Shelter But No Shower

Back we are ;) Two days after the grandiose rock show with OPETH and ANATHEMA now the reduced not so much “unplugged” or better said acoustic show at the • Christ Church • in Bochum. This church is actually known for its concerts and events, even if not really for metal shows. I have never been there so far, it is my first time and I was quite impressed: By the size of the church, its stage and lights, the organization. Well, Protestants seemingly are open-minded enough and know how to do such things ;)
As this special show sold out in a twinkling of an eye (there have been only 3 acoustic shows during the whole tour), I got me tickets too, just to be on the safe side. Luckily I got my accreditation and could make other fans happy with the tickets. I actually do not know how many people fit into the church, but I’d say that were at least 800 fans. Only downer was the fact that we, the photographers, were placed in the back of the church in a corner and had to take photos from there. Bummer…

::pics ::

However, tonight :: ANATHEMA :: kicked in with Thin Air, seeing Danny alone on stage, looping one part after another. Then Vincent appeared and added his guitar parts intensify the atmosphere and his singing, while Lee Douglas joined in for her vocals too. Wow. How awesome. Gooseflesh causing! Dreaming Light saw Daniel Cardoso entering the stage for the piano parts, and then he left again. Bass player Jamie and drummer John were not part of the performance, but they stood in front of stage and rocked with Daniel Cardoso, Vincent and Lee respectively, depending who was on stage or not. Playing in a church led Danny to a few critical words against religion as introduction to the Pink Floyd cover Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2), which was quite surprising as we are used to their Comfortably Numb version. The congregation anyway sang along every single line full-throated, which again created an incredible moment. With Fragile Dreams ANATHEMA closed their set that was once again way to short.
Setlist: Thin Air, The Beginning And The End, Dreaming Light, Untouchable Part 2, A Natural Disaster, Another Brick In The Wall (Pink Floyd), Fragile Dreams

Again :: OPETH :: did it quickly and took their seats on stage. Knowing Mikaels sense of black humor I now expected a loud growled “God is dead” phrase with the opening track Heritage. But no… Instead many “f*ck’s” and “shit’s” slipped over his lips, followed by a statement about body odor (see headline). Of course many other banters (“we sit on the altar”) and anecdotes followed during the show leaving the audience laughing hard. Also OPETH played surprising songs I would not have expected in the set on here. There was for example a cover version of Var Kommer Barnen In? from Swedish band Hansson De Wolfe United and a story behind where Katatonia’s Jonas Renkse is involved too ;) Before playing Black Sabbath’s Solitude Napalm Death’s You Suffer was squeezed in and scored. And again there have been people shouting in between, especially one fan that wanted to hear Windowpane, what Mikael understood as sort of windows taste and then countered with: “sorry, wrong guitar”. *lol* Also the unplugged vs. acoustic thing was always good for a joke. OPETH by the way played as complete line-up, with the string-guys sitting on bar stools, unfortunately with (great) lights only on Mikael and Frederik. This show was really stunning, very relaxed and chilling but with great and powerful sound and a splendid atmosphere. Just marvelous. From the first to the last tune. And the last tune came way too early. And no encore. Buhuuu. Too bad. Though, thank you OPETH for this superb vespertine entertainment :)
Setlist: Heritage, Credence, In My Time Of Need, Häxprocess, Var Kommer Barnen In? (Hansson De Wolfe United), You Suffer (Napalm Death), Solitude (Black Sabbath), Benighted, Demon Of The Fall, Hope Leaves, Atonement, Marrow Of The Earth

story & pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography