Anathema

[lonestar]

Holy fucking shit, what an amazing show. 




Edit: OK, finally home... so Mammifer was ok, nothing really special. I kept waiting for them to get rolling, then their set ended. Alcest was good, I am totally new to Alcest, had listened to a few tunes before the show but that was it. They had some major sound issues, kept adjusting levels into the fifth song, and still never got it right. I was beginning to think it was the venue or something, but Anathema cleared that thinking up quickly. Alcest sounded good when going all out, but when they went to the more delicate sections, it sounded muffled and kinda crappy, too bad cause I think their music was rock solid. Anathema was just fucking amazing, I was front row right in front of Lee, could of touched her feet I was so close. They were crystal clear, nailed every note perfectly, and were charismatic as all hell. Easily one of the best live bands I have ever seen.

[dongringo]

In Portland, I also was front center and high fived the brothers torward the end. I actually can't remembter much about Alcest. They were ok. But I remember every single thing about Anathema. They are one outstanding band, one of the best shows of my very long concert going life. And I thought it would sound terrible in the Hawthorne Theater because that venue usually has major sound issues, but it sounded fantastic. Either it was because I was front center or I'm wondering if they invested in a new sound system because everyone was crystal clear. I'll never think about the Hawthorne Theater the same again. Outstanding show!

[lonestar]

Interesting. I had seen Firewind at the same venue, and they had the same buried vocal issues that Alcest did, so I thought it the venue's fault as well.

[dongringo]

Acoustics and location must have a lot to do with it. When I saw Mew there from the far right side it was ear splitting and I spent the whole show covering my ears as to not blow them out.

[lonestar]

I thought that was part of the problem with Alcest as well, I was below the big speakers for the venue. Funny, after Alcest, the crowd kinda formed in the middle of the place(which allowed me to get up front for Anathema) thinking that the sound would be better, but it was pristine where I was, and I was literally standing next to the stage left monitor and Lee's monitor.

[senecadawg2]

I thought that was part of the problem with Alcest as well, I was below the big speakers for the venue. Funny, after Alcest, the crowd kinda formed in the middle of the place(which allowed me to get up front for Anathema) thinking that the sound would be better, but it was pristine where I was, and I was literally standing next to the stage left monitor and Lee's monitor.

I was standing in the exact same place (practically on the stage with Lee an armslength away), at my show as well and the sound was great.

[lonestar]

I thought that was part of the problem with Alcest as well, I was below the big speakers for the venue. Funny, after Alcest, the crowd kinda formed in the middle of the place(which allowed me to get up front for Anathema) thinking that the sound would be better, but it was pristine where I was, and I was literally standing next to the stage left monitor and Lee's monitor.

I was standing in the exact same place (practically on the stage with Lee an armslength away), at my show as well and the sound was great.

As was the view

[Nekov]

Seeing them live for the first time in less than 3 hours. Super excited!

[?]

The recent setlists look awesome, so you're in for a real treat!

[senecadawg2]

The recent setlists look awesome, so you're in for a real treat!

WOAH.... I just checked to see what you were talking about. The set lists have changed quite a bit. Awesome for Nekov, assuming he likes those songs.

[Nekov]

I haven't checked the set list. I wanna be surprised 

[senecadawg2]

I tried to not look either, but ended up accidentally looking at the setlist taped to the floor in front of Lee right before the show started 

[Nekov]

  I'll try to avoid doing that

[Ben_Jamin]

You guys are lucky. ...I'm tempted to look.

[Nekov]

Amazing show last night. Aside from the music I loved how the guys interacted with the crowd and how you could see they were having so much fun playing for us, inviting the crowd to participate in singing and chanting their melodies.
My only complaint was the sound which I don't think was their fault since they nailed everything right, but the drums were a bit louder than the rest of the band. And they didn't play "everything" which is one of my favorite songs but still, I had a lot of fun tonight.

And they said they're recording a new album in December 

[senecadawg2]

Glad you enjoyed it!

Amazing show last night. Aside from the music I loved how the guys interacted with the crowd and how you could see they were having so much fun playing for us, inviting the crowd to participate in singing and chanting their melodies.
My only complaint was the sound which I don't think was their fault since they nailed everything right, but the drums were a bit louder than the rest of the band. And they didn't play "everything" which is one of my favorite songs but still, I had a lot of fun tonight.

And they said they're recording a new album in December 

Should be ready for release by Spring! Early AOTY contender for me.

[Zantera]

Before even hearing it? lol

[Lolzeez]

I'm gonna see them in November. EXCITED!!!!

[senecadawg2]

Before even hearing it? lol

yeah I realize it's not best to get my hopes up, and that you likely wouldn't have been as disappointed with WS if you hadn't gotten your own hopes up. But in my defense, there's not a whole lot of other stuff I'm really looking forward to in 2014, yet.

[Heretic]

I'm sure whatever they release will be awesome.

[Nekov]

I'm sure whatever they release will be awesome.

If they keep the same line I'll be really happy.

And I forgot to mention, I fell in love with Lee but in a totally platonic way. I was a little far from the stage so I couldn't really see her clearly but her voice, oh my god!

[gazinwales]

I actually met Jamie Cavanaugh quite by accident today in Sydney.
He's touring Australia doing the lighting for Finnish band Moonsorrow.
I was showing the band the Opera House etc, and Jamie pops up and starts snapping away with his camera.
I had a chat to him about Anathema and asked about the Universal lack of 5.1 sound.
He said he didn't know that there wasn't a surround mix, but said it was probably because Steve Wilson was not available to do it.

[Perpetual Change]

Man, it's almost criminal how little discussion "Universal" is getting. 

It's easily the concert film of the year IMO. Such a great performance, in a really cool atmospheric venue. It definitely makes you love what this band are doing, and you can totally buy it when they say things about feeling like a new band.

[Zantera]

Like I've said before, I don't really watch live dvds that much. For me it's mostly a matter of time, I'm always doing something, and setting aside 2 hours to watch a concert is not high up on my list. It's different than something like a movie, in the case with concerts, the visual part is appealing to me if I am actually seeing live on place, but seeing it at home isn't as exciting. I do tend to listen to all the live albums I'm interested in though, listening means I can still do other things on the side.

And Universal is a great live album. A bit too much WHBWH/WS for my taste perhaps (not that those albums are bad, a few more older songs would have been cool), but I obviously understand why the setlists looks the way it does.

[Perpetual Change]

Like I've said before, I don't really watch live dvds that much. For me it's mostly a matter of time, I'm always doing something, and setting aside 2 hours to watch a concert is not high up on my list. It's different than something like a movie, in the case with concerts, the visual part is appealing to me if I am actually seeing live on place, but seeing it at home isn't as exciting. I do tend to listen to all the live albums I'm interested in though, listening means I can still do other things on the side.

And Universal is a great live album. A bit too much WHBWH/WS for my taste perhaps (not that those albums are bad, a few more older songs would have been cool), but I obviously understand why the setlists looks the way it does.

Yeah, the band seem to consider WHBWH to be their first album. I guess that's not great for older fans, but considering the direction they've been going in, and how much I like it better than their old stuff, it's cool to see a band committing to their new material to such a great extent.

Universal is visually great thanks to the venue, too. Looks like a very good place to watch a concert.

[krands85]

Man, it's almost criminal how little discussion "Universal" is getting. 

It's easily the concert film of the year IMO. Such a great performance, in a really cool atmospheric venue. It definitely makes you love what this band are doing, and you can totally buy it when they say things about feeling like a new band.

I watched it a few weeks ago and thought it was awesome 

Vincent is probably my favourite vocalist right now, I love his voice and the emotion he puts in to his performances. Even when I saw them supporting Opeth last year when I wasn't quite as big a fan, he still blew me away 

[Ben_Jamin]

Universal is amazing. I might watch today in fact.

[senecadawg2]

Like Zantera, I also rarely get into live DVD's. It's just not usually worth the time commitment, for me.

With that being said, I completely agree with all of this:

Man, it's almost criminal how little discussion "Universal" is getting. 

It's easily the concert film of the year IMO. Such a great performance, in a really cool atmospheric venue. It definitely makes you love what this band are doing, and you can totally buy it when they say things about feeling like a new band.

Universal is the exception to my rule about live DVD's. I've watched it about 6 times through now, and that number would be higher if I had a bluray player with me here at school.

[Perpetual Change]

Glad to see I was wrong about it not getting any love.

Yeah, Universal is great. Might be a favorite live DVD for me, up there with some of the best. It kinda just feels very special and unique compared to most other live DVDs I have.

[Silver Tears]

Hmm maybe I should watch it

[ColdFireYYZ]

I've only been able to watch Universal once since I've been pretty busy, but it's incredible. I'm not a big fan of concert DVDs, but this is definitely one of my favorites. My only complaints are that Lee's vocals are too low in the mix at times (e.g. her backing vocals on Internal Landscapes) and the fact that they had an orchestra but didn't include any of the reworked songs from Falling Deeper. Crestfallen/Sleep In Sanity and Sunset of Age would have been great. But otherwise, I love it!

[senecadawg2]

Hmm maybe I should watch it

Oh yeah, you won't regret it.

[Ben_Jamin]

"And now the version of Fragile Dreams you all want to hear."

[senecadawg2]

That's actually one of the only things that bothers me about the DVD. Knowing that they were going to play the normal version without the orchestra, why not swap out that first fragile dreams for something else?

[Ben_Jamin]

That's actually one of the only things that bothers me about the DVD. Knowing that they were going to play the normal version without the orchestra, why not swap out that first fragile dreams for something else?

Because they probably prefer the new version of Fragile Dreams over the original, yet to please fans they included the original so fans won't be upset.