OPETH/Cynic/The Ocean – SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE, London, 20th November 2008

Stan Bowles and Gerry Francis were in the QPR team the last time I set foot in Shepherds Bush. The Uxbridge Road Panini House came heavily recommended, and the chicken ciabatta did not disappoint. The Empire Theatre was designed by Frank Matcham ten years before he built the London Palladium, and still retains much of its Edwardian charm. These days it is flanked by an O’Neills and a Walkabout (sigh).

I plumped for a £3.30 Stella Artois in the latter; I was struck by the thought that if all bars contained as many Opeth fans as that one did, the world would be a much better place. Initial reports from the tour had suggested that fans were disappointed with the length of the sets – Birmingham only got to hear eight songs from Opeth the previous night, with ‘Bleak’ being omitted to adhere to the curfew. Mikael Akerfeldt actually posted to the forum a couple of nights ago, defending the Setlist.

Hoping it wasn’t going to be a repeat of the lackluster Brixton show in April, I managed to snag a seat in the front row of the balcony. The view and sound were incredible, as I had been told, the Empire proved to be an even better venue than Brixton.

The Ocean ~ 7.30-8.00
First up were Berlin prog/death metallers The Ocean who demonstrated some strong material – two singers were featured; for me the growling from Nico Webers was a good deal more interesting than Michael Pilat’s straighter stylings.

6/10

Cynic ~ 8.15-8.50
Set List: Nunc Fluens/The Space For This/Evolutionary Sleeper/Veil of Maya/Uroboric Forms/Textures/Integral Birth.

What can I say about second band Cynic’s stunning 35 minute set? This was probably the best supporting set I have ever seen – they were that good. The Miami 4 piece were quite superb as they took us through some selections from the new CD ‘Traced in Air’, plus a couple of favourites from the classic ‘Focus’ album.

10/10

Opeth
OK, so how the hell were Opeth supposed to follow that? By doing the best set I have ever seen them do, that’s how! Kicking off with ‘Heir Apparent’, it was clear that the enthusiasm missing in April was back with a vengeance.

Demonstrating how the band now have a few bob to spend, a large video screen at the back of the stage was used to illustrate the songs – for Heir Apparent we were taken on a headlong charge through a forest. We then moved to ‘Ghost Reveries’ images for a version of ‘The Grand Conjuration’ that was an absolute revelation – infinitely better than the studio version, and featuring a funky jam near the end!

The stage was then bathed in red light for a pure version of Still Life’s ‘Godhead’s Lament’. The Lotus Eater’ followed, and then into a fine ‘Bleak’ without pausing for breath. Akerfeldt was on form, his usual observations included a promise to perform ‘Hope Leaves’ as sincerely as Jon Bon Jovi would.

Although Mikael claimed to have stolen the tune from ABBA, the ‘Deliverance’ that followed proved that this is the finest song ever written (probably). The set closed with ‘Demon of the Fall’ which was an opportunity for a particulary frenetic pit (It doesn’t half look fun when you watch it from above!)

The encore featured a terrific reading of ‘The Drapery Falls’, and then we were out into the night. Ok, so at 90 minutes the set was shorter than the 2006 tour marathons, but I didn’t feel short changed – it was magnificent.
Note for my Brazilan readers – Opeth are playing Brazil in March – go along!

10/10

By Roy Evans

As we arrived at Bradford Rio's nightclub all excited to the thought of it's Opeth, we were greeted by that eerie feeling of, have we got the correct day? Ok there are two coaches and a campervan, where are the fans? The lights are on and no ones at home, then it dawned on us its Bradford, they don't let the fans in until the first band are half way through their set.

Novembre hit the stage as Glenn, Paul and I walked in with a bouncer and the receptionist shouting 'they are ok to go straight in, they're press'. As we entered the hall Novembre were half way through their fist track and playing to a hand full of Fans! So called press! Bar staff that was it they were playing to the bar staff.

As Novembre ripped through their thirty-minute set the so-called fans were just arriving into the hall to clap and cheer to the last track. How pathetic, everywhere else in the world, people arrive at a gig before the bands start to play - not at Bradford - they turn up when they finish. Novembre did a good set of powerful thrash metal and grindcore to the pitiful crowd, people don't realise, that backing bands like Novembre are tomorrows headlining bands, but if you don't hear them - then they disappear.

As the crew packed their instrument away, we managed to grab an interview with Novembre, and with doing this we only got to see Katatonia play their last two songs, but the amazing thing was that Bradford Rio's was full and nearly busting at the seems as the crowd were enjoying the delights that Katatonia were handing out through their music, what I saw of Katatonia wasn't bad, but again it would have been nice if I had had the pleasure of listening to them on CD so I would have been familiar with their style.

As we relaxed to the deafening shouting of a now over excited crowd, Opeth hit the stage to an almighty cheer, the unbelievable new CD 'Blackwater Park' was going to be more than an experience if they could play it live as they ripped into 'The Leper Affinity' and yes they can, the complexity of their music was going to be hard to do live and Opeth stood proud as if they had been playing their instruments before they could even crawl.

It's not often you can say that a band play better live than they do on CD, the sound was spot on, every note lingered in the air as the excitement of the crowd kept it there as they played through 'Bleak', 'Benighted', Face of Melinda', 'Dirge For November', 'April Ethereal', 'The Funeral Portrait', 'Madrigal', 'Patterns In The Ivy' and 'Karma' to name but a few.

I was more than overwhelmed with the professionalism and talent of Opeth, If you have never heard or seen Opeth before, I would recommend them highly, If Paul can turn round and say 'F*cking hell they were brilliant, even I can't fault them', then you know what enjoyment and excitement you have missed.

10/10

For Opeth

By Tony Watson