Delain + Xandria + Edge of Paradise @ Theatre Fairmount▪

This show was a great reminder that we were getting out of the winter months, as I was waiting in line on Ave du Parc with people in T-shirts, with the temperature starting to get warmer after our months of wearing mass amounts of layers, waiting for doors to open and the lines to move.

There was still a bit of room to move around when the first act, Edge of Paradise, took the stage, but a lot of that room had vanished in the Fairmount by the end. The heat started picking up as soon as Margarita Monet took the stage to front Edge of Paradise.

For the Montréal stop of their tour, as well as the Toronto stop, Edge of Paradise had Montréal local Justin Piedimonte (Immortal Guardian, Maggots, A History of Flying Objects) filling in behind the drums.

I had seen Edge of Paradise once before when they opened for Dragonforce at the end of 2023. This was definitely the more intimate stage as opposed to Metropolis, and this time they were promoting their recently released album Prophecy.

Even after seeing them once before, I’m still not familiar with their discography, but I did recognize their song “Hologram,” from their last stop in Montréal.

During their 5th song, they had their recording guest vocalist from Ludovico Technique stroll on stage through the crowd to give his voice live rather than playing it from track.

The seven songs of their set seemed to fly by quickly, and we were soon waiting for the next band of the lineup.

Setlist:

Falling Light
Prophecy Unbound
The Other Side of Fear
Hologram
Death Note
Give it to Me (Mind Assassin) (with Ludovico Technique)
Digital Paradise

Xandria is another act that I was not unfamiliar with as an opening act, as the last time they were here, they were the direct support for Wind Rose, early 2024.

Ambre Vourvahis was quick to win over the crowd by addressing the nearly full room the entire time in French.

I loved it the same as last time. Robert Klawonn is a ham for the audience, and loves posing for a bit in front of a camera when he notices it.

The main thing I’ve noticed in their act is the missing bass player on both tours through here.

Ambre has great control, and even though they are two weeks into this tour, her voice didn’t show signs of being tired.

They are definitely someone to check out in Napalm Records’ mass list of artists if you’re into the more symphonic metal.

Setlist:

You Will Never Be Our God
Reborn
Universal
200 Years
Two Worlds
Live the Tale
Nightfall

The Napalm Records 20-year industry veterans of Delain brought us out of “The Cold,” with a “Suckerpunch,” and opened their set with two of their newest tracks off their most recent album (Dance with the Devil — songs “The Reaping,” and the title track).

The crowd was ready by the time Delain took the stage, and most were singing along.

The set, while long, definitely felt shorter. It didn’t feel like we had stood in that room for over an hour listening to Delain.

Close to the end of the set, in classic Montréal fashion, the Olé chant came out after Ronald Landa declared Montréal the best crowd of the tour (of course) thus far.

This was before the boys of the band dug back to their debut album to play a medley that they compiled from their Lucidity album.

The pre-encore song “Not Enough,” almost was an accurate phrasing for its place in the setlist, but the closing song left the crowd with a sense of belonging with their title track from the 2012 album “We Are the Others.”

While reviewing the songs after the show (I know, doing “homework” in reverse), Diana Leah was able to sing through the different eras of this decades-old band with no hesitation, and I felt she was strong throughout the set.