Stumbling into the Royal Albert Hall to the opening strains of "The Leper Affinity" reminded me of when I saw Strapping Young Lad, at my first ever metal festival, Download 2005. It all felt totally surreal and out of place, but at the same time, just perfect. What a venue - it was a beautiful sight to turn around and face the four tiers of fans, hundreds and hundreds of eyes transfixed upon the five Swedes on stage, and the acoustics were perfect throughout.
The event was nearly let down by some shamblic organisation - it appeared that a large proportion of the gig-goers were completely unaware that Opeth were to start at 7:30pm - and rightfuly so, seeing as the ticket specified that a support act was to play before the headliners. Thus, hundreds of fans missed out on the opening few songs, and like us, were left feeling flustered and unprepared for what was to come.
The gig itself was predictably special. Listening to the whole of Blackwater Park played live in its entirity was as awesome as one would expect, and there can be no complaints from even the most die hard fan, as the band played a song off every album in a storytelling, chronological order. Props to the band - I admired the fact that they played some tunes that hadn't been heard for years, such as "April Ethereal" and "Harlequin Forest". It wouldve been easy for them to hash out "Demon of the Fall" for the 500th time, but the setlist consisted of almost entirely different tunes as to their last appearence in the UK - and not to the detriment of the enjoyment of the show at all.
The band added a visual element to their show for the occasion, but for the most part it seemed to me like the band had sent someone into some bleak coniferous forest with a handicam and told them to do their worst - hardly Tool or Mastodon. But who really cares when the music is so damn good?
One bone of contention on my part, however - the fans. For many forms of entertainment, a crucial factor of enjoyment is the relationship between the fans and the act on stage. Although the masses lapped up all three hours of the gig, at not one point was there any real fervour or moments of teeth gnashing intensity from the spectators - pretty fucking disappointing considering that Opeth have some of the heaviest, most circle pit inducing riffs out there. Its such a shame that there's a far bigger beard stroking nerdy prog contingent than death metal followers at Opeth gigs. Consider yourselves ashamed!
Right now my ears are bleeding and my head is throbbing after Eyehategod last night, which for the record was probably the best gig this year. More on that later...
Jack
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