17-05-2022 Moonspell

Location: Jolly Joker, Ankara, TR

Gothic metal veterans hailing from Portugal, Moonspell are currently on a world tour celebrating their 30th year in music. I was at the Turkey leg of their Greater Tour XXX in Ankara on May 17. Even though the concert was on a weekday, there was no way I could miss them, so I hopped on a speed train and after 1,5 hour ride, there I was at the center of the Turkish capital embarking on my post pandemic metal show journey with these living goth legends.

There was no opening bands probably because this was gonna be a full-fledged Moonspell show. And so it was. The show lasted for over 2 hours as you can see on the setlist from the show. The band had to include all the fan-favorite classics as well as some new songs from the last 2 full length releases.

They kicked this show off with their freshest stuff from the “Hermitage” record of last year with The Greater Good. Extinct from the eponymous record of 2015 was the sophomore song. By then, the audience was totally in the mood for this gothic feast. 3rd song was Night Eternal from my favorite record of theirs of 2008. And then the real madness began! Opium sent the crowd into this sing-along, headbanging nostalgia. With the start of theatrical Awake, I really had no idea how the time went. With the drama of Mephisto, I surfaced back again and came to life with the ecstasy of the anthem Alma Mater.

For the encore, sure enough the band was back with Full Moon Madness. As we howled, Mr. Fernando howled on… Everyone got their inner wolf out and with that liberation, the end of show ushered us back to the dark streets of the Turkish capital for a sleepless night.

Links: https://www.facebook.com/moonspellband

Metal events in TR: https://www.facebook.com/veramuziktr/