The current line-up of the Axel Rudi Pell Band was able to look back at nine extremely successful years in autumn 2007. May 1998 saw the exceptional American vocalist, Johnny Gioeli, join the group surrounding the guitarist from Wattenscheid, Germany, and world-class drummer Mike Terrana followed in September of that year.
Pell, Gioeli, Terrana and the longstanding band members, Volker Krawczak (bass) and Ferdy Doernberg (keyboards), are one of the best and most homogeneous German melodic metal acts and have come up with new albums on a regular basis, followed by extensive tours. The band’s performance at the 2007 Rock Hard Festival at the Gelsenkirchen Amphitheater is considered one of the band’s most outstanding shows and will be released on double DVD under the title Live Over Europe on 25 February 2008 (Germany: 22 February 2008).
The 75-minute concert presents the Axel Rudi Pell Band in a generous mood, performing haunting versions of their most important tracks, among them ‘Strong As A Rock’, ‘Tear Down The Walls’, ‘Mystica’, ‘Rock The Nation’ and ‘Fool Fool’. The release will include an additional bonus DVD featuring select footage from the years 2004 to 2006 from Pell’s private vaults, including the 2005 Wacken Open Air, the same year’s Bang Your Head, the 2004 Sweden Rock Festival and shows in the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, and his local club, the Zeche in Bochum.
With a total playing time of over three and a half hours, Live Over Europe is a comprehensive document highlighting the impressive live qualities of a band who have quite a few things up their sleeve for next year. Pell: “There will be a new studio album in 2008, plus a number of festival shows, and a headliner tour in autumn.” That’s all he’s prepared to give away at this point, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
DVD 1
The complete Rock Hard Festival Show:
1 Fly To The Moon
2 Strong As A Rock
3 The Masquerade Ball / Casbah
4 Drumsolo
5 Tear Down The Walls
6 Mystica
7 Rock The Nation
8 The Temple Of The King
9 Fool Fool
10 Call Her Princess
DVD 2
Bonus “Official Bootleg DVD”:
Sölvesborg (Sweden) – June 12, 2004 (Sweden Rock Festival)
Tear Down The Walls
Strong As A Rock
Balingen (Germany) – June 24, 2005 (Bang Your Head Festival)
Fool Fool
Z7, Pratteln (Switzerland) – June 6, 2005
The Masquerade Ball / Casbah
Carousel (incl. Keyboard Solo)
The Temple Of The King
Call Her Princess
Zeche, Bochum (Germany) – April 26, 2004
Legions Of Hell
Take The Crown
Assembly Rooms, Derby (UK) – September 29, 2006 (Bloodstock Festival)
Rock The Nation
Wacken (Germany) – August 6, 2005 (Wacken Open Air)
Strong As A Rock
Zeche, Bochum (Germany) – September 30, 2006
Love Gun
Oceans Of Time
Zeche, Bochum (Germany) – October 1, 2006
Fly To The Moon
Mystica
Haunted Castle Serenade
Rock The Nation
Dessel (Belgium) – June 25, 2005 (Graspop Metal Meeting)
Call Her Princess