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GMC Forum _ Concert Reviews _ Opeth, Between The Buried And Me, 3
Posted by: steiner666 May 16 2008, 08:38 PM
3
Musically, this band was decent. The singer had some interesting finger-picking techniques, the lead guitarist had some good solos, and the 2 drummers provided sufficient percussion. I'll admit, the singer had quite a set of pipes and could hit and hold some crazy notes. Overall, however, I did not care for the vocals at all. This band strayed into the realm of pop music a little too far for my liking, and the singer ended up sounding like Michael Jackson on a few occasions.
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Between the Buried and Me
Obscure bands abound this night, it seems. Thankfully, BtBaM were a bit heavier, however, they weren't really anything to write home (or to fellow GMCers) about. The singer was pretty much just a screamo sort of vocalist, although he did mix it up every now and then, nothing really stood out vocally. The guitars were there, but, like the vocals, weren't anything fantastic. I think my problem with this band is that I couldn't find anything musically to latch onto... no sort of structure, memorable melody or phrase. It just seemed like a mess of noise for the most part, and I was anything but unhappy when they left the stage.
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Opeth
Here it is - the main event, and probably the only reason you clicked on this review at all! The progressive death metal masters from Stockholm, Sweden (as they always announce) came to grace Mr. Small's Theater for a second time. The last time they played this venue was in February of 2006, I believe. It was freezing cold, with a wind chill well below zero, and we loyal fans froze outside waiting to get in, and apparently the band had some problems involving their tour bus that day as well. The audience that time was somewhat smaller, as well as quieter.
This time, however, is an entirely different story. Since their last appearance, Opeth's popularity seems to have grown greatly in the area. The show was sold out, the place was packed, and as soon as the opening bands left, the crowd started packing in even closer to the stage.
The band entered the stage and kicked right off into "Demon of the Fall", and right away the crowd went mad. I was shocked that there was even more moshing and shoving/elbowing in this crowd than there was for the last event I attended (Behemoth/Dimmu Borgir). Then they went straight into "Masters Apprentice", which was a blur of pure head-banding insanity for me.
For those of you wondering - yes, bassist Martin Mendez cut his hair for some reason. Mikael commented on it, but I couldn't quite make out what exactly he said about it, whatever it was, it was obviously comical. Of course Mikael had plenty of witty remarks and goofy comments for the night, there was a name-that-tune challenge, fart jokes, getting-laid comments, teasing the members of the crowd that fervently requested that they play "Bleak" by playing the beginning of the song and then stopping, and he even did a snippet of a drum solo as the rest of the band came out for the encore.
Then there was the introduction and first dialoge of the night before going into the next song, "The Baying of the Hounds". After this, I guess they decided that the audience needed a break and went into the more somber "In My Time of Need" which really made for a beautiful moment with the crowd singing along with every word of the song. They then played a song that Mikael declared multiple times that he hates playing, "Serenity Painted Death", which was pretty awesome to see live for the first time.
Then on into some more comedic commentary before entering the next song, "Wreath" and then "To Rid the Disease" which was also another great sing-along. "Heir Apparent" was next and this song is pretty awesome live, one of my favorites of the night actually. The band left the stage and were quickly cheered back on for an encore, beginning with Mikael's "drum solo" and then going into an introduction of the band members, who each played a bit of a solo. And then the final song of the night, "The Drapery Falls", which was an incredible ending to an equally incredible performance.
This show was perfect, and I'd highly recommend anyone who enjoys good music to attend an Opeth show (or two.. or three) if you get the chance. The sound levels were great, not too loud - not too soft, the performance was great, the jokes were funny, the set was long, and it was a fun time for the audience and band members alike. The opening bands may have been boring and uninteresting, at least in my opinion, but Opeth's performance made the night well worth the price of admission.
For the awesome, long set list, the impeccable performance, perfect sound levels, and fantastic crowd interaction/dialoge, Opeth gets a rare 10/10 that's usually only awarded to the awesomeness of Arch Enemy's live performances!
For more pictures, you can find them in my photobucket album http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk265/steiner666/Opeth And there are some video clips below too... a nice guitar solo by new lead guitarist Fredrik Åkesson at around 7:00-9:00 in Video 2 thats worth watching... if you can ignore the crackling sounds!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPZXsT5MwfY&feature=user
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXmiAunX-Ik&feature=user
Posted by: shellshock1911 May 16 2008, 08:46 PM
What about Dream Theater? Isn't this Progressive Nation tour? And yea, I sorta agree on how Between the Buried and Me is just a bunch of music, and nothing really to latch onto, I like them a good bit.
And that is weird how they played Demon of the Fall first lol, I was hoping they will always keep that an encore song, it is their best song IMO.
Posted by: rockztar May 16 2008, 08:51 PM
i would love to have seen that.. nice review
Posted by: steiner666 May 16 2008, 09:05 PM
And that is weird how they played Demon of the Fall first lol, I was hoping they will always keep that an encore song, it is their best song IMO.
This was one of the off-tour dates with the PN tour. Mikael said it was because Dream Theater is so much older and need to take some days off between shows but they and the other 2 bands were still young so they thought they'd stop by and play a few tunes for us. lol
Posted by: Hisham Al-Sanea May 16 2008, 09:14 PM
thanks for sharing. nice pictures
Posted by: shellshock1911 May 16 2008, 10:10 PM
Ah I see lol, yea with ol' Rudess getting up there in his 50s and the others in their 40s, they probably need a break lol.
Posted by: steiner666 May 17 2008, 06:54 PM
posted links to additional photos and some youtube videos!
Posted by: Pablo Vazquez May 17 2008, 10:46 PM
Great!! you are lucky!!
Thanks for the incredible review!!!!
Posted by: JVM May 17 2008, 10:53 PM
Sounds great.. I'm going to go see them on the 29th this month, can't wait. The first video makes it look like the world is coming to an end 
Posted by: Fsgdjv May 17 2008, 11:17 PM
Sounds awesome. Great pics aswell, allthough it makes me a bit bummed that Mike's got one of those comus shirts there, they are so awesome and I get so jealous since when I was going to buy one they had run out of small.
But yeah, seems like an awesome show, and I can't wait to see them again, they are indeed amazing live.
Posted by: steiner666 May 18 2008, 04:03 PM
But yeah, seems like an awesome show, and I can't wait to see them again, they are indeed amazing live.
yeah, three times just isn't enough for me!
Posted by: Fsgdjv May 18 2008, 09:20 PM
I would be surprised if it ever gets enough.
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 19 2008, 04:13 PM
I hope that they come to Argentina any time... Great review!
Posted by: OrganisedConfusion May 19 2008, 04:18 PM
I wish I got to see Between The Buried And Me. I love their music.
Posted by: shellshock1911 May 20 2008, 12:47 AM
Indeed, I am seeing them on May 28th, it should be crazy. I think they play Ants of the Sky and White Walls at every Progressive Nation tour, which isn't a problem, those two are my favorite anyway.
Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 27 2008, 11:42 AM
Great review and pictures - thanks! 
Posted by: OrganisedConfusion May 27 2008, 11:45 AM
Those two and Prequel to the Sequel are my favourite sections of new song (album). I class the new album as one long song as from start to finish it flows perfectly as a song.
Posted by: Mark. May 27 2008, 11:58 AM
Aaaahw Im would love to see Opeth, you're so lucky that you saw them ( twice? ) !
I listen like 3~5 albums of them each day, seriously I'm obsessed lol 
And my new opeth shirt probably arrives tomorrow
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