Weather: High: 85 and HUMID!!!
Okay, a rare weekend post for me. Just wanted to get my review from last night’s concert up before I forgot anything.
Opening band Ayria were amazing! Lead singer Jennifer Parkin has a fantastic voice and their music is comparable to Collide but with a definite EBM edge. Every song was good! Dancey, industrial and just FTW! Bri and I both went and downloaded a bunch of their songs from I-Tunes this morning. The nice plus is that we’ll get to see them again at Dragon*Con!!
Ayria albums & singles are available through i-tunes and Amazon.com
War Tapes came on next and I was trying to figure out who they reminded me about as they performed. They’re more a alternative dark rock band than an EBM band, so the audience wasn’t quite as enthusiastic, which was a shame because they really are a fantastic band. Finally it hit me about two songs in. Lead singer Neil sounds very much like a younger Wayne Hussey from the Mission. And I mean that as a huge compliment because I’m a diehard Mission fan. In fact one of the songs they performed last night would have felt right at home on a Mish album!! They also did a wonderful Love & Rockets cover of “Love Me” . Honestly, they were phenomenal and I was very impressed. Bought their album “Continental Divide” this morning. 🙂
You can purchase War Tapes albums via i-tunes or Amazon.com
VNV Nation started their show off with Honour 2003 (after the instrumental intro of Pro Victoria off the new album) so we knew we were in for a blistering pace if this was the start off! True to form, Ronan Harris was by turns soulful and a force of nature when he sang, exhorting the audience frequently “Are we moving, people?” . And true to form, he was freaking HILARIOUS in between songs. VNV are often depicted as dark and angry at times, but live they are one of the most fun and uplifting bands you could ever see. As Ronan said towards the end of the evening, he likes to treat their concerts like “A party attended by all their good friends” and damned if that isn’t what it feels like every time I’ve seen them.
The show itself was high energy with only one slow down point (“Illusion” ) which didn’t really dampen the spirit as the audience almost drowned out Ronan singing along with the lyrics. At one point Neil, the singer from War Tapes stumbled onto stage and gave Ronan a huge hug, to which Ronan commented, “This is Neil from War Tapes. And Neil has obviously found the whiskey” It was a humorous moment among many others. Including Ronan giving the audience mock grief for trying to start a mosh pit. “We aren’t bloody Slayer!”
Here., to my best recollection is the set list (The first and last songs are correct for position, but I may screw up the order in between.) In () is the album the song came from if you’re interested.
SETLIST:
Intro: Pro Victoria (Of Faith, Power & Glory)
Honour 2003 (Honour 2003 single*)
Sentinal (Of Faith, Power & Glory)
Epicentre (Futureperfect)
In Defiance (Of Faith, Power & Glory)
Dark Angel (Empires)
Testament (Judgement)
Standing (Empires)
Illusion (Judgement)
Further (Burning Empires**)
Tomorrow Never Comes (Of Faith, Power & Glory)
Nemesis (Judgement)
Chrome (Matter + Form)
Precipice (Reformation***)
Farthest Star (Judgement)
Beloved (FuturePerfect)
* The Honour 2003 single is available on i-tunes. The original is on Empires.
** Burning Empires was a remix album that is available on i-tunes
*** Reformation is the boxed set of remixes, unreleased tracks and live version. AWESOME.
VNV Nation releases are available on i-tunes & Amazon. com. (They are fully independent now and have their own label – Anachron America (U.S.) & Anachron Sounds (Europe))
All in all it was a fantastic concert with no bad moments, at least not for me. 🙂
If you ever get a chance to see VNV Nation, I highly highly recommend it. They are an experience not to be missed!
Nevermoreland 