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Here
you have it.
The last show in a short Asian/Australian tour. Arch Enemy remain one
of the
hardest working metal acts out there. It takes real dedication for a
band to
sit there & sign the mountain of tour shirts & DVD's
populating
tonight's merch stand, for one thing. And if last tour was any
indication, they
were set to deliver up more blood, sweat, & tears for a
near-capacity
horde.
But first... the
support bands. Aussie thrash/prog hybrid outfit Teramaze delivered an
underwhelming set. Lacklustre efforts aside, wearing sunglasses inside
a venue
that dark seemed a bit pretentious. First opening band Eliysian put on
an
enthusiastic, energetic set. They did a fantastic job of getting the
crowd
pumped up for Arch Enemy. The effect of Teramaze's set immediately
after was a
bit like running along at full speed... only to meet a brick wall
face-first.
Needless to say,
the crowd was ready for blood by the time Arch Enemy rolled in.
Pocket-rocket
vocalist Angela Gossow dominated the stage from the start, but it was
clearly a
Michael Amott show. The flame-headed shred master was on top of his
game &
clearly knew it. He flawlessly worked the crowd & delivered
precise,
blistering leads. His melody lines served as perfect counterpoint to
Gossow's larger-than-life
growls.
Newbie Nick
Cordle
slotted into place with the band fairly well, for the most part. A solo after “Dead
Eyes See No Future” roughly halfway through the set let him
show us what he's
capable of. Amott's set to have some competition on his hands. My only
complaint with Cordle is that, whilst he is a highly competent
musician, he
didn't seem to interact with the crowd as much as the rest of the band
or
interact with his bandmates as much on stage.
They made us
wait
for it, as you might espect. “Nemesis” whipped the
pit into a frenzy second
track into a 3-song encore. Throwing picks & drumsticks out as
the band
left the stage was like tossing chum to the sharks. Arch Enemy gave us
their
best & we responded in kind.
Easily a 9 out
of
10.
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