11/02 Albany show....

[atropos_project]

My apologies to Opeth for what was possibly the lamest fucking crowd I have ever witnessed. Even the band thought the crowd sucked.

In short.... same setlist everyone else has seen recently. Seeing "Bleak" and "When" played live was great, but they were both played slllllllooooooooooooowwwwwwwwww.....

Face of Melinda was also great.

Watching the Grand Conjuration and Blackwater Park be played so close together will make it apparent that parts of the endings have very similiar riffs

Nevermore owned, plain and simple. Jeff Loomis is a goddamn monster.

Opening act sounded interesting, but was hampered by shitty sound, like so many openers are.

Anyway, its tough for me to judge this particular show. I enjoyed it of course, the setlist is probably not for someone who is brand new to the band.

 

[colin007]

i prefer a more laid back crowd (im not into moshing) but i was surprised by the lack of audience enthusiasm.

 

[Reclusive Strike]

That sucks. No wonder Opeth isnt too fond of touring in the US. Idiots, why go to the show if your not going to be into it??

 

[shaq]

I saw Opeth at this venue on their Lamentations tour and the crowd was intense. What happened up there guys? I know I'll be going nuts tonight at the NYC gig.

 

[Black Session]

perhaps most people went for Nevermore? and didn't really know opeth? just a theory ... since I guess Nevermore is more popular in the US?
if this was the case, then you can understand that a lot of people won't get into opeth at once.

 

[ViCyniC]

Yeah, the Yanks are into Nevermore...they're on MTV2 alot, so they get massive exposure...plus their music is easier to digest (in terms of complexity).

I don't give a shit about the openers...I'm just here to see Opeth, damnit.

 

[Reclusive Strike]

perhaps most people went for Nevermore? and didn't really know opeth? just a theory ... since I guess Nevermore is more popular in the US?
if this was the case, then you can understand that a lot of people won't get into opeth at once.

Possibly. I'm from the US but the only reason I was there was for Opeth. I was interested in Nevermore, but I never would have gone if Opeth wasn't there. Oh well

 

[Donnie Darko]

The Philly crowd was pretty into it at Sounds of the Underground. Il see what the NYC crowd is like tonight

 

[dibbya]

just adding another band to the list that will never come to Albany again. It's not that the crowd is lame, it's just that it's too small of a city. It's kind of hard to live up to crowd expectation after they've been to Montreal, Toronto, Worcester (everyone from boston)

 

[sweet majestic darkness]

That sucks. No wonder Opeth isnt too fond of touring in the US. Idiots, why go to the show if your not going to be into it??

Opeth are a band that I could have a great fuckin time just watching. Just because someone isn't screaming or headbanging or dancing or whatever doesn't automatically mean that they are not enjoying everything around them. Ofcourse I like to do all of the above, but perhaps there are those people who don't do stuff like taht at shows.

 

[Naugrim]

Yeah, the Yanks are into Nevermore...they're on MTV2 alot, so they get massive exposure...plus their music is easier to digest (in terms of complexity).

I don't give a shit about the openers...I'm just here to see Opeth, damnit.

i'm going to go ahead and say that you know nothing at all about musical complexity.

 

[x_OPETH_x]

i'm going to go ahead and say that you know nothing at all about musical complexity.

and i'm going to second that

(np: Nevermore - A Future Uncertain)

 

[transient]

what exactly does the crowd have to do to be into it? there was moshing during about every heavy riff possible. i could have lifted my feet off the ground and still been supported because i was so surrounded by people. by far the most intense show ive ever seen at saratoga winners, and ive seen a lot....

 

[Blackwater_Deth]

I went and....no ENCORE...where was Demon???? They had the lights off and then turned them on!!!!

 

[XFactor42]

I wanted to chime in and agree with the guy who started this thread. I had also planned to write an apology to the band, but more about the fucking asshole that kept yelling "You're gay!!" and "You suck!!". I was halfway back by the soundboard, and had a perfect view of the stage (no moshing bullshit), and from what I could tell the guy with the big mouth was up towards the front. How he didn't get pummeled to death is beyond me.

I can't quite explain what was up with the crowd that night. I also saw the "Lamentations' gig there in early 2004 and everyone was much more lively. Why was it different this time? I'm not sure. I was talking with a friend afterwards, and he compared the crowd to a bunch of fans at a jazz concert i.e. they're quiet in all the right places, know where all the solos are and get completely lost in what's going on. Almost at rapt attention as it were. To a point I see what he was saying, but I don't think that accounts for all of it. This was the sixth time I've seen Opeth, and I can honestly say they didn't seem 100% into the gig. Which can happen, but then if the crowd is really energetic the band tends to feed off of that. Obviously that wasn't the case, and that may account for the lack of an encore as well (which from what everyone else has been saying should have been "Demon Of The Fall"?). And not for a moment can things be attributed to "Nevermore ruled the night blah blah blah". Four years ago Nevermore was the headliner in Albany because Opeth was just starting to gain momentum in the U.S. There's a reason that Opeth gets top billing now.

At any rate, they'll hopefully return to the Albany area this Winter (perhaps a change of venue to Northern Lights would help?). If not, I'll be heading out to Worcester to see them at the Palladium again.

BTW, does anyone have an exact set list for the Winners gig?

 

[XFactor42]

just adding another band to the list that will never come to Albany again. It's not that the crowd is lame, it's just that it's too small of a city. It's kind of hard to live up to crowd expectation after they've been to Montreal, Toronto, Worcester (everyone from boston)

Actually, promoters do well in smaller cities as well if there's a good draw. Both Saratoga Winners and Northern Lights have been getting in some name acts the last few years, and as long as you come out ahead financially there's really not a reason to avoid areas like this. Plus you get a lot of people who normally wouldn't travel to places like Worcester or NYC. Winners has been packed the last couple of times I've been there (Iced Earth and Ministry for example), and they even sold out earlier this year when Mindless Self Indulgence played there. So the size of the city really doesn't have much to do with it.

 

[Jibrille]

Some guy yelling "You're gay?" You must not have heard over everyone else. He kept on saying someone's name as opposed to You're. And not a name of anyone in the band. Mikael heard him say it once but also misheard and was like "What? I'm gay?" and the crowd started yelling no.

I pretty much stood still & did a small headbang as I have a bad ankle sprain & the moshers kept on shifting & growing in numbers up front so people kept on getting pushed into me. I went from about 4th row center to about 12th row to the left of the stage. No room to do any major headbanging and if you attempted you were probably going to get knocked over by someone getting pushed into you.

 

[RavenousDaemon]

Actually I think when he said "I'm gay" was after the umm... lesbian couple that was practically sexing it up in front of the right speaker was pointed out to him! :Spin:

 

[atropos_project]

what exactly does the crowd have to do to be into it? there was moshing during about every heavy riff possible. i could have lifted my feet off the ground and still been supported because i was so surrounded by people. by far the most intense show ive ever seen at saratoga winners, and ive seen a lot....

I guess it depends where you were standing.... I was watching people simply leaving at various times during the show. Also, after every song, it seemed like there was a bit of crowd noise, then it would just die off quite quickly.

I'm not making band comparisions here, but if you went to see Lamb of God there... what... 8 months ago or so (?), the difference just in crowd reaction was night and day. Even last time I saw Opeth there (prolly about 2 years ago at this point), the crowd was far different.

I'm not a fan of moshing by any means, but it was a flat crowd response overall.

 

[XFactor42]

Some guy yelling "You're gay?" You must not have heard over everyone else. He kept on saying someone's name as opposed to You're. And not a name of anyone in the band. Mikael heard him say it once but also misheard and was like "What? I'm gay?" and the crowd started yelling no.

I remember that happening, but then the same guy was yelling "You suck" and Mikael asked "We suck?" and the crowd again said no. Are you sure the guy was yelling out someone's name and not directing it toward the band?

If I remember correctly, Mikael also said something like "I'm not gay, but Martin is" (joking, of course).