Alchemy Tour Reports - Australia / New Zealand

Sydney, Australia (Selinas)

--Jimmy Page: I had the greatest time yesterday!! I was extremely excited when I found out that Yngwie was coming to Australia but when I heard he was doing an instore signing at my favourite record store as well, I was in heaven. I lined up all day and it was a great honour to be the first inside to welcome him to Sydney. I took my brief meeting with my hero to tell him about my dilemma - I had tickets to the concert but you needed to be 18 to get in (I am only 16). He told me to talk to Mike and as I went to I saw April and said hi. She asked what the problem was so I told her I was underage and she told Mike to put me on the guest list. I couldn't believe my luck!! The pass allowed me access into the upstairs "box seats" kind of area. I looked down on Yngwie's guitar tech and could see backstage - I had the best spot in the house. There was just a curtain and railing between me and the doorway to the green room. There are no words for how excellent the concert was - the lights went out and Yngwie shredded out some blitz licks. "Rising Force" kicked off what was an awesomly long set list. I love Alchemy so it was great seeing "Leonardo", "Playing with Fire" and "Blue" live. "Blitzkreig" and "Asylum Suite" where excellent also. Yngwie keeps bringing out killer stuff year after year which just blows me away. Anyway part way through the set I got a tap on the shoulder. I turned around to see April leaning over the railing. She asked if I got in alright and she gave me one of Yngwie's picks. I thanked her again and she went off - I can't get over how nice she was to me. The rest of the concert was mad with the next song being "Far Beyond the Sun" (an old favourite and one that I am working on at guitar at the moment, so it was such a buzz seeing it just after she gave me the pick!). Although the whole set was perfect, another highlight for me, apart from Yngwie's solos, was "Prelude to April", in the acoustic set, as I'm a big "Concerto Suite..." fan. The concert finished strongly with "I'll see the Light, Tonight" and with that the night was over. I just wanted to let the fan club know about the excellent show in Sydney and my wonderful personal experience with Yngwie and April.

--Dean Carse: Hey there! I saw Yngwie at Selina's last night (19 Nov 99) in Sydney. He put on a great show and played all his best material from the past and the present. The band was in top form and gave an amazing performance...

Melbourne, Australia (The Palace)

--Zukes, Aussie Computer Consultant: I live in Melbourne, Australia, and last night I went and saw Yngwie at the Palace venue in St Kilda. The show was fantastic. Ever since I bought Alchemy I've been listening to it constantly - I especially love track 6 (Blue) and I play it over and over. What a rush to see the man perform it right in front of me. He played a lot of stuff from this CD and all through the show played all the tracks I've come to love so well - from hammering through "I am a Viking", "Dreaming", "Far beyond the Sun", "Black Star" and ""Fury" to "Bedroom Eyes" and "Seventh Sign" and of course "You Don't Remember" in which he stuck in a once-in-a-lifetime rendition of "Smoke on the Water". He belted out all three demanding parts of "Asylum" cool as a cucumber. Each band member blew us away with their solos throughout the show. They were on stage for 3 hours with an encore and everyone was commenting on what great value-for-money they gave. Next time he's out here I'll be there right center-stage in front to get blown away again. Good onya Yngwie - you remain THE fucking legend. That's the best money I've ever spent. Please come out again, man.

--Michael 'HadeSlayeR' Mah: hey guys..i'm back from the malmsteen show.. the songs were good..and he was playing well but the sound was horrible...u can't even hear the vocalist unless he stick his mic down his throat... on 1 occasion..malmsteen played red house..which was a really good song..and i'm glad that he played that..but u can't hear the vocals clearly etc.... i wonder what happened to the sound system??=( But at least i got 2 sig pick..1 which i gave to a friend... and got my stuff signed!!!! yeah

Auckland, New Zealand (Power Station)

--B. Jawas: I just saw Yngwie and his band perform a concert on the Alchemy tour here at Auckland, New Zealand. The whole concert was awesome and lasted about 2 and a half hours. All the rest of the band are amazing muscians. Randy Coven did things on the bass that most guitarists couldn't do and the drummer also did an amazing solo. The venue was fairly small and about maybe 300 to 400 people turned up. It was quite an intimate setting and we were able to get very close to the band. Randy Coven cracked me up with his gestures and facial movements. Honestly, he could have been in spinal tap! I think that maybe half the people here knew Yngwie's stuff well and the rest turned up because they had heard about his guitar reputation. At one stage one idiot threw beer at Yngwie. The second time that the moron did it Yngwie stopped the show and said that if it happened again he would walk off. Of course the audience was pleading with him not to. He also launched into a verbal assault on the moron and said that if he did it again for the audience to kick the guy's ass. The crowd cheered at that. The stuff from the new album was great and the crowd loved it when Yngwie played Smoke on the Water. The band really knew when to back off and let him do his thing. Overall it has still not really sunk in that Yngwie was here in New Zealand and I was only 5 - 10 metres away. Maybe this is because he is not really known down here and the concert was not hyped. Hopefully he will decide to come back one day by which time there will be many more converts.