Saw Leprous last night... and basically no one was there. 500 person capacity venue and you could just walk right up to the stage and have plenty of space. I thought maybe there were 100 people in the building combined between staff and fans, but by the time Leprous took the stage, it may have been around 50 people watching them.
So I stood right up front
I could basically play the keys or change all the guitar pedals if I wanted to
Made for a pretty intimate experience, but honestly, it looked like the band just wanted to be out of there. Einar did make one comment about never thinking he'd be in Asbury Park which is kind of funny and maybe true, but kind of felt like a shot to the no crowd. Every other comment between songs was about how the last few years sucked. He also dedicated Castaway Angels to his Ukrainian girlfriend.
They sounded great. Pretty awesome performance. I was so close I could actually hear the tuning of the strings between songs and the clicking of the foot pad during songs. It looked like the band did give a good performance regardless of what they may have said or the vibe I was kind of feeling. Einar really can hit those high notes, and seemingly with ease. THe cellist was great, I thought that was just a thing for the Malina tour, so was a bit surprised and happy to see him again. That ups their live show so much. Also, loved how everyone would play the keys at different points. The band is clearly very talented. And of course, can't not say how good Baard is. He's just a beast.
So since there wasn't much people up front, I got a set list from the roadie after the band left the stage. The setlist (which I could see in front of me before they even started) ended up having two more songs on it than they performed. The same roadie told me they had some technical issues with the guitars and had to drop songs. This was very interesting because I had noticed the guitarist in front of me, but also the bassist, constantly tuning their guitars. (I even mentioned how clearly I could hear them do it between songs) Also, during these times it wasn't like the room was quiet. Einar and the cellist were constantly playing soft music. I actually thought these were all little interludes between the songs, maybe they weren't? Anyway, what sucked the most was that without those two songs, the 10 song set was almost exclusively songs from the last two albums, which I don't love (I finally got Aphelion last week to check out before the show).
Either way, cool concert. I was pretty tired from Dream Theater the night before, but glad I went. $25 at the door, saw Leprous from the front row, got a setlist... oh and moved back to capture a couple songs as well!
Leprous - The Silent Revelation LIVE @ House of Independents Asbury Park NJ 3/6/2022Leprous - From the Flame LIVE @ House of Independents Asbury Park NJ 3/6/2022