What do you think of Opeth live?

[Blackhorse_Experience]

Honestly. I love Opeth as much as the rest of you. They are my favorite band ever. But I've heard some of the live bootlegs and I have that Live in Milwaukee video bootleg, and I dont really think theyre all that great. They are such a good band and write great music but what are your opinions on them playing live??

 

[spikes77]

Well in my opinon , they dont have the greatest stage presence(not type of muisc imo) , compared to say slayer(flame me all u want) but when i heard advent and forest of october live, i just closed my eyes and was in a trance....but i would say for their kind of muisc , their good live , everything was played good and the vocals were great as well.

 

[Nugent Goes AOL]

I never trust bootlegs...I would have to wait until seeing them to judge.

I've heard that Mike's voice (unlike most vocalists who sing with the death growl) is PERFECT live...but thats just what I've heard.

I know their stage set-up has always been sparse, but maybe as they get bigger (which is inevtiable) they will put more money and thought into the live experience?

The music is most important, obviously. But anyone who has seen NIN knows that good lighting doesnt hurt.

 

[Ermz]

I've only seen them live on the bootlegs and I have to say that as far as playing the music, they are awesome... they don't rely on any lighting, image or theatrics on stage... it's just them, the fans and the music, no bullshit... what pissed me off however is that their sound techs constantly seem to fuck up... and I think if they had better techs and/or played better venues their wall of sound could be greatly improved...

I look forward to seeing them live here in Australia so I can truly judge.

EDIT: Ok, obviously enough they do require SOME lighting, but it isn't used to any great extent or to really make their presence on stage any stronger... maybe this is because of the venues they play? or because of the people they have doing ligthing? I don't know, but either way it isn't very spectacular.

 

[Ecto]

just one word: boring.

 

[MindInsane]

People who think Opeth are boring just don't get it...

 

[Cynical Bastard]

I've never seen them live, but I could care less if Mikael was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed playing. Naturally I might not feel like jumping around as much, but experiencing the music from the artist in person... just being there itself would satisfy me. I hate moshing and all that crap so a moderate amount of headbanging and swaying would just about do it for me.

 

[Triste]

I've seen them play 3 times...twice at fests and once at the end of their BWP tour in San Francisco...
The festival shows were ok....the sound didn't do them justice...
The SF show rocked! It was....entrancing...the sond was just killer and there was a nice light show too...good thing I caught them at the end of their tour so they were flawless! The only bad thing that I can think of from that show was that the club was packed like sardines.....there were so many people that you couldn't move at all...
as far as stage presence goes....they were pretty into it....there was a bit of syncronized headbanging and such (at least at the SF show)....but Martin Mendez takes the cake! Watching him play is very enjoyable...

 

[Ermz]

Mendez is tr00 \m/... nobody spins hair like that man!

 

[Bleakest Harvest]

I saw them in Dublin and it was the best gig ever. Some of my friends who werent really (into) Opeth thought it was boring because they couldnt mosh to it, but i just stood there for the whole thing entranced.

The best moment of the whole thing was when Mikael growled 'We enter winter once agaaaaaaain!' during The Leper Affinity, their first song and the first thing he sang.

I later came to the conclusion that Mikael is no mere mortal, as his growls live are so fucking good no human could pull them off live!

So yes, they do kick ass live, who gives a fuck if they dontjump around the stage, have fireworks or smash their equipment at the end. THEY DONT NEED TO!

 

[Skull_Punk]

Seen them one time. As it has been said, they don't have much stage presence and the acoustic parts have to be played with electrics, but otherwise a very good band live. Not to be missed.

 

[Furious B]

I heard in an interview with mikael that the next tour they are going to go all out. They will have like acoustics and a set or something. I may have been dreaming it. Anyways, I heard very bad things about them live. I won't be too quick to judge untill I see it for myself ...

 

[Bloody B]

Since you guys are discussing the subject, would anyone happen to have bootlegs of the concert in Rotterdam; 10th of december 2001? I still haven't found them.

btw; I think opeth are pretty cool live, though it's not really the music to feast on, like for example slayer is. Opeth is more for enjoying the music itself I guess. Get to lumber in your subconciousness and stuff like that.

np: Katatonia - the northern silence

 

[Staffan]

Ok they are not "wild" on stage... But They don't have to be wild with that awesome music!

EDIT: ok mendez is a machine when it comes to headbanging and peter does some cool banging too...

 

[Brooks]

Yeah, they were pretty boring.

But when I saw them, I had no idea who they were, I was just there to kill people to Nevermore, and this fucking Opeth band comes on. I scream at them to get the fuck off the stage, cause they were boring as fuck. Everyone around me was all into it, but I didn't get it.

But then, after the show, I started to get into Opeth, and realized their brilliance. I figured, if I knew the matieral, they probably would have kicked ass live.

Then I watched some bootleg videos and realized that even knowing the material, they're pretty boring live. I could just stand and close my eyes to the CD at home. And the acoustic parts on electrics DONT WORK. AT LEAST get Peizos, guys.

 

[Stinkfist]

I can't wait until their acoustic shows.

 

[Ecto]

i said that they're boring not because opeth doesn't work on stage...but because there's nothing new, i mean, it's just the songs played live...the versions are equal to the studio (album) ones...and i don't like this...i expect more from a live show.

 

[Nefilim]

I've seen Opeth twice here in Sweden, and they were pretty "calm" on stage both times, though the music was flawless!
I think one of the reasons for Opeth not being as much a live-band as a studio-band is the fact that they have very little experience on stage. They weren't playing live for the first few years (or so I heard, correct me if I'm wrong). I don't think they started doing real tours until after "Still Life".

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Triste, do you happen to remeber which club they played in SF? Was it an 18 and over, 21 and over or no age limit club. Just wondering where they might play next time they come to the Bay Area (I'm 17 until Febuary so thats why it matters so much).

 

[Triste]

crimsonfloyd:
They played at The Pound...I think it may be all ages, but I'm not too sure...I think it depends on what show they are having...but since there is a full bar there....it may be 18 and over....I would love to see them play at a place worthy of their stature....The Great American Music Hall would be an excellent choice (and I think that's all ages too)!