Opeth & PoS Heritage Tour Bristol, UK 08/11/11
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Topic: Opeth & PoS Heritage Tour Bristol, UK 08/11/11
Posted By: Kilgannon
Subject: Opeth & PoS Heritage Tour Bristol, UK 08/11/11
Date Posted: November 09 2011 at 13:31
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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. ------------- 
http://www.last.fm/user/r3m3dylan3" rel="nofollow - last.fm Profile |
Replies:
Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: November 09 2011 at 15:51
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Nice review. I've seen both bands before and they were excellent, so I'm really looking forward to seeing them saturday night.
------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005 
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Posted By: TheMasterMofo
Date 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. |
Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: November 13 2011 at 04:55
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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. ------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005
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Posted By: aapatsos
Date Posted: November 13 2011 at 15:19
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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). |
Posted By: Kilgannon
Date Posted: November 21 2011 at 11:05
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I don't know how I forgot, but the highlight for PoS was definitely seeing Johan doing backing vocals on To the Shoreline :P -------------
http://www.last.fm/user/r3m3dylan3" rel="nofollow - last.fm Profile |
Posted By: Kashmir75
Date Posted: December 18 2011 at 15:58
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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... |
Posted By: Proggy Pogo
Date Posted: December 31 2011 at 13:44
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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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Posted By: Kilgannon
Date Posted: January 01 2012 at 13:08
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^ 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. -------------
http://www.last.fm/user/r3m3dylan3" rel="nofollow - last.fm Profile |
Posted By: shantelleyu
Date Posted: January 06 2012 at 00:22
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Kilgannon wrote:Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: February 04 2012 at 00:55
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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 accent  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! |