When the doors of the venue opened there was a long line of fans waiting in front. It had been some time since I had seen a sold out show at the 013 and I must say that the atmosphere in a packed house is completely different from a half sold venue. At nine o’clock the lights dimmed and the German band Angelzoom hit the stage. Noticing from reactions in the crowd, a lot of people were familiar with this foursome. It was too bad that the music the band played was too soft to gain the attention of all the 1200 people in the room, resulting in a lot of noise during the songs. This didn’t seem to bother the opening act that much though. Another thing that diverted my attention from the music was the horrible sound of the lower regions. If this wouldn’t be sorted out before the main act would hit the stage, this would turn out to be a long evening. I was surprised that Angelzoom left the stage only after a mere thirty minutes of music.

Standing front row – being a photographer – I got a clear look of Apocalyptica fans. I was surprised by the low average age of the, mostly female, fans. There were even some that had shown up with small banners, showing their support (and love) for the band. Some of these girls will have been disappointed by the fact that Perttu didn’t make the gig due to a fever that kept him in bed.

Apocalyptica played a solid and very convincing show from the first tones to the final encores. I never would have thought that a band, consisting of three cellos and a drum kit could entertain me for almost two hours. The only times that my attention slowly shifted were during the extremes in classic as well as metal. Watching these men, playing their instruments, seated on their chairs, resulting in a static environment, one would have thought that this might result in a boring show. The way in which these Finns expressed themselves and the way they interacted with each other as well as the crowd, made Apocalyptica fun to watch.

The highlight of the show was the closing section, where Paavo and Eicca left their chairs, hit the front of the stage and gave absolutely everything to bring the crowd to ecstasy. They succeeded big time. Apocalyptica amazed me in every possible way.

(Review & Pics: Geert Oldenmenger)