Oh holy crap was that an awesome show. It didn't actually get out until quarter to midnight - I think Opeth must have been on the stage for close to two hours, but I'm not quite sure, having not checked my watch when they come on... for obvious reasons.
Nachtmystium struck me as mediocre - sort of generic, not particularly original, but not bad either. High on Fire was a bit better. But both of the opening acts were inevitably disadvantaged by the fact that I was there for Opeth and had been waiting to see Opeth for two months or so. That and I suppose its nigh impossible for the opening acts to compare to a band thats been a part of your life for 6-7 years. But, that said, they did seem a bit out of place, in comparison to Opeth's music.
Setlist, as I remember it, consisted of:
Heir Apparent
Grand Conjuration
Serenity Painted Death (I believe I noted Mikael rolling his eyes during some of the lyrics)
Hope Leaves
The Lotus Eater
Bleak
The Night and the Silent Water
Deliverance
Demon of the Fall
The Drapery Falls (encore)
So a very nice mixture of the albums. I would have liked to hear something from Orchid, and the song Blackwater Park would have been cool, but no big deal.
The entirety of today felt like being a kid on Christmas Eve again... just waiting for the damned moment to come. Nicely, the concert did not disappoint. All of the band performed very well and it seemed at all times that really did enjoy being on the stage. And I love Mikael's deadpan humor, so that was fun too. (And, come to think of it, I haven't been at many concerts were the band actually did a good job of fronting itself and chatting with the crowd between songs). Also, while I knew to expect this from seeing other setlists, it thrilling that Opeth doesn't opt to just play a majority of stuff from the latest album.
I was amused to hear someone shout out a request for "Into the Forest of Winter." I decided that I had to be that douche who calls out for "Blackrose Immortal." Entertainingly, I was quickly met by several shouts of "NO!" from various persons in the crowd.
On another note, I think this is the first venue I've been that actually considered pens to be contraband.
For anyone else who was there, I was the guy near the middle of the stage, second row or so of people, wearing a black Katatonia shirt and headbanging like mad.
