The other day, my wife and I were out shopping and I was wearing my Opeth T shirt. A kid came up to me, who must have been no more then 18 or 19, and he commented on my shirt, saying that they are one of his favorite bands. We talked music for a few minutes and he seemed genuinely amazed that an old fart like me could be into such a cool band (Especially since he listed off several of his other favorite bands and the names elicited nothing but blank stares from me for the most part. He was obviously a death metal fan and thats something that Ive never been into).
That made me think about how, as far as extreme metal bands go, Opeth must have one of the most diverse audiences ever. Im 39 and a business professional. I listen to a lot of prog, prog metal (Bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X, Kamelot) and I also listen to a lot of the metal bands I followed back in high school (Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Sabbath). I also listen to a lot of other genres like classical and jazz (Miles Davis was the coolest musician who ever lived IMHO) but thats beside the point.
Do you guys personally know a lot of other Opeth fans? If so, do they come from different backgrounds musically? It just seems to me that it would be pretty difficult to categorize a typical Opeth fan. Much more difficult then it would have been to have categorized a typical Megadeth fan back in 1985for example (I dont remember too many 39 year olds being into them back in the day). You have your death metal fans, your prog fans, your old metal heads like me etc etc. Of course, the diversity of their audiences can be directly attributed to the diversity found in their music (and in their many different influences).
Anyways, just an observation which I found kinda interesting. Ive not been to an Opeth show yet, but I can imagine that theres a pretty diverse audience from young kids to us old guys. Anyone else notice this?
That made me think about how, as far as extreme metal bands go, Opeth must have one of the most diverse audiences ever. Im 39 and a business professional. I listen to a lot of prog, prog metal (Bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X, Kamelot) and I also listen to a lot of the metal bands I followed back in high school (Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Sabbath). I also listen to a lot of other genres like classical and jazz (Miles Davis was the coolest musician who ever lived IMHO) but thats beside the point.
Do you guys personally know a lot of other Opeth fans? If so, do they come from different backgrounds musically? It just seems to me that it would be pretty difficult to categorize a typical Opeth fan. Much more difficult then it would have been to have categorized a typical Megadeth fan back in 1985for example (I dont remember too many 39 year olds being into them back in the day). You have your death metal fans, your prog fans, your old metal heads like me etc etc. Of course, the diversity of their audiences can be directly attributed to the diversity found in their music (and in their many different influences).
Anyways, just an observation which I found kinda interesting. Ive not been to an Opeth show yet, but I can imagine that theres a pretty diverse audience from young kids to us old guys. Anyone else notice this?
), Chopin and Frank Zappa as much as I do heavy stuff like Opeth, Testament, Ihsahn & Maiden for example.
