Originally uploaded by ang3lak
… of the metal kind.
In Opeth’s current (Watershed) tour to Australia, yet again I find myself not going seeing them in Perth, but in Adelaide. Back in their Ghost Reveries tour in 2006, I happened to be in Melbourne as the metal gods passed by. But that’s because I live in Adelaide now, so I suppose that would make sense.
However, I must note that due to some very special circumstances, the show last night was one of the most exhilarating ones that I’ve ever been to. It was actually somewhat an early birthday present for me from WiKKiD and his parents, including merch money, which I happily spent on a Watershed hoodie and a very attractive grey Opeth top.
We got to the Thebarton Theatre an hour and a half early, and the queue was only a few metres away from the entrance. I proudly wore my Opeth Fanclub Sweden top (the one and only in Australia; street cred much?), gifted to me by my friend Jörgen Hellström, the founder and president of the club.
The crowd slowly trickled in, not a sold out venue obviously knowing Adelaide’s tenacity for being boring and old, but an interesting crowd it was. A couple of mullet-haired under-age kids here, a few old fogeys there, the wanna-be chicks with cameras in Slipknot t-shirts, the random goth chicks in plait skirts and platform boots, typical nu-rock guys in tight shirts and sweatbands on their wrists, and of course the long-haired and gentle-but-menacing looking metal dudes in various t-shirts of metal bands. Oh, not forgetting the chaperon mums standing nearby, buying water and snacks to her kid(s) at beck and call.
I’m not a neurotic, critical fan who memorizes all the songs that Opeth plays and go home to analyze it on a blog/forum, but I can just say I had an absolute ball last night. To spend a beautiful night together watching to the best band in the world play, with the best, most loving boyfriend in the world. I really couldn’t have gotten any better. Plus WiKKiD just looked so good in a black collared, long-sleeved Element shirt. Opeth’s a good band to relish in some sensuous PDA to. Especially at one song when Mikael (the frontman) asks the crowd to ‘pretend that it’s 1986 - waving lit cigarette lighters, couples making out, and at least one couple fucking’.
Oh, and to the people who bitch and moan about the new(ish) lineup - get over it, and enjoy what Opeth was and what Opeth is now. They will always be brain-meltingly amazing!
P/s: I forgot to mention about the supporting band, Virgin Black. I love their 19th century classical vocals, I seriously do… I was impressed. I’m gonna have to listen to them on record to compare with their live performance. I admit I had a bit of a chuckle because the lead singer looks like he takes his role a little too seriously. And WiKKiD and I agree that the guitarist chick headbangs and windmills too much at quiet, non-epic moments, and instead doesn’t move much when the time actually comes to mosh. It was pretty weird.