – keyboards, Oleksandr Kamyshin – bass, Dmytro Vinnichenko – guitar and Ivan Kholmohorov – drums. Please finally welcome Ignea from Kiev/Ukraine back on stage! Why finally? Because Ignea couldn’t tour for quite a while. First they were caught by the Corona years and lost two years. When Ignea were ready to tour again, Ukraine was invaded by Russia and they again could not leave the country. Finally, they even had to cancel their already scheduled summer festival participations. Even this tour was on the edge.
Ignea
They open their slot with “Dunes” and I am just flashed. It is so lovely to see this band back on stage, even if their slot still is quite short. I really hope for a headliner club-tour in the future because I have so many of their songs on my personal list, which I want to enjoy live… Honestly, a two hours slot would still not be enough. And remember, with “Dreams Of Lands Unseen” Ignea released an album about travelling and jorneys – and couldn’t travel at all!
Metal Kate Bush
The choreography and movements of vocalist Helle are interesting. You know, she is not the tallest person in the world, especially in comparison to keyboarder Yevhenii, but her stage persona is large! I can only compare her expressions with those of young Kate Bush. Somehow they must be connected or secretly related. It is pure pleasure to watch her. Normally you would also expect her to do most of the speeches in English with a foreign accent. Not today. Surprisingly her unscripted speeches are in very fluent German.
War is stupid
During their show, Ignea thank their followers for all the support they receive. Ignea are true patriots and constantly collect money for the fight of their home country to survive and remain in freedom. Contrary to some other Ukrainian bands, Ignea’s members did not leave the country at the first chance but remained, with all the sacrifices which came with it.
Blood is red
Not only blood is red. The main lightshow of Ignea changed from previous blue to red. While blue gives a colder touch, red is a so called warm colour. It fits well to the emotional moments of Ignea’s far too short slot. Have I already mentioned my list of songs being long enough for a two hours show?
Too soon
Too soon it is time for Ignea’s closer “Leviathan”. As much as I like it, it is a sad moment because their show ends. Nevertheless, Ignea promise to come back as soon as possible. For today, returning to the merch table has to be enough. They hang around there in shifts so some can have a rest, dinner, whatever instead. And they have an open mind for everybody who wants to have a chat or photo with them.
Butcher Babies
The first two bands and the second two bands share the drum kits. So at least everything is already prepared and set for LA-based Groove-Metalists Butcher Babies who enter the stage only a few minutes after Ignea’s last note. We still are in a time frame when most venues would not even have opened the doors, early evening… The four (!) members of Butcher Babies play a furious and energetic set, as if there was no tomorrow. Why four? This time single vocalist Heidi Shepherd reports about second vocalist Carla Harvey’s urgent eye surgery shortly before the tour, which made it impossible to tour with the band. Heidi does a brilliant job; her vocals are maybe better than ever but I really miss the sweet little interactions between both of them.
Fear Factory
The headliner this evening needs a little bit more time for the stage setting. It is no problem, because it still is not very late and none will miss her or his train home. Of course it is time for another LA-band, the mighty Industrial Metal giants Fear Factory on their Disrup-Tour. Heidi of Butcher Babies joins them for one song – she can never get enough stage time – otherwise they play a solid show to the liking of the audience of the very well filled venue.
What is left to say?
I experienced four excellent bands though I focused on one band in particular. Ignea deserved and deserve all the attention they get and I really, really hope to see them again rather sooner than later with a full set. That doesn’t mean, I didn’t like the other bands, I just had my priorities with them. The early access at 17:00 was really uncommon and also put the bands under pressure. Ignea told me, they had barely finished their soundcheck shortly before we talked. They had wished to have a bit more time for their Patreons but at least they made the meeting possible. It was fine.
Respect please!
One thing which was not fine was the misbehaviour of a few, otherwise very friendly and calmed down, fans. It simply is a sign of disrespect when you place your more or less filled beer beaker on the merch table and don’t pay attention anymore. Pour it out over the band’s merch and it can’t be sold anymore. Merch sales on tour are a very big, if not the biggest part of band’s income on tour, so please don’t do it. You can still feel free to buy a shirt, put it on and pour the beer over yourself instead.
Tour continues
The tour is ongoing. Please have a look at the tight schedule, there is always a venue nearby for you. Grab your ticket here, support the bands and the tour. They deserve it. By the way, Cat Maverick paid a visit to the tour as well. Read his report with a different focus here!
Online:
IGNEA Patreon Dreams Of Lands Unseen review Interview with Helle
Please buy merch and physical music or downloads from the bands official sources and don’t stream music for free because it steals your artists’ income
proof reading by DerminBoad
All pics by Friend.X aka Mr. Deep