Opeth – House Of Blues: New Orleans, LA 05.11.03
Posted by Rhett Walker on 05.24.2003
Mother’s Day and death metal. What a great combination.
After having talked about this band in my column for about as long as I have been writing it, I finally got to see one of my favorite bands, Opeth, for the very first time. The band has been around for nearly a decade, but it wasn’t until 2001 that I even knew they existed. Since then, this band has become an addiction for me. I have every CD the band has put out, and they have all become mainstays in my CD player. The genre of death metal has never been one that has impressed me all that much, but Opeth transcends that label and truly belongs in a genre all their own.
I arrived at the House of Blues right around 9 PM, just as the house lights were coming down for the first act. Until I arrived, I only thought there was one opener, but instead, there were two. I missed the first opener while I was working on getting the photo pass that the band’s label had ok’d. Originally I thought I was screwed on this one, as the venue had no record of anyone getting a photo pass for the show. Luckily, the band’s sound engineer was outside the band’s tour bus, so after a quick explanation to him as to who I was, he got on the radio to the tour manager inside who knew who I was and fifteen minutes later, I had photo pass in hand.
I got inside the House of Blues about 9:30. This gave me enough time to grab a spot to watch the opener I knew they had, Italian metal band Lacuna Coil. Other than seeing the band advertised as the opener on Opeth’s website, I knew absolutely nothing about this band. I ended up feeing extremely grateful that there was a first opener, because I would have cheated myself out of hearing a fantastic band otherwise. Lacuna Coil played a 45 minute set, and they had the crowd in the palms of their hands the entire time. Lacuna Coil now has a new fan in the form of yours truly.
The lights went down for the last time at 11 PM, when it was time for the boys from Sweden to take the stage. Opeth walked out to a fully-charged, near capacity crowd that was ready for one of the ultimate experiences that metal has to offer. They started with my personal favorite of theirs, The Leper Affinity off Blackwater Park. From there, they went into Advent from their sophomore effort, Morningrise. On the album, this is a good track; live it is great track. This being the second leg of the Deliverance tour, it was only fitting that the band play from this album, and the title track was up next. It was at this point that security informed me that I could not take pictures anymore. Apparently, the House of Blues doesn’t recognize photo passes issued by the band. Since I had taken plenty of pics by this time, I didn’t complain, but those that run the House of Blues can go fuck themselves. From here, the band kept up the intensity with The Drapery Falls. The band took their first departure from their heavier music with Credence from My Arms Your Hearse. This was followed by the only track performed from Still Life, Godhead’s Lament. Opeth concluded their set with the track from Deliverance that inspired the tour’s name, A Fair Judgement. The group left the stage briefly before coming back out for their encore, Demon of the Fall.
The 411: Opeth was everything I was hoping for live. Showing their unwavering perfectionism, the band played their songs exactly as they are on their studio albums; something very few bands can claim to do. I only had to travel less than two hours to see the band this time around. When they return to the states in July for the Damnation tour, I don’t care if I have to travel eight hours for the show – I will be there.
