On December 13 the ISS Dome in Düsseldorf (Germany) opened its doors for a party in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Doro Pesch’s musical career. Doro’s career was launched in 1983 when she decided to leave the band Snakebite in order to join the heavy metal band Warlock. During the 80’s, this band released a number of classic albums such as ‘Burning The Witches’ (1984) and ‘Hellbound’ (1985). After the release of the 4th Warlock album ‘Triumph And Agony’ a number of line-up changes followed and as a result Doro was the only remaining original bandmember and so the following studio album ‘Force Majeure’ (1989) was released under the name “Doro and Warlock”. In 1990 Doro traveled to New York where she recorded her debut solo album entitled ‘Doro’. Kiss frontman Gene Simmons assisted Doro in the recording process. The following years would bring Doro many highlights and some low points though she managed to build a large and solid fan base.

Prior to Doro’s show it was possible to enjoy performances by Holy Moses, Leaves Eyes and Arch enemy. Also in a different part of the venue a sizeable metal market had been set up where many a metalhead could spend his or her Euro’s on merchandise or albums and cd’s. So when we entered the venue halfway trough the afternoon, the place was swarming with metalheads and a number of fans were already anxiously waiting right in front of the doors to the concert hall.

At about 5 o’clock the German band Holy Moses takes the stage as a large crowd has gathered before the stage and the stands holding the people. It doesn’t take much for Holy Moses to get the crowd going. The band does what it does best; playing old-fashioned German thrash. We hear songs like “Illusions Of Darkness” and “Through Shattered Minds” off Holy Moses’ latest release ‘Agony Of Death’, which came out earlier this year. One of the best albums they have made, we might add. During the rest of the set the focus is clearly on the band’s older albums. Of course Holy Moses takes some time to reflect on Doro’s 25 years of musical labour and we hear many typical German “hey hey hey’s”. Although the band was extremely enthusiastic we must note that Sabina’s voice is not what it used to be and so we take our leave half an hour into the show so we can prepare ourselves for the next act.

It’s now up to the band Leaves’ Eyes to warm up the crowd a little more. After a short intro they kick off with the songs “Farewell Proud Men” and “Ocean’s Way”. Singer Liv Kristine is looking charming as always and her performance is pretty convincing. All the touring the band has done has obviously added to their sound and professionalism. They go on to play the new song “Through Our Veins” which feature on Leaves’ Eyes new album. As expected, they play a fine show and today’s lead role can be attributed to the drummer Seven Antonopolous who is continuously turning and tossing his drum sticks. Furthermore we hear the songs “New Found Land”, “The Crossing” and “Temptation”, the latter of which is taken from the band’s debut album. Liv’s husband Alexander Krull fittingly complements Liv’s voice with his grunting. Leaves’ Eyes have a good thing going here and their set is ended with the song “Legend Land” and the beautiful “Elegy”. After 40 minutes it all comes to an end. Leave’s Eyes gave a fine performance today with reasonable acoustics and a solid set.

After a short delay it is time for the Swedish formation Arch Enemy to hit the stage. They have scaled down their regular setlist due to the delay and sound problems. After a short intro the band start their performance with classics such as “Ravenous”, “Nemesis”, “We Will Rise” and “Taking Back My Soul” (the latter of which was taken from the 2005 album ‘Doomsday Machine’). Though practically everybody in the crowd seems to be singing along to “Dead eyes See No Future”, it is evident that the most part of the crowd here today have come to see one artist: Doro. It’s not that the crowd is not enjoying itself but during Arch Enemy there is no sign of even the slightest moshpit. We witness some fine Ammot brothers action as they rip it up, Arch Enemy is in top condition today and front woman Angela Gossow proves once again that she knows how to handle a crowd. The show is ended with the song ““Fields Of Desolation”. Great sound, great performance!

8.15, the moment all have been waiting for has finally arrived. Doro is introduced by long-time friend and female boxing world champion Regina Halmich. 8000 fans go nuts when an excellent show is kicked off with fireworks and the song “Earthshaker Rock”. Doro continues with her all-time classic “I Rule The Ruins” followed by “The Night Of The Warlock” and “Hellraiser”. For the song “Always Live To Win” Doro is joined by Overkill singer Bobby Ellsworth. After this Doro entertains us with songs such as “She's Like Thunder”, “Herzblut” and the emotional song “Für Immer”. Ex-Plasmatics / Crown of Thorns axeman Jean Beauvoir joins Doro for a rendition of the song “Burn It Up”, Beauvoir is also knows for working with artist like Kiss and the Ramones. During the song the stage is taken over by the Rhein Fire Cheerleader-Team as great pillars of fire are lit on stage. All this is followed by the song “Metal Tango” together with drummer Johhny Dee who treats us to a five-minute drumsolo. During the next song the stage is taken over by Enid Williams and Jackie Chambers (Girlschool), Liv Kristine (Leaves Eyes), Sabina Classen (Holy Moses), Floor Jansen (After Forever) and Ji-In Cho (Krypteria) to perform together with Doro when she sings her latest single “Celebrate”. We were told Veronica Freeman (Benedictum) had to cancel due to family circumstances.

For the next song; “Love Me In Black” the Rhein Fire Cheerleader-Team pop back on stage after which Tarja Turunen makes an appearance with the song “Walking With Angels” together with Doro. The ladies also sing the duet “The Sheer”, the title song of the EP recently released by Tarja. The crowd is simply loving it all, this is exactly what they came for; a solid rock show by Germany’s finest: Doro. For the next song “When East Meets West” Doro receives vocal assistance from Grave Digger’s Chris Boltendahl and renowned guitarist Axel Rudi Pell works the strings. When Axel Rudi Pell makes to leave the stage he trips over one of the props and takes a nasty dive, we were told that he had to be taken to the hospital due to injuries. But the show must go on and so we hear Judas Priest’s classic “Breaking The Law”. The crowd breaks into a roaring applause when guitarist Rudolf Schenker and vocalist Klaus Meine from German rocklegends the Scorpions enter the stage. Klaus Meine confirms that Doro “really is the Queen of Metal” and together they play the Scorpions hit “Big City Nights” , followed by another classic: “Rock You Like A Hurricane”. Meanwhile, the crowd of 8000 goes nuts.

After an odd 20 songs, it is now time for a Warlock reunion. The band kick off their set with the songs “Fight For Rock”, the classic “Burning The Witches” and “All Night” which has not been played live since 1986. We are amused by a giant version of the Warlock mascotte that rises from behind the stage. Furthermore we hear songs such as “Midnite In China” after which Doro is joined by Warrel Dane (Nevermore) for the track “True As Steel”. Warlock end their set with a rendition of “Hellbound” and the crowd passionately sings along to the lyrics.

The second encore of tonight comprises the songs “Warrior Soul”, “Unholy Love” and “Fight” followed by the grand finale “All We Are” for which all guest musicians of today gather on stage, the perfect ending for this unique show.

We can look back on a splendid and interesting event, a fantastic atmosphere and professional production work. This was certainly the ultimate Doro show for every fan of this band, Doro and her comrades were unmistakably enthusiastic and passionate in their performance. For all those who had to miss the spectacle, the whole event was filmed by a sizeable filmcrew so we expect it won’t be long before a DVD of the show will be available. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who contributed to making this day possible, we already look forward to the next edition in five years time! (Eus, Talitha, Martina)

Doro's setlist:

01. Earthshaker Rock
02. I Rule The Ruins
03. You're My Family
04. The Night Of The Warlock
05. Hellraiser
06. Always Live To Win (feat. Bobby Ellsworth)
07. Above The Ashes
08. She's Like Thunder
09. Herzblut
10. Für Immer
11. Burn It Up (feat. Jean Beauvoir)
12. Metal Tango Drum Solo
13. Celebrate Full Metal Female Version
14. Love Me In Black
15. Walking With An Angel (feat. Tarja Turunen)
16. The Seer (feat. Tarja Turunen)
17. East Meets West (feat. Chris Boltendahl, Axel Rudi Pell)
18. Breaking The Law
19. Big City Nights (feat. Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker)
20. Rock You Like A Hurricane (feat. Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker)

Encore:

WARLOCK reunion (with Doro):

21. Fight For Rock
22. Burning The Witches
23. All Night
24. Midnite In China
25. True As Steel (feat. Warrel Dane)
26. Hellbound

Encore 2:

27. Warrior Soul
28. Unholy Love
29. Fight

Encore 3:

30. All We Are

For more photo's, check out the visual on this website!