Buffalo - 5/17

[OblivionOcean]

WOW. Just got back from the Opeth show out in Buffalo. DAMN that was so awesome. I figured I'd post about it before I got too tired and fell asleep and forgot too much by morning.

We got there late, but it didn't matter anyways because there was still a huge line of people waiting to just get inside. Good spread of metal shirts and people there... saw an Into Eternity - Dead Or Dreaming shirt, that was damn cool- I wore my Blackwater Park tour shirt. Checked out the merchandise once inside, but I was too poor to buy anything, lol. Opeth and Lacuna Coil both had some nice shirts out.

Anyways, the first band was a technical death band from Toronto, didn't quite catch the name. Right out of the gate they reminded me exactly of Meshuggah (likely their main influence), which wasn't a bad thing necessarily. A little too brutal overall for my tastes but I love technical music, so I was still into it. Those guys could play, let's put it that way. Turns out the Meshuggah comparison was quite accurate too as the band had Meshuggah's Nothing album playing on rotation as they packed up.

Beyond The Embrace was up next. These guys played very well. Their fuller more melodic sound, especially with all 3 guitarists, was a good change from the opening band, and the crowd responded thusly. Very solid set.. I had never heard anything by these guys before this show but I was impressed- definitely liked what I heard.

Lacuna Coil came out and played to a very riled up crowd. I honestly didn't expect to see any moshing during their set at all, but it continued right through from Beyond The Embrace, lol. One of the reasons I'm writing this now is I have the setlists in my head (to the best of my memory), so here goes... Lacuna Coil played:

Half Life (?)
Swamped
Heaven's A Lie
Senzafine
Humane
Self Deception
When A Dead Man Walks
Tight Rope
Daylight Dancer

Damn, they just blew me away. It was a long time waiting to see these guys and it was worth it. Christina was totally on and gorgeous looking as ever of course. All of them played really tight and looked really happy to be there. Also, as other people have been saying they managed to pull off an amazingly good live sound that reminded me a lot of their characteristic studio sound, crisp and clear. Tried to catch them on their way out... Christina stopped to sign a few autographs and get a picture or two snapped, but that was about it... never got close enough. Oh well, great set, great playing... I'm tempted to buy a ticket for their headlining show down in NYC on the 25th with Into Eternity (!). I'll definitely have to check into that.

Opeth. Ahhh, Opeth. What can I say? They were absolutely brilliant! Easily 5 times better than when I saw them open for Opeth in Albany in early 2001. They seemed much more comfortable with the crowd and just more at ease in general I guess. As far as I can remember they played:

The Leper Affinity
Advent
Deliverance
The Drapery Falls
Godhead's Lament
Creedence
Bleak
A Fair Judgement
<encore>
Demon Of The Fall

Good lord it was so f*cking awesome!! What a great setlist. So many songs that I would've wanted to hear on top of those but oh well, what're you gonna do? I could've gone for hearing a bit more of Mike and Pete as the guitars and vox were a just a tiny bit too soft I thought, while the two Martins were coming through loud and clear- excellent bass and drum sound. Standard plug for the July tour... a surprising number of people seemed to know Porcupine Tree, which I was not expecting as all... a pleasant surprise I guess, haha. Gah, I could go on forever about how amazing that set was. Let's just put it this way.. I brought some pretty high expectations to this show (I can be a real stickler/picky listener at times- only the best, more intelligent music for me ) and Opeth met every single one of them with flying colors. =) I tried lingering around to get some autographs in my Deliverance liner notes, but then the nazis at the damn place started telling us all to leave, so Pete said that they would come and mingle outside with people. Unfortunately I didn't drive on this trip so I was in the minority for wanting to stick around and chat with them so we left =/. Weak, but oh well.

Overall, easily one of the best concerts I've been to. Makes me a little less sad that I likely won't be down at ProgPower this year... meh. If you haven't already, go see this tour! Now!! \m/ >_< \m/

-Eric
NP: my computers fans, and my nice comfy bed eerily calling my name...

 

[al885]

I was up front by the stairs right by the railing for the whole show. they should of not had the end play because opeth went on too god damn late. opeth played good but the mix was too bassy

anyways i had a good time.

 

[ProgMetalFan]

I had a rather enjoyable night... and witnessed 4 good bands... something that never happens... usually a couple of the bands suck

I made the 4 hour trip from Central Pennsylvania to Buffalo with my brother... before the show we had the best buffalo wings of our lives at Duff's... they were enormous and were slathered in the most delicious sauces... it was an incredible experience... I was impressed by the gorgeous residential areas and vibrant commercial districts of the Amhearst area as well...

then we made our way to the Showplace... which I didn't think was that bad of a venue... it had these neat movie-theatre style seats that were elevated from the floor... I utilized these and had a great view above the crowd and not too far away from stage... and I didn't have to put up with any of the boneheaded moshers...

The End was the suprise of the night for me... I had never heard of them... and when I saw them take the stage I just thought they were some local high-school band! But they blew me away with their sick technical death metal... totally harsh and chaotic... it was a cacophony of dissonance... i was blown away for the duration of their mind-blowingly complex and painful (in a good way) set

Beyond the Embrace followed with a phenomenal performance... as mentioned previously, their brand of super-melodic triple-harmony-guitar sing-a-long metal was a stark contrast to The End's dissonant dystopia. They had a lot of energy and charisma on stage and blazed through a set of fist-pumpers. I thought the sound for them was just right... and at the appropriate volume... unfortunately, they jacked up the volume to the point of absurdity for Lacuna Coil and Opeth... I was forced to utilize my earplugs for those bands because it was impossible to hear anything but bass and overbearing noise without them.

Lacuna Coil is a band I'm not really into. They played a few good songs and some songs I thought that were boring. "Heaven's A Lie" is an awesome song. However, I enjoyed their performance moderately overall. They certainly were much better than the openers on the last Opeth tour, Tapping the Vein and Paradise Lost. I find Lacuna Coil's music too be far too simple for my tastes. The guitars are extremely boring, and the main instrument of the band... keyboards... aren't even performed live. However, Christina has an excellent voice, and the catchiness of some of the songs makes them irresistable. Christina is also very beautiful and just exudes sexuality. I loved her outfit as well, looked very classy. Great stage presence. The male singer is a huge no-talent though. Get rid of him.

Opeth put on a solid performance. It was the same exact set as the set for the last tour, which I caught in Pittsburgh. That was slightly disappointing, but Opeth was flawless. I especially enjoyed Mikael's preface to "Demon of the Fall" when he told the audience to growl and the chicks to scream like King Diamond. GRANDMA!

Overall... I enjoyed all 4 bands and had a great night of metal. Buffalo rocks.

 

[DieselMachine]

Thanks for the review. Even after three times around, I still had no idea what that dude said the band was called. I did, however, figure out the Toronto part.

 

[ProgMetalFan]

DieselMachine... I too could not figure out what he was saying... I was thinking he was saying The Yank... then when I went to the merch table, I figured out it was The End.

 

[al885]

DieselMachine... I too could not figure out what he was saying... I was thinking he was saying The Yank... then when I went to the merch table, I figured out it was The End.

I think they brought sars, because ive been sneezing and have a sore throat ever since last night!

when they were taking lacuna coil's drumset off stage, part of it fell and i caught it.

 

[valgalder]

Good show.. too bad showplace sound always sucks.

Only band I really cared about was Opeth anyway. Cool seeing Lacuna Coil, but i've never been a huge fan. Their EP was good, however.

THe End would have been very good if they dropped their lame ass vocalist.. he ruined the band completely. Just bland hardcore vocals.. fuck that.

Beyond Embrace were overrated. Not bad at all, just nothing special.. it's like WOW three guitarist.. so what. Their singer sucked.

Opeth were Opeth.. I'm glad to see they are getting more comfortable on stage and talking more. Mikael is quite the character. 3rd time seeing them and going to see them for the Damnation tour of course Too bad, that's not coming to Buffalo.. thankfully they wont have to suffer at Showplace, but it would be nice seeing them at a GOOD venue like.. maybe Sheas with Porcupine Tree? )) Could only dream. ah..

-Mike

 

[al885]

hey Valgalder where were you in the place?

 

[valgalder]

For Opeth I was up towards the front left stage. Wearing a Novembers Doom long sleeve.

 

[ProgMetalFan]

A ND long sleeve!?!?/ Awesome! I didn't think the Showplace was that bad... sure beats the hell out of the pit known as the Agora in East Cleveland... god, i hate that place... and it gets like every metal show... including the Damnation tour

 

[valgalder]

I saw that.. but I actually prefer the Agora over showplace... its bigger and the sound is usually a little better.. both are not classy places by any means.

Glad you could make it all the way up here for the show..

 

[al885]

For Opeth I was up towards the front left stage. Wearing a Novembers Doom long sleeve.

I was up there too, i was right by the stairs to the stage. I was the kid with the short hair and the opeth tour date shirt. you might of seen me.


as a matter of fact, now that i look at the picture in your profile i think i saw you there a few people behind me.

 

[valgalder]

yeah, ok.. I remember you.. you were right in front of me most of the time... heh..

 

[al885]

the guy to the right of me had bad BO

 

[DieselMachine]

I was the guy in the front left by the steps smoking weed. Heh. I was in a Slayer shirt, and kept getting pummeled by the mosh pit when i was just trying to enjoy my stoned-ness with some beautiful music. D:

I dont think BtE was overrated. I think the vocalist had some trouble on the first track, but as he went on he definately came through. I really like BtE, and when he goes into full death-metal vox mode, his voice is fucking right on. I enjoyed them a hell of a lot more than Lacuna Coil.

 

[ditches]

My first concert ever (sad, yes, but only recently did I find bands worth seeing) was Opeth in Toronto earlier in the year.

"Hm. One of my 5 favorite bands, brutal as fuck concert, future concerts will suck by comparison."

Wrong. All I had to do was see Opeth again, but with better opening acts.

The Showplace isn't as cool as the Opera House in Toronto, though it did have FREE BROKEN WASHING MACHINES~ outside (and a crazy old lady who thinks a car can take up three parking spaces. Along a sidewalk.) The sound was uniformly messed up at the start of every set, but adjusted by the middle.

The End- Seemed decent until the second band showed them up as being crap. The lead singer's mannerisms were that of a veloceraptor. Held his hands close to his pecs so it seemed like he had no arms; kicked his leg up violently when he moved; jerked his head up and down; screeched.

Beyond the Embrace- A real band. Way better than any of the openers at Toronto. The screams are a bit too brutal for me, but it's awesome stuff if you can handle it (see: Children of Bodom). One guitar player had a goatee that was the size of two hands. I can never grow one that big.

Lacuna Coil- I don't like Comalies as much as the other albums, so of course it's almost all they played. Still very good, the dynamic between the singers helps balance the guitar repetition. I sang along with "When a Dead Man Walks" at the top of my lungs and couldn't hear myself. Christina is hot. She needs my manbabies.

Opeth- FUCKING OPETH RULES ALL! Exact same set and it was so brutal that, after kicking out all my teeth in Toronto, it gave me new teeth. And kicked them out again. I had a better view of the band, but You Know Who stole the show as always. [gay]He's so dreamy.[/gay]

I windmill-style headbanged for about 2 minute during the outro of Deliverance, then stood up and nearly fell on my ass, which would have crushed a small-boned couple behind me had Jeff (yay black belt skillz) not caught me. Which is surprising, since I'm about twice as thick as he is, and he had no warning. But then he knows kung fu (or something). My neck still hurts. Yay metal.

A Fair Judgment has amazing guitar work, which stands out nicely when you're exhausted and running on adrenaline. I wish I could have headbanged during Bleak, but I knew that my neck was probably destroyed (it was), and since I had to wake up at 8AM to graduate, paralysis wasn't an option no matter how anus-rapingly brutal the songs were.

On the way back I was kept awake by Random Analysis. Devin is king.


If you haven't seen Opeth live yet, do so. NOW.

 

[Blackhorse_Experience]

Loved the show.. except that first band. Fucking terrible. I cant believe people actually enjoyed that.