Metal fans reacting to In Flames > |
COMMUNION OF SIRENSJournalist: Kirsti Heitz
Photographer: Navneet Johal Published: January 10, 2015 Opeth
In Flames Red Fang Kool Haus
Toronto, ON Canada December 21, 2014 Presented by Inertia Entertainment
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I can now say that I have waited in the longest line I’ve ever experienced at a metal show. With a line that went down the block to the main street, and then continued down to circle around the corner yet again, fans got to enjoy the brisk winter chill and have a smoke or four while enjoying the shocked (and dismayed) faces of fans just arriving at the scene.
Lucky me, though I planned on arriving ridiculously early, I made it inside the Kool Haus just in time to catch half of Red Fang’s act. Perhaps it was the fact that fans were still warming up or maybe the wait had zapped their excitement, but the crowd was quite passive as Red Fang rocked out with the catchy chorus of “Blood Like Cream.” Opeth nonchalantly came out onstage and went right into their tracks with no warning and no nonsense. Starting off with “Eternal Rains will Come” and “Cusp of Eternity,” fans experienced a rollercoaster of emotions and Opeth brought the energy levels up and then sank them right down. You have to be prepared for this coming into an Opeth show. One second you’re grooving real hard and the next you feel like you should be cuddling a blanket and staring out a rainy window. That’s the magic that is Opeth.
Half way through their set, even though they had played only a few songs (they were Opeth sized tunes), vocalist/guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt deigned to address the crowd with an adorably awkward “hi… Toronto,” as he tuned his guitar. Akerfeldt then went into a little banter mentioning Sweden’s recent hockey win with such placidity and asked fans to headbang to a beat without music. It was ridiculous and amazing and so we were rewarded with a, “Anyways… We’re gonna entertain you guys with some music…” Classic Akerfeldt. Though the set consisted of only a handful of songs, fans got everything they needed from the Opeth sized songs. They played my absolute favourite (and the absolute must) “The Lotus Eater”, and finished off the night with “Deliverance.” |
In Flames tried to wake up fans by starting off with some insane light demonstrations in their intro and vocalist Anders Friden demanding moshers and crowd surfers. That is a demand I was definitely eager to fulfill and plenty of fans raced to please Friden’s wishes. After calling Canada their “Home away from home,” they hit up some In Flames favourites like “Cloud Connected” and “Only for the Weak” whilst calling out the shirtless crowd surfer with a jesting, “I’m blinded, we can’t perform anymore.” Straight up, it was way to early to go shirtless, but Friden’s comments brought laughs all around. Being In Flames' last show of the tour, we got to see the love the band has for their crew as they called out a thank-you to each member by name. Though I was half blinded by their Wacken size light show, I loved their set which was topped off with “Where the Dead Ships Dwell,” “Deliver Us” and “Take This Life.”
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Red Fang
Bryan Giles - Guitar/Vocals Aaron Beam - Bass/Vocals David Sullivan - Guitar John Sherman – Drums Label: Relapse Records http://redfang.net/ |
In Flames
Anders Friden – Vocals Bjˆrn Gelotte – Guitar Daniel Svensson – Drums Peter Iwers – Bass Guitar Niclas Engelin– Guitar Label: Sony Music http://www.inflames.com/ |
Opeth
Mikael Akerfeldt – Vocals/Guitars Martin Mendez - Bass Martin Axenrot - Drums Fredrik _kesson - Guitars Joakim Svalberg - Keys Label: Roadrunner Records http://www.opeth.com/ |
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