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Topic ClosedOpeth & PoS Heritage Tour Bristol, UK 08/11/11
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Kilgannon View Drop Down
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Points: 158 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Opeth & PoS Heritage Tour Bristol, UK 08/11/11
    Posted: November 09 2011 at 13:31
Went to see these guys last night and was excited having seen neither group live previously, unfortunately for me.

I was expecting that both performances would be recent release based ones, obviously so in the case of Opeth, and so they were.


Gildenlow et al. opened with [Road Salt Theme] and Softly She Cries and proceeded with the rest of their 45 minute set in a, roughly, RS1/2 Song, Older Song, RS1/2 Song, Older Song etc. format.

Daniel's voice live is flawless hit all the highs and just sounds great throughout; songs were excellent, and the way in which they were positioned and the kit they used made it feel as if you were sitting in on a studio jam session. The whole performance had a fun, group, easy (without being sloppy) feel to it; just five guys taking a break from it all.

Whilst I was happy to hear Ashes chucked in there, I felt the group was a lot tighter and more cohesive playing the Road Salt songs. I know the duo have caused some controversy among fans, but I personally have enjoyed them both and so felt fully gratified in seeing them live.

If there was one weak moment in the performance it would be that I cringed somewhat through the performance of Kingdom Of Loss- not really into that speaking in a song and colloquial-conversational lyric format!


Opeth opened with [Heritage] and The Devil's Orchard. Magnificent. If PoS had the feel of a jam-session to their performance, Opeth had the ambience and technicality. As I'm sure any of you who have heard it would agree, TDO is a beast of an opener and didn't fail to disappoint.

Opeth, not surprisingly, played a much longer set at just under 2 hours and managed to fit a lot into the time given.

They played a number of tracks from Heritage including, TDO, Slither, Famine and Folklore. They also managed to squeeze in quite a few older songs including the first live performance in Europe of Porcelain Heart as well as a few unusual ones and a mid-set-acoustic-session.

As with Gildenlow, Akerferldt has a fantastic voice and doesn't lose any quality live. The whole group are clearly technically proficient and give a great performance (we were also treated to a drum solo during the set).

One thing that became obvious part-way through the set, and I assume this is due to the stylistic direction of Heritage, is that they were not going to be playing any song with Growling in them. I personally didn't have a problem with this as, while I enjoy Mikael's growling, I enjoy all Opeth songs regardless so it wasn't an issue. Some of the more 'metal' fans couldn't seem to let this go and some heckling and idiocy ensued: the only downside to their performance.

On the flip side of this Mikael I learned is a crowd-engager and anti-heckler. He filled the gaps between songs greatly with funny anecdotes, or just funny comments, making for a great night.


Summation: fantastic from both, great night, be wary if you didn't like their recent releases respectively though.

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sleeper View Drop Down
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Points: 16449 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 09 2011 at 15:51
Nice review. I've seen both bands before and they were excellent, so I'm really looking forward to seeing them saturday night.
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TheMasterMofo View Drop Down
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Points: 220 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 12 2011 at 10:37
I'm jealous of you Europeans... I'm not a huge fan of either band's latest album, but seeing those two bands in the same night would be priceless. Nice review. 
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Points: 16449 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 13 2011 at 04:55
Well, I saw them last nigh and rather than right up a separate review I'll add a few thoughts here. Firstly, the Road Salt material is excellent live with a very thick bass sound that works very well. Seeing them close with The Perfect Element was worth the price of admission alone, I just wish they had longer than 45 minutes.

Opeth were very good, and Akerfelds vocals were actaully better live than on the CD. Not much heckling at this gig, I think the word of there being no growls had got around, but the interaction with the crowd was brilliant. I must say though, of the three Opeth gigs of been to, this was my least favorite, I really missed songs like The Drapery Falls and Demon of the Fall and felt that a number of the Heritage tracks would have been better served with being performed in a smaller, more intimate venue than somewhere as big as the Academy that packed in a couple thousand people. All in all a good evening though.

 
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aapatsos View Drop Down
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Points: 9226 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 13 2011 at 15:19
Great review and good to see both bands are still living up to their standards.
I have seen Opeth once (growling vocals included - also lucky to hear "To bid you farewell") and PoS twice (first time was better).
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Kilgannon View Drop Down
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Points: 158 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 21 2011 at 11:05
I don't know how I forgot, but the highlight for PoS was definitely seeing Johan doing backing vocals on To the Shoreline :P

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Kashmir75 View Drop Down
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Points: 1029 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2011 at 15:58
I was at Opeth's gig in Melbourne, Australia last night. I'll write a proper review later. I assume the setlist was much the same as it has been in most of the other major cities on their Heritage tour. I didn't mind the lack of growls at all. I enjoy all their music, so I was expecting a phenomenal gig no matter what they played. And they didn't disappoint. They were incredibly tight live. The audience did have a few hecklers and idiots in it, unfortunately, but Mikael dealt with them pretty well. They didn't ruin the show for me and my brother.
Hello, mirror. So glad to see you, my friend. It's been a while...
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Proggy Pogo View Drop Down
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Points: 198 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 31 2011 at 13:44
I saw Opeth & PoS in Manchester on 11th November (yes I'm a bit late with my comment!).  It was the first time I'd heard PoS & I quite enjoyed them.
 
Opeth were excellent - I like them both growly and non-growly so I was well pleased with their set, including most of Heritage.  Akerfeldt's vocals were great and also his usual dry sense of humour!
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Kilgannon View Drop Down
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Points: 158 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 01 2012 at 13:08
^ His humour was his most surprising/satisfying (as a person) quality for me, you see this fairly lean guy who looks like he would just keep walking and never make eye contact yet has a massive talent for crowd interaction and holding interest.

I think it's this "meek" look that always get me about his growling as well, as he looks fairly unbecoming for that particular style, but once he gets going, woah.

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shantelleyu View Drop Down
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Points: 10 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 06 2012 at 00:22
Originally posted by Kilgannon Kilgannon wrote:

^ His humour was his most surprising/satisfying (as a person) quality for me, you see this fairly lean guy who looks like he would just keep walking and never make eye contact yet has a massive talent for crowd interaction and holding interest.

I think it's this "meek" look that always get me about his growling as well, as he looks fairly unbecoming for that particular style, but once he gets going, woah.
You and I have the same opinions
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JJLehto View Drop Down
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Points: 34550 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 04 2012 at 00:55
Didn't see PoS (I only wish I could have!) but I did see Opeth with Katatonia and it was a great show.

I like the album but it was sooo much better live, a lot more "punch" to it. The drums especially were so powerful. What a show and Mikael has a great stage presence: Funny, interacts with the crowd a lot, and his adorable accentLOL

My show was also growl free, even though they played songs from a few older albums. I think given his age and history we may have seen the end of growling Mikael but it was such an awesome show!
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