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Opeth Concert Review
Spring in Chicago is a fleeting and fickle thing. Scant weeks removed from a covering of snow, the downtown loop is subject to everything from sweltering dead heat to torrential rains and wind. Last Wednesday, scant hours removed from a cloudless and temperate noon, a storm rolled in over the House of Blues and lightning flashed in the skyline. For the hundred fans in line along the building’s lee side, this downpour was a trial they would gladly endure to guarantee themselves a front row spot for the night’s entertainment—extreme/prog metal heavy-hitters Opeth and Enslaved.
Both acts are returning to the States in support of groundbreaking new albums; on ‘Watershed’ and ‘Vertebrae’ the bands explore greater dynamics, instrumental arrangements, and strike a more even balance between clean and harsh vocals than ever before in their careers. As Ivar told me later that evening, this pairing of Scandinavian masters is “the optimal package,” for Enslaved, and one that fans have been craving for years.
Enslaved had originally intended to return to the US as headliners on a bill with Swallow the Sun and Keep of Kalessin, but the tour fell through. Swallow the Sun hooked up with the Soilwork and Darkane tour, Keep of Kalessin retreated to Europe, and Enslaved got the best of the bargain as direct support to Opeth. As on Opeth’s last tour with High on Fire (after Nachtmystium were booted), the bill featured no other openers, so it was Enslaved’s task to warm up and dry off the crowd when the show began around 6:00 PM.
In a bit of a surprise, they opened with the ‘To The Coast’, a convoluted number that features manifold tempo and meter changes, plenty of clean vocal harmonies, and droning riffs that make it a daring choice to open a set, much less the entire evening. But they made it work, after taking a few minutes to settle into the new stage, and
Although the mix was a little soft on guitars—particularly for Ice Dale’s handful of solos—it had the distinctive Enslaved flavor. All the recent Gibson endorsees rolled along through their Peavey amps while Herbrand and Cato supplied their tasteful keys and percussion, and by the chorus of ‘Ruun’, they were fully in the zone. Grutle anchored the center and would range around with his bass to the stationary Ivar on one side and the shirtless and leather pant-clad Ice Dale on the other. For most of his solos, Ice Dale would strut to center stage and prop his Les Paul up on one leg like a pedestal, while for the fast hammer-on opening to the solo of ‘Fusion…’, he raised up the instrument like an offering to the lights above.
Although I’m usually not one to push for new material in a band’s setlist, I was pleased to hear them play ‘The Watcher’ and ‘Ground’, as the clean vocal themes that end both songs are arguably Enslaved’s most compelling to date. Herbrand’s mellow timbre hit its notes and fit well into the mix, while Grutle would whisper along, barely audible, or layer in his snarls alongside Ivar’s more baritone roars. Behind his drums, Cato was expressionless and absorbed with his performance, which was characteristically efficient and subtly masterful.
Many in the audience didn’t seem to catch on to Grutle’s dry humor (similar though it is to Mikael’s of Opeth), so the banter between songs cut down as the set continued. A good many of us still cheered when Grutle acknowledged Chicago as a special town for Enslaved, being the first US city they ever played back in the mid-90s. Since the band’s last two tours have gone through The Pearl Room in Mokena, it was also a pleasure to see them on such a professional stage in front of a full house, but I still would rather have seen them headline their own tour elsewhere than support at the HOB. With only 45 minutes to play, Enslaved’s setlist was entirely modern material, and after ‘To The Coast’ they played ‘Ruun’, ‘Fusion of Sense and Earth’, ‘Ground’, ‘As Fire Swept Clean The Earth’, ‘The Watcher’, and ‘Isa’. That closer feels more like a single than any other song in Enslaved’s canon, but was familiar to much of the audience and served well to send them off. I, for one, can hardly wait for their return.
During a half-hour layover, the audience barely moved. Fans had filled the standing floor of the venue, the bars along each side, and the ramps and small sets of stairs in between. The front row of the balcony stayed full the entire night and many of the private boxes were taken as well. As much as I had enjoyed Enslaved, it was clear that tonight was Opeth’s, and no one was planning to miss Mikael and company.
And who could blame them. When the Swedes emerged—Mikael offering a friendly wave to the crowd—the venue erupted in cheers and the fans on the railing waved their horns wildly in appreciation. With no further ado, Mikael looked to fellow PRS axe-man Fredrik on his right and dropped into the tritone chord that opens ‘Heir Apparent’. From that moment on through the next two hours, the whole house was held captive by a bond between musician and fan unique to the metal world. Opeth’s incomparable compositions and mystique, Mikael’s charming demeanor, the rest of the band’s silence, and their irreproachable musicianship combine for a stage show that enraptures an audience.
I would like to think that nine more months’ experience together would have made this show more unified than last fall’s, but the truth is that, regardless of lineup, Opeth has always featured consummate musicians. The only difference this time around was that we got more of them. Though Mikael sounded fully up to par with his vocals, he warned us that he might be a little weak, as illness and fatigue almost led him to call off the show. He confessed an intense dislike for canceling, however, and was inspired to continue after hearing that some fans had driven from six hours away. For an energy boost, he went to a doctor for some steroids and took some relish in recounting the tale. He was given the choice of pills or injection, went with the latter, and clarified to us twice that it was delivered, “in my ass.” He added, “This is what I do for you, Chicago,” which was enough to earn another round of cheers and applause.
Since their tour last year, Opeth has beefed up their stage gear and now feature an array of those blinding lights so in vogue these days. Seen through my camera lens, they sometimes obscured almost the entire field of vision, leaving only a head or guitar neck to emerge from a blast of white. It was a little surreal, especially when the band hit classic themes or closing riffs—the poignant melody of ‘Heir Apparent’, the hypnotic ascending riff of ‘The Night and the Silent Water’—and time seemed to slow down.
During these passages, Mikael would retreat from the fore and become another member of the collective group, swaying rapturously to the beat while Fredrik and Martin stood solemnly on either side. Fredrik handled all the material with aplomb, from complex finger picking to roaring pick slides and solos, and Martin finger-picked his way through the arrangements with slick arpeggios and accents. Per remained the straight-faced headbanger and did his best to be a dynamic member despite being stuck behind his keyboards. Axe, on drums, simply crushed with the nimble clarity for which he is renowned.
An approximation of Opeth’s setlist runs ‘Heir Apparent’, ‘Ghost of Perdition’, ‘Godhead’s Lament’, ‘Wreath’, ‘Credence’, ‘Hessian Peel’, a heavily jam-extended ‘Closure’, ‘The Night And the Silent Water’, a singalong round of ‘Harvest’, ‘The Lotus Eater’, and ‘Demon of the Fall’ as their encore. During the heavy tracks, ‘Demon of the Fall’ especially, a mosh pit had started up on the floor while a clique near the front was always headbanging, but most fans were content to merely stand and absorb the show. One middle-aged woman seemed to be reliving Woodstock through trance-induced interpretive dance, and, when she became especially erratic and amorous, was escorted out by security. Aside from a rather too-chatty bar, the rest of the audience was attentive, respectful, and after Opeth’s two hours were up still looked ready for a full second set.
For that we’ll have to wait, as Mikael told us that after this tour the band is going to take an extended break before heading back into the studio. Only once that next record is done should we expect them to return. Though no one in the audience will be happy with such a wait, we couldn’t have asked for a better sendoff.
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