Irving Plaza NEW YORK

[loebs]

i saw em first time at irving plaza, hour before doors opened they met everyone on the line.. after the shows the martins did a couple then ran into a cab, lopez had a groupie haha mikael and pete took time to sign stuff .

in NJ aint as crowded as NY or even sold out, so they were mostly walkin all over the place before and after the show. i did manage to sneak in during soundcheck and catch 2 damnation songs, which were not to be played until maybe 2 months later so i felt special haha


damnation tour at irving i saw everyone get off the busses before the show cause it was like 2 or 3 horus early i was haha but after the show i waited a good half hour or more and no one showed, but there was a party at their hotel i heard so probaly speeded out.

so no clue what their mood is this show haha

 

[commandante]

so do you think we can definitely find some extra tickets from the box office if we go very early the day of the show?

 

[CracklingCarcass]

I cannot wait!!!!!!! Does anyone know the setlist?

 

[ViCyniC]

Damn, it's becoming more of a reality that I'm going to see Opeth perform in NYC for the first time. I can't even imagine what will go down this friday. But I hope I have a kickass and memorable time...

 

[GabrielKnight]

so do you think we can definitely find some extra tickets from the box office if we go very early the day of the show?

Don't know, but I doubt it. There will be scalpers selling tix, so that would probably be your only chance. A word of caution - some are selling fake tix. Last time a dude in front of me bought a ticket from a scalper, but as we looked at it closer, it was obviously fake. They didn't let him in with that ticket! He just wasted money and an hour waiting in line. So be careful if buying tix from scalpers.

-GK

 

[kno talint]

BUMP...yea tommorow is gonna kick ass. after school ima take a bus to ny and the n train down to irving and then just wait there all day!!!!!!!!!!!!! see you guys there...remember one of us will have a shirt with that logo on my avatar. feel free to say whats up. \m/

 

[commandante]

I will have my MAYH hoodie... \m/

 

[loebs]

u know what, i was thinkin of goin early to wait but F it, ive waited to many hours previously at opeth shows and this time im goin to watch em from the middle-far... ill go in around 10 drunk of whisky and have a fun time. im comin from NJ might as well make the most

 

[loebs]

ohhh ill be wearinggggg uh grey kakis and probaly an Impaled shirt, dont know which one haha i love em so much

 

[ViCyniC]

My impressions of the show was that THERE WAS TOO MUCH DISTORTION, COMPRESSION, AND UNBALANCED EQUALIZING for Opeth. Granted I was near the front, maybe 2 or 3 'rows' behind, but the sound of Mikael's voice was like a chimpmunk...ok a bit exaggerated, but he sounded like an adolescent boy. And the intstumentaton had so much distortion, in the likes of the opener bands like DD and MS, that I had to relay the cleaner version of the songs in my head while they played...so I still managed to feel the vibe and headband alittle. But had they toned down the distortion, voice compression, and smoothed out the sound, I would've left the concert speechless. Instead, I left a bit underwhelmed. Maybe I should've stayed in the back a little more...

Oh, and I noticed that Mike has gotten alot more witty and jocular than last year. Or is it that when Opeth tours in the US, Mike tends to be more comical and egotistical? When I've seen videos of them perform live in Europe previous years, Mike was especially humble and straightfoward. It was a huge contrast to his behavior in NYC. Just something that I've observed. Not a big deal.

Overall, I give the concert a 7/10.

 

[squatch41]

Egotistical? What comments led you to think that? Also, from where I was standing , the sound was impeccable. Sorry you didn't have such a great time but I surely did.

Here's some more info (yeah, too lazy to type my comments again so I will copy & paste from another board):

"SO, I saw another incredible Opeth show tonight. In some respects even better than last night's Philly show. The Irving Plaza NYC crowd was loud & happy. The as*hole quotient was extremely low especially for this heavy music here in NYC.

I luckily missed Devildriver. Moonspell were better than the night before in Philly probably due to the decent size reaction they got from the crowd (I tell ya, we were WAY too happy for a show here in NYC...Maybe we were all frozen). Then it was the great Opeth's turn:

Opeth played the same 1:30 set as in Philly (usual setlist excluding WIndowpane due to time contraints). Highlights for me tonight included The Drapery Falls, In My Time of Need, Deliverance & April Ethereal just blew everyone away.
Mikael was giddy all night long from the strong NYC crowd reaction. I was finally proud to be in a NYC heavy music crowd.

OK, here are some details:

-Before Opeth played In My Time of Need, Mikael referred to the Philly crowd singing loudly & saying that "New York City are cunts!" LOL!!! I was laughing so hard. Then, the "Philly Sucks" chant started up pretty loudly with Opeth laughing their heads off.

- Before Opeth played Deliverance, Mikael exclaimed "let's play some heavy fuckin' shit resembling death metal." I thought that was a funny but fitting description of their music.

- AT one point, Mikael tells the audience that they dedicate each Opeth tour to a different individual. Next thing he says is let's here it for "our Lord Satan" before blasting into song. This man makes me want to collect every bootleg comment to place on one disc; He cracks me up that much. Plus, he and his fellow bandmates are the nicest people you ever want to meet (plus, they are all awesome musicians...yes, bow down to Mikael & Lopez)

- Before Blackwater Park, Mikael starts to describe the 4/4 beat and Lopez starts to lay down a simple pattern...then MIkael asks Martin the bassist to join in & they start going into MJ's Billie Jean (they did same thing in Philly)...Crowd guffaws once again (We are puddy in Akerfedt's witty hands).


-At one point,Mikael breaks into Maiden's # of the BEast,gets a big reaction & then yells at the crowd: "You guys are too easy." (I think he said "you")


Anyway, great show. I am so glad I got into this band a yr & a half ago at the perfect time. 5 shows down and this is one of the most mesmerizing, technically proficient, intense yet fun bands I have ever had the pleasure to hear or see live.

 

[kno talint]

yea the moor was fucking awesome. i even went into the pit for demon of the fall. as soon as the distortion part came in, in the "demon, demon of the fall" part the fists starting swinging and everyone was screaming along. fucking crazy...i hurt my thumb lol but the rest of the show i was right in front watching and head banging along. for in my time of need the whole fucking place song along. it was an all around great show. even moonspell was good. devil driver sucked tho. it was funny how only the nu metal posers were in the pit for them lol LOSERS

 

[chaveta]

ARRGGHh... hate myself for not getting tickest sooner.

fuck fuck fuck

 

[Demonspell]

The "Philly sucks!" chant and the demonstration of a 4/4 beat were classic.

 

[GabrielKnight]

devil driver sucked tho. it was funny how only the nu metal posers were in the pit for them lol LOSERS

Now that you've mentioned... Did anyone notice Julia from FUSE headbanging like a maniac to Devildriver? What a fucking poser! She disappeared after their set - Opeth must be way too progressive for her!

I pretty much remember what they played, but does anyone have the setlist? I think they had to cut their set short, they have a 12:30 curfew at the Irving Plaza. They skipped the encore break and just went into Demon of the Fall. Michael asked, next song is our last song, can you guess which song it is? Pple started screaming Demon, he was like... I'm gonna count to 4 and they you say it all together

Mike was in a "happy" mood and was joking between songs. He even played a little "blues song" which ended with something like "we love you motherfuckers" Playing Number of the Beast intro was awesome - I knew he was a Maiden fan!

Moonspell rocked! I think they got a decent reaction. It's a shame they only played like 35 mins! Anyone has their setlist by chance?

-GK

 

[squatch41]

Opeth setlist last night:

Masters Apprentices
The Drapery Falls
The Moor
In My Time of Need
Deliverance
April Ethereal
Blackwater Park
Encore: Demon of the Fall



They had to cut out Windowpane due to the 12:30 curfew.

 

[Necramentia]

easily the best opeth show I've seen. KILLER fuckin setlist. and thank you, sensei akerfeldt, for the music education. you know what I can't stand tho? when you try to headbang and people bitch about your hair going all over the place.

 

[Necramentia]

but in all sanity. moonspell, what the hell is with the big stick?

 

[GabrielKnight]

Thanx for the setlist! So they only dropped Windowpane - no big deal. Mike was saying soemthing before BWP that they were not supposed to play it, I guess they ended up having more time then they expected! Awesome, I'd be pissed if they skipped BWP.

An observation... They now have a keboardist (at least for the tour), he was doing some backing vox as well. It definitely added to their sound! Mike didn't introduce him thou, but I think it was the same guy as on the Damnation tour.

-GK

 

[kntguitar]

yea opeth was fucking awesome last night(especially with me being near front and center!!!). Best songs of the night had to be The Moor, In My Time Of Need, Blackwater Park, and Deliverance. And yes,(a noticeably thinner) Mikael did seem to joke and swear more than usual, and that fucking rocked too \m/. It was nice seeing Juliya again(first time being at a shadows fall concert last august). And btw, in the line outside, did anyone end up talking to that annoying, drunk russian kid with semi-long blonde hair? And no I'm not talking about me, lol.