Kamelot – 7th St Entry – Minneapolis MN – September 14th 2026

First Avenue presents Kamelot with special guests Vision of Atlantis and Frozen Crown

Review and photos by Kyle Hansen

Italian power-metal band Frozen Crown wasted little time making an impression Monday night, opening the Kamelot concert at First Avenue with a spirited set that combined melodic hooks, rapid-fire guitar work and a commanding stage presence.

Though allotted roughly 30 minutes, Frozen Crown packed the abbreviated performance with energy. Songs including “Kings,” “The One,” “Neverending,” “Who Wants to Burn in Heaven,” “Reborn,” “Iris” and “I Am the Tyrant” showcased the band’s blend of precision musicianship and soaring metal melodies.

The group played with confidence from the opening moments, and the tight sound of First Avenue gave the guitars and rhythm section plenty of punch. The performance also benefited from the band’s evident enthusiasm, which quickly spread into the audience.

Frozen Crown’s music carries a distinctly dramatic quality, but the band avoided letting that theatricality overshadow the musicianship. Instead, the songs came across as polished and forceful, with enough melodic variety to keep the short set moving.

As an opening act, Frozen Crown had a difficult assignment: introduce itself to an audience that had come primarily for the headliner. By the end of the set, however, the band had made a strong case for itself. Its First Avenue appearance was brief, energetic and memorable — an effective opening salvo for an evening of melodic and symphonic metal.

Visions of Atlantis brought its distinctive brand of symphonic metal turning a 45-minute opening set into an entertaining mix of soaring vocals, heavy guitars and theatrical showmanship.

The Austrian band, appearing on the Kamelot tour, opened with “Master the Hurricane” and quickly established a commanding presence. The set moved through “Clocks,” “Tonight I’m Alive,” “Legion of the Seas,” “Hellfire,” “Pirates Will Return,” “Melancholy Angel” and “Armada,” drawing from the group’s maritime-themed repertoire.

The band’s two-vocalist approach provided much of the night’s musical appeal. Powerful exchanges between the male and female leads gave the songs both dramatic contrast and melodic depth, while the guitars and drums supplied the weight expected from a metal performance.

Visions of Atlantis also understood that a concert is more than a collection of songs. The band repeatedly engaged the First Avenue crowd, most memorably when frontman Michele Guaitoli invited the audience to join in a mock rowing motion. The playful moment fit naturally with the band’s pirate imagery and demonstrated the group’s ability to connect with an audience beyond the music itself.

“Hellfire” stood out as one of the evening’s stronger performances, building tension before erupting into a forceful vocal finish. “Armada” provided an appropriately big conclusion, with the band leaving the stage to an enthusiastic response.

The abbreviated set did not allow much room for detours, but that ultimately worked in the band’s favor. Visions of Atlantis kept the performance focused and energetic, moving from one highlight to the next without losing momentum.

As the middle act on a three-band bill, Visions of Atlantis had limited time to make an impression. It used that time well. At First Avenue, the band delivered a polished, theatrical performance that demonstrated why symphonic metal works particularly well in a live setting: grand melodies, muscular instrumentation and enough spectacle to make the audience feel part of the story.

Kamelot closed out a night of symphonic metal at First Avenue on Sept. 14 with a polished, theatrical performance that balanced elaborate production with the musicianship that has defined the band for more than three decades.

The Florida-based band, touring behind its latest album, Dark Asylum, headlined a bill that included Frozen Crown and Visions of Atlantis. By the time Kamelot took the stage, the audience had already been warmed up by two energetic performances. Kamelot responded with a set built around drama, melody and considerable musical firepower.

Vocalist Tommy Karevik proved an assured frontman, moving easily between the band’s darker material and its more melodic passages. Guitarist Thomas Youngblood supplied the evening’s instrumental backbone, while drummer Alex Landenburg and keyboardist Oliver Palotai gave the songs the weight and orchestral color central to Kamelot’s sound.

The set drew from throughout the band’s catalog. “The Great Pandemonium,” “Rule the World,” “Karma” and “Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy)” offered longtime fans familiar highlights, while newer songs such as “Ashen World,” “Godlike Alchemy,” “New Babylon” and “Dark Asylum” showed that the band remains invested in expanding its sound.

Guest appearances added another dimension. Giada Etro joined the band for “New Babylon” and later returned alongside Visions of Atlantis vocalist Clémentine Delauney for “Sanctuary.” Their contrasting voices gave the songs an added theatrical dimension without overshadowing the core band.

Not everything depended on spectacle. During “Ivy, My Dear,” the energy dropped to a more reflective level as phone lights spread across the First Avenue crowd. It was a welcome change of pace in a performance otherwise filled with heavy guitars, dramatic lighting and pounding drums.

The final stretch brought the production back to full scale. “Veil of Elysium” closed the main set before “March of Mephisto” and “Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife)” supplied a forceful encore.

Kamelot’s appeal has always rested on its ability to make metal feel cinematic, and that quality was especially evident at First Avenue. The band combined technical precision with memorable melodies and enough theatrical flair to make the evening feel like an event rather than simply another club show.

For the Minneapolis crowd, Kamelot provided a fitting finale: grand without losing its musical focus, dramatic without sacrificing substance, and energetic enough to send the audience home satisfied.