unkle at the opera house
- The Answer
- Burn My Shadow
- Chemistry
- Natural Selection
- Reign
- Restless
- Ever Rest
- The Runaway
- Keys to the Kingdom
- Glow
- Ablivion
- Money and Run
- Eye for an Eye
Encore:
- Heaven
- Lonely Soul
- In a State
This was an amazing gig. Massive visuals and, let's be honest, it was the freaking Opera House. It was an occasion. The concert hall is small enough that even our relatively cheap seats were great seats.
How do you pick highlights from that set list? For me, Reign was perhaps the track I most wanted to hear played with a live string ensemble, for obvious reasons:
I wasn't disappointed - especially the pizzicato, which was just perfect.
Otherwise you can't really go wrong with tracks like Burn My Shadow, Chemistry and Restless.
Personally I'd have liked more tracks from Psyence Fiction - I think Unreal and Rabbit In Your Headlights could have been arranged quite well with strings. Still, you can't have everything and Lonely Soul done live had a depth of emotion and power that was just fantastic.
...although this, with the video backdrop, performed live in the Opera House to start the encore... this really had the crowd holding its breath:
It doesn't matter if you've seen that video before, at that moment, in that place, it was something else.
If the show had any downsides it was a little too much use of strobes and the sound levels were up a bit high - there's really no excuse for overdriving a PA in the Opera House. They could have brought both things down a bit for a more refined result - a few songs fell a bit flat because you couldn't hear the depth and detail that we know are in there from listening to the albums.
Overall though, what an experience. Even the band had to comment on what an unlikely night it really was - reinforced when they took their own photos from the stage!
I think it's one of those shows that will come to mind for years to come when I listen to the tracks from the night. It's added a new layer to my appreciation for a band I already loved.
When all is said and done, you can't ask for a whole lot more.
Labels: gig
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