Pain of Salvation thread, v.2 (merged)

[Max Kuehnau]

Was at the DC show.  I had the prime spot right in front of Daniel, which really wasn't that hard to get because the venue was less than half full.  Kind of sad to see that the turnout is so low.  I'm still wondering why they've never toured as a support act in the U.S. (as far as I can remember).  It seems like they went straight to headline shows but never built the audience up. 

Anyway the show was amazing.  I honestly neither noticed nor cared about the lack of bass player, except in the intro of Icon when that bass solo came through the PA lol.  I was surprised that Daniel's singing was impeccable and he was hitting all the high notes from TPE material without issue.  After seeing some clips of recent years I though he couldn't do that anymore but at least tonight he 100% could.  I also gotta say that the new stuff rocks harder on stage and when they busted out The Perfect Element it actually sounded kind of antique.  Leo sang that "I lost the will" moment in On a Tuesday which was a really big moment. 

Daniel didn't come out after the show unfortunately but I had lovely conversations with Vikram, Leo, and Johan.  All unbelievably nice people, an excellent lineup on and off stage.

Great report! I agree, they should open for DT or Opeth or someone like that.  They're one of my favorite bands, so it's sad to hear of such small turnouts.  It must have been amazing for you to be right in front of Daniel though.

Pain Of Salvation did open for DT already, in 2002, during the first European leg of the 6D tour (and the only one of the tour to actually have carried an opening act, all the others didn't anymore, at least in Europe), which btw was the second time I saw DT.

[Ben_Jamin]

Damn, seeing The Perfect Element live must be something special. Just quickly skipped through and it sounds daaaamn good. The keyboard guy is awesome! 🤘 I hate how POS usually manages to skip Sweden haha.

Her Voices is one of my favorite songs and it sounded amazing here!

When preparing for ProgPower I was listening to The Perfect Element, pretty much for the first time. I came to love Her Voices and loved it live.

[Kram]

Was at the DC show.  I had the prime spot right in front of Daniel, which really wasn't that hard to get because the venue was less than half full.  Kind of sad to see that the turnout is so low.  I'm still wondering why they've never toured as a support act in the U.S. (as far as I can remember).  It seems like they went straight to headline shows but never built the audience up. 

Anyway the show was amazing.  I honestly neither noticed nor cared about the lack of bass player, except in the intro of Icon when that bass solo came through the PA lol.  I was surprised that Daniel's singing was impeccable and he was hitting all the high notes from TPE material without issue.  After seeing some clips of recent years I though he couldn't do that anymore but at least tonight he 100% could.  I also gotta say that the new stuff rocks harder on stage and when they busted out The Perfect Element it actually sounded kind of antique.  Leo sang that "I lost the will" moment in On a Tuesday which was a really big moment. 

Daniel didn't come out after the show unfortunately but I had lovely conversations with Vikram, Leo, and Johan.  All unbelievably nice people, an excellent lineup on and off stage.

Great report! I agree, they should open for DT or Opeth or someone like that.  They're one of my favorite bands, so it's sad to hear of such small turnouts.  It must have been amazing for you to be right in front of Daniel though.

Pain Of Salvation did open for DT already, in 2002, during the first European leg of the 6D tour (and the only one of the tour to actually have carried an opening act, all the others didn't anymore, at least in Europe), which btw was the second time I saw DT.

I know, but that was 20 years ago.  I was thinking more along the lines of opening for them on a US tour.  To get them some much needed exposure here in North America.

[goo-goo]

Remember that PoS, more specifically Daniel, refused to tour the US during the George W. Bush days I believe....and then he got really really sick for a year or two. All the momentum the band had up to that point in the US quickly faded. Now they are back in the US and they still make money, otherwise, they wouldn't have returned after their US headlining show prior to Covid (I caught them in Dallas at an outdoor venue and it was fucking freezing, turnout was less compared to what I saw in this years tour pictures).

[Kram]

Remember that PoS, more specifically Daniel, refused to tour the US during the George W. Bush days I believe....and then he got really really sick for a year or two. All the momentum the band had up to that point in the US quickly faded. Now they are back in the US and they still make money, otherwise, they wouldn't have returned after their US headlining show prior to Covid (I caught them in Dallas at an outdoor venue and it was fucking freezing, turnout was less compared to what I saw in this years tour pictures).

You're right - I forgot he refused to enter the US LOL.  Well obvioulsy that's no longer the case.  So I'm calling for a 2nd North American leg of the View From a Top of The World tour, with special guests Pain of Salvation.  I think this would be a win win for both bands!

[Kram]

Daniel posted on Facebook a few days ago (and I'm paraphrasing) that he just wasted 20 mins scrolling down through Facebook and it was all nonsense he didn't see anything that interested him.  So I replied and said I basically just did the same thing (I did) and that I can't wait for the new album.  He replied to me and said I might have to wait as he hasn't touched it in months.  I replied and just said I will patiently wait then, didn't ask why.  But now I'm wondering what the delay is - label related, or maybe he's just not inspired now?  Anyway, just wanted to update any of you POS fans on here with this info.

[Nick]

He could be feeling like a Panther, an animal which, to the best of my knowledge, is unable to play guitar.

[Adami]

So Daniel posted a pic of the two Johanns saying they’re gonna make new music together. And I am super pumped.

[devieira73]

Niiice!! Leo is great, but I miss a lot Johan's drumming in PoS music (I  know they are recording now as a different project). I think Johan added more of his own style than Leo in PoS music. Just listen how Leo's drumming is similar to the drums played by Daniel in the In the Passing Light of Day demos.

[PixelDream]

ITPOL, sure, but I think Leo really came into his own on Panther. Not only what he plays but all the different approaches and sounds. I had to get used to his main snare sound on the album, but eventually it really gels with the music on that album.

[wolfking]

So Daniel posted a pic of the two Johanns saying they’re gonna make new music together. And I am super pumped.

This technically could still mean POS. 

[Kram]

Niiice!! Leo is great, but I miss a lot Johan's drumming in PoS music (I  know they are recording now as a different project). I think Johan added more of his own style than Leo in PoS music. Just listen how Leo's drumming is similar to the drums played by Daniel in the In the Passing Light of Day demos.

Did he say this is a new project - or just old friends jamming together having fun?

[Adami]

He said new heavy music.

[Kram]

He said new heavy music.

I'm down for that.  I wonder what's going on with the new POS album though - it's been in the works for a long time now.

[obelix5150]

Vikram Shankar here, just wanted to come in real quick and thank everyone for their kind words re: the Pain of Salvation gigs last year. It was beyond surreal to play with the guys for a month, including the historic Perfect Element set.

He's awesome but there are moments when I feel like he's overplaying a bit in the TPE gig and throwing in flashy stuff that was never really part of the PoS vocabulary.  If he became full time I'd wanna see that reigned in a bit personally.  But, super nice guy bringing tons of energy for sure.  Maybe they could keep him and have D2 fill the empty bass position...

Appreciate the honesty! When prepping for the TPE gig I asked Daniel what his approach to that side of things was, as well as freedom to improv and be creative, and he was open to a degree of creative freedom, and so for certain parts of the set, like some of the "jammy" parts of In The Flesh, I did let loose a little bit. Perhaps a bit much, in hindsight. I tend to get fully immersed in the energy and spirit of the songs and in the spirit of that, sometimes things happen that you don't foresee. I guess that's the joy of true live performance.    For the vast majority of the TPE gig I did try to view it as a sort of "historical" event and be as faithful to the original recording as possible, spending time researching the original equipment and patches used, and trying to use splits and layers and patch programming to execute live things that ordinarily would have either been ignored or relegated to back track, like the string quartet parts. I apologize if anything I did in that set was a bit much, but it was out of love, I promise 

[senecadawg2]

Greetings Vikram! I really enjoyed your contributions, and both of the shows I was lucky enough to attend (Charlotte and PPUSA) were among my favorites in a long time. Keep up the great work.

[Kram]

Vikram Shankar here, just wanted to come in real quick and thank everyone for their kind words re: the Pain of Salvation gigs last year. It was beyond surreal to play with the guys for a month, including the historic Perfect Element set.

He's awesome but there are moments when I feel like he's overplaying a bit in the TPE gig and throwing in flashy stuff that was never really part of the PoS vocabulary.  If he became full time I'd wanna see that reigned in a bit personally.  But, super nice guy bringing tons of energy for sure.  Maybe they could keep him and have D2 fill the empty bass position...

Appreciate the honesty! When prepping for the TPE gig I asked Daniel what his approach to that side of things was, as well as freedom to improv and be creative, and he was open to a degree of creative freedom, and so for certain parts of the set, like some of the "jammy" parts of In The Flesh, I did let loose a little bit. Perhaps a bit much, in hindsight. I tend to get fully immersed in the energy and spirit of the songs and in the spirit of that, sometimes things happen that you don't foresee. I guess that's the joy of true live performance.    For the vast majority of the TPE gig I did try to view it as a sort of "historical" event and be as faithful to the original recording as possible, spending time researching the original equipment and patches used, and trying to use splits and layers and patch programming to execute live things that ordinarily would have either been ignored or relegated to back track, like the string quartet parts. I apologize if anything I did in that set was a bit much, but it was out of love, I promise 

Don't apologize for anything Vikram you were awesome!  IMO it really added to the "live" feel of the show and hey, you had Daniel's approval so all's good.  Thanks again!

[axeman90210]

Vikram, I'm still trying to recover from that second set you guys played on CttE last year