Last Fair Day Gone Night Tour 2011
I better write this before the emotions and memories get too vague. Katatonia wraps up the year 2011 with four special shows in Scandinavia under the Last Fair Day Gone Night tour, and I was there (yesss). The Helsinki show was held in the (night?)club called The Circus in the city centre, about 10 minutes of walk from our home. The doors will be opened at 7 pm, and there is a support band, plus inevitable lingering-loitering around, and heaven knows when the Good Stuff begins, is how my thoughts went (and how they usually go before the gigs). Fortunately, the Internet is almighty and provides all kinds of useful information, and having done a little homework I knew that the band tends to be on time (don't we all hate those performers who are late for 30+ minutes, smokin' and drinkin' somewhere in backstage while poor us have to stay on the feet and waste precious money on beer cos at least it's something to do); in the end it was great success and we arrived at the place 5-10 minutes before the doom-masters came on stage.
The first part of the set consisted the whole Last Fair Deal Gone Down album, from the beginning to the end. It's 10-year anniversary for the album (and 20-year anniversary for Katatonia itself) this year. At first, I got a bit worried, because the crowd was... cold. I know they are Finns, but still. I get very compassionate towards bands on stage when people do not come along with their thing. We also had quite a mediocre spot somewhere in the edge and not very close, it's not the best place to be, but not the worst either. Anyway, the first half was good, and song after song people started becoming more alive (or was it the beer/other alcoholic drinks responsible there? :D) Highlight songs for me: Teargas, The Future of Speech.
After that Katatonia took a small break (I predicted it to be about 15 minutes, which it was) and we managed to get some beer (6 EURs for less than half litres of some average light beer, yes that's the club prices for you) and also a nifty good spot on the floor, say, in the fifth row from the front, and in the middle. Now we're talking!
The second half was a diverse collection of songs from the band's other albums. I think the choice of songs was pretty good (oh well, no Omerta, but it would have been an odd one out anyway...) People seemed to be the happiest over the new stuff (from 2009 and 2006 albums), everyone sang along. There were some technical problems during the first half of the second set, which is a shame; on the other hand, it is the kind of situation that lets you see the band members for the kind of folks they are and how the handle the situation. Jonas Renkse kept us company and joked around (in his modest, subtle manner - "The next song is from the album... called We've Got a Problem" - hehe) and drummer (Daniel Liljekvist) entertained with some percussion riffs from "Ice Ice Baby". The only thing for which I felt a short moment of sadness was that due to those technical problems, one of my favourite songs The Longest Year, suffered a bit, as naturally, both crowd and the band were a bit out of focus and out of that comfortable "gig-zone". After that it went on better, and the best moments of that set for me were The Longest Year, Wait Outside, Evidence, Ghost of the Sun (probably the most powerful performance) and the two oldies that ended the show, Without God and Murder, as by then I had already reached quite an extatic state thanks to the awesome musics, atmosphere, and so on.
For the last mentioned songs, Jonas Renkse took the bass guitar and gave his microphone to Anders Nyström. When I compare their performances as vocalists (leaving out the fact that one uses clean vocals and one death growls :p), I'd say Nyström looks more like an artistic, metal-artist, whereas Renkse has a very unique style and presence on stage (he looks a bit like a teddy bear), just as his voice is quite unique.
By the end of the gig, I was really pleased with the crowd. Even though maybe not that big, it was obvious that there were no "random elements" among the audience. Everyone knew what they had come for, and seemed to be happy for what they got.
Was it what I expected? I did not go there with high expectations. What I mainly thought (I wouldn't call it a concern) was, how will Katatonia's depressive, bleak theme combined with prog-elements from the technical side, portrait on the stage. I mean, the world they create is so dark, so suicidal and full of angst and hopelessness at times, that it is hard to connect it with something that we know as energetic live performances that make people jump and sing along. In normal conditions, the best way for listening to this bad is in quietness and through headphones. So I wasn't exactly surprised or devastated that the vibes from the stage were not that doomy, or that angsty, or depressive. I did not get the same emotion from the gig that I have got when listening Katatonia from headphones, and that can be a good thing, because I got a completely different experience, and all in all, the band seems more humane to me now. However, I consider Katatonia one of the best live bands I have seen, ever. Vocals are very strong, and more interesting than on records (occasional screams and improvisations you can only experience live), although at some points overshadowed by the rest of the orchestra (mainly when they were performing the older stuff). The three guitars (yes, bass is also a guitar, Jan :p) sounded awesome, and percussions were decent (as expected). And boy, did they earn they paycheck that evening... 3 hours! of hard work on the stage. It was a long and delicious treat by guys who are so crafty in their songwriting, and so diverse that I never was bored, not for a moment.
Okay, let's wrap it up with the small list of keywords I made beforehand.
The Goods:
Space - it was not too crowded. I am used to the gigs, where others literally live on your back, there is a lot of pushing, etc. Nothing such! There was air at the Circus, there was space, I didn't have to be in physical contact with some strangers (hate it when people enter my personal space). And considering all that, the place did not seem empty, it was full of people. Very good experience.
Length - the longest gig I have been to (and we didn't even see the support!). Got home way past midnight. Nice to see a band that's not just taking the easy way with an hour, or hour-and-a-half performance, but really gives it their everything.
Setlist - although playing one whole album through can be a decision that raises some eyebrows, it is a bold step to take. As a side note, ironically, I have been to 3 gigs this month and all these have included a full album being played in one evening :p But I digress. Last Fair Deal Gone Down is a good album and a good choice in this case. I was also happy with the songs picked for the second half, and also with the two songs they picked from Viva Emptiness (I did not expect to hear anything from that one).
Crowd - polite, mature, competent.
The Bads:
Occasional technical problems in the middle of the show.
Not bad per se, but the fact that it was held on Monday was a bit inconvenient. I was a zombie myself the next day :)
The Questionabilities That Remain:
Is it even possible to transform the world of Katatonia into equally comparable live experience? I think you can get pretty close, but maybe not at that time, in that place.
The Regrets:
That they are not from Helsinki. The show in Stockholm is going to be drool-worthy.
Setlist:
Part 1, Last Fair Deal Gone Down
1. Dispossession
2. Chrome
3. We Must Bury You
4. Teargas
5. I Transpire
6. Tonight's Music
7. Clean Today
8. The Future of Speech
9. Passing Bird
10. Sweet Nurse
11. Don't Tell a Soul
Part 2
12. Forsaker (Night Is the New Day, 2009)
13. Liberation (NItND)
14. For My Demons (Tonight's Decision 1999)
15. The Longest Year (NItND)
16. Wait Outside (an albumless song, which was strangely left out of Viva Emptiness, no-one seems know why, although "it's a f...... good song", as Renkse said at the gig [agreed])
17. My Twin (The Great Cold Distance, 2006)
18. I Break (Discouraged Ones, 1998)
19. Evidence (Viva Emptiness, 2003)
20. July (TGCD)
21. Ghost of the Sun (VE)
22. Day and Then the Shade (NItND)
23. Leaders (TGCD)
24. Without God (Dance of December Souls, 1993)
25. Murder (Brave Murder Day, 2006)
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