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Quebec salutes the return of Iced Earth in Montreal on this April 14, 2002. It was the second Iced Earth gig in Montreal; the first was on the "Something Wicked This Way Comes" tour in 1999 in a smaller venue. The venue was sold-out like many other cities on this tour! It was full packed (a lot higher than the maximum the venue can hold), it was hot and sweaty!

Jag Panzer was the first band to enter the stage. The set was too short (about 30 minutes) but it was really a good gig. The played about 7-8 songs like Take To The Sky, The Silent, Black and Iron Eagle. They played very well and accurately and received a good response from the crowd.

Next was In Flames. Well, I’m not really a fan of this type of band. The set was really too long for an opening band. However, I must admit that the crowd appreciated the band. Not me.

After a very long sound check, enter Iced Earth! They kick off with a drumbeat and they enter the stage with Violate and Pure Evil. A good start. It was great to hear the crowd sing the guitar melodies parts on many songs like on the Alive In Athens album.

The band played only 4 songs from their newest album Horror Show: Wolf, Damien, Jack and Dracula. That’s OK for me because this album is not of the same high calibre as the 4 previous ones. Note that it’s a good album but not great. Also, I really don’t like the Wolf song, even live. Dracula was good, all the musicians made the backing vocals and it was very efficient. I also dig Jack live.

They also played 6 songs from the Something Wicked This Way Comes album, which is great because in my own opinion, this is the best Iced Earth CD to date. They played Melancholy (Holy Martyr), Watching Over Me, My Own Savior and the awesome trilogy at the end of the gig, Prophecy, Birth Of The Wicked and The Coming Curse. Watching Over Me was a very special emotive moment; the crowd sung loudly this very personal song for Jon Shaffer.

They also played many songs off The Dark Saga like The Hunter, Violate, Slave To The Dark and A Question Of Heaven. They didn’t play any song from the Burnt Offerings CD. Finally, they played Iced Earth for the encore.

The musicianship was great. It’s almost insane that the band give all this energy on stage night after night. They are in the middle of a North American tour and they have only a few days off. I would specially congratulate singer Matthew Barlow for his performance, because his voice was in top shape even with this crazy tour. Also, Jon Shaffer’s picking was very tight and precise as usual. His picking is really a trademark for Iced Earth music.

The stage was sober with no scenery and pyrotechnics. It was an excellent gig. The next time they come, Iced Earth must be booked to a bigger venue. The popularity of Iced Earth is still climbing and this is only due to the excellent Iced Earth’s music and the true fans which not follow trendy craps that media pushed on newspaper, radio and TV. Iced Earth’s music still true and without compromise. Congratulations to Jon Shaffer and his bandmates!

Set list: (Iced Earth)

1. Violate
2. Pure Evil
3. Wolf
4. Damien
5. The Hunter
6. Melancholy
7. Jack
8. Slave To The Dark
9. A Question Of Heaven
10. My Own Savior
11. Watching Over Me
12. Dracula
13. Prophecy
14. Birth Of The Wicked
15. The Coming Curse

    Encore :

16. Iced Earth