Demons & Wizards, Lizzy Borden & Tyr enchanted Playstation Theater (photos)

Florida power metal heavy hitters Demons & Wizards (ft. Iced Earth‘s Jon Schaffer & Blind Guardian‘s Hansi Kürsch) recently wrapped up their first and only North American tour, which kicked off last month on the west coast. The exclusive outing roared through New York City at the soon-to-close PlayStation Theater on September 5, 2019, before concluding at the always stacked ProgPower USA music festival in Atlanta a few days later.

The Manhattan show saw Demons & Wizards perform a hefty 17-song set filled with captivating numbers from their only two full-length albums: their 1999 self-titled effort and 2005’s Touched by the Crimson King. The show kicked off with powerful number “Rites of Passage” and continued with “Heaven Denies,” “Poor Man’s Crusade,” “Crimson King by Demons” and “Love’s Tragedy Asunder,” as elated fans belted out lyrics alongside Kürsch. The set also featured Iced Earth covers “Burning Times” and “I Died for You” (with a special appearance from former Iced Earth singer Matt Barlow during the latter song), along with Blind Guardian hits “Welcome to Dying” and “Valhalla.”

Schaffer set the Big Apple on fire, displaying intense vibes with each shredding note. The synergy between Jon and Hansi is domineering, and definitely shines best when experienced live on a stage. Tracks “Wicked Witch,” “The Gunslinger,” “Gallows Pole” and “My Last Sunrise” had the house incapable of standing still, with a sea of fists and phones being lifted as high as possible. As a special encore, the band pulled out favorites “Blood on My Hands” and “Fiddler on the Green.” Fans can expect to hear more from D&W, as they’ve signed to Century Media Records for the release of their anticipated third studio full-length release, still untitled and set for release in early 2020.

LA vets Lizzy Borden provided direct support, delivering horror and heavy metal to Times Square. It’s like Alice Cooper meets Kiss meets Gwar when these theatrical headbangers are in town. Lizzy Borden himself brings dread to the stage, especially with his multiple demonic costume changes. The band offered new tunes from their latest LP, My Midnight Things, spreading the disease with the title-track, plus set closer “Long May They Haunt Us.” The meat of their set consisted of menacing rippers like “Tomorrow Never Comes,” “Red Rum,” “There Will Be Blood Tonight,” “American Metal” and more.

Concertgoers were also treated to an opening set from Faroese folk metal act Tyr, who also brought new songs to NYC, warming up the evening with “Fire and Flame,” “Ragnars Kvæði” and “Gates of Hel” off their latest effort, Hel. The quartet also played select tunes from 2013’s Valkyrja and 2009’s By the Light of the Northern Star. Tyr‘s local appearance was not without controversy, as a handful of protesters lined outside of the venue to protest frontman Heri Joensen and his participation in hunting whales. Undaunted, the band are currently making plans to return to NYC in April.

Check out our gallery from the show below.

All photos by Johnny Perilla

Tyr:

Lizzy Borden:

Demons & Wizards: