"There is nothing wrong with you that a miracle couldn't cure."
CONCERTS WITNESSED BY YOURS TRULY
by Richard Karsmakers
This issue of ST NEWS took about an extra month to make, on top
of the usual 3-4 months. The reason for this can be found in the
"Editorial" article that you might actually want to check out for
a change.
Due to this increased time there have once more been quite a few
concert experiences in my life that I'd hereby like to share with
you.
At The Gates, Anathema and My Dying Bride
Paradiso, Amsterdam, August 20th 1994.
My Dying Bride was doing a mini tour through Europe just prior
to going into the studio and write material for the new album,
that kind of thing. I certainly didn't want to miss this, and
besides that I'd had a keen longing to hear some of Anathema's
current masterpieces again ("666" most notably, of course). On
top of that, I had arranged an interview with At The Gates (to be
found elsewhere in this issue).
Together with a few others - among which an incredibly long-
legged female that would turn out to be able to out-walk us on
the way back - I arrived well in time. The guestlist thing had
worked out for a change (well, to give Peaceville some credit,
with them it usually does) so I could go in and do my thing.
We might have arrived well in time, an interview with At The
Gates prior to their performance was not possible. So we first
saw them play a 40 minute set including most of their last CD and
some of the older songs. Nobody seemed to enjoy him/herself much,
which is not at all strange if you consider the different music
At The Gates makes and the fact that all members of the audience
had pretty much come to see Anathema and, even more important, My
Dying Bride. At The Gates played energetically nonetheless and I
started to, like, really dig them.
After the show we went backstage to see if singer Tomas would be
available, do the interview, that kind of thing. By the time the
interview had finished we were far too late to witness all of
Anathema - no flipping on "Lovelorn Rhapsody" for me - but sat
behind the drummer seeing the last few songs performed from a
rather different angle.
After Anathema the struggle began to get up front to see
headliner My Dying Bride, the mother of all doom metal bands.
When they started I was hurled into a trance immediately,
struggling to keep my spot and fend off the many people who
wanted to dive off the stage. They played their usual set
including the best of their current albums, this time with an
added "Why", the provisional title of one of the songs on the
forthcoming album. "Symphonaire", as usual, wasn't played
entirely; I do wish I would have had a chance to see these guys
play when they'd only done one CD, but I guess that's like
regretting that I've never seen Jimi Hendrix.
Paradiso is a great venue. It used to be a church and some of
the stained glass windows are still left. Behind the stage, these
give a totally beautiful extra dimension, especially for those
seriously doomy bands. And, of course, I couldn't help but be
baffled a bit by the sheer fact that I was leaning on a stage
performed on by just about every big pop and metal act in the
world.
Gorefest
Tivoli, Utrecht, September 29th 1994. Support act Genetic
Wisdom.
This was a concert I'll never forget, if only because some
asshole found it necessary to launch himself at me from the back,
causing me to half-crack/bruise a few of my ribs against the
stage. I took over five weeks for me to finally be able to sleep
on my belly again.
But that's not what you're reading this bit for.
Nuclear Blast was supposed to have put me and a friend on the
guest list but no show. I was tempted not to go because I don't
like the new Gorefest material a lot, but decided to go anyway.
Support act Genetic Wisdom wasn't too bad, though I can't
remember anything about them other than they looked a bit like
Clawfinger and the singer was a fat git, too.
It took a lot of time for Gorefest to start. They were recording
the show on 16 tracks, they said, and had to retune a lot in
between songs. Stagedivers were warded off at all times in order
to prevent people from damaging stuff, causing the people in the
front (where I was) to get a constant flurry of security men in
front of them. I think that was when I did the rib bruising
thing.
It wasn't at all a momentous gig, but that might partly be
because I had just parted from Karin less than a week prior, for
her not to be back in the Netherlands until a few days before
Christmas. I didn't so much go for the music as for the chance to
get rid of pointless anger, frustration and cropped-up energy.
I haven't got a clue what they played from the new CD, but one
of the songs was "Erase". Some of the same oldies they played at
Wâldrock (see previous issue of ST NEWS) were done again, and
they ended with "Confessions of a Serial Killer", one of their
finest tracks.
It was an OK concert, but nothing too much out of the ordinary.
At The Gates
Den Deel, Ysselstein, October 2nd 1994. Support acts Nembrionic
Hammerdeath and Consolation.
Despite the performing bands actually being quite good and the
fact that it was a late afternoon concert, there were about 20
people in Den Deel to watch the two Dutch support acts and
Swedish At The Gates. I think the tour organisation must have
screwed up. Of the 20 people attending (that's a liberal guess),
almost half was in the guest list.
Prior to the concert I had interviewed Consolation and
Nembrionic, and the whole thing was delayed enormously - they
were probably waiting for more people to turn up, quite in vain.
Nembrionic Hammerdeath kicked off. They played some of those
excellent songs off their latest split CD as well as some older
songs that I'm not acquainted with. There were three people that
flipped out and, by god, I was among them despite the ribs (well,
the longer I flipped and the more beer I consumed, the more they
went comfortably numb).
Consolation was next, getting some more audience reaction
because, actually, they are a tad better with a more powerful
vocalist and a less freaky drummer (Nembrionic's Noel Rule is a
real drum freak). Like Nembrionic, they played for about 45
minutes. They pretty much played the same kind of stuff
Nembrionic had - some old stuff, some new stuff (including the
excellent "Part Time God").
It took quite some time until At The Gates finally found it
necessary to start. They played pretty much the same as at
Paradiso, and with quite a lot of energy despite the fact that
there were only half a dozen people - one foot on the stage,
bracing themselves, banging their heads off - who appeared really
to like their thing. They played for about 35 minutes, after
which they stopped. I am not sure if this short time was
intended, but it may have had something to do with Martin having
a spot of trouble with his guitar. I do like "The Swarm"...it
makes me think of Karin.
Because their early end, Consolation and Nembrionic took the
stage again for a bit of a jam, quite a miracle that they were
actually willing to do that for the handful of people present.
They treated us to "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn", "Infernal Death" by
Death and, yes, "The Kill" by Napalm Death. And so ended this
rather chaotic concert with the lowest turn-up I've ever seen
(humans-wise).
Obituary
Tivoli, Utrecht, October 6th 1994. Support acts Eye Hate God and
Pitch Shifter.
I haven't got a clue why bands such as Eye Hate God and Pitch
Shifter - both quite industrial or otherwise crap - got support
slots on a band in such a totally different genre and of such a
different magnitude. The members of Eye Hate God reacted to the
audience in a lukewarm way, the same way the audience reacted to
them. After 25 minutes they left the stage. Good riddance.
Pitch Shifter played a bit longer, supported by video images
that I think caused the people react to them a bit better.
Especially when the started to be fashionably anti-fascist with
corresponding images on the video screens, I started to see some
people really digging the band. Not my cup of tea at all. In the
end they threw lots of pieces of paper in the hall, 12 different
ones I believe, each containing a rule to live by (not!). Anyway,
I was glad they disappeared. The video gadgetry could be removed
and the stage cleared for Obituary. My ribs weren't exactly up-
to-date yet but I got in front anyway, camera ready.
At 23:05 Obituary started with "Kill For Me", an unusual choice
and possibly one of the lesser tracks on their new album. It was
a good concert but, somehow, a magic ingredient was missing. It
might have been my health - the ribs and a gathering cold. Before
they ended at about a quarter past midnight they had allowed
those gathered there that night to hear "Inside Out" (of course),
"Words of Evil", "'Til Death" (yeah!), "Find the Arise" (I think
they did, anyway), "Cause of Death", "Don't Care", "Redefine",
"Splattered" (yeah!!) and "Final Thoughts". This last song was
one a lot of people kept on asking for, chanting, but I do wonder
why as it's such a meagre track. The encores consisted of
"Killing Time" and the somewhat predictable but nevertheless
great "Slowly we Rot".
Allen West had been his usual - concentrated and boring - self,
Trevor Peres kept on banging his head off, with Frank Watkins
moving almost inconspicuously in between. John Tardy allowed me
to make another one of those classis "John Tardy Pose" pics, so I
was happy. What struck me was that especially a fast song such as
"Slowly..." was played a lot slower, with two bass drum beats to
the usual one.
More next time!
Disclaimer
The text of the articles is identical to the originals like they appeared
in old ST NEWS issues. Please take into consideration that the author(s)
was (were) a lot younger and less responsible back then. So bad jokes,
bad English, youthful arrogance, insults, bravura, over-crediting and
tastelessness should be taken with at least a grain of salt. Any contact
and/or payment information, as well as deadlines/release dates of any
kind should be regarded as outdated. Due to the fact that these pages are
not actually contained in an Atari executable here, references to scroll
texts, featured demo screens and hidden articles may also be irrelevant.