Moonlight Haze, supp. Neopera live in Hamburg

Moonlight Haze, supp. Neopera live in Hamburg
Location: Logo Hamburg
Date: June 15^th, 2025

I’ve known singer Chiara Tricarico for a long time. OK, not personally, but we’ve been friends on Facebook for quite a while. So, I bought all the albums and also the live DVD from her time with Temperance. And, of course, all the albums by her current band, Moonlight Haze. With their latest album, ‘Beyond’, they have released their best and most mature work to date. Her vocal performance has obviously also impressed Tobias Sammet. He has signed Chiara for the Avantasia live band. In June, Moonlight Haze came to Hamburg for their very first headlining show in Germany. Of course, I went to the Logo in Hamburg that evening. You can see pictures of the evening on Flickr.

Neopera from Hamburg opened this evening. I had previously experienced this band live eleven years ago, although with a completely different line-up. It was an acoustic performance at the Nikolaustörn 2014. The only remaining member from that time is singer Thorsten Schuck. What has remained is that there are three singers with different styles on stage. The clear, operatic voices of Wiebke Krull and Thorsten Schuck contrasted with the evil growls of guitarist Dawid Wieczorek. Somewhat similar to the Swedish band Amaranthe, not in sound but in line-up. Of course, Neopera have the better trained singers, fitting for Symphonic Metal. The Hamburg band started by playing some older songs, such as ‘Remote’ and “Error” (from the album ‘Destined Ways’, 2014). These were followed by songs from their current album ‘Eternal Source’. The set ended with another oldie – ‘Marvel Of Chimera’ (‘Destined Ways’). A powerful and atmospheric start.

Lineup:

Wiebke Krull – Vocals
Thorsten Schuck – Vocals
Dawid Wieczorek – Guitar; Harsh Vocals
Denis Filimonov – Bass
Florian Karbum – Drums

Song list:

• Intro
• Remote
• Before We Fall
• Error
• A Sign Of Light
• An Eternal Night
• When Nights Falls
• A New God
• A Dawning Day
• Marvel Of Chimera
• Outro

After a short break for set changes, the intro for Moonlight Haze’s performance began to play. At first, singer Chiara Tricarico stood alone on stage. The individual phases of the moon were displayed on her microphone stand, matching the band’s name. Like the current album, the show started with the opener (or rather the overture) ‘Beyond,’ after which the album is named. And, as on the album, it was followed by ‘Tame The Storm’. In total, the band played five songs from their current album. Previous albums were also featured, such as the title track from ‘Animus’ (2022), ‘Till The End’ (“Lunaris”, 2020) and ‘To the Moon and Back’ (‘De Rerum Natura’, 2019). Singer Chiara Tricarico always impresses me with her vocal performance, mastering all nuances from beguiling soprano to powerful rock vocals to evil growls. She repeatedly encouraged the fans in the unfortunately sparsely filled Logo to sing along loudly. Sometimes she spoke to fans so in German, which made her even more likeable. The sound was very well mixed. Her voice was always present but not as dominant as on some songs on the albums. Simone Morettin, who replaced Giulio Capone on drums, thrilled the audience with a drum solo shortly before the end. After ‘D.N.A.’ (short for ‘Do Not Apologise’) from the current album, Chiara left the stage, surprising everyone. But the fans loudly demanded an encore. ‘Awakening’ (‘Beyond’) and ‘We’ll Be Free’ (‘Animus’) followed as the last two songs of the evening.

Lineup:

Chiara Tricarico – Vocals
Alberto Melinato – Guitars
Marco Falanga – Guitars
Alessandro Jacobi – Bass
Simone Morettin – Drums

Song list:

• Intro
• Beyond
• Tame The Storm
• To The Moon And Back
• Animus
• Chase The Light
• Kintsugi
• The Dangerous Art Of Overthinking
• Ad Astra
• The Rabbit Of The Moon
• Till The End
• Drum Solo
• It’s Insane
• D.N.A.

Encore:

• Awakening
• We’ll Be Free
• Outro

It was great to finally see two of my favourite bands live. With Neopera, it took more than ten years. With Moonlight Haze, I had to wait six years. Both bands shone above all with outstanding vocal performances. But the instrumentation was also very good. While Neopera, as the name suggests, are more devoted to Symphonic Opera Metal, Moonlight Haze lean more towards Power Metal with symphonic elements. Thanks to both bands for this great evening. And to the Logo crew who made it all possible. However, it would be nice if a few more fans came to the Logo next time. Both bands deserve it.