This was not my first attendance of an Opeth live performance. It was not even the second. Actually, to tell the truth, it was not even the third, so you can safely say that I'm decently acquainted to their little quirks. Fast forward to 2015, Bulgaria, Plovdiv, and I couldn't pass on the opportunity of seeing them once more, even if I had to do an eight hour drive just to get there. Yes, I'm that kind of a fan, so just deal with it.
Actually, no. Don't deal with it. You should also know that I'm one of those persons who enjoys the Opeth logo enough to have it permanently tattooed on my upper back. So yeah, deal with that now! Anyway, don't let me go overboard and let's get back to our favorite band, right? :d
As I was saying, Bulgaria, Plovdiv, Roman Theatre, with a first of two sets of songs backed by the local Philharmonic Orchestra. Mind you, it was no Symphony and Metallica, however can you imagine how sick and demented sounded 'Demon of The Fall', 'The Grand Conjuration' and 'Deliverance', punctuated by a backdrop of choir and trumpets taunting their way in the distance? It was 'pretty fucking evil', to quote Mikael himself.
However, I think the main advantage of having an orchestra was actually to give a more realistic feel for the songs taken from 'Heritage' and 'Pale Communion' - i.e. the opener 'Eternal Rains Will Come' which was pretty much as on point as it could get.
For the second set the orchestra left the stage and we were to be treated with a somewhat anti-climactic performance, as Mikael joked before starting the break. I would say that joke fell a little bit flat when you choose 'Heir Apparent', 'Godheads Lament' and 'Advent' as advocates to a more relaxed and carefree performance. I think nobody expected those three pieces one after the other and damnit, they were a blast to witness!
As a special note, I would like to mention that little act of comedy central that took place before the encore, as it was fucking hilarious. Basically, Mikael treated us to a metal trivia of sorts, where the audience would have to guess the song he was playing after listening to the first few notes on the guitar.
What it turned out to be was that he'd change a note here and there and then claim the song as his own. For example, he churned out the beginning of Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid', then stated that he actually wrote the tune himself with the purpose of it being used for the Star Wars universe and the name was actually 'Paradroid'. I mean, were we to be in an alternate universe where the original hadn't been written by Sabbath, I would have probably taken info that as actual fact of trivia. In conclusion, Mikael 1 - 0 Croud , you make a very good troll, dude :)
Then there was 'The Lotus Eater' as the show closer. Some have wished for 'Black Rose Immortal', but I guess we got the next best thing. Maybe on the next occasion.
P.S: Some quick bullet points to accompany the wall of text above, for any of you minions that were too lazy to actually read it:
· Joakim on percussion and grand piano, really nice touch there!
· Axe, doing things on that drum kit that shouldn't even be legally allowed (fuck-up excused, whatever it was).
· Fredrik, shredding those cords like it was the last gig Opeth ever played and giving cues to the audience when needed.
· Martin - on point as always. Teach me some bass, dude!
· Mikael - still amazes me how such a scrawny looking person (maybe it's the clothes, don't hate me on this :D ) can belt out such demonic growls.
P.S2 : Guys, the pics in the article are from your facebook feed. If you happen to read this and wish for them to be replaced or removed, give me a shout and we'll sort things out. See you next time!
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