Anna saw them in 96 on the Elegy tour with Therion...she was like 16 or something. She said they sucked horribly live back then, surprisingly. She was really upset over it because Amorphis is her favorite band and this is only the second time she has gotten to see them. Needless to say, we were both blown away.
They were fucking great last night though...Tomi seems a little bored at times, but I'm sure playing the same easy riffs over and over doesn't get too challenging. Amoral and Before the Dawn opened. I really liked Amoral...kinda like Firewind with bigger balls. Singer looks like he's 12, though, but he can belt it out.
Amorphis played a bit from everything except Tuonela and Far From the Sun...didn't mind so much from FFTS but I would've really liked to hear Summer's End or The Way from Tuonela. However, they encored with Karelia and Sign From the North from The Karelian Isthmus which was pretty bad ass. They did an Elegy medley that was amazing as well.
Wasn't able to go to the museum as we got there later than expected. Just got something to eat in the city center and did a little sightseeing. Graz is a very strange place, imo. It reminds me of Padova here in Italy because the center has some nice architecture and really beautiful buildings, but just a couple of blocks outside the center it was kinda ugly. It's not a very touristic city. However, just like everywhere else in Austria, everything seems to run perfectly; great public transportation, friendly and helpful people, very organized, etc. I've been to Salzburg for concerts and now Graz, and although Salzburg is a bit further away it's probably worth the drive. Rockhaus in Salzburg is a fantastic place to see bands and a great club...plus Salzburg is a beautiful city and with lots of historical things to go and see. The big fortress overlooking the city is a really cool museum and is worth going to see. Plus it's the birthplace of Mozart. They sell chocolate balls with Mozart's picture on them so we always say we're going to Salzburg and buy some of Mozart's balls. Graz has the architecture of Salzburg but with the urban ugliness of Padova or Milan. Great place to go if you're just going for concerts, though. Everything is quite close, plenty of places to eat (Nordsee FTW!), and there is still of course the armory museum. It's also very close to Hungary and Bratislava in Slovakia, so if you'd like to make a weekend trip out of it you can see other places as well. That's my next plan. I'm thinking about catching a flight to Budapest in the near future.
Fuck the Austrian Autobahn. Speed limits...110 km/h on the Autobahn? SERIOUSLY? I couldn't wait to get back into Italy where they're 130 and the roads were much smoother. The thing is that the police there are Nazis and will fine you for doing like 5 km/h over. A 3-hour trip could've been a 2 hour trip if it weren't for the speed limits.
In any case, Amorphis is fantastic live and I would recommend anyone to go and see them. Will upload pics later.
