There's something strangely beautiful and compelling about seeing a crowd respond to the energy coming from the stage and moving hundreds of people to the same pulse. Standing on the Balcony at the HMV Forum I could see the beat of crowd as they responded to the bands output and finally even gave up on recording* the band and gave into the pure enjoyment.
Apocalyptica the Finnish Cello Metal band (trust me, it works) are one of my favourite groups. A group of classical musicians who got together over a love of metal and combined the two forms of music to fabulous effect. They are also one of the hardest working bands on the circuit. Looking at their gig list for the last year leaves you feeling exhausted so they must be counting down the time till a day that doesn't involve travelling, interviews or performing. This last week alone has seen them performing in Tilburg then to Paris to Brussels to London then Scotland and Wolverhampton.
Tuesday I made my way to London to see the latest tour supporting the newest album, running late due to the great British transport system I met up with friends and made my way to the Forum looking forward to the evening ahead.
'Pain of Salvation' were supporting, an area that I've always found lacking in previous Apocalyptica gigs - which made the pleasure of a good (if unintentionally amusing) band all the more marked. I regret that I only caught the last three tracks of theirs, they've now shot straight on to my 'must buy' list, even if only to work out if the earnest messages in their last song of the night were meant to be taken with a wry wink or not.
To start with, it looked as though the travelling had have sapped some of the energy from Apocalyptica, but they've always had energy to spare. Even tired they manage to outdo so many other bands on the rock/metal circuit for pure mania and after they played a powerful arrangement of 'Seek and Destroy' the entire venue seemed to perk up and the evening just flowed perfectly.
In my fantasy rockband, Mikko Siren would be the drummer. He's no only a fabulous drummer but he connects me straight back to watching the Muppets. A controlled explosion of energy topped by shaggy hair and a wide grin he (for me) is the human incarnation of Animal. And as well as his covetable clear drum set they've set him up with banging lights - that's right Lights that work from the vibration (I think) of the drum. Giving an epileptic danger warning of a performance.
The celloists, Eicca Toppinen, Perttu Kivilaakso & Paavo Lötjönen are fabulous at both music and showmanship. Everytime I've seen them they manage to find a way to make the audience feel included in the obvious joy they get from their instruments. The reverent silence during 'Beautiful'** was a wonderfully marked contrast to the mania shown during 'I'm not Jesus' and the Metallica covers.
Even as the night drew to a close and they hadn't played my favourite 'Hall of the Mountain King' I was still very happy. And after the encore I was happier still. In fact the only thing that would have made the night better would have been the transport strike being called off. Due to the need to catch a certain train I couldn't meet the band after the gig. But there's always next time…...
*Calm down ye pirate hunters. I merely refer to the practice of using phones and cameras attached to the very top of your upright arm getting in the way of the person in behind you and resulting in a series of blurred and unfocused images. Doing it a couple of times is fine, but when the audience is almost at a standstill as they're busy concentrating on the machinery, something seems to go missing from the entire gig experience.
** Beautiful - Please pop over to Acts for news of a routine that makes use of this wonderful track.
Apocalyptica the Finnish Cello Metal band (trust me, it works) are one of my favourite groups. A group of classical musicians who got together over a love of metal and combined the two forms of music to fabulous effect. They are also one of the hardest working bands on the circuit. Looking at their gig list for the last year leaves you feeling exhausted so they must be counting down the time till a day that doesn't involve travelling, interviews or performing. This last week alone has seen them performing in Tilburg then to Paris to Brussels to London then Scotland and Wolverhampton.
Tuesday I made my way to London to see the latest tour supporting the newest album, running late due to the great British transport system I met up with friends and made my way to the Forum looking forward to the evening ahead.
'Pain of Salvation' were supporting, an area that I've always found lacking in previous Apocalyptica gigs - which made the pleasure of a good (if unintentionally amusing) band all the more marked. I regret that I only caught the last three tracks of theirs, they've now shot straight on to my 'must buy' list, even if only to work out if the earnest messages in their last song of the night were meant to be taken with a wry wink or not.
To start with, it looked as though the travelling had have sapped some of the energy from Apocalyptica, but they've always had energy to spare. Even tired they manage to outdo so many other bands on the rock/metal circuit for pure mania and after they played a powerful arrangement of 'Seek and Destroy' the entire venue seemed to perk up and the evening just flowed perfectly.
In my fantasy rockband, Mikko Siren would be the drummer. He's no only a fabulous drummer but he connects me straight back to watching the Muppets. A controlled explosion of energy topped by shaggy hair and a wide grin he (for me) is the human incarnation of Animal. And as well as his covetable clear drum set they've set him up with banging lights - that's right Lights that work from the vibration (I think) of the drum. Giving an epileptic danger warning of a performance.
The celloists, Eicca Toppinen, Perttu Kivilaakso & Paavo Lötjönen are fabulous at both music and showmanship. Everytime I've seen them they manage to find a way to make the audience feel included in the obvious joy they get from their instruments. The reverent silence during 'Beautiful'** was a wonderfully marked contrast to the mania shown during 'I'm not Jesus' and the Metallica covers.
Even as the night drew to a close and they hadn't played my favourite 'Hall of the Mountain King' I was still very happy. And after the encore I was happier still. In fact the only thing that would have made the night better would have been the transport strike being called off. Due to the need to catch a certain train I couldn't meet the band after the gig. But there's always next time…...
*Calm down ye pirate hunters. I merely refer to the practice of using phones and cameras attached to the very top of your upright arm getting in the way of the person in behind you and resulting in a series of blurred and unfocused images. Doing it a couple of times is fine, but when the audience is almost at a standstill as they're busy concentrating on the machinery, something seems to go missing from the entire gig experience.
** Beautiful - Please pop over to Acts for news of a routine that makes use of this wonderful track.
*UPDATE*
I feel the need to clarify that I feel slightly bad mentioning how tired they seemed now I know that one of the members was not very well. Get better soon Perttu
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