Apocalyptica
I’ve seen Apocalyptica play twice this year, at Rock Am Ring in Germany in June and at Pukkelpop in Belgium in August. Both festivals; one of them open air, the other one was in a tent. Both were great shows and I was looking forward to seeing them perform in a rather small venue. A church no less. The perfect setting for this gig.
Apocalyptica plays metal. Cello metal; covering Metallica and Sepultura tracks and playing own material that is just as heavy. One would think that this would mainly attract men. It does, but the number of girls in the audience was significant. I can’t help but wonder, though, if they like everything they play or if they are just there to gaze at gorgeous band-members Perttu and Eicca, who bang their heads vigorously showing off their long hair and are known to take their shirts off during the set when they get a little too hot. Do those girls know more than Life Burns, Bittersweet and Dead Promises, collaborations with fellow Finnish singers Lauri Ylönen (The Rasmus) and Ville Valo (HIM)?
It took a while for the band to get warmed up. They were playing fine, but there was little interaction between them the first five or six songs. With each finished song the applauding and cheers became louder, clearly charging the band. Paavo did his best to get people to clap along or sing. His enthusiasm worked, or maybe people were scared of his fierce mohawk. Don’t worry if you were, he’s a nice guy really. The girls were especially noisy when Perttu, and later Eicca, took their shirts off. Somehow half naked men with long hair and a huge cello between their legs are extremely sexy. Guaranteed girl-magnet. The band made a lot of noise too; during some songs it was so bad that people standing next to the boxes actually left to somewhere a little quieter.
The stage was small. With four coffin-chairs and a drumkit on it there wasn’t much space left to move around. They had to be careful not to trip over each other’s feet or hit the people in the front row with their bows. The band played well, the setlist was good. Like at Pukkelpop, the only song that didn’t do much for me was Bittersweet. It’s good with vocals, but instrumentally it is pretty boring. I see the need for a slow track to calm down and catch breaths, and Bittersweet is one of the singles, but in my opinion it doesn’t really work out.
They did a three song encore and before starting Hall of the Mountain King , Eicca started a little chat. In the end he asked us if we were having a good time. Of course the crowd roared. Then he turned to Mikko and asked him the same. Grinning, Mikko threw one of his drumsticks in the air, twirling, and then missed when trying to catch it. The crowd cheered for him anyway. Good times. Hall of the Mountain King is the perfect song to close off with. The build-up is thrilling and leaves you on an adrenaline-high. The applauding and cheers were so loud that the band came back onto the stage after having left to bow down to us, while receiving a well deserved ovation. My hands hurt.
Verdict: This was a good gig, but the men are visibly tired. Their tour-schedule has been very hectic this year! Still Apocalyptica is thrilling to see live. Much better than on a cd!
Imre
Pictures of this gig are here!
