Tour Title: Nevermore & Arch Enemy
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Tour Title: Nevermore & Arch Enemy |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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| Go to Reader Reviews |
Abyss's Review (1/23/00, Downtime, New York, NY):
Metal to Stagger By
Wow! What a bill, huh? Two amazing bands, so amazing that I was able to get psyched to go to a show on a Sunday, after five days of binge drinking. Normally anything that interferes with the Simpsons loses out (Yes I do know how to set my VCR wiseasses, but that entails effort!), but this type of metal event doesn't happen every day, so I hiked up my nice pink skirt and made my way to Downtime in Midtown. I got a couple of beers, talked a little metal with friends and waited for Arch Enemy to impress me.
Nevermore
Photo by Brant WintersteenArch Enemy came out with something to prove. They wanted to prove they were metal through and through, and they did. "We have come from Sweden to rip your asses!" screamed vocalist Johan Liiva. (and I immediately thought, "Whoa! What kind of show is this !?!") Thankfully, Johan seemed to quickly lose interest in our asses and became more intent on screaming out some intense metal. What is in the water in Sweden? It seems every few years a new Swedish wave of metal comes out just to prove that they are still better at it than everyone else.
Arch Enemy ruled the stage. The music was a wall of steel flung at you that paused only between songs. The vibration from the double bass through the floor of the small venue sent shivers up my spine. It had been a long time since I had seen such an impressive show. The Amott brothers decided to take turns blowing me away. The intricacies of their work are only made more impressive by seeing them live. I only wish I had a better view of their fingers. I don't think either missed a note all night. Picking favorite songs in such a complete set list would be pointless.
Although I'm not the biggest high-pitched singer fan in the world, I was still psyched to see Nevermore. I had just heard from a friend that they had been dead on the night before. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the night I saw them. Mr. Dane's vocals were not up to snuff, and he seemed to know this, pushing the mike into the crowd for assistance almost every other line. Although I don't know what he's like normally, I believe he was dead drunk, which might explain his sub par voice (or it could be the result of the long tour, I really don't know). I'm not the type of person to judge him for this. In fact I think it made for a great show. He literally pulled out all the stops by diving into the crowd, pulling fans on stage, and singing duets with other fans (he actually found someone in the crowd that was quite adept at hitting all of the highs.) He even fell on his ass a couple of times, and lost some hair on the neck of Jim Sheppard's bass (who did an impressive job of fretting with just three fingers due to a door slamming incident). The reason that none of this took away from the band, however, is that he was having fun. And that made him a great frontman even if his vocals were sub-par. He got me in the mood to get drunk and rock even though it was a Sunday and I had an early day the next morning. The only problem is that my attention was often diverted from the rest of the band to watch Mr. Dane's antics, and that was unfortunate because they played and sounded awesome. So far, this is easily the best tour of this young millennium, and has set the standard pretty high for the shows that follow in its wake.
Arch Enemy
Photo by Brant Wintersteen
Death's Review (1/23/00, Downtime, New York, NY):
It's no secret that Nevermore is one of my favorite bands. And Arch Enemy's Burning Bridges is one of my top ten albums of 1999. So you can imagine how psyched I was for this show. Introductory thanks go out to Downtime and the promoters who got creative and brought this killer show to New York City. After the recent closures of clubs like Tramps and Coney Island High, finding a place to throw a metal show in Manhattan has been no easy task. And, while the facilities at Downtime are far from ideal, it sure beats another forty-five minute train ride out to Brooklyn. So thank you.
Nevermore
Photo by Brant WintersteenAs the night began, I uncharacteristically arrived at the scheduled meeting place outside the venue on time (Well, not "on time." I missed two metal bands, October Thorns and Deep. This is never the ideal state of affairs. But I was at the scheduled meeting place at the time I told my friends I'd be there. Unfortunately, they weren't.). Just in time, in fact, to realize why being punctual kinda sucks: you have to wait for everybody else. Nevertheless, I did get to listen to the drums bleed through the walls of the club while the band I was missing wailed away inside. Word has it I was listening to Deep. I commented to my friend that I thought the drum beat sounded kinda cool, that it sounded like the riffs adjoining it would have to be at least somewhat technical. However, some metalheads who had been standing around outside longer than I quelled my enthusiasm by telling me that the guy had been playing the same beat for half the set. Hmmm. Not sure whether that was true. Anyway, the rest of my crew showed up soon enough, so inside we went.
Up the stairs, through the black lights, and back down to the stage below, ending up right on the other side of the door that we had been standing behind just a few moments before (outside in the cold listening to the drums). Fortunately, it was also right next to the bar. While Deep delivered the final song of their set, I secured Heinekens for all my friends, which, after the band concluded, was quickly followed up by some chatting with some of the other Internet metal warriors who were out at the show that night. Before long, the time for Arch Enemy was upon us.
Nevermore
Photo by Brant WintersteenArch Enemy delivered one of the toughest sets of intricate, melodic, death metal bliss I have ever witnessed. They really were outstanding. Each member of the band is a masterful musician, with near-perfect execution displayed on every song. The Amott brothers are perhaps the best twin-guitar team in all of modern metal. The brilliance of the solos on the record were perhaps even topped in the live setting. Each guitar sounded excellent and cut through the mix like a laser. At times, it was hard to know which guitarist was playing which lead unless you could see their fingers. But together, they put on a clinic of guitar wizardy which even the Steve Vai/ Joe Satriani set could probably appreciate. It was utterly amazing.
Frontman Johan Liiva was absolutely sick. Twisting and contorting his gangly frame with a sinister authority, he reigned over the enthusiastic crowd with a veritable shadow-puppet-show full of various devil-horn hand- signs. His between-song banter praising the metalness of it all and how they were there to "tear up New York City!" only added to the glorious atmosphere. All in all, Arch Enemy gave what essentially amounted to a perfect performance.
Arch Enemy
Photo by Brant WintersteenUp next was Nevermore, but not before a lengthy set change. At least we had good music -- Sanctuary, Queensryche ("Prophecy"), and old Metal Church ("Metal Church") all were heard on over the PA between sets. After meeting up with some more metalheads who heretofore had only existed to me in cyberspace, we ventured up two flights of stairs to the lonely t-shirt stand to scope the merchandise. I threw down for an Arch Enemy longsleeve, $25. What the heck, they deserved it. The merch guy was cool and let us leave a few Metal Judgment promotional fliers, just in case anyone else got lost and wandered upstairs to the t-shirt stand. We thanked him and headed back downstairs to the stage area and our original spot.
At some point, Nevermore took the stage. "Next in Line" had heads bobbing within seconds. As expected, the band was awesome. The intricacy and complexity of the Nevermore live show cannot be accurately described except to say that, unbelievably, it duplicates the technicality of the records yet at the same time presents a more immediate and organic guitar sound that "rips your freakin' face off!" the way only the best metal could. Jim Sheppard's recent right index finger mishap was physically evident but, amazingly, did not affect his playing. He instead used his ring, middle and pinky fingers to fret the complex note patterns of his bass lines with no noticeable drop in galloping power or metallic ferocity. Hails to the true metal warrior for soldiering on in the face of a little blood.
Nevermore
Photo by Brant WintersteenWarrell Dane had a great night. But he'd also, well . . . he'd also seen better days. It had only been a few months since Warrell reigned supreme over New York on a Friday night in Brooklyn while opening for Mercyful Fate. Alas, there was to be no repeat performance this night at Downtime. Warrell honestly did not have his best stuff, although he more than made up for it with enthusiasm and sheer headbanging fun.
Dane went nuts, jumping (and falling) all over the stage, catching his hair in Sheppard's bass headstock and ripping out a chunk and just laughing about it (it just hung there on the bass for the rest of the song), but most importantly bonding with the fans in the live setting like no one I've seen since Bonz's performance for like, twelve people, at a Stuck Mojo show in Boise three years back. Dane stage-dove, pulled fans up on stage to thrash around and generously gave up the mic rather frequently (much too frequently, if you ask me) to a trio of aspiring power metal heroes in the front row. Sometimes, the dudes up front sounded pretty sick. And along the same lines, Warrell's voice would crack just a bit. That's when you knew for sure that something wasn't quite right with the singer's voice. Still, he gathered the strength to belt out a lengthy set which included brilliant renditions of "Dreaming Neon Black," "All Play Dead," "The Seven Tongues of God," and the Sanctuary tune, "Battle Angels." All in all, Nevermore delivered.
Nevermore and Arch Enemy playing a tiny Manhattan club in the wintertime to a room full of metal warriors who loved every note? A beautiful thing, I'm sure you'll agree. I had an amazing night, and I'm still in awe of the fact that this show even happened. Thank you, Century Media, for getting these bands out on the road. Thank you, Mr. Annonymous Booking Agent or A&R Rep, for putting these bands out on the road together. Thank you, promoter and/or club, for inviting the tour to our town and taking a chance on metal. And thank you bands for kicking all of our asses. It was a glorious metal night.
Hel's Review (1/23/00, Downtime, New York, NY):
This may be one of the greatest tours to ever come around. Two great bands, one tiny club. Venue aside, this was a show I looked forward to with great anticipation. I love both these bands, and had only seen one of them once.Last fall, Nevermore played at L'Amour as an opening act. It was not clear if they would be opening or headlining last Sunday, but that did not diminish my excitement one bit. Of course, I was hoping to see a longer set this time, but, if my memory isn't too far gone, I believe they played a pretty substantial set last time anyway. What I remember quite clearly: they rocked.
Finally, the night was upon us. Heading to Downtime in the snow, I wondered . . . What would the club be like? Who would go on first? Would I like Arch Enemy's live show as much as expected? Would I make it in time to see either of the other bands?
Arch Enemy
Photo by Cynthia PelznerWell, after waiting for the rest of the gang to show up, we got inside just as Deep was ending. Missed it. And October Thorns before them. So that meant either Arch Enemy or Nevermore was next, and that was what truly mattered.
I'd never been to Downtime before. I don't think I even knew it existed. But I was pleasantly surprised. Like all the clubs in Manhattan seem to be, Downtime is long and narrow. What is unusual is that it was spread out on three levels. The entrance was actually on the second floor, with a small balcony you could see the stage from. The merchandise was on the top floor, which made it very inconspicuous and inconvenient. The band was downstairs, with a second door right next to the stage, which explains why you have to go up to go down.
During the lengthy set change, I was hanging out in front of the bar, on the floor in front of the stage. The room was so small, I was leaning against the bar and standing less than five feet away from the stage all at the same time. At long last, Arch Enemy took the stage.
I certainly expected them to be awesome, I think the album is and I could think of no reason why it should be any different live. It was stupendous. It turns out that Johan Liiva is a brilliant frontman, screaming and emoting and flailing. The Amotts shredded and thrashed around, pulling off their amazingly technical riffs beautifully. The rhythm section was top notch.
The band and the fans alike obviously enjoyed themselves every moment. After blazing through an hour or perhaps more (who's paying attention to time while having this much fun?) of their awesome material, Arch Enemy announced their last tune. There were cries of dismay, but inevitably there was no more.
Another long interval passes. At this point, I've had time to absorb the fact that there seemed to be just enough people in the club. A very manageable ratio of people to room. I have to ponder the strangeness of the bands having to walk straight through the middle of the club to get to and from the stage. All the equipment is also brought through the crowd. Finally, after an excruciatingly boring break, Nevermore blasted off.
Nevermore
Photo by Brant WintersteenLike the first time I saw them, they launched off with "Next in Line" from Politics of Ecstasy. Fast and heavy, dark and aggressive, Nevermore instantly captured the room. The fans that were responsive before became rabid. Exuberant and more than a little drunk, Warrel Dane was as excited as the fans. While the others in the amazingly talented band kept the engine running full speed ahead, Warrel played: grinning, jumping into the crowd repeatedly, and letting the fans sing for him.
The one small blemish of the evening was that Warrel's voice was a little ragged, showing the signs of hard touring. But he made a point of one-upping each of the budding singers in the audience, which may be the reason his voice is wearing. The other guys were dead-on, and the entire performance was awesome.
I'm not sure I've ever had my expectations so fully met or have been more entertained. Both bands were incredible, the vibe was good and the crowd was into it. The sum total of the evening ends up being five skulls. I sure hope you caught this one.
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