Yngwie Malmsteen, Andry, Spirit War – Islington Assembly Hall, London – Sunday 3rd August 2025

Yngwie Malmsteen rocks into London for his 40th anniversary solo tour. We check out whether the fingers have slowed down over the years!

So there’s already a sizeable queue built up on arrival in Islington for the 40th anniversary show; quite an eclectic mix of metalheads, guitar aficionados and the curious. Having never seen Malmsteen perform live, I guess I fall more or less into the last category. Obviously, his reputation and mass of quality recorded work precedes him but I’m certainly interested to see how this translates into a live performance. Before that, though, we have a couple of quality supports to warm the crowd up!

CLASSIC ROCK ANTHEMS

The first band this evening is Spirit War, they are a three piece from France, bashing out solid classic rock anthems. While as they take to the stage there is still only a sparse crowd, (6pm doors on a Sunday!), the venue soon fills to an appreciable level and you can definitely see the band are enjoying themselves on the stage.

Lots of interaction with the audience and you can be sure that they have made some new friends from this evenings performance. guitarist, Nicolas Lebrat, runs around the stage like his life depended on it, there’s no shortage of energy here.

For the last song, Fight To Survive drummer Valentin Leroy is off his kit and conducting the audience in a sing-a-long. Top marks and a great way to start the evening.

POWER METAL WITH STYLE

Next up is Andry, which is essentially a band built around the Greek singer, Andry Lagiou. This is a five piece band with the addition of keyboards, playing power metal, and, I have to say, doing it with some style. Andry herself takes to the stage adorned in a shimmering mirrored top, horned headgear and brandishing a whip. Certainly is a way to make an entrance!

Starting with Mistress Of The Night from the current album Skies, it sets the tone and is a great showcase for the formidable vocal talents of Andry. As per Spirit War, the whole band look very happy to be performing to a now full London venue and an appreciative crowd. This is also the first band I’ve ever seen to have a mic stand AND a whip stand!

GRANDSTANDING WITH STYLE

Mickey Lyxx on guitar takes to the front of the stage and grandstands with some style, he is joined on occasion by bass player Paul Reyna as they interact and bounce poses off of one another. Fab Jablonski is no longer stuck behind his keyboard setup, donning a keytar and taking to the front of the stage too. The whole thing is held together admirably by the drumming of Hans in ’t Zandt.

Skies moves the evening on at a pace, once again showcasing the individual talents on the stage and how they all work together very effectively as a squeaky tight outfit. Headgear now dispensed with, Andry now has gloves containing LEDs which push purple illuminations around the stage and the venue.

The set is short but contains some of the best songs from the Skies album, Black Hole, Church Bells and the intriguingly titled Good Trip To Hell.

They finish off with a stonking version of Deep Purple’s Burn, which ensures they leave the crowd wanting more and looking out for the next visit to the UK shores!

YNGWIE MALMSTEEN

So, there is a brief pause while the stage is tidied and the various bits of technology from the previous couple of bands are removed. The room and upstairs area are now filled with people and there is an air of expectation starting to build. The back wall of the stage is literally covered in Marshall amps and cabs. I counted 22 amps and 16 cabs…quite a sight. Then the lights go down, the band take to the stage. There are various guitar runs coming through the PA before Yngwie appears on the stage to much applause.

From the opening notes of Rising Force, Malmsteen commanded the stage, resembling a man possessed at times. His trademark Fender Stratocaster singing with arpeggios and harmonic minor runs, the speed of the runs really does seem to defy physics mat times, with his fingers just a hazy blur as they walk around the fretboard!

MORE DELAY!

Before singing, he asks the mixing desk for “more delay!” tries again and then asks once again for “more delay!!“. Eventually the engineer gets the message and appropriate delay is applied to the vocals. Malmsteen looks pleased. Relentless is just that with run after run and no time to take a breath! Behind him, he has a very competent band holding the songs together. Keyboard player/ Vocalist Nick Marino shares vocal duties and does a grand job.

The bass of Emilio Martinez and super tight drumming of Wyatt Cooper provide a very solid base for Malmsteen to explore without fear of anything going to far awry. Not that he puts a finger wrong while playing. He swings his guitar around his body to cheers from the crowd and launches it into the air to catch it and continue playing. This does go wrong at one point where the guitar clutters to the ground from a missed catch, no problem, Yngwie has many more backstage! Indeed, at intervals during the set he literally throws his current guitar at the guitar tech before being handed a new guitar, no doubt tuned and setup to perfection.

SPEED AND PRECISION

Far Beyond The Sun is a dazzling display of speed and precision, with cascading scales that have the crowd mesmerised, Malmsteen flicks picks into the crowd at every opportunity, with the guitar tech replenishing them on the mic stand in between catching the flying guitars! During the lengthy set I’d be surprised if he hadn’t thrown at least 30 picks into the crowd!

ONE MASSIVE GUITAR SOLO

His stage presence was as flamboyant and charismatic as ever, guitar spins, playing with his teeth and dramatic poses punctuated each crescendo. I had to giggle when, on the setlist, I saw a couple of entries listed as “guitar solo” and “solo 2”. It begs the thought that surely, this whole set is one massive guitar solo from beginning to end but what this actually meant was that the band had an opportunity to leave the stage while Yngwie did his stuff on his own. Considering this is the 40th anniversary show it is very impressive that he has so much energy, at times looking like he is lost in his own playing but always moving around the stage and giving to the audience.

There is a brief rendition of Smoke On The Water, which sees some crowd singalong before the solos and fretwork is resumed. The sound throughout is very good, if I had a complaint it would be that the keyboards were too low in the mix, with some of the guitar / keyboard response elements being lost because of it. not the end of the world, especially when the focus is clearly on the guitar parts.

YEARNING FOR RIFFS

The set concludes with I’ll see the Light Tonight from the 1985 album Marching Out. Indeed the set itself has been a fitting tribute to 40 years in the business, with Malmsteen remaining unapologetically himself – flamboyant, ferocious, and uncompromising. For fans of shreddage, this was a bit of a pilgrimage. I guess, certainly enough for this reviewer to be extremely impressed. However, and I’m probably the only person in the room feeling it, I do hanker for a solid chunky riff along with my solos!

For over four decades, Malmsteen has reigned as the high priest of neoclassical shred, and this show reaffirmed his place in the pantheon of guitar gods. There can be no doubt about his technical skills, they have left myself, and I’m sure the rest of the audience, in awe this evening, Some of the runs defy belief and to keep this level of playing up for a set of this length is no mean feat. Another fine evening and I head for the tube with solos ringing in my head from ear to ear!

All concert photography by Graham Hilling. You can check out more of his work on his website, here.

Yngwie Malmsteen online: Website / Facebook / YouTube / Instagram

Andry online: Website / Facebook / Instagram

Spirit War online: Website / Facebook

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