I went to both the L.A. show and the Galaxy show and I must say the differences were amazing. The sound was better at the Galaxy. The parking was definitely better at the Galaxy (I managed to get my car towed in L.A., so in the end the L.A. show cost me over $200 (still worth it)). The band was not quite as energetic at the L.A. show as they were at the Galaxy, but the vibe was just totally different. The vibe of the band was complimentary to the vibe of the audience at the Troubadour, and that vibe was just flat out MELLOW. In fact it was more mellow than the vibe at some jam band show's I've seen. I prefer mellow when seeing Opeth.
At the Galaxy the crowd wasn't so mellow. At least not down on the floor. Yeah, moshing to A Fair Judgement. There you go. Let's mosh to 60 BPM Doom. Apparently there were quite a few people there not necessarily to see Opeth, but to mosh because you know, moshing shows just how metal you are, which in turn shows just how manly you are, which in turn proves to yourself and ALL the people at the show that one, you're not gay, and two that they better leave you alone cause you're tough. I mean, if you're at a Death/Grind show that's more understandable. The music can just bring on a sort of possession, if you will. But when people are moshing to A Fair Judgement, it's obviously not about the music. I can't believe that I felt compelled to tell people at that show to pay attention to the band on the fucking stage. "Hey look! Opeth's up there!". I saw so many heads turned the opposite direction. I think this is the first show I've been to where I felt the urge to beat a couple of people to death.
Opeth takes me to other worlds, and throughout that set I was constantly dragged back into the world of juvenile-jock-mosh land. Go mosh to Morbid Angel, or Cannibal Corpse (I must admit that I've seen Deeds of Flesh, and nobody moshed (when the music is technical I find people want to actually watch the band play)). At the L.A. show a few of us (including myself) stirred things up in the pit during Demon of the Fall, but that was per Mikael's request. It's a little more fitting to mosh to that song. One thing about being a good mosh-er is to know WHEN to mosh, not to see how much damage you can inflict. Like during the "white faced, haggard grin/ this serenity painted death..." chorus of serenity painted death, decent time to mosh, if you absolutely must mosh. That's fitting, I guess, though I'd rather time travel than constantly try and regain my footing.
Oh, and let me say something about crowd surfing... Do you morons want to know why it just didn't seem to work at that show? Because nobody was interested in helping you fucking crowd surf. OPETH WAS ON THE STAGE!!!!! Go see No Doubt you pitiful losers (I think that's a fair judgement, pun intended).
Oh, and at the L.A. show during the quiet part of A Fair Judgement, right before the Morbid Angel-esque outro, you could hear everyone singing along with Mike. And in key. It was truly an uplifting experience. During the same part at the Galaxy, not only was half the singing audience tone deaf, but hardly anyone was singing along and there were even some dipshits who were shouting at Mike, and louder than he was singing. Why would you try and distract him in the middle of a fucking song. This isn't Punk Rock mother fucker.
As far as the set list goes, it was nearly the same at both venues. The only difference was instead of Serenity Painted Death, they played Godhead's Lament at the Troubadour. My overall impression is the band was better at the Galaxy, but the crowd was better at the Troubadour. I've now decided once and for all that Orange County on average is very immature, and they on average lack heart and security. Not like this is new news to anyone from Southern California. Unless you're one of the immature ones of whom I speak... For the eyeball cannot see itself. But anyway, Opeth for life!
