Metal Legend Doro Pesch has been rocking audiences for three decades now. Beginning her career as front-woman for German band Warlock, her solo career began back in 1989 with the release of Force Majeure, and now in 2014 she celebrates her thirty anniversary of domination with a special tour. Marking the ninth show on a string of eleven dates, Doro arrived with a handful of guest at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City on Monday, October 20th, to host the celebration. Full of energy and raging old school Metal, The Mighty Swine, hailing from Ohio, and NYC’s own Metalfier were in charge of warming up the crowd for a unforgettable show.
Opening up, The Mighty Swine have a progressive/hard rock sound that rocked Gramercy Theater hard. Though the band has only been around since 2009, they have worked hard and earned their way onto this tour. Their latest release, Last Man Standing, is being dubbed their best work to date. With some ’70s/’80s style, their groovy tunes set the right mood for the night with songs like “Last Man Standing,” “Empty Shell,” and “Dead Man’s Stare.” To close their set, he cherry on top was a cover of the legendary “Hell Bent For Leather” by Judas Priest, which had fans thundering uproariously for The Mighty Swine.
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Metalfier brought their “Heavy Metal Life” to the juiced-up crowd of New York. With catchy tunes and an old school heavy metal vibe, they played a set full of energy and a intense stage presence that piqued the crowd even more. Performing some of their best material from the past ten plus years, such as “Bad Reputation,” “Devil Inside My Head,” and “Warrior Soul,’ Metalifer had their home territory of NYC revved up and ready to go.
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Finally, the moment of the night everyone had waited for was moments away, and the Queen of Heavy Metal was about to send the crowd back to the golden era of the genre. Before she could even set foot on stage, the impatient crowd was chanting her name with fevered vehemence. With sixteen albums under her belt and many collaborations in the metal community, Doro has no doubt earned her way as a timeless performer for the scene. As soon as her band began playing, the Metal icon launched out, running around the stage and lifting the fan’s spirits as she sang her soul out with Warlock song “I Rule the Ruins.” Going into other classics like “Burning the Witches” and “Fight for Rock,” it was clear Doro and company were ready to put on a show no one would soon forget. Inviting her first guest out for “Always Live to Win,” Overkill’s Bobby Blitz appeared and joined Doro in the rendition, igniting more screams from the floor. A fan-favorite himself, hailing from across the river in New Jersey, Blitz’s appearance was a hit.
As Doro moved along in the performance, she spanned a variety of areas from her career, including songs like “Raise Your Fist in the Air,” “Love Me Black,” and “The Night of the Warlock.” Next, she summoned multi-instrumentalist Jean Beauvoir to help out with the song “Burn it Up.” The sounds of metal were loud, clarified and tight as can be with Doro’s voice soaring over the top. Not allowing a dull moment to pass, Chris Caffery of Savatage/Trans-Siberian Orchestra came out to perform guitar on even more Warlock tunes, including “Fur Immer” and “Metal Tango.” With everyone completely enthralled in the sheer power of the show, a spectacular drum solo by none other than Doro’s Johnny Dee fit in perfectly, falling in before the Wacken Open Air festival anthem of the Rock world, “We Are The Metalheads.”
As the night continued, the surprise guests kept coming. Doro performed “East Meets West” with Leather Leone of Rude Girl and “True as Steel” with Veronica Freeman of Benedictum. These two fellow women singers were the perfect balance to the male guests as they brought back the essence of women in Heavy Metal in sensational fashion. Continuously expressing her appreciation for the support through the years, Doro connected with her fans like she always does by making everyone feel like family. Having already provided a star-studded cast of guests, the final appearance of the night came with Annihilator’s guitarist Jeff Waters dominating on “Revenge.” Uniting Metal forces with everyone’s horns in the air and a warm feeling of exhilaration running around Gramercy Theatre, fans were treated to 1987 track, “All We Are” as all of the evening’s guests met together on stage with Doro.
The crowd loved every single bit of these songs, as these were their anthems as young metalheads back in their day. Chanting and screaming was heard throughout every single set, making it quite a sight to see a crowd so hyped for band. But this was no surprise, as Doro definitely showed the same excitement toward her crowd, thanking them immensely any chance she had. As (so we thought) the night seemed to come to a conclusion as drummer Johnny Dee performed an outstanding drum solo that rocked the crowd thoroughly and signaled that there was more to come from Doro. To close the night with a mark, everyone joined in the stage for a couple more songs and another cover of the legendary Judas Priest, “Breaking the Law”.
The final song of the evening was a cover of Dio’s “Egypt (The Chains Are On).” Certainly a sight to see fans hyped up all night long, Doro put on a show for the ages. The cast of guests merely made the anniversary celebration that much more special for Doro and those which made it out to the show. One can only hope with a night such as this the live DVD/Blu-Ray is in the works for a keepsake everyone can reflect on for years to come.
One of the most stunning vocalists of the mid to late 80s along with Lita Ford