Saw sleepmakeswaves&Opeth live on the 3rd of May!
I'll post what I thought song by song for Opeth, I'm not incredibly familiar with sleepmakeswaves' material but here are the songs that I'm certain they played. This is my fourth time seeing Opeth. |
| 1 | sleepmakeswaves
to you they are birds, to me they are voices in the forest
Like I said, I'm not incredibly familar with their work but sleepmakeswaves' live performance was deeply impressive - and the sublime sound of the Enmore Theatre only made it better. Entrancing, beautiful, pretty much as good as any post-rock / instrumental rock band can be, really. They kept it very interesting and fresh through every quiet section and climax. |
| 2 | We Sing the Body Electric |
| 3 | in limbs and joints |
| 4 | Emergent |
| 5 | Traced in Constellations |
| 6 | a gaze blank and pitiless as the sun |
| 7 | Opeth
Eternal Rains Will Come
The first two songs sounded even better live than they did on record. I wasn't too into Pale Communion but it works out well for them to play these both first. Åkesson and Svalberg's backing vocals harmonised very well with Åkerfeldt usual soaring cleans, never quite noticed that before. |
| 8 | Cusp of Eternity
I reckon they both still embody the classic Opeth sound despite their lack of death metal passages and vocals. Cusp of Eternity is a pretty great rock song. |
| 9 | The Drapery Falls
The absence of a third guitar was solely noted during the beginning of the song so it sounded a bit thinner than it should. When Mikael begun growling during this sound, however, something was off. His death growls used to be booming and all-destroying - now they sounded near inaudible against the music. Maybe he was having a bad day or maybe this explains why they're not as interested in doing heavier material anymore (besides their obvious affinity for prog rock nowadays) |
| 10 | The Moor
This song wasn't as tight live as it could be. I feel like they haven't practiced this one as well as they have their newer material. Death growls were still pretty disappointing, but the cleans were as excellent as ever. I can't deny however, he still looks downright menacing growling, especially under the green lights. I think it would have been a better option to play Face of Melinda if they wanted to play a song off Still Life. |
| 11 | Advent
Before the song, Mikael declared this song their Detroit Rock City, as it's much fun for them to play. I found Svalberg's keyboard additions unnecessary, particularly during the song but I guess they need something for him to do. This song is always a great journey but I particularly love that funky bassline later in the song. |
| 12 | Elysian Woes
Bloody dull song. Even less interesting than it was on record. |
| 13 | Windowpane
In contrast, Windowpane is an incredible, beautiful song that manages to be intense without being abrasive. Nearly everything was perfect except for Åkenrot adding some unnecessary fills during the quieter sections - he would do well to read an article written by Aaron Lunsford of As Cities Brun entitled "How To Stop Fucking Up Songs With Your Shitty Drums Parts", regarding not overplaying and going with the band. |
| 14 | The Devil's Orchard
Best song off the Heritage album (tied with Slither) so I was happy to see them play this. Sounded just as tight as their first two songs - it seems to work well for them to play songs like this nowadays. |
| 15 | April Ethereal
Mikael mentioned before he played the song that he was listening to a lot of black metal at the time, and it really shows. He mentioned bands like Venom, Bathory, Celtic Frost... and he admitted to enjoying the much maligned Cold Lake. This is probably my favourite Opeth song tied with The Leper Affinity - the opening is crushing and every part of the song is fantastic. Luckily this song features more high pitched growls which is great because they come out louder than the deeper growls. |
| 16 | The Lotus Eater
This song benefited from featuring clean vocals for half of it which of course excelled. Not much more to say about it. |
| 17 | The Grand Conjuration
Mikael said for the Ghost Reveries album he was influenced by a lot of Nick Drake and decided to go for an open tuning / open chord. During the beginning of the song, he opted to do some deeper pitched clean vocals, which were interesting - they reminded me a lot of Peter Steele, suited it very well. |
| 18 | Deliverance
Finally, they finished with an encore of Deliverance. Overall, it's probably my third favourite Opeth gig - the first time I saw them was my favourite, the third time where they went for half heavy stuff / half newer stuff was my second favourite, and the second time when they opted to go with no death growls / less heavy songs was probably the worst. I'm not sure if I'll see Opeth again, but I'm happy to say I have seen them that many times. |
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