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The evening didn't start off too promisingly, running late due to bus fiasco (sudden change of termination), train fiasco (down to tubes - delays and too full to get on) and secondary bus fiasco (gridlock). Eventually made it to the Royal George to meet up with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
duoinchains, who had helpfully provided the evening's ticket. Quick dinner of pasta salad while duoinchains finished his pint, and then over to the venue.
We'd missed the first band, so have no idea who they were, but had just enough time to visit the merch stand before the second support came on - rejoicing in the wonderfully overblown name Lacrimosa Profundere, they sounded like a slightly heavier version of HIM, with copious "foot-on-the-monitoring" from one of the guitarists. They were good enough, and left after their allotted time to allow the crew to clear the stage for Apocalyptica, revealing four chairs covered in dust-sheets and a drumkit which appeared to be almost entirely made out of a) perspex and b) toms.
The sound-man's CD was suddenly interrupted by The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again (resulting in a number of "Hang on, is this CSI?" mumbles), and then the dustsheets were drawn off the chairs to reveal that the backs were carved into cello-body shapes, with the top half pierced by skeletal eye and nose holes (much like their album cover). And five of them came out - the main three, a stunt cellist (who looked much like David A Stewart, in suit and round black glasses - and mostly just sat and played his cello without the posing of the rest of the band) and the drummer. The main three of Apocalyptica are "gothSpice cellist" (top hat, black hair, tattoos), "lanky Spice cellist" (very tall, blond) and "nu-metal Spice cellist" (shorter, chunkier, cheekbones, slicked-back undercut black hair, daft little beard). All cute in their own ways, though ...
They played a fair mix of stuff - some of their Metallica covers (including Seek and Destroy, Enter Sandman, One and Nothing Else Matters), some of their own compositions (some of which I knew, some I didn't, but whichduoinchains identified as including Bittersweet, Life Burns (featuring a burning cello - or at least a cello with skull cut-outs, internal lighting and a smoke machine), I'm Not Jesus and Last Hope), some classical (hitting a mosh to Hall of the Mountain King is odd¹) and even a cover of Helden (also known as Bowie's Heroes, when not in German). And Rammstein's Seemann as the encore. Without any guest vocalists for the tour, everything was in the "live instrumental" mode, but didn't lose anything for all that - and for many of the songs, the audience was providing the lyrics anyway.
The lighting effects were good, the sound was more than loud, there was the predicted "windmilling hair while playing cello" and I don't think I've ever seen someone lead the crowd's clapping in the classic "clapping over their head" style - while still holding a cello in one of their hands ... The band seemed to realy enjoy themselves, judging by their huge grins.
Apparently they're playing the Forum in March '08. FinnishColleague was very pleased to hear that!
On the way out I bumped intofiredraken and her man, some of the Croydon folk, and cookwitch, who hadn't been at the gig, but was fortuitously passing ...
¹ One of the teenagers I might [cough] have piled into during one of the Metallica covers clapped me on the shoulder at the end of the song and said "You f**king scare the sh*t out of me." I'll take that as a compliment.
duoinchains, who had helpfully provided the evening's ticket. Quick dinner of pasta salad while duoinchains finished his pint, and then over to the venue.We'd missed the first band, so have no idea who they were, but had just enough time to visit the merch stand before the second support came on - rejoicing in the wonderfully overblown name Lacrimosa Profundere, they sounded like a slightly heavier version of HIM, with copious "foot-on-the-monitoring" from one of the guitarists. They were good enough, and left after their allotted time to allow the crew to clear the stage for Apocalyptica, revealing four chairs covered in dust-sheets and a drumkit which appeared to be almost entirely made out of a) perspex and b) toms.
The sound-man's CD was suddenly interrupted by The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again (resulting in a number of "Hang on, is this CSI?" mumbles), and then the dustsheets were drawn off the chairs to reveal that the backs were carved into cello-body shapes, with the top half pierced by skeletal eye and nose holes (much like their album cover). And five of them came out - the main three, a stunt cellist (who looked much like David A Stewart, in suit and round black glasses - and mostly just sat and played his cello without the posing of the rest of the band) and the drummer. The main three of Apocalyptica are "goth
They played a fair mix of stuff - some of their Metallica covers (including Seek and Destroy, Enter Sandman, One and Nothing Else Matters), some of their own compositions (some of which I knew, some I didn't, but which
duoinchains identified as including Bittersweet, Life Burns (featuring a burning cello - or at least a cello with skull cut-outs, internal lighting and a smoke machine), I'm Not Jesus and Last Hope), some classical (hitting a mosh to Hall of the Mountain King is odd¹) and even a cover of Helden (also known as Bowie's Heroes, when not in German). And Rammstein's Seemann as the encore. Without any guest vocalists for the tour, everything was in the "live instrumental" mode, but didn't lose anything for all that - and for many of the songs, the audience was providing the lyrics anyway.The lighting effects were good, the sound was more than loud, there was the predicted "windmilling hair while playing cello" and I don't think I've ever seen someone lead the crowd's clapping in the classic "clapping over their head" style - while still holding a cello in one of their hands ... The band seemed to realy enjoy themselves, judging by their huge grins.
Apparently they're playing the Forum in March '08. FinnishColleague was very pleased to hear that!
On the way out I bumped into
firedraken and her man, some of the Croydon folk, and cookwitch, who hadn't been at the gig, but was fortuitously passing ... ¹ One of the teenagers I might [cough] have piled into during one of the Metallica covers clapped me on the shoulder at the end of the song and said "You f**king scare the sh*t out of me." I'll take that as a compliment.
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Wow, you're, like, the exact opposite of My Chemical Romance! :-)
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Eh?
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I'm easily amused... :-)
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Ah! [grin]
I think my sweatshirt was older than he was¹.
¹ Quite possibly - it's 18 years old, and has almost certainly been to more gigs than he has ... it's a black Norge², and is starting to fall apart ...
² Norwegian army shirt
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But it's kind of cute and amusing, in a cheery sing-along-kinda way.
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Bugsy also got mentioned in K's description, but more in the context of "They took a tune from Bugsy Malone and made it s**t." [grin]
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Spot on!! That was my intial reaction when I heard the album (which isn't all that bad I think) and reinforced by seeing them live last month (sad emo boy that I am ^_^ ) The album very much has a 'Show' feel to it.
So should the lyric therefore be
"Dancefloorlandmine, he scares the shit out of me..."
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Besides, one has to respect a rock band who aren't afraid to have Liza Minelli doing guest vocals... :-)
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*I being one of 2 blokes wearing New model Army tees that night XD
Oh... and of course the re-worked lyric should really be:
"Dancefloorlandmine, he scares the shit out of teens..."
XD
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I had seated tickets way up on level two, which had an unobstructed view, but were about a mile away from the stage. My companion, however, had an attack of vertigo, so the nice people swapped our tickets for standing ones; I was about four back from the barriers. *grin*
And yeah, I felt very old; I think some of the clothes I was wearing were older than some of the kids there. *sigh* Ah well, it was still an ace gig.
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Aha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_(song)
Must try to get to the Forum in March, sounds great!
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It was. I saw them live briefly once before (at Download), but they were excellent.
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"Talk about generic goth rock! We take 40% HIM, 30% The Sisters of Mercy, 20% Marilyn Manson and throw in some The 69 Eyes to complete the mix and bake it at 30% quality."
As for Apocalyptica, they are a truly awesome live experience. The lighting was a little too blinding at times, the drums too loud in the mix, but it was great to see such energy and enthusiasm going back and forth between band and punters.
I completely and utterly covet the chairs (http://ezaren.deviantart.com/art/Apocalyptica-Perttu-71628724) though. Nor would I say no to those sitting in them...
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Heh - I don't know enough 69 Eyes to comment, but tbh, I didn't detect that much Sisters of Mercy, and Marilyn Manson was definitely low in the mix - these guys weren't showmen!
[giggle]
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I shall repeat what I said on my own LJ: "I fail to see how anyone could not get aroused at watching half naked men caressing musical instruments between their legs. Purr."
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Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands, and all you can do is scratch it!
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I could've sworn they did a partial cover of Motörhead's Bomber.
That was the track that concluded with me cheerfully telling you that you are 'F***ing dangerous'.
What you didn't see was the huge surge of propagating moshing coming to a halt immediately in front of me, where I slowed down one of the moshecules with my fingertips on his back, and held him at a contant distance while the tide crashed into him and ebbed away... Quite possibly towards you: there was a visible clustering or gravitational effect with you slap-bang in the middle of it.
You'll notice that there was a space between the mosh potatoes and the rest of the crowd, with me standing politely in the middle of it. People give me breathing room. You, however, they all seem to want to pile onto.
Maybe I should ask what brand of aftershave you use. I don't mind teenage fangirls hurling themselves on top of me*, but I draw the line at hairy, sweaty, greasy rockers.
*...although their expectations of a soft landing will be painfully disappointed.
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Aye - Pete
In order to avoid it? [grin]
"When a man comes up to you and slams his body into yours, you know he's acting on Impulse Apocalyptica ..."
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Aikido in the Mosh Pit?
...No, that's too scary. Imagine hurtling forward to body-slam someone, and the next thing yo know is that they've turned and you're slamming air, the ground, or the scary dude in sunglasses and a walkie-talkie on the other side of the barrier.
I've got a better idea: think of Sumo champions moshing. Picture, if you will, the front row at Rammstein five deep with yokozuna, off their heads and bouncing off each other.
I had better stop. That is a horrible image.
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You've never seen the pit at an Anthrax gig, have you?
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