archGFX

the opeth show last was absolutely amazing. i can now cross them off my list of 'bands i've always wanted to see'. even if i liked baseball, it would've been worth missing the sox win the world series. the opening bands weren't really worth mentioning, straightforward genre metal (although two different genres).
opeth led off with the moog stomp of 'baying of the hounds', which is brilliant. after a good 20 minutes of assorted beatings from the mosh pit behind me, Åkerfeldt slowed things down and started talking a bit. he's actually quite a funny guy. it comes across a little on lamentations, but he was a whole lot more silly and sarcastic last night. and he gave lessons in singing and headbanging, which were absolutely hilarious. while they were playing, he seemed like he was genuinely pleased to be performing, and entertained by knew every stop and start of every song. after seeing bungle and tomahawk, where mike patton seems to hate his fans, and dream theater who seem too distracted to notice how much their fans know and like their music, it was really cool.
the absolute best part was that they played 'face of melinda' which is my all-time favorite opeth song. he made some crack about 'still life' being an underrated album, which i'd agree with, but then i have a huge soft spot for concept albums. after that they launched into the end-of-show insanity with 'grand conjuration' during which the mosh pit took over where i was standing. i jumped to the edge, though. i'm like, getting old, or something. of course, they ended with an encore of 'demon of the fall'. i considered trying to head out before the encore, but no one really believed they'd end on 'blackwater park', so moving wasn't really an option. it was okay, though, the crowd was far crazier before the encore.