Long live the King
Yngwie Malmsteen, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, 4th November 2011 

Yngwie Malmsteen is the King of Neoclassical Metal.
The Swedish shredder first played with his own band Rising Force in 1984, with the initial incarnation of the band fronted by Jeff Scott Soto.

Since then a number of vocalists have worked with Malmsteen or fronted Rising Force including Mark Boals, Joe Lynn Turner, Doogie White and current singer Tim “Ripper” Owens.
Owens, who formerly fronted both Judas Priest and Iced Earth, has been with Rising Force since 2008 and his vocal talents have been featured on the last two albums, Perpetual Flame and Relentless.

I am not usually a fan of metal music, but as a guitar player myself I have had an interest in Mr. Malmsteen for several years and find his speed and skill very intriguing. So much so that my cousin Eric and I had been discussing the Malmsteen gig for about a month before the House of Blues date in Lake Buena Vista and in a fitting trade I gave Eric my used Peavey guitar amp for a ticket to the concert…
 
Pre-show, the merchandise tables had a variety of things to buy including the Relentless CD. And, if you had the money to spend, you could even meet the man himself for the outrageous sum of $450.
 
The show opener was 5 Billion Dead, an Orlando heavy metal band comprised of four members: Chuck Boyer (vocals), Alex Vieira (guitars), Chris B. (drums), and Matt Wagner (bass). I found their style to be very original and refreshing with Boyer using both clear, and growling, heavy metal vocals. Songs performed included ‘Parts’ and ‘Can’t Save Me.’   

Prior to the Rising Force set I watched the guitar tech make last minute adjustments to some of Malmsteen’s creamy yellow Fender Stratocasters with signature scalloped fretboards. At the back, taking up almost the whole stage, was a huge wall of Marshall guitar amps. According to Malmsteen on VH1’s ‘That Metal Show,’ this wall is made up of 32 heads and 26 Marshall cabinets. It’s something you have to see, and hear, to really appreciate.

Large clouds of dry ice heralded the appearance of Rising Force, whose line-up is completed by Bjorn Englen (bass), Patrick Johansson (drums) and Nick Marino (keyboards).
Malmsteen, dressed in his classic garb of open-neck black shirt, showy gold jewellery (including gold chain with Ferrari ‘prancing horse’ and a large gold cross) and black leather pants, spent the next three hours putting on an extremely high energy show driven by his signature arpeggio-laced guitar style.

He is quite the showman and was all over the stage. At times he slung his guitar hula-hoop style around his shoulders and held his axe high above his head.
He also played with his teeth and at one point ripped the strings off his guitar.

As far as speed, he’s still very fast, maybe not as fast at 48 as he was at 25 but deserving of the title of one of the fastest shredders in the world. 

He changed guitars frequently, mostly using his signature yellow Stratocasters but playing other guitars too. A bright orangey-red Stratocaster was used for ‘Red Devil’ while a black ovation was played during several acoustic pieces. Both guitars sported a Ferrari sticker.
After he was done with each guitar he would throw it to the guitar tech stage left who then caught it. God forbid if he dropped one of Yngwie Malmsteen’s guitars…
I am sure he would meet the wrath of Malmsteen's world famous temper.

Tim “Ripper” Owens also did a stellar job as vocalist and his gritty vocals were very reminiscent of his time with Iced Earth.  He performed two vocal pieces from Relentless (‘Enemy Within’ and ‘Critical Mass’) while Malmsteen performed the instrumental pieces ‘Into Valhalla,’ ‘Overture’ and ‘Shot Across the Bow’ from the same album.
They also performed the aforementioned ‘Red Devil,’ ‘Live to Fight (Another Day)’ and ‘Damnation Game’ from the previous Rising Force album, Perpetual Flame.

Owens can obviously sing the songs that were written for him but he also did a great job on classic Malmsteen tunes such as ‘Rising Force,’ ‘Heaven Tonight’ and ‘I’ll See The Light Tonight.’

The concert was a mix of original Malmsteen tunes, instrumentals (including ‘The Star Spangled Banner’), covers and classical pieces.
The original songs included ‘Baroque and Roll,’ ‘Black Star,’ ‘Far Beyond the Sun’ and ‘Trilogy Suite: Op 5.’ Malmsteen also performed several rock covers including Rainbow’s ‘Gates of Babylon’ and to top it all there were several classical pieces including Bach’s ‘Bandinerie,’ ‘Toccata’ and ‘Fugue in D Minor.’  

A very memorable night watching one of the most talented guitar players of all time. The King of Pop is dead, but long live the King of Neoclassical Metal.

Amanda Lee Campbell
November 2011