Damn they just did a show which was the same US set but with two more The Mountain songs added. That's a long concert!
Yep! In between their European festival dates, they popped off three headlining shows in eastern/northern Europe. Two in Poland, and one in Estonia. By sheer insane coincidence, I was already going to be in Estonia in late June on vacation, and when they
announced a show in Tallinn for June 29, my jaw hit the floor. I mean, I live in Ohio, and I couldn't make the Cleveland date back in May -- but I get to see them halfway around the world? Works for me.
So, interesting show, and it's almost a month later but I'm gonna share a little report. First, the venue (Paavli Kultuurivabrik) had just opened a couple weeks prior. It's basically an event venue / cultural center built in an older industrial part of town, and man, it looked the part. Here's what the place looked like from the outside.
I got there way early and there was barely anyone else milling around. A few other fans started to show up about 30 minutes prior to doors opening -- or, ok, a big imposing metal gate opened. You know for sure you're in the right place when you see Dream Theater shirts, Tool shirts, and this one dude in a trenchcoat who looked like he was going to audition to be in My Chemical Romance or something.
Get inside and it's pretty nice, actually! Outdoor bars and sitting areas on a pleasant June evening.
Didn't have any problem getting front row for the show.
And that's one thing I noticed is just how small this place was compared to where Haken's been playing recently. Given that it never completely filled up, I'd guess 200-250 people in attendance, which is probably one of the smaller crowds that Haken has played for in a while...
...but wow, was the crowd lively! I've seen Haken 8 times prior, but all in the US or on Cruise To The Edge, and I've never seen a show like this. Everyone was really into it from start to finish, and they were singing along. They knew the lyrics to the Fauna songs. They were even singing some of the instrumental sections, including from stuff like Celestial Elixir. It was really cool to be a part of that kind of crowd.
As mentioned earlier, this was a long
set. It was a solid, full two hours. Everything listed here,
plus Messiah Complex as the encore.
A pretty good mix, including a few of my favorites (The Architect, Atlas Stone). I haven't seen the band since Fauna was released, and I would have loved Nightingale or Alphabet, but can't complain about the songs we got. Messiah Complex was better live than I expected, too. I'm not a huge fan of Vector/Virus, but it was fun to see it live. The groove in Ectobius Rex is just massive.
This concert had one other defining thing, though -- it was
hot. I know air conditioning in northern Europe isn't the same as we're used to in the US, but I simply don't think there was any at all in this place. Holy cow, it got uncomfortable in there. Ross mentioned it several times, the entire band was practically dripping in sweat, but they powered through the entire setlist with no apparent ill effects.
And then you leave the venue at 11PM, and it's still light outside because it's northern Europe so the sun just set 15 minutes ago.
So yeah, was a pretty fun night on a fun European vacation. Haken's first-ever concert in Estonia!
Topic: Haken thread v. "Evening With" tour (some set spoilers) (Read 63926 times)
