As my brother calls them.
Technically I should be working on my music theory assignment due Wednesday (why, Dr. Bob, whyyyyyyy?), but I will do something else music-related and blog about the concert I went to last night.
In short: It was spectacular.
In long: ... Well, check under the cut.
So firstly, this will probably read like fangirl ravings and a review combined, as well as little observations I made. And it will be long and boring for most people.
Ahem.
Me and my concert buddy got there are 6:40-ish. Doors were set to open at 7pm so I just bitched about my TA for about 10 minutes. The venue was in a kind of sketchy area, but I didn't notice or witness anything really sketchy at all. I mean, you see drunk people all the time everywhere. So seeing like 1 drunk person totter by that didn't really bother me. My mom's general rule for those types of places is that you'll be fine so long as you mind your own business because everyone else will just mind their own. So just another example of "mother knows best", really. But I digress.
The line moved at a moderate pace and there were like two bouncers. The first was really just a line regulator ("Stop. Okay. You two can go.") and the second was checking ID. This was my first "event" where I could use my ID and... I forgot it at home. Wow. Yeah. And my concert buddy didn't have hers because she just got her new driver's license and they took away her old one. Oh well. It was an all-ages show, but we got stamps on our hands to prove that we were "under age". Dumb logic, but whatever. My 14-year-old-looking self was down with that.
The set up inside was a small bar in the lobby, and then through the double doors was a large, old room with several rows of seats at the back, and a big standing area by the stage. I'm not going to get into the history of the building, but there was a certain charm to the weathered appearance inside. And really, the décor and all doesn't really matter when you're just there to see a band play and ... not focus on... interior design. Or architecture, I suppose. Anyhow, we made our way to the floor, which is where the merch tables were set up. On the right side (not stage right) they had the combined merch tables for the supporting acts, while on the left Epica's merch table was set up. And I have to say, they had a great variety of stuff!
Of course they had some T-shirts (~5 different styles, 2 of which were girlies), a hoodie (which I wanted but am now glad that I held back on because I have enough black hoodies =___=), posters, small glossy photos (postcard-sized, but I don't thiiiiiiiink they were postcards), guitar picks, a small light up keychain (which I thought was novel but then my sensible self told my whimsical self off), their albums (like, allllllll of them!), and their most recent charity single. Wow. The prices of the albums were incredible. For their three most recent releases, they were priced at $10 apiece. Which means that I paid way more for them at HMV. This made me sad. However, their second album, which is discontinued at HMV even if you want to order it, was $20. No tax. So I got one of those (see updated "Things to Buy" page) as well as a black girly tee. I was then thankful that my jacket pocket was so goddamn huge so I could fit the album in there. I cushioned it with my gloves.
Afterward, me and my concert buddy found some seats because neither of us are big fans of any the opening acts. Admittedly I hadn't really listened to any of them before the concert, nor had I even really tried to read up on them. So after waiting maybe half an hour (and watching people trickle onto the floor), The Agonist began their set. I don't remember exactly what they played (I only have their most recent album on my iPod and I haven't listened to it in months), but they opened with their a capella cover of "Swan Lake", which made me very excited and happy because it's my favourite song of theirs probably because of how un-metal it is. Other songs in their set included "The Tempest", "...And Their Eulogies Sang Me to Sleep", "Thank You, Pain", and (I think) "Birds Elope with the Sun". I'm not one for melodeath, but I have to give them props for sounding just as good live as on their studio releases. And they're Canadian. :) Also, that chick knows how to scream. And sing. I remember that she tried out for Canadian Idol and made it past the first round, and then quit because she just wanted to prove that she could do it. Plus the band got some coverage during her audition.
At this point, it felt like my left ear had "popped" so I decided to put some earbuds in to try and preserve whatever was left of my hearing since there were two more opening acts to listen to. The next act was Montréal-based Blackguard. I had never heard them before (except maybe on the Epica live stream last year) so I was pleasantly surprised. Their songs are quite catchy and they were very entertaining. My concert buddy pointed out that some of the entertainment seemed to come from the fact that the vocalist has only above-shoulder-length hair and tried to headbang. One of the songs they played was "The Sword". They were a great energizer, and that's when the moshing started. It was nice having seats, though I noticed something...
All the tall people in Vancouver attended this gig. Yes, I am short. I admit it. Everyone seems tall to me. However, my concert buddy (who is about 8 inches taller than me) said that it seemed like there were an "awful lot of tall people" present over whom she would have a problem seeing. I mean, there *were* shorter people, too, but all of the people in the first couple of rows standing immediately in front of us were probably 6-feet tall at least. And no, they were not all wearing platform shoes/boots/whatever. Maaaaaan, where did all these tall people come from?!
After Blackguard's set a LOT of people left the floor, and didn't return for Scar Symmetry. And given the swarm by the Blackguard merch table, I have a feeling that a lot of people came just to see them. Weird.
The last opening act was Scar Symmetry from Sweden. Partway through their set, I realized that I have one of their songs on my iPod. Huh. They were not bad, and the duality presented by their clean vocals vocalist created an interesting contrast. Their stuff is actually pretty easy on the ears. Scar Symmetry also told us that one of their guitarists had broken his arm a few days ago. Regardless, they put on a good show. One song I do remember from their set is "Pitch Black Progress".
As soon the crowd dispersed after Scar Symmetry's set, me and my concert buddy hopped onto the floor and got a pretty decent spot on the left, maybe in the fourth row (of people standing) from the stage. The people two rows in front were being ridiculous and camwhoring, but once Epica's techs starting doing sound checks they calmed down and we listened to how sound checks are done in DUTCH.
An observation I made is that the people at this concert were actually fairly varied. Or at least they were more varied than I'd expected. When you think of a metal concert, you probably imagine people with long straight hair guzzling beer. Although there were a few of those, the majority of the concert goers were very normal-looking, though many of them were clad in black because they were wearing concert tees or winter jackets. I was also amused by the age range present. The predominant group seemed to be in their twenties (dressed normally or strangely, semi-formally o__o) and in relationships. However, I did see an older gentleman who very much resembled a stereotypical university professor in his sweater and fatherly beard. Yes, he headbanged. That was kind of awesome to see. And I wasn't surprised to see some fairly nerdy-looking people. I mean, (this subgenre of) metal is like one of the geekiest genres of music ever. It's about on par with classical music in many aspects + moar guitars.
The smoke from the smoke machines was getting thick and the lights went down. The intro track began and asdfasdfjkl; I felt super duper excited. :D
Setlist for anyone who gives a crap:
- Samadhi
- Resign to Surrender
- Chasing the Dragon (might actually be #4, I don't remember the exact order)
- Sensorium (probably was #3, but oh well)
- Unleashed
- Martyr of the Free Word
- Cry for the Moon
- Imperial March
- Tides of Time
- The Last Crusade
- The Obsessive Devotion
- Kingdom of Heaven
- Sancta Terra [Encore]
- Quietus [Encore]
- Consign to Oblivion [Encore]
- Chasing the Dragon: This is the first Epica song I actually loved. And I was definitely not expecting them to play this song since it hadn't shown up on any of the setlists from this tour (that I saw, anyway). In fact, I had actually resigned myself to not ever getting to hear this song live. But oooooooooh boy. When their lead guitarist picked a few strings while their vocalist talked to us, I knew. Or, I had a hunch. And I quelled that because I didn't think it could possibly be. But oh it was! And I stood there wide-eyed, with my hands over my mouth for half a minute before I got over my shock and delight.
- Imperial March: Yes, the one from Star Wars. Darth Vader's theme music, if you will. It was spectacular. And it was expected, but it was kind of nice being able to enjoy it with all the other nerds there. :)
- Tides of Time: Absolutely beautiful. Quite possibly their best ballad.
- The Last Crusade: This was actually one of my early favourites of theirs. Great energy, and it was somewhat unexpected as they usually replace this one for "Blank Infinity".
- Kingdom of Heaven: I had this song on 'repeat one' all day yesterday. x) It is epic. And clocking in at 13.5 minutes, it was a great way to end their "regular" set. The choirs, the vocals, the catchy instrumentation. Everyone got showcased in this song. :)
- Sancta Terra: I think that this is my favourite Epica song. I was very very happy to see and hear it live. However, I was expecting this song so somehow it wasn't as much of a treat as "Chasing the Dragon". Still, I had actually been intending this to be one of my big highlights of the show and it kind of was, though the band's energy really shined through in the heavier songs.
- Quietus: It was surprising but really awesome that they played the "grunt" version of this song. Some great "beauty and the beast", back and forth duality there.
- Consign to Oblivion: The last song of the evening. It's almost 10 minutes long, and I'm so glad that I realized how catchy and epic it is a few months ago. It was a fitting piece to end the night because it has all of those great Epica elements in it.
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