I attended the recent Opeth show in NYC at Terminal 5. This was one of the stops in this limited tour to commemorate their twentieth anniversary – six exclusive shows across the globe. Tour stops included Stockholm; Essen, Germany; Paris; London; New York; and Los Angeles.
Opeth performed two sets and played for just short of three hours(!). It was a full frontal assault. For the first set, they performed Blackwater Park in its entirety. Not a word (during the entire set) was said by frontman Mikael Akerfeldt. They showed up shortly after 8 PM and simply played flawlessly. The tracks were 1. The Leper Affinity, 2. Bleak, 3. Harvest, 4. The Drapery Falls, 5. Dirge For November, 6. The Funeral Portrait, 7. Patterns In The Ivy, and 8. Blackwater Park .
After a short break the band returned for the second set. And Akerfeldt became his typical talkative and funny self. They started with their first album and played a single track off each album. So, starting with Orchid they worked through to their recent masterpiece, Watershed. The track list included 1. Forest Of October (Orchid, 1995), 2. Advent (Morningrise, 1996), 3. April Ethereal (My Arms, Your Hearse, 1998), 4. The Moor (Still Life, 1999), 5. Wreath (Deliverance, 2002), 6. Hope Leaves (Damnation, 2002), 7. Harlequin Forest (Ghost Reveries, 2005), 8. The Lotus Eater (Watershed, 2008). Akerfeldt introduced each track with a comment on band members (who left, who joined), challenges in the studio, hooking up with Steven Wilson, writers block during Ghost Reveries, etc. Very entertaining.
If you are familiar with their catalog, you will recognize these songs as some of their strongest metal songs. Its amazing just how good these guys have become in a live setting.
PS, I’m not a fan of the club because 1) the acoustics can be very poor depending on where you are standing; 2) its a touch claustrophobic; and 3) there are much better choices in NY for a show. The club was sold out and when I arrived (an hour early); the queue was a city block long. It was great to see this type of turnout.
3 comments
Fractals says:
April 17, 2010 at 1:31 pm (UTC -8 )
Hope they are turning it into a DVD … would buy it in a second.
BobbyG says:
April 25, 2010 at 10:58 am (UTC -8 )
I believe the London Royal Albert Hall show will be made into a DVD. So, you may get your wish…
Renee says:
August 11, 2010 at 12:35 am (UTC -8 )
I can’t wait for the DVD to be released. It’s always great to read about show’s I have attended. That being said, I wrote a review of my own for a blog that I run. Check it out if you want: http://wp.me/pMfF3-P