Lake of Tears & Rage, live in Bucharest

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This was the second Lake of Tears concert for me, but the first time I got to see Rage live, and knowing that Rage is not really in my area of interest, I have to admit I was kind of reluctant towards this show. First of all, this event was far better organized than the Placebo one (which took place at the same venue, last year), though I did not understand why I was not allowed to have an umbrella with me, while others were. It's just a minor detail anyway, passing on. The opening act was Thunderstorm, a Romanian power metal band, as they said. It appeared that they were just an homage band to Iris and Cargo, they did not impress me at all, especially that it seemed like the vocalist was not at his best. It felt awkward seeing him on stage. Then Rage came and though I'm not a big fan of power metal, I liked their performance. Maybe it could have been even better if it were shorter, but alas, Lake of Tears' performance was at least as long, if not even longer. What I truly liked about Rage was their connection with the public, they really enjoyed playing and on stage they showed that they were professionals. After a short break, Lake of Tears started. They seemed really happy to be here again, and Daniel's "Buna seara, Bucuresti" (Good evening, Bucharest - in Romanian) was surprising, catchy and it truly pleased the public. Their setlist was long and varied, featuring tracks from every album besides Greater Art. I would have liked to hear "Greater Art" (the track), for instance, not to mention that that is not a bad album. Indeed they had a slow and bumpy debut, but I wouldn't ignore their first release in a live show, not to mention that at this rate, "Greater Art" will soon be forgotten. I also would have liked to hear "Planet of the Penguins", "Waiting Counting" or maybe "Head on Phantom" from their latest album. I recently found out that Lake of Tears does have a keyboardist, but surprisingly he is not used in live shows, only just in the studio. I find this quite odd, tracks like "Hold on Tight" (my personal favorite from the band!) or "Forever Autumn" would sound terrific live, with a keyboard and not a recorded negative. Overall the show was good, the venue was a little big for it and the sound was a little more than "ok". Though all the bands showed technical proficiency, there were some problems that were the fault of the organizer: The stage's cover was leaking right in the middle, and during Rage's performance it rained quite much; luckily, the band's members gentlemanly avoided the spot, not saying a word. While Lake of Tears were on stage, there were some sound problems that happened twice. Right at the beginning Daniel's voice was too low, but this was fixed quickly; towards the end of the show, Magnus' guitar was either on 'mute', either it was extremely distorted, and it was fixed only after about three minutes. Nonetheless these problems did not affect the continuity of the show and I would say that they were minor. Overall it was a good show, not better than the first Lake of Tears performance in Romania but still a 'must-see' for all power metal and / or gothic metal fans around.