Sometimes one has to wonder what guides music promoters to make certain decisions. It would be interesting to be aware of factors like costs of renting a venue, fuel, ticketing and so on. Because on occasion, it feels like tour schedules are suboptimal from all angles – acknowledging the lack of information. In the case of The Forsaken Tour by The Raven Age featuring Disconnected, I think that the most important factor that was considered was minimising bus-tour kilometres. Unfortunately, that placed their Madrid show on a Thursday, in a venue which… I’m pretty sure was inconvenient for everyone but myself.

The Raven Age is an English heavy metal band formed in 2009 by guitarists George Harris and Dan Wright – though Wright has since left the band. Current members are Harris and Tommy Gentry on guitars, Matt Cox on bass and backing vocals, Jai Patel on drums, and Matt James (MJ) on lead vocals. They have released three studio albums, and supported Iron Maiden, Anthrax and Apocalyptica during the Apocalyptica Plays Metallica Vol 2 Tour 2024. Though I saw Artics supporting that tour, my friend A****d saw The Raven Age and highly recommended them – actually she was the one who informed me of the upcoming tour and the Madrid date and place.

The concert was held in ReviLive, a concert and party venue associated with the musical studio ReviRock, which provides recording equipment, sets, rehearsal spaces… It is located near the Vicálvaro train station and Puerta de Arganda underground stop in Madrid. Unfortunately, it’s pretty far out from most commuting hubs. I had first thought about driving there, but my Sat-Nav has been failing lately. Furthermore, I did not feel comfortable parking and walking around the area – not the best – without knowing my way.

Since Vicálvaro was close and the way was rather straightforward, I decided to drive to a nearby station, then take a high-frequency train. But in the end, that day I had a headache, so I wanted to drive as little as possible. That meant risking it with the trains. I had previously checked finishing times and with doors at 19:00, I should be out at 22:30 latest. I had no intention to queue, so I took a train that arrived at the station around 18:50. That got me to the venue at 19:05. I was all right with staying back, but the crowd was so small that I found a spot at the barrier… And I was not wearing barrier shoes, at all. The good thing of a small side-lined venue is that security is nicer – and you are allowed to do outrageous things like bringing in your water bottle.

Supporting act throughout the tour was the French artists Disconnected, an independent French progressive metal band. Formed in 2016, it features Ivan Pavlakovic on vocals, Adrian Martinot and Florian Merindol on guitars, Romain Laure on Bass and Amaury Pastorelli on drums.

Doors ended up being at 19:30, not at 19:00, which was mean to the poor fans that had been there since early, particularly the meet & greet ones. I have to admit I did check for M&G tickets, but found no way to get them, else I would have. Maybe they were fanclub-only, I don’t know. I was hoping the venue would fill up more – similarly to La Riviera, where the crowd (that I’ve seen) skips the supporting act and drips in without queuing.

At 19:50, Disconnected started their act, and it was quite all right. What was unfortunately not so good was the sound. For such an empty venue, it was a pity, because it was not as if there was a roar from the attendees. The vocalist had great energy, and he was fun – though painfully aware of how few people there were. They sang in English and French, but the ratty sound made it a bit difficult to follow.

Disconnected’s setlist:
  1. Living incomplete
  2. I Fall Again
  3. The Wish
  4. La Puissance
  5. Unstoppable
  6. A World of Futile Pains
  7. Life Will Always Find Its Way
  8. We Carry On

Unfortunately, the venue had not filled up when it was time for the main act, and that was a bit sad. Despite the ongoing sound problems and the small crowd, The Raven Age had a great presence. The music did not sound as powerful as what I had been listening online though, and I am sure that they did not have any tea in their thermos bottles…

The Raven Age’s setlist:
  1. The Guillotine
  2. Promised Land
  3. Forgive & Forget
  4. Nostradamus
  5. Surrogate
  6. The Face That Launched A Thousand Ships
  7. Scimitar
  8. The Day The Earth Stood Still
  9. Essence of Time
  10. The Journey
  11. Seventh Heaven
  12. Angel in Disgrace
  13. Serpent’s Tongue
  14. Grave of the Fireflies
  15. Fleur de Lis

It was extremely amusing to hear a heavy metal singer with such a strong British accent, talking in a natural way and dropping swearwords without sweating them. The members seemed to be quite happy taking over all the stage, and there was a lot of interaction, which is always good and fun. Unfortunately, considering that promoter was giving tickets away, I don’t think I’ll ever have the chance to see them close to home again.

The act was not long. They started at 20:50 and finished at 22:10, so it was a relatively short show, but it went by really fast. There was no real encore, because MJ said “this is the time when we go backstage, you guys yell for more, we come back and sing some more, so we’re going to skip all that and go on.” I approve of that.

The whole event had a weird atmosphere from start to end – the lack of a queue, the… chairs outside so we could wait… The… “hey, hold my spot, I’m going to change into this merch shirt I just got” and “Sure, but then hold mine while I go to the toilet” conversations… And especially, the lack of people. I really hoped that there would be more concertgoers after 20:00, and at least some more enthusiasm. When I saw Kamijo in Barcelona there was a small crowd, but it was loud. Here, it was lukewarm. I felt a bit heartbroken for the bands, because they both did a great job.

The train I was supposed to take back did not pass, so I had to wait almost 45 minutes at the Vicálvaro station. That was not fun because the only seats were in the open platform and my lower back hurt – bad choice of shoes. It was extremely cold, too, so I just huddled on a bench, and it felt good when the train finally came. I got to my car just before midnight, and home soon after. I was so tired I almost hit the kerb on my last curve, so it is good that I did not drive back and forth on the speedway, actually.

All in all, I enjoyed the day, the supporting act, and the concert. Would I travel abroad for The Raven Age? Probably not. Will I buy their CDs when I have money to spare? Probably yes. Although I keep getting sidetracked by activities and places to see and burning through my fun budget… Just you wait until there is a concert somewhere I want to visit, and I’ll be taking this whole “not travelling for The Raven Age” back.