Watched Riverside yesterday in Gothenburg. Have known this band for a long time (since Second Life Syndrome) but for last 2 years really gotten into their catalog. I really love Wasteland, Second Life Syndrom and ADHD. Was very excited to see them for my first time!
A bit of spoilers below for the setlist!
The show started with Acid Rain and I thought it was good but lacked a bit of energy from the cd. Was a bit worried at that point that maybe their live performances was gonna be good, but that DT set a too high. I was wrong ...
When the band finished playing Acid Rain they already felt more comfortable, or at least warmed up. They talked a bit with the audience and I noticed that the band is actually far from an introvert band but rather the opposite. They love interacting and continuously asked the audience to get dancing, clapping and singing along. And actually, we all did! I have never seen this reaction to a progressive band before.
The show was played in concert hall where everyone is seated. The good part is that the sound is always unbelievable but for the band having a seated crowd was new. When they started to bring out some classic songs like the intro to Saturate Me followed and Second Life Syndrome the crowd already began to stand up. You can feel how much the band loves to stand on stage. They are happy, they get into the groove over and over again and specially Michał (keyboardist) is such a burst of happiness. He is constantly laughing, digging, grooving and interacting with the audience.
I love ADHD so when Left Out started playing I got one of those nirvana feelings. They did it sooooooooooo good. So tight. So groovy. It was long since I felt the same thing during a concert! At this point any feelings I had in the beginning was so washed away. The band did fantastic playing and Mariusz singing is perfect. Don't understand how he can focus on bass and sing like that at the same time
The set just continued and then they played Egoist Hedonist. Once again. ADHD songs live are unbelievable! I think it was even better than the CD. People even danced at this point!
I have not seen that during a progressive metal show
When the show ended I couldn't believe they played for 2 hours. I felt like at most 1 hour. People were all very happy and talked to each other on the way out about how fantastic the experience was.
If you like Riverside (even just a little) and they are playing, do yourself a favor and just watch it