The Chicago Show...

ualaw99

The Usurper
Jan 28, 2005
21
0
1
Atlanta, GA
Same setlist as NYC. Great, great show. Awesome sound in the HOB playing hall. The "seating" sort of went to hell early as everyone was standing up early.

Axenot had a mini-drum solo before the encore.

MA was in rare comedic form. His best line - while he was talking about the MAYH CD, someone yells "WHEN!!!!!" - MA replied "That would be 1997!"

I made the trek from Atlanta to see tonight's show and going to Milwaukee as well. Nothing like stuffed pizza and Opeth!

Highlights for me were "A Fair Judgment" and "White Cluster". Also my first time to see the new stuff, which was great.

A sincere thank-you to the band - in my 20 or so years of hard rock fandom, you guys are the best.
 
This is the third identical post I've made about this show, but it was too awesome for me to contain on just one forum:

":OMG: :OMG: :OMG: :OMG: :OMG:
To use a few abstract comparisons I made while chatting about this show:

"Opeth was an overflow of boiling liquid metal poured into my veins and then solidified, and subsequently smashed to pieces by their force of awesomeness."

"Opeth smashed my brain with a hammer and then swirled it up into a smoothie, took a chug, then spit it back out at me."

(on being asked "Did they play Deliverance?")
"Yes. Yes and it piledrove me into the 2nd layer of the earth's crust."

So that aside, I'm really pumped (and at the same time, beaten to death/ worn the hell out) after seeing my first Opeth concert, the 2+ hour show at the House of Blues in Chicago. If for some reason any of you were there, I was the blonde/long/curly hair kid with the Deading Tour PTree shirt, standing in the middle & back of the floor most of the time.

The setlist was:

Under the Weeping Moon
The Night and the Silent Water
The Amen Corner
White Cluster (This is where things reeeaaalllyyy started getting good)
The Leper Affinity (The first song where I hurt from headbanging so severely during it)
A Fair Judgement
Deliverance (OMJESusTAKEMENOW)
Windowpane
Closure (w/ extended METAL ending)
Ghost of Perdition (I can die happy now that I've seen this live)
Baying of the Hounds
The Grand Conjuration (another extreme headbang-fest)
--------
Demon of the Fall (yeah... if you've seen Opeth you've seen it and you know how crushingly perfect of a closer it makes).

Mikael spoke between every song, in his very passive and yet hilarious voice, responding to many things in the crowd and doing a great job introducing the songs. Almost mesmerising to hear him speak. Just because, you know, this band from Sweden that is just so monumentally awesome was there in front of me playing these so extremely metal and yet beautiful songs, it was definitely surreal/euphoria like. Though physically it wasn't, I was so active with the headbanging of many kinds and many other arm/upper body/foot motions that I'm sore all over now. I'm pretty sure I used muscles in my neck I never have before in my life.
Also some of the guys standing in front of me had way too much beer, one of whom definitely threw himself around too much and barfed up a bunch of it... yummy. Fortunately that was late in the show, and I moved away from the mess/stench to the very front for the end of TGJ through the closing of the show.

So... there's my story."
 
Chzn8r said:
Just because, you know, this band from Sweden that is just so monumentally awesome was there in front of me playing these so extremely metal and yet beautiful songs, it was definitely surreal/euphoria like.

My feelings exactly. It was my first time seeing them and I'll never forget it. I had an awesome unobstructed view from the balcony, it was great. When I saw them come on stage I was just awe struck for the first few minutes.
 
I thought I might find something to like about 'The Grand Conjuration' after hearing it live -- nope. Good show on the whole though.
 
yeah the show was awesome. the sound setup was amazing...right on par with the very first time they played at the house of blues. i don't know if anyone remembers, but the 2 or 3 shows following that one had the worst sound i'd ever heard at any concert. good crowd...no dickwads. i wish the middle area would've been opened up...it was hard to see from anywhere in the place if you didn't get there early. normally you can see the band from anywhere downstairs except if you're behind a pillar.

unfortunately i missed UTWM and like the first minute of TNATSW...anyone make a bootleg or something? i thought i was going to be disappointed that they didn't play much of their old stuff (only 1 from each of the first 5 albums?!)...but every song they played sounded great. \m/

oh yeah, and the bartender upstairs was extremely cute!
 
I was there last night too. Standing in the walkway that curves around the pit area. Unfortunately we had too leave a bit early (right before the Ghost Reveries part) because my fiancé was ill.
 
Chzn8r said:
This is the third identical post I've made about this show, but it was too awesome for me to contain on just one forum:

":OMG: :OMG: :OMG: :OMG: :OMG:
To use a few abstract comparisons I made while chatting about this show:

"Opeth was an overflow of boiling liquid metal poured into my veins and then solidified, and subsequently smashed to pieces by their force of awesomeness."

"Opeth smashed my brain with a hammer and then swirled it up into a smoothie, took a chug, then spit it back out at me."

(on being asked "Did they play Deliverance?")
"Yes. Yes and it piledrove me into the 2nd layer of the earth's crust."

So that aside, I'm really pumped (and at the same time, beaten to death/ worn the hell out) after seeing my first Opeth concert, the 2+ hour show at the House of Blues in Chicago. If for some reason any of you were there, I was the blonde/long/curly hair kid with the Deading Tour PTree shirt, standing in the middle & back of the floor most of the time.

The setlist was:

Under the Weeping Moon
The Night and the Silent Water
The Amen Corner
White Cluster (This is where things reeeaaalllyyy started getting good)
The Leper Affinity (The first song where I hurt from headbanging so severely during it)
A Fair Judgement
Deliverance (OMJESusTAKEMENOW)
Windowpane
Closure (w/ extended METAL ending)
Ghost of Perdition (I can die happy now that I've seen this live)
Baying of the Hounds
The Grand Conjuration (another extreme headbang-fest)
--------
Demon of the Fall (yeah... if you've seen Opeth you've seen it and you know how crushingly perfect of a closer it makes).

Mikael spoke between every song, in his very passive and yet hilarious voice, responding to many things in the crowd and doing a great job introducing the songs. Almost mesmerising to hear him speak. Just because, you know, this band from Sweden that is just so monumentally awesome was there in front of me playing these so extremely metal and yet beautiful songs, it was definitely surreal/euphoria like. Though physically it wasn't, I was so active with the headbanging of many kinds and many other arm/upper body/foot motions that I'm sore all over now. I'm pretty sure I used muscles in my neck I never have before in my life.
Also some of the guys standing in front of me had way too much beer, one of whom definitely threw himself around too much and barfed up a bunch of it... yummy. Fortunately that was late in the show, and I moved away from the mess/stench to the very front for the end of TGJ through the closing of the show.

So... there's my story."

Great show, great show. Easily top 3 of all time for me.

Yeah, you were right in front of me most of the night. You definitely have a right to be sore, as I don't think anyone was moving around more than you!

Also, my friend....since this was your first Opeth experience, I will let it slide...but I'm pretty sure that at the end of one of the later songs, you let out a cry of "we're not worthy!". Mustn't let that happen again!! :D

Great times though. What an amazing show.
 
The House of Lies didn't do anything positive for the show.

I think they should have had it at a larger, theater type venue. I noticed on the screen before they came out that the other two Chronology shows are in places labeled "Theater."

But the performance was amazing. Every song was executed to perfection. Not a thing I can complain about excluding the venue.

Great show.
 
Pate said:
I think they should have had it at a larger, theater type venue. I noticed on the screen before they came out that the other two Chronology shows are in places labeled "Theater."

Not sure, but to me House of Blues appears to be an old theater.
 
Pate said:
The House of Lies didn't do anything positive for the show.

I think they should have had it at a larger, theater type venue. I noticed on the screen before they came out that the other two Chronology shows are in places labeled "Theater."

But the performance was amazing. Every song was executed to perfection. Not a thing I can complain about excluding the venue.

Great show.

Indeed. The House of Lies had a lame setup with the seating. They'd have been better off to just not have any seating at all IMO.

The entire thing was amazing, but I really started to get into the show when The Leper Affinity kicked up. And my neck started to hurt really bad somewhere during the Ghost Reveries tracks.