Canada quartet Voivod got the evening at Hammersmith off to a unique start with their mix of progressive and thrash metal offerings from their forty years of existence.
Lead vocalist Snake is very animated, acting out some words of the songs as he sings them, pulling exaggerated facial expressions and at other times creating a mime version of Chewy’s riffs. Everyone bar Away provided vocals onstage, as well as being the drummer, also designed the band logo and has taken care of most of the band’s artwork.
Over a third of their set consisted of tracks from their latest album, the first one played was the title track “Synchro Anarchy.” A couple of minutes into their third song, a breakdown got quite a few people banging their heads to its irreverent beat.
The frontman gushed about the power of music at one point, going on to say that it “lets us travel in our heads!” Cheers of agreement followed and it was clear that the music was a form of escapism for many other individuals in the room, too.
Voivod wrapped up the set with “Astronomy Domine,” which saw the crowd liven up once again as they heard the Floyd cover.
Just over half an hour later, Opeth were welcomed to the west London venue with an almost deafening unified applause. In recognition of their thirty-year-plus career, the setlist was voted for by fans, comprised of the most requested songs, one from each of Opeth’s thirteen studio albums. “Demon of the Fall” from the release My Arms, Your Hearse led the performance, and after the crushing display of proggy death, a couple of people shouted, “Martín Méndez, I love you!” repeatedly to the bassist, who seemed completely unfazed by their united proclamation.
Two songs in, vocalist-guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt jokingly referred to the London crowd as Birmingham as he greeted them, receiving a mixture of unsure faces and laughter. He followed up the gag with a mention of the 1973 Uriah Heep live CD that was recorded in the biggest midlands city, the English band being an influence on Opeth’s work.
Between “Eternal Rains Will Come” (the first song in the set with no death growls) and “Under the Weeping Moon,” Mikael kept the humor factor going by sharing that he “needs a sh*t,” and this had a lot of people in hysterics. On a more nostalgic note, he also divulged that the first person who signed the band was present in the crowd, resulting in some claps of appreciation.
The winning song from Pale Communion featured the screen changing from scenes of natural landscapes to very colorful, psychedelic swirl patterns, reflecting the lyrical content beautifully. Guitarist Fredrik Åkesson and Joakim Svalberg on keyboards gave the words added emotion with their vocal contributions, clapped by audience members who were moved by the performance of this song.
“Under The Weeping Moon” saw Opeth in front of various illustrations of a full moon that transitioned from a shot from the earth, then space during calmer sections, and even a blood-red moon during the heaviest parts.
Before “Windowpane,” a girl screamed, “play Eaten!” but Åkerfeldt said he didn’t even sing on that [Bloodbath] song and that it is Peter Tägtgren’s. He then used this as an opportunity to introduce their new drummer Waltteri Väyrynen, who they “stole” from Bloodbath (which he says was okay as he helped found the band), and Paradise Lost.
Mikael also spoke about Opeth bringing a chess board to the studio during the recording of their album recording because they thought they “were the dog’s bollocks,” to which someone said, “You are!” The response was “Black Rose Immortal,” a twenty-minute song they had not played on previous tours. Fans were ecstatic the whole way through, singing and windmilling along to their heart’s content.
“The Devil’s Orchard” was followed up by a brief band introduction which revealed that three band members (both guitarists and the keyboardist) are from Stockholm, Sweden, and the bassist and drummer are from Uruguay and Finland respectively. All three countries were applauded enthusiastically, while some members of the audience held up heart-shaped hands.
Keeping the tradition of performing only the Swedish versions of In Cauda Venenum alive since 2019, “Allting tar sl*t” was the tenth track delivered on the night, right after Mikael played a spell of George Michael’s “Faith” on guitar.
During “Deliverance,” the bandleader made his way off the stage and into the photo pit to get closer to his eager fans as they called his name over and over whilst he walked past them, playing the outro to the epic song. By this time, Opeth had been onstage for over two hours and everyone appeared to be as excited as they were at the start of the set. An absolute pleasure to witness.
Opeth Setlist:
Tape: Seven Bowls (Aphrodite’s Child song)
Ghost of Perdition
Demon of the Fall
Eternal Rains Will Come
Under the Weeping Moon
Windowpane
Harvest
Black Rose Immortal
Burden
The Moor
The Devil’s Orchard
Allting tar slut
Sorceress
Deliverance
Voivod Setlist:
Experiment
The Unknown Knows
Synchro Anarchy
Holographic Thinking
The Prow
Planet Eaters
Fix My Heart
Astronomy Domine (Pink Floyd cover)
