Amorphis Gigs

[papajohnny]

Potential setlist for the Euro tour?
Predictions?

 

[koivusaari]

Potential setlist for the Euro tour?
Predictions?

I am afraid it's the same as on last EU tour. Hopefully I am wrong.

 

[Luoto]

Two songs off Eclipse, but the other one won't be The Smoke. They will want to play some non-staples off that one, be it Two Moons or something else.

Well, they've actually played two shows already... setlist.fm has nothing yet.

 

[xptrinity]

I'm curious about "Mission".

 

[papajohnny]

I'm curious about "Mission".

I'd love to hear it too, as well as Two Moons.
I don't think the list is bad, looking at Euro tour 2013, but I wouldn't mind swapping Wanderer with something else.

 

[Luoto]

This sucks, man. Prague setlist

 

[xptrinity]

This sucks, man. Prague setlist

Lazy, unimaginative basrards!

 

[papajohnny]

So, it's absolutely the same. Well, I can live with that. I wasn't exactly hoping anything miraculous will happen.

I just realized, though - there are no songs from Silent Waters. That's sad.

 

[Tiiti]

I so was hoped they would play a same list than in Finland.
Unleast the Mission should have been on the list.

 

[koivusaari]

Why am I not surprised uke: Well, I am not going to show, I'll see Hamferd this summer anyway, so it is not that big deal missing the show.

I'm getting sick of that shit, I think I'm done with Amo shows for a while.

 

[xptrinity]

Sometimes I just ask myself why am I still going to their gigs...

 

[Eurynome]

I've stopped asking myself that, but it's true that I'm no longer going out of my way to see their shows. I didn't even go to Turku last month, although the Turku bus runs right past my house and I haven't missed an Amo club gig there since 2007. Also, I used to travel to up to four shows abroad almost every year since TJ joined the band because they would play material there that they didn't do on the Finnish tours - "My Sun", for example - but this time I'm glad I decided to stay home, and it was NOT just my wallet or the lack of a catsitter that decided for me. On the other hand, I still feel excited when they're on stage and I'm in the front row, so that obviously answers the question. A certain change of attitude has helped, too: I no longer expect anything special but just go there to party - free your mind and your ass will follow... - and consider the rare surprise here and there as an added bonus. There's subutex for junkies and nicorette for smokers, but I still haven't found a substitute for my addiction. Gotta live with the fact that I'm unable to simply stop loving this band. Believe me, I've tried.

 

[xptrinity]

Yeah, well... Nicorette doesn't help much. It helps for the physical addiction, sure it does, but it doesn't help for the mental addiction. - Trust me, I tried.
I guess a change in attitude does help, though. A case in point is my tenth Amo gig - you were there, somewhere up front in that massive sports hall in Sofia, while I was just getting drunk and rocking out in the back. I don't remember much of that gig, frankly - I was having such a good time. Some friends noted that I was having so much fun, that it seemed it was my first Amo gig. So I guess I should just apply the same SOP the day after tomorrow. - I might not remember much, but it's gonna be serious fun.
Still, I want Mission. Maybe I should use my connections and get an audience with Esa before the gig... Or maybe I won't bother. We'll see. But one thing is certain - I won't be going out of my way for that. The mere fact that I ask myself the question why I still go to their gigs, says a lot. Besides, I cherish my peace of mind a lot more these days.
Maybe I should not let my high expectations ruin it for me and go along for the ride, whatever it brings.

 

[xptrinity]

That was beyond awesome. I enjoyed myself so much...
More - tomorrow. I'm just too emotionally and physically drained right now to be coherent.

 

[papajohnny]

I understand you weren't drunk this time

Just kidding.

Hopefully, I'll have a similar experience tomorrow.

 

[xptrinity]

No, I wasn't as I was supposed to write a review. Nevertheless, it was wonderful and uplifting.
Here's the setlist - same as in Budapest and probably same in Belgrade. Esa didn't listen to my pleas earlier in the day for Mission.

But, f*ck it, I mean I've seen them 12 times now and from the comfort of home can complain about setlists and "I wanna hear this, I wanna hear that." Truth is, I still get the goosebumps, the joy, excitement and ecstasy from seeing my facourite band live. Every now and again one needs the in-the-flesh reminder of why they keep on going to gigs of the same band over and over again.
When they hit the stage, I forget what I want to hear and just enjoy every minute of it, just like I did last night. Besides the fact that I was in my country, where the audience tends to be a lot louder and wilder than the one in Finland, and nobody gave me the odd look when I was screaming, singing and jumping up and down for joy. Just because everybody around me was doing the same.

 

[tuonelan]

Glad you had an awesome time and that the crowd was lively. Would love to see the guys again at someplace smaller in LA with a better crowd.

 

[xptrinity]

BTW, Hamferð rock!

 

[xptrinity]

Here's my English version of the review. Don't know when it's gonna be published, so I'll just paste it here for you to read.

In previous years, the birthday party of our favourite radio Tangra Mega Rock were sumptuous and lengthy, with 3-4-5 and more concerts, sometimes well into June.

This year, because the financial crunch continues, no matter what government tells you, the concert is only one, but one hell of a fantastic concert. Amorphis are coming to Bulgaria for the fourth time and for a second time sell out the gig, weeks before the event itself.

I've seen Amorphis in all sorts of venues – from open air festivals with thousands of rabid and not so rabid fans, sports halls, exhibition halls, former movie theatres, former weaving factories and clubs. Beyond doubt, the best gigs are indeed in the clubs.

There is no point in pretending that Mixtape 5 is not my favourite Sofia club, so its only logical that I expect a wonderful gig. And this is exactly what I got.

Around 3 hours before getting on stage, the support band Hamferð from the Faroe Islands are still in … Serbia. In the end of the day, they manage to arrive on time and get on stage in the previously announced time.

The club is already moderately full, but I bet that half the audience haven't previously heard of the band. Small wonder, considering that the Faroe Islands are just a bunch of remote rocks in Norwegian Sea, most famous for the fact that the locals gleefully slaughter whales and excuse themselves with cultural peculiarities.

I, myself, became aware of Hamferð's existence, who, by the way were established in 2008, when their singer Jon Aldara recently became also the singer of Finnish supergroup Barren Earth.

Hamferð get on stage dressed in black suits, just like for a funeral, which is very appropriate for their heavy dark doom style. All in all, they have one EP, “Vilst er síðsta fet” from 2010, and one LP, “Evst”, from 2013.

Doom! Doom! Doom! Clean vocals, growls, screams – all in Faroese. There is something fascinating with the fact that they sing in a totally incomprehensible language, which, on top of that, sounds just right for doom.

It is worth remembering them and following their career, because they got a lot of potential.

The club is already full. Thinking about it, I haven't seen it that full in a while. Apparently Amorphis are well loved in Bulgaria and are always received, to put it mildly, with warmth. This time around, it is no different and the intro of “Shades of Grey” is accompanied by gleeful screams.

The setlist of the spring leg of the tour is just about the same as the one in the autumn leg supporting Amorphis' recent album “Circle”.

For the nearly ten years since Tomi Joutsen joined the band, Amorphis, who used to be known as innovators and managed to surprise everyone with each new album, found a pleasant style and set themselves in a comfort zone, which they don't seem inclined to leave. From the point of view of sales, commercial success and growing number of fans, this is quite explicable, though I know people, who are increasingly annoyed with the rehashing of same old, same old, every other year.

The eighthundred people in Mixtape 5, however, don't seem to mind and, considering their reactions, definitely prefer the “new style”, which is prevailing in the setlist.

But old classics are not lacking, such as My Kantele (the original version), Against Widows, Into Hiding, and of course, Black Winter Day.

Even though I can't say that Vulgar Necrolatry, written by Tomi Koivusaari for his band before Amorphis – Abhorrence – is one of my favourites, during its performance I am overcome by the strange feeling that the year is 1992 and I am present at an early club gig of Amorphis. However strange it may seem, for me this is one of the culminations of the evening. - Tomi Joutsen is growling his guts out, balancing with one foot on the edge of the stage and the other on the fence, hanging over the audience, which is moshing and crowdsurfing with reckless abandon.

The audience itself seems to be in complete ecstasy. From my comfortable vantage point on the upper level of the club, the people below seem like a sea of smiling faces and arms, moving in complete synchronicity. The screams are deafening and whenever they subside, Tomi Joutsen, who has nothing to do with the shell-shocked lad on the stage of the first Amorphis concert in Sofia in 2007, with a few flicks of his body and several grimaces, manages to raise the decibels of the screams to somewhat painful levels. Now he is the perfect frontman and, apparently, is enjoying every minute of it.

We are also enjoying it with incredible enthusiasm.

„Circle“ is represented by five songs, but, unfortunately, the lovely “Silent Waters” is completely missing from the setlist. “The Beginning Of Times” is represented by the exceptionally banal and mildly annoying “You I Need”, and the glorious “Eclipse” - only by “The Smoke”.

But let's not overanalyse.
After all, the concert was magnificent and everyone is more than pleased.

It is most apparent, that Amorphis have become a well-oiled commercial mechanism, to the point that Tomi Joutsen does a commercial break promoting the merch stand, which, unlike in previous years, was really well-stocked – there were even baby clothes and ladies' hotpants.

It may have been “just another day in the office” for Amorphis, but for us it was a wonderful concert, filled with joy and magnificent music.


Setlist:
Shades of Grey Intro
Shades of Grey
Narrow Path
Sampo
Silver Bride
Wanderer
Against Widows
My Kantele
Into Hiding
Nightbird's Song
Vulgar Necrolatry
The Smoke
You I Need
Hopeless Days

Encore:
Skyforger Intro
Sky Is Mine
Black Winter Day
House of Sleep

 

[Luoto]

“The Beginning Of Times” is represented by the exceptionally banal and mildly annoying “You I Need”, and the glorious “Eclipse” - only by “The Smoke”.

Just a heads-up to try and get that fixed for the published version Otherwise it's a well written report!