The Resist Tour

The Resist Tour (also referred to as Resist Tour) was a concert tour by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, in support of their seventh album Resist which was released on 1 February 2019. The tour began on 11 October 2018 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, and visited seventeen countries in Europe. The supporting acts for the first leg were bands Beyond the Black and Ego Kill Talent. For 2019, the band toured North America alongside In Flames and performed at both select European summer festivals and special open air shows with selected guests. The band was scheduled to perform a second round of summer festivals in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the festivals had to be cancelled.

The Resist Tour

Tour by Within Temptation
Promotional artwork of the first European leg of the tour.
Location	Europe North America
Associated album	Resist
Start date	11 October 2018
End date	14 September 2019
Legs	3
No. of shows	76
Within Temptation concert chronology

Background

At the end of 2017, without any news of a sooner studio release, the band announced that they would be embarking on a new tour on the second half of the following year, with a possible new studio album in sight. Even before the arrival of the new year, a few concerts were already sold out. The tour had been labelled "MMXVIII" at that time, as a reference to the year of 2018 and, only after the announcement of their seventh album Resist, the name was changed to "The Resist Tour" in support of the album. Initially, only club and arena dates throughout Europe were added to the tour, before the band started scheduling dates for some 2019 summer festivals. As lead vocalist Sharon den Adel had been facing personal problems and a writer's block before officially start writing for the album, the band's fate was uncertain at the point and she was unsure to even get back touring after all. When later revealed that the vocalist has also decided to stay more time at home to be more present on her children's life, the touring schedule was elaborated with normally two weeks on tour and two weeks off. At the end of 2018, it was announced a new leg of the tour in North America at the beginning of the following year, with In Flames as special guests and Smash into Pieces as the opening act. The leg will consist of 15 dates, with 12 of them passing through the United States and 3 in Canada. After the North American leg, the band commenced another round of concerts throughout Europe, this time consisting of festival presentations and special concerts at palace gardens. During the 2019 festival season, the band was scheduled for the first time as one of the headliners for the Graspop Metal Meeting, one of the biggest European heavy metal festivals.

Although the album would only be released after the start of the tour, den Adel stated in an interview that some then-unreleased songs were going to be played by the band, allowing people to have a first contact with the record on a live form. The first ones to be played were the single "The Reckoning", "Raise Your Banner", "Endless War", "Supernova", and "Mercy Mirror". After the album was released, the band maintained the five aforementioned songs on the setlist. At a certain point of the North American leg, they started playing the track "In Vain". "Firelight", whilst having not yet been played during the tour, was played by den Adel and guitarist Stefan Helleblad alongside Jasper Steverlinck at a special event in Belgium.

A special stage design and specific costumes were elaborated by the band for the tour. The stage was ornamented with a futuristic metallic design with special stage lighting effects, projection screens, and fog machines, to intensify the exact atmosphere of the songs, especially the ones from the recurrent album. The band male members made use of special futuristic uniforms, and den Adel of a futuristic black dress, a white cloak, and a special flag for the song "Raise Your Banner". For the closing song "Stairway to the Skies", the vocalist has a change of clothing to a sparkly blue dress before being elevated on the stage by a harness in front of special white lightning and sky projections, as an allegory for the lyrics of the song. The level of special stage effects, however, changed according to the capacity of each venue of comporting them.

By the end of 2018, it was reported by the Dutch media that the first European leg of the tour had an attendance of 125,000 people.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the band took part at the Together at Home movement, where artists made online live performances to encourage people to stay home and prevent more infection cases.

Reception

The band performing on a Resist-themed stage at the 2019 Wacken Open Air.

Keld Broksø from Danish magazine Gaffa was positive about the tour. In his 4 star review of the concert at the Valby-Hallen, in Copenhagen, Broksø pointed a great improvement from the band's latest concert on the country back in 2014. The reviewer pointed lead vocalist Sharon den Adel's vocal abilities as the main attraction of the concert, and considered the performances of "Faster", "The Reckoning" and "Shot in the Dark" as the highest points of the show. While stating that the more intimate songs may not work on a heavy metal festival audience, he stated that in a proper venue it can become "beautiful and atmospheric".

Dom Walsh, from English website Louder Than War was also positive in his review about the Manchester concert, praising the band's performance as a whole while also remarking den Adel's vocals and connection with the crowd. While the reviewer noted a lesser interaction from the crowd with the still unreleased songs, as people didn't know them, he pointed out The Heart of Everything songs as the highest points of the concert, as well the closing song "Stairway to the Skies". Walsh concluded his review stating that "the slick and well-choreographed show, along with the stunning visual and light display made for an excellent piece of rock theatre. Whilst there is plenty of variation in Within Temptation’s back catalogue in terms of styles; ultimately, the soaring guitars, swirling choral choirs and Adel’s inimitable style pulse through the veins of every composition."

Mark Shepley, from the also British Flick of the Finger, cited the same qualities in his 5 out of 5 starts review of the London concert, positing the "Forgiven" performance as its highest point and classifying the concert as "rock music at its most brilliant".

Berklee Groove gave a positive review about the concert at the PlayStation Theater in New York City, also praising den Adel's vocals and the blend of styles the band managed to present during the concert, stating that "the end result is a unique blend of rock, pop, industrial, and even opera at times, all of which are what make Within Temptation stand out from a host of other anthemic rock acts."

Set list

Songs performed throughout the tour

Mother Earth (2000)

• "Mother Earth"
• "Ice Queen"
• "The Promise"

The Silent Force (2004)

• "Stand My Ground"
• "Angels"
• "Somewhere"

The Heart of Everything (2007)

• "What Have You Done"
• "Our Solemn Hour"
• "The Heart of Everything"
• "The Cross"
• "All I Need"
• "Forgiven"

The Unforgiving (2011)

• "Shot in the Dark"
• "In the Middle of the Night"
• "Faster"
• "Stairway to the Skies"
• "The Last Dance" (B-side)

Hydra (2014)

• "Paradise (What About Us?)"
• "Covered by Roses"

Resist (2019)

• "The Reckoning"
• "Endless War"
• "Raise Your Banner"
• "Supernova"
• "In Vain"
• "Mad World"
• "Mercy Mirror"

Other

• "Sanctuary" (Intro only)

First European Leg set list

1. "Raise Your Banner"
2. "The Reckoning"
3. "Endless War"
4. "In the Middle of the Night"
5. "Stand My Ground"
6. "All I Need"
7. "Supernova"
8. "Shot in the Dark"
9. "The Promise"
10. "Faster"
11. "Mercy Mirror"
12. "Paradise (What About Us?)"
13. "The Heart of Everything"
14. "Forgiven"
15. "What Have You Done"

Encore

1. "Mother Earth"
2. "Stairway to the Skies"

• Set list slightly varied between shows
  • "What Have You Done" and "Mother Earth" switched places from the second concert onwards.
  • An acoustic version of "Ice Queen" started being performed after "The Promise" from 16 November onwards.
  • "The Cross" was played instead of "Shot in the Dark" at selected dates.

North American Leg set list

1. "Raise Your Banner"
2. "The Reckoning"
3. "Endless War"
4. "In the Middle of the Night"
5. "Stand My Ground"
6. "All I Need"
7. "Supernova"
8. "The Promise"
9. "The Cross"
10. "Ice Queen" (acoustic)
11. "Faster"
12. "Mercy Mirror"
13. "Paradise (What About Us?)"
14. "The Heart of Everything"
15. "Forgiven"
16. "What Have You Done"

Encore

1. "Mother Earth"

• Set list slightly varied between shows
  • "Forgiven" was absent from the setlist on 2 and 3 March, replaced by "In Vain" from 5 March onwards.
  • "Mercy Mirror" was absent from the setlist from 6 March onwards.
  • "The Promise" was replaced by "Covered By Roses" from 14 March onwards.
  • Anders Fridén of In Flames joined the band to perform "Raise Your Banner" on 19 March.
• Order of the songs also slightly varied between shows

Europe / Summer Festivals 2019

1. "Raise Your Banner"
2. "The Reckoning"
3. "Endless War"
4. "In the Middle of the Night"
5. "Stand My Ground"
6. "The Heart of Everything"
7. "Ice Queen" (acoustic)
8. "Faster"
9. "Paradise (What About Us?)"
10. "In Vain"
11. "Supernova"
12. "What Have You Done"
13. "Mother Earth"

• Set list slightly varied between shows
  • "Endless War" was replaced by "Mad World" at selected dates.
  • "Our Solemn Hour" was added to the setlist at selected dates.
  • "Angels" was added to the setlist at selected dates.
  • "Covered By Roses" was added to the setlist at selected dates.
  • "The Last Dance" was played on 11 July.
  • "Somewhere" was played alongside Anneke van Giersbergen on 11 July.
  • Tarja Turunen joined the band to perform "Paradise (What About Us?)" on 13 July.
  • Sharon had invited a fan on stage to join the band as they performed "Covered By Roses" on 13 July.
• Order of the songs also slightly varied between shows

Tour dates

List of 2018 concerts

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening act(s)
11 October 2018	Krasnoyarsk	Russia	Grand Hall Sibir	—
13 October 2018	Novosibirsk		DK Zheleznodorozhnikov
15 October 2018	Yekaterinburg		Concert Hall Kosmos
17 October 2018	Nizhniy Novgorod		Milo Concert Hall
18 October 2018	Moscow		Adrenaline Stadium Club
19 October 2018	Saint Petersburg		A2 Green Concert
20 October 2018	Espoo	Finland	Espoo Metro Areena	Smash into Pieces
22 October 2018	Stockholm	Sweden	Annexet	Beyond the Black
23 October 2018	Oslo	Norway	Sentrum Scene
24 October 2018	Copenhagen	Denmark	Valby-Hallen
26 October 2018	Poznań	Poland	Sala Ziemi
27 October 2018	Warsaw		Torwar Hall
9 November 2018	Birmingham	England	O2 Academy Birmingham	Ego Kill Talent
10 November 2018	Manchester		O2 Apollo Manchester
11 November 2018	Glasgow	Scotland	O2 Academy Glasgow
13 November 2018	London	England	O2 Brixton Academy
14 November 2018	Southampton		Southampton Guildhall
16 November 2018	Paris	France	Zénith Paris
17 November 2018	Antwerp	Belgium	Lotto Arena
19 November 2018	Cologne	Germany	Palladium
20 November 2018	Esch-Sur-Alzette	Luxembourg	Rockhal
21 November 2018	Zürich	Switzerland	Samsung Hall
23 November 2018	Amsterdam	Netherlands	AFAS Live
24 November 2018
25 November 2018	Groningen		MartiniPlaza
8 December 2018	Berlin	Germany	Columbiahalle	Beyond the Black
9 December 2018	Hamburg		Mehr! Theater
11 December 2018	Prague	Czech Republic	Forum Karlin
12 December 2018	Budapest	Hungary	Tüskecsarnok
13 December 2018	Vienna	Austria	Gasometer
15 December 2018	Milan	Italy	Milan La Fabrique
16 December 2018	Ludwigsburg	Germany	MHP Arena
17 December 2018	Munich		Kulturhalle Zenith
18 December 2018	Frankfurt		Jahrhunderthalle
20 December 2018	Tilburg	Netherlands	013
21 December 2018
22 December 2018

List of 2019 concerts

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening act(s)
18 January 2019	Oulu	Finland	Club Teatria	Dark Sarah
28 February 2019	Baltimore	United States	Rams Head Live!	In Flames Smash into Pieces
1 March 2019	Philadelphia		The Filmore
2 March 2019	New York City		PlayStation Theater
3 March 2019	Boston		House of Blues
5 March 2019	Montreal	Canada	Olympia
6 March 2019	Toronto		Rebel
8 March 2019	Chicago	United States	House of Blues
9 March 2019	Minneapolis		Skyway Theater
11 March 2019	Denver		The Summit
12 March 2019	Salt Lake City		The Complex
14 March 2019	Portland		Roseland Theater
15 March 2019	Vancouver	Canada	The Vogue
16 March 2019	Seattle	United States	Showbox SoDo
18 March 2019	San Francisco		Warfield Theatre
19 March 2019	Los Angeles		Wiltern Theatre
19 April 2019	Schijndel	Netherlands	Paaspop Festival	—
8 June 2019	Hyvinkää	Finland	Rockfest
15 June 2019	Interlaken	Switzerland	Greenfield Festival
16 June 2019	Nickelsdorf	Austria	Nova Rock Festival
21 June 2019	Dessel	Belgium	Graspop Metal Meeting
22 June 2019	Clisson	France	Hellfest
26 June 2019	Kraków	Poland	Mystic Festival
28 June 2019	Trondheim	Norway	Trondheim Rocks
29 June 2019	Parkstad	Netherlands	ParkCity Live
6 July 2019	Viveiro	Spain	Resurrection Fest
11 July 2019	Baarn	Netherlands	Soestdijk Palace	Anneke van Giersbergen
13 July 2019	Vizovice	Czech Republic	Masters of Rock	—
20 July 2019	Faro	Portugal	38th Faro Biker's Rally
27 July 2019	Kemerovo	Russia	Heroes of World Rock
2 August 2019	Wacken	Germany	Wacken Open Air
3 August 2019	Schwetzingen		Schwetzingen Palace	Scarlet Dorn
7 August 2019	Byblos	Lebanon	Byblos International Festival[A]	—
9 August 2019	Dresden	Germany	Junge Garde	Scarlet Dorn
10 August 2019	Hildesheim		M'era Luna Festival	—
29 August 2019	Raalte	Netherlands	Stöppelhaene
31 August 2019	Katwijk aan den Rijn		Oranjerock
1 September 2019	Aarburg	Switzerland	Riverside Open Air
14 September 2019	Tiel	Netherlands	Appelpop

• A^ Canceled due to religious protests against the festival.

Box office

Venue	City	Attendance	Revenue
Junge Garde	Dresden	3,857 / 4,000	$154,360

Personnel

Within Temptation

• Sharon den Adel – vocals
• Ruud Jolie – lead guitar
• Stefan Helleblad – rhythm guitar, occasional backing vocals
• Martijn Spierenburg – keyboards
• Jeroen van Veen – bass guitar
• Mike Coolen – drums

Guest musicians

• Anders Fridén – featured vocals on "Raise Your Banner" on 19 March 2019
• Anneke van Giersbergen – featured vocals on "Somewhere" on 11 July 2019
• Jonas Pap – cello on "Ice Queen", "The Last Dance" and "Somewhere" on 11 July 2019
• Camila Van Der Kooij – violins on "Ice Queen", The Last Dance" and "Somewhere" on 11 July 2019
• Tarja Turunen – featured vocals on "Paradise (What About Us?)" on 13 July 2019
• Koen Stokman – rhythm guitar on 14 September 2019