This was to be a bittersweet evening. It has become well known that Chris(tofer Johnsson) no longer wants to tour North America. After the show i would have a talk with him about it, and admittedly i can understand why. Who knew that America charges them $1500 a head to come over here? Chris said that he loses $500 per concert here and how it would take 4 or 5 tours to gain any real ground. He also said that given how huge they are in Europe and considering that they've just broken in Japan, it's not exactly like they need to come here (i'm paraphrasing, he wasn't quite that harsh). So i may not like it, the other fans may not like it, but given the facts, i guess i can understand it. The world doesn't revolve around us, so you can't blame him. I joked that we needed to start a web based "Bring Back Therion" charity fund. Ahh, if only such a thing would work.
Of course that didn't stop us die hards from trying to make an impression. I and others talked with virtually every member of the band and we did our best to leave them with the sentiment that there *is* a solid fan base here that they can build from, if they ever want to hit the major locations again. Though i think they understand this. Every member echoed the same message that they know there is a die-hard following, but i think they were suggesting that it needs to grow beyond just us die-hards. A reasonable thing, but there is only so much the fan community can do. Still, it does seem like every member of the band would indeed like to come back here and that Chris is the hold out. Whether they were passing the buck or sincere, i cannot say. But there you go. Thomas Vikström had even commented to us after the show that he was surprised at how many people were at New York. He said he came out and it was a bit like woah. Oh well, we can hope for their return someday, right?
At least they gave us a good reason to hope for their return. The concert last night was truly something special. I told the band that if they never returned, at least this was one hell of a night to go out on. While i was mildly disappointed when i found out that the fan voted set list was not for American audiences, my disappointment would quickly vanish. Their performance was so spot on. It was like listening to the albums themselves. Everyone sounded perfect. They even managed to cover the parts recorded by other vocalists convincingly. Others told me afterwards that They were amazed at how exactly spot-on the Mats Leven parts were sung. Beyond the amazing level of talent, there were theatrics aplenty, ranging from Thomas coming out as a blood stained vampire, to Snowy reading from a very ancient looking book with writing in some obscure language, to a drum stick duel between Thomas and Snowy. There was even this one part where Thomas and Snowy each got on a drum and you could swear they were secretly conducting a magickal ritual mass right out of their own Dragon Rouge play book. The crowd was definitely worked up. It was very effective. As i said earlier, if they never return to the states, at least those of us at this show were there for something truly special. If you count the drum solo, there were 19 songs in total. 2 Encores.
Now i wanted to talk about Therion first, but i don't want to overlook Aesma Daeva. I had listened to some of their studio stuff in times past, but for whatever reason i hadn't really paid it much mind. I have to say that i enjoyed their set last night, and i rather enjoyed the voice of new vocalist Lori Lewis. The crowd had a slightly mixed reaction. There was certainly a large contingent of people who knew Aesma Daeva and were seriously enjoying their music (to the point that Lori had to tell one guy to shut up and listen), and then there were some who just weren't into it. By the end, i was absolutely enjoying their set and i now have a new appreciation for not only their talent, but their approach to music. Live, they string together pieces into a sub-set of sorts that makes their songs seem as if they are part of a larger sprawling work. All bands do this when performing, but i thought it worked really well for them. One of my favorites from their set was also part of their last piece. I think it was called 1984? Lori declared that it was something they had yet to release. Hopefully it will make it to the public sphere soon. Anyway, predictably enough, the majority of their set would be from their 2007 album, "Dawn of a New Athens", so i suppose some older fans of their work might have had some reason to be disappointed, but we here at the OSA are very familiar with what it's like to bring on a new singer, and the fact that you have to lean towards the new material. So for me, this was hardly an issue.
Considering the importance of this night for Therion fans in the north east, i am going to post an extra large amount of pictures. First here are plenty from Aesma Daeva, and then expect two follow up replies with Therion pics.
The Aesma Daeva Setlist. Unless i am mistaken, the crossed out stuff is what they didn't play.
Say hi to new (as of 2006) vocalist Lori Lewis (with drummer Tim Klatt and guitarist Earl Root)
Bassist Chris Quinn & Guitarist/composer John Prassas
John Prassas & Earl Root
Tim Klatt
Tim Klatt, Lori Lewis, Earl Root
Chris Quinn & John Prassas with a different guitar
Lori breaks out a flute.
Sorry, but i had to post it. I can't resist pictures with a funny expression
A strong finish to a strong set
<Therion Pictures coming in the next 2 posts>
Of course that didn't stop us die hards from trying to make an impression. I and others talked with virtually every member of the band and we did our best to leave them with the sentiment that there *is* a solid fan base here that they can build from, if they ever want to hit the major locations again. Though i think they understand this. Every member echoed the same message that they know there is a die-hard following, but i think they were suggesting that it needs to grow beyond just us die-hards. A reasonable thing, but there is only so much the fan community can do. Still, it does seem like every member of the band would indeed like to come back here and that Chris is the hold out. Whether they were passing the buck or sincere, i cannot say. But there you go. Thomas Vikström had even commented to us after the show that he was surprised at how many people were at New York. He said he came out and it was a bit like woah. Oh well, we can hope for their return someday, right?
At least they gave us a good reason to hope for their return. The concert last night was truly something special. I told the band that if they never returned, at least this was one hell of a night to go out on. While i was mildly disappointed when i found out that the fan voted set list was not for American audiences, my disappointment would quickly vanish. Their performance was so spot on. It was like listening to the albums themselves. Everyone sounded perfect. They even managed to cover the parts recorded by other vocalists convincingly. Others told me afterwards that They were amazed at how exactly spot-on the Mats Leven parts were sung. Beyond the amazing level of talent, there were theatrics aplenty, ranging from Thomas coming out as a blood stained vampire, to Snowy reading from a very ancient looking book with writing in some obscure language, to a drum stick duel between Thomas and Snowy. There was even this one part where Thomas and Snowy each got on a drum and you could swear they were secretly conducting a magickal ritual mass right out of their own Dragon Rouge play book. The crowd was definitely worked up. It was very effective. As i said earlier, if they never return to the states, at least those of us at this show were there for something truly special. If you count the drum solo, there were 19 songs in total. 2 Encores.
Now i wanted to talk about Therion first, but i don't want to overlook Aesma Daeva. I had listened to some of their studio stuff in times past, but for whatever reason i hadn't really paid it much mind. I have to say that i enjoyed their set last night, and i rather enjoyed the voice of new vocalist Lori Lewis. The crowd had a slightly mixed reaction. There was certainly a large contingent of people who knew Aesma Daeva and were seriously enjoying their music (to the point that Lori had to tell one guy to shut up and listen), and then there were some who just weren't into it. By the end, i was absolutely enjoying their set and i now have a new appreciation for not only their talent, but their approach to music. Live, they string together pieces into a sub-set of sorts that makes their songs seem as if they are part of a larger sprawling work. All bands do this when performing, but i thought it worked really well for them. One of my favorites from their set was also part of their last piece. I think it was called 1984? Lori declared that it was something they had yet to release. Hopefully it will make it to the public sphere soon. Anyway, predictably enough, the majority of their set would be from their 2007 album, "Dawn of a New Athens", so i suppose some older fans of their work might have had some reason to be disappointed, but we here at the OSA are very familiar with what it's like to bring on a new singer, and the fact that you have to lean towards the new material. So for me, this was hardly an issue.
Considering the importance of this night for Therion fans in the north east, i am going to post an extra large amount of pictures. First here are plenty from Aesma Daeva, and then expect two follow up replies with Therion pics.
The Aesma Daeva Setlist. Unless i am mistaken, the crossed out stuff is what they didn't play.
Say hi to new (as of 2006) vocalist Lori Lewis (with drummer Tim Klatt and guitarist Earl Root)
Bassist Chris Quinn & Guitarist/composer John Prassas
John Prassas & Earl Root
Tim Klatt
Tim Klatt, Lori Lewis, Earl Root
Chris Quinn & John Prassas with a different guitar
Lori breaks out a flute.
Sorry, but i had to post it. I can't resist pictures with a funny expression
A strong finish to a strong set
<Therion Pictures coming in the next 2 posts>
