LAMENTATIONS: LIVE AT SHEPHERD'S BUSH

Last night (31 Mar 07) I hosted a 3.5 hours Saturday Night Rock programme for local radio station network Trijaya with two topics: "Progressive Rock" (first session) and "Legend at 9: YES" (second session). What's this anything to do with Opeth? Yeah, there is, my friend. You know what? I started the first song under "Progressive Rock" session with "Beneath The Mire" by Opeth (taken from "Ghost Reveries" album). Wow man ..!! It's like dream comes true . It has been quite a rare occasion that a decent FM station targeted at young professionals who used to hear easy listening tune from this station and suddenly it changed everything last night with the sound of "growling" vocal. It was really fun and I did enjoy it very much.

And then I really wanted to watch the DVD of the band which I have owned it for such a long time ago (more than a year) and got no chance to review it. Oh yes .. this is one of the best live DVD that I have ever seen. Not in a way how the stage was set for the show. In fact this live performance was set in a relatively simple setting. The first set of music comprises all of their repertoires that are considered as light set, under unplugged version. The music is cool and it reminds me to the music of Camel. All of them were performed flawlessly. Those who like heavy riffing would find themselves getting bored with this acoustic set, I think. Some great tracks include "Hope Leaves", "Harvest" and "Ending Credits".

The second part which is the Heavy Set (58 minutes), as the name implies, comprises all what metalheads expect for this DVD. Of course, my favorite is those from the "Blackwater Park" album even though I also enjoy "Deliverance". Mikael Akerfeldt performs his vocal job excellently, especially on parts with growling style. It's quite surprising that he does the heavy throaty vocals in a cool way, without having to force himself for the voice. This is unbelievable. On drum stool, Martin Lopez changed his drum sets for the heavy set to provide dynamic sounds required.

Overall, this is an excellent live performance DVD that would favor those who like heavy side of prog music as well as the light side (first set). I can not imagine how to see the band playing "Beneath The Mire" (my favorite track from "Ghost Reveries" album). It must be a fabulous show!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW