The Concert Thread

Just got back from Ghosts' first show of the tour. This was my first time seeing them and people aren't kidding when they say Ghost puts on a good show. Initially I was a bit worried their whole "gimmick" would wear thin after a few songs, but they pull it off. It'll be interesting to get back to the states and see them open up for Maiden this summer.
 
On the way home from Amorphis in a Chicago...they were amazing! Great musicianship, they kept the ball rolling, and they sounded fantastic.

More in the Amorphis thread!
 
Download 2016 drainage stats :p @Black Wizard
download_2017_drainage_infographic_1.png
 
Dream Theater were pretty good in Cardiff last night! They made up for the disappointment of 'The Astonishing' by performing 'Images and Words' in full. This was the rest of the setlist. That ending! The mix of songs was nice and James Labrie was having a good chat with the audience, telling us that they didn't actually have a contract with the record label until they'd finished recording 'Images and Words'. He also said that when they first played in Cardiff in 1993 he got lost and asked someone for directions, telling the man "This is my first time in England" to which the reply was "Well that's your first fucking problem, you're not in England". :lol: The stage was a bit bare though. If you're playing arenas then it would be nice to decorate the stage a bit, especially since JP and JM don't really do moving. I'm not asking for a Maiden-style stage, but on recent tours Dream Theater have had a big screen with some funny animation during some of the songs. Last night they just had a drab backdrop with some lighting projected onto it. The stage isn't really the important thing of course, and they have good enough music anyway. I really think their live show has been an awful lot better since Mike Portnoy left the band too.

This is my current schedule:

27/04 Thrice, London
06/05 Iron Maiden, Dublin
16/05 Iron Maiden, Glasgow
21/05 Iron Maiden, Birmingham
27/05 Iron Maiden, London
01/08 Bad Religion, London
11/08-13/08 Bloodstock Festival
27/08 Muse, Reading Festival
24/10 Metallica, London
01/11 Delain, London
14/11 Helloween, London

There's also a chance I might get to see Epica again at the end of the year as they've announced some more European dates with more to come. I've also already seen a spoiler for Iron Maiden's setlist. :mad:
 
Last night I saw Sabaton in Montreal at Club Soda. The supporting acts were Leaves' Eyes and Battle Beast. Due to the transit time from Montreal, I didn't see Leaves' Eyes, so I don't really have much to say, but I arrived in time for Battle Beast's set. I hadn't heard anything by them before, and I was pleased. They were pretty silly, overall, but I can see why Finland loves them, and why they're on tour with Sabaton. They had a solid energy and understood what they were supposed to do as openers, getting the crowd going without making them expend too much energy. I got the sense that Battle Beast was holding themselves back from really giving it in places, which is probably for the best - nobody wants to burn out on the opening act, and a good opener can really kill a crowd. I liked a fair few of the songs they played, and I suspect I will spin their discography soon. Any band that brings a keytar to stage seriously deserves attention.

It took about 35 minutes to switch over. Club Soda is about 550-600 people, so quite a small venue, and during the switchover it became pretty apparent that Sabaton is not necessarily used to playing a smaller stage. For example, their lights and backdrop did not fit the stage - the backdrop especially, it was cut off halfway down and you could only see the letters SABATO across the stage. Now, that being said, once the band hit the stage, the crowd cooked. Hot, and you could see the band enjoyed it.

They opened with
Ghost Division, The Art of War, and Blood of Bannockburn
without much fanfare. All three songs were quite solid, the third, especially, was much better live than I had expected. Afterwards, Joakim said hello and explained it was new guitarist Tommy Johansson's first time in Canada. He was therefore allowed to pick the next song. The crowd immediately began singing the melody for
Swedish Pagans
, which Joakim clearly wanted to save until later in the set. Still, they played it, and it rocked quite hard. Crowd was definitely into it. Joakim then explained as it was their first North American headline, they would play some classics as well, following that up with
Attero Dominatus
. The band then took a short break (2 minutes, I think for a tech issue) but launched into
The Last Stand
. Crowd was very hot on the chorus, but not so up on the rest of the song, but I was told after by my friends (who are not necessarily Sabaton fans) that it was a highlight of the set. The band was definitely on fire at this point.

Joakim mentioned several times that he was blown away by the energy and that he loved playing to the small crowd. One thing is for sure, damn near everyone in that building was a die-hard Sabaton fan. Next up, he mentioned again that they were going to do some back catalog for us, as we hadn't heard all the songs before, and the band launched into
Union (Slopes of St. Benedict)
. Technically this one wasn't great - the new guitarist especially wasn't up on the melody - but the crowd was all in on the track, and I think that carried it well. Next up we had
Sparta
, the crowd participation part was pretty good, but again, the crowd was not great on the lyrics. Next, Joakim mentioned that they wanted to do something a little special for Montreal, and he had gone through the previous concerts they played and found they hadn't played anything particularly hard and fast. After asking the crowd if they want it hard and fast (and up the butt), the band played
Screaming Eagles
which again wasn't technically adept in some places, but the crowd ate it up.

Next up was the Swedish history segment of the tour. After a little runup, the band launched straight into
Carolus Rex
, a definite highlight of the night. The band nailed this one down and the crowd was insane for it. Afterwards, Joakim offered the crowd a choice of songs in Swedish, either
Gott Mit Uns or Poltava
. I was hoping for the first, but the crowd clearly picked the latter. They were quite quiet during the verses, so it was a good chance to actually listen to the band for a bit, and it was well played.

The final segment came pretty quick. First was
Resist and Bite
, which is not my favourite song from that album, but it was fine live, but they followed it up with
Night Witches
and the crowd was all in on that one, they ate it up. Knew every word of the bridge and chorus, and pounded it out. Joakim then asked us if we were ready to make our last stand, but promised there would be relief...
When the Winged Hussars arrived!
Definitely a highlight of the night, the band hammered it out and everyone around me went nuts. I had been holding in a bit of energy and this is where I spent it.

For the encore, the band opened with
The Lost Battalion with intro, so I can say I've heard Jon Schaffer live
, and immediately launched into
Primo Victoria
afterwards. Joakim then started to thank the crowd and band, but promised a couple more songs. He asked if we were interested in a song about the
samurai
, which of course the crowd was, so the band played
Shiroyama
which was probably the second best of the songs from that album live. During the final speech, Joakim brought a kid up on stage, around 12, and rather hilariously was introduced to the fact that the kid couldn't speak a word of English, which led to the crowd translating for him. He hooked the kid up with his trademark aviators, the drummer Robban provided the kid some sticks, and they let him sit up on stage for the final song,
To Hell and Back
. He was instructed to stay to the side so he wasn't "fucking trampled to death...why am I telling the kid this, he doesn't fucking understand a word I am saying." I saw the young fellow after the show and he was pretty much vibrating due to the experience.

So overall, a really great show. We had a 2.5 hour drive back, and I am at work this AM, so I did not stick around to get things signed, etc. But it was a cracking show, and I highly recommend it.
 
Awesome! I've been looking at their setlists and...

It seems like Joakim does the same bits every night, even when claiming something is "special" or "by request". A couple of songs have been swapped out on this tour, though, so the by request thing might be legit. I think you were the first to get Poltava (although I too would rather hear Gott Mit Uns).

So, so, soooooo glad they have dropped the stupid metal song ending the night.

Also, killer use of spoiler tags! :edmetal:
 
Sounds like you had a great time. Did they

bring out the roadies dressed up as near-naked hoplites during Sparta?
 
Perun said:
Sounds like you had a great time. Did they

bring out the roadies dressed up as near-naked hoplites during Sparta?
Click to expand...
No, unfortunately not. I get the feeling that they had to scale back a lot of their stage show.
 
You missed out on Joakim's stand-up comedy routine then, complete with him playing 'The Final Countdown' on keyboard and 'Beat It' on guitar.
 
That's pretty small. In January I saw them in the Brixton Academy which has a 4900 capacity but I have seen them in 600 capacity venues before.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top