Well, they did it again. Opeth sold out an entire tour across Australia, and, yet again, held their largest headlining show in Sydney, again, with a rumored number of around 3400 tickets sold for this event. A pretty awesome feat for a metal band in a country rarely recognized for it's huge dedication to music.
The day was cold and wet, but that didn't stop people from lining up outside the venue starting at around midday (with doors to open at 7pm). I arrived with my party at around 2:30 and met a few people and had a good ol' chat while waiting for the doors to open at 7pm.
The support act was self acclaimed goth/metal act Virgin Black from Adelaide, who didn't really seem to go down too well with most of the crowd. Like Opeth, they were diverse in style with a heavy/not-so-heavy moments, but they lacked something in between. Their intro needs a bit of working on. The crowd pretty much laughed at the track they had playing as the band entered the stage. They were interesting but couldn't keep my interest for long. Perhaps if I knew their stuff better. For Opeth's one and only support, I think they could have found a better local band.
Opeth were next, of coarse, and it couldn't have come (and gone) any quicker. They were tight as ever, I didn't even notice the lack of Peter! Fredrik did a great job, as did Axe. The whole evening was just an abundance of awesome. They opened with a Watershed track, Heir Apparent, and later they played The Lotus Eater which was flawless, as expected, and it sounded great live.I'm still unsure if this year's set list was better than the one played in 2006. Both have their strong points. Combined, they'd make the best Opeth show ever, almost. This night's set also included Serenity Painted Death, The Night And The Silent Water, Master's Apprentices, Deliverance, and the one song that got me into Opeth in the first place, The Drapery Falls, amongst many other of coarse. The addition of Demon of The Fall was a highlight for me since we missed out on that song last tour.
During Bleak Mikael's amp decided it had enough, so while the tech crew were sorting that out, the audience got treated to a drum solo (which Axe decided to do to cover Mike's a*s), a bass solo, guitar solo and keyboard solo! A nice little treat despite the abrupt end to the song, which was continued anyway. See below for a video!
The venue, Big Top in Luna Park, was okay, same one as their sold out '06 tour. The sound from where I was (front row to the left of stage) wasn't so good, but I expected that since there was no balance and I was right in front of the bass speakers, but everything was still understandable and it came with a great view all through the show. It's an interesting setting for a metal gig though, right in the heart of an amusement park, but it is a popular choice for a lot of bands that come out these days.
All in all, it was a great night, Opeth were every bit as amazing as I would have expected, and I'm sure most of the crowd would agree with me there.
Here is the set list from my memory. Possibly not entirely correct in order, but close.
Heir Apparent
Master's Apprentices
The Baying Of The Hounds
Serenity Painted Death
To Rid The Disease
The Lotus Eater
Bleak (5 min intermission with solos all around)
The Night And The Silent Water
Deliverance
Demon Of The Fall
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The Drapery Falls
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2 comments:
See, I noticed the lack of Peter. The last 2 times of seeing them, they've just not been quite the same. I can't fault Axe, he's a drumming genius (miss Lopez but Axe is definitely a good replacement). But I just think something lacks, and they don't sound as... Perfect as they used to.
Since this was my first live Opeth experience (after being cruelly denied my ticket in 06), I was blown away. Although I would have loved to have seen the more traditional line-up, I couldn't fault either Akkeson or Axe (both were amazing). Its hard to be disappointed in a set list when you love each and every song they've written, but the highlight for me was The Night and The Silent Water.
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