Yngwie Malmsteen – 40th Anniversary Tour at Islington Assembly Hall, London, 03.08.2025

It was one of those London summer nights when it’s not quite hot, but deceptively humid and sticky. I arrived to Islington Assembly Hall for 6pm sharp (doors time) to a neatly formed queue eager to get in to experience Yngwie Malmsteen’s 40th anniversary as a solo performer – and we were politely reminded that we were about to enter a Grade II listed building. The aura of grandeur was in the air.

Spirit War

The French trio Spirit War took to the stage soon after we filtered into the Assembly Hall. Opening for a guitar legend during a very early slot is not a small feat, and the frontman and bass player Marku,s was instantly full of gratitude for ‘mes amis from London’. The band initially started out as a rock covers project before becoming a fully fledged three-piece, and you could hear classic rock and metal influences in their sound, with classic ballad intros turning into riffs galore. With excellent showmanship and menacing presence from Nicolas on the guitar and some cheeky grins from Valentin behind the drums, it was clear that the band was having a great time on stage and that enthusiasm truly warmed up the room. For their last song Fight To Survive Valentin left his drum kit to encourage everyone to sing along, and they said their goodbyes to a choir of ‘Oooooh-Oooooohs’ and plenty of horns thrown up into the air.

ANDRY

Soon after Spirit War left the stage, the blue lights came on and a huge skull with blazing blue eyes appeared to the left, signalling what was to come. Sunken in blue lights, Andry Lagiou appeared wearing a diamanté-encrusted horned headpiece, with a similarly bedazzled whip taking centre stage next to her microphone. Bringing her The Mistress Tour II on Yngwie Malmsteen’s tour, she soon whipped the audience into submission (quite literally) with her powerful operatic vocals and a classic heavy/power metal sound.

Andry herself, hailing from Greece, managed to put together quite an international band, which deserves a mention – Mickey Lyxx on guitar displayed some impressive classic hair metal showmanship, with Fab Jablonski on keyboards and keytar delivering great solos. They focused on tracks from Andry’s debut solo album Skies, but they couldn’t finish without Andry’s iconic cover of Deep Purple’s ‘Burn’.

With pleather, hair whipping, diamanté whips and Andry’s gloves shining blue laser shapes onto the room and her band members, this was an opulent heavy metal performance and truly warmed the crowd up for Yngwie Malmsteen.

Yngwie Malmsteen

Finally, it was time for Yngwie Malmsteen himself with his signature Fender Stratocaster to appear in front of the iconic giant wall of Marshall amps (mainly dummy ones) and prove why he’s still on top of the game 40 years on. While his show has a lot of panache, I can sense incredible focus and meticulousness behind his every move. As we photographers huddle to the left side of the stage (we are not allowed to pass the middle), I start to realise why – Malmsteen has an unrivalled command of the stage and wants to deliver his best performance to the sold-out room. I felt that he wanted his devoted audience to be able to experience his musicianship with as little interruption as possible. And he wouldn’t stand for anything less than perfect – while not known for his vocals, he sings on ‘Relentless Fury’, ‘Now Your Ships Are Burned’ and ‘Like An Angel (For April)’ – and he made sure the vocals were perfect, insisting the delay on his mic was spot on.

The setlist was truly staggering – from the classic opening with ‘Rising Force’ via Paganini’s 4th Adagio to Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke On The Water’ and Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. There is truly nothing he cannot do with his Strat, and he manages to put on an incredible show while at it, with his guitars flying all around his body as well as high in the air and his guitar plectrums landing in the hands of fans via hand flicks or boot kicks. Witnessing the virtuoso so close up, and in a quite intimate setting, but one framed by the stunning interiors of the Islington Assembly Hall, felt quite special. Malmsteen’s band was a perfect backing to his musicianship, with Nick Marino on keys delivering additional vocals and Emilio Martinez on bass.

Malmsteen’s pieces in the set felt fleeting – but were packed with exquisite guitar gems. But the lengthier compositions like ‘Seventh Sign’ gave a full flavour of his ability, and his guitar solos were just extraordinary. I chatted with the fellow journalists about how surprised we were at the age bracket of the audience – considering the longevity of Malmsteen’s career, we assumed the audience would grow up with him – but we were pleasantly surprised to see the full Gen Z to Gen X spectrum in the crowd. But then again, considering his status as a guitar legend, there must be cohorts of aspiring guitarists, young and old, who still study his technique. And this is the reason why this show is not like any other – it is the show for the guitar lovers who want to aspire to be as on top of their game as Yngwie Malmsteen is in his mid-60s. And I take my hat off to that.