Live Review: Within Temptation – 16th November 2024 – Wembley Arena, London, UK
4 min read
Fans of symphonic metal were gifted an enjoyable evening out on Saturday night as goth rockers Within Temptation made their highly anticipated return to the capital, two years after their last show which saw them co-headline the O2 Arena alongside US rock goliaths, Evanescence.
The band are currently on the road promoting most recent studio collection, 2023’s Bleed Out and it was a highly political affair for the band, led by confidently outspoken frontwoman, Sharon den Adel who frequently touched on topics that have proven to unfortunately divide her audience in recent times and years – especially after an archaic backlash from fans for the bands support of LGBT Pride.
We arrived at Wembley Arena just in time for the band to take to the stage at 9pm. The overhead screen was lit up brightly to advertise a live bootleg of the show being available at the end of the night; just one sign of how the concert experience has changed over the last decade.
Most attendees of the show were sporting either a Within Temptation tour t-shirt or one from the likes of Pantera, Iron Maiden, Metallica or another similar rock band – a much more tough and visually hard crowd than the ones we are admittedly used to given most shows we attend are aimed at more pop-oriented fan bases. But that was an element of the show that was both appealing and also enlightening – while rock fans may appear tough on the surface, they are some of the friendliest concertgoers out there.
As the back screen flooded with images of burning embers and the band’s logo, sunflowers and a cemetery, giant bursts of air projected upward and frontwoman den Adel, dressed in flowing black gown complete with a dramatic head piece entered the arena and tore through a set seasoned with songs from the bands latest record, including We Go to War with its video game style depictions of a battleground on the large screens and the records title track, as well as some of the bands biggest and most theatrical of hits like The Reckoning and Mother Earth.
The set was quite politically driven, with mentions of the Ukraine war, the world being “on fire”, as den Adel would describe, and a recorded video speech by former UK Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill opening the band’s performance of Our Solemn Hour. The outspoken front woman has long been an advocate for equal rights and the band has developed a very large LGBTQI+ following for their support of the community. That was seen again this week as the singer spoke about everyone having their own right to be who they want to be regardless of sexuality and the importance of not putting ones religion on others ahead of a powerful performance of the defiant, Don’t Pray For Me. As a member of the LGBTQI+ community myself, it was amazing to see this kid of support from a band who’s audience is as hard as they are – and also to see and hear the cheers from the crowd sweep through the venue in support of the singers comments.
The first time we saw Within Temptation was back in the very early 2010’s. Well, we saw Sharon. She was performing alongside a number of other artists as part of the touring show, Night of the Proms in Antwerp, Belgium. As part of her set she performed Stand My Ground – probably one of the bands most mainstream sounding hits – and it was great seeing and hearing the song be performed as part of this latest tour – every ounce of emotion and drama injected into the hit for fans that punched into the air as they helped with backing vocals.
A couple of guest appearances came in the form of Ukrainian singer Alex Yarmak on A Fool’s Parade and who promoted an initiative called Dronefall which helps bring down drones in his homeland during the current war, as well as a big operatic section in the set with Finnish vocalist Tarja Turunen joining the band on stage for a powerful performance of The Promise and I Feel Immortal as well as rejoining for an encore offering of Paradise (What About Us?).
A planetary moment for Supernova sat back to back with the Need For Speed-esque Faster while the crowd raised phone lights in the air during the bands performance of All I Need; the power ballad ushering in a stage floor full of mist as den Adel drove through the gorgeous number.
Overall, a fantastic show by one of goth rocks finest and most celebrated collectives. Ad carrying many very important messages, all delivered with care and conviction by a band that doesn’t hold back on their political opinions – regardless of the social media and fan consequences and for that we tip our hat to the band.
Setlist:
We Go to War
Bleed Out
Ritual
Don’t Pray for Me
Wireless
The Reckoning
Shot in the Dark
Stand My Ground
A Fool’s Parade
The Promise (with Tarja)
I Feel Immortal (Tarja cover)
Supernova
Faster
Our Solemn Hour
All I Need
Paradise (What About Us?) (with Tarja)
Mother Earth
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
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