ARCH ENEMY
The World Trade Center, Metro Manila, Philippines - 20th October 2009
Line-up: Arch Enemy + Support
Review by Miguel B
Being a mosher at heart, this writer did not hesitate to leave his buddies in their safe little corner and go where the violence was once the headliners came on. In a country where a heavy metal scene is close to nonexistent despite the heroic efforts of a few underground bands, Arch Enemy was the date in every metalhead’s social calendar. Be there, or forever be damned.
Unfortunately, a lot of blokes preferred damnation because the crowd was rather, how to put it nicely? Thin. A heavy metal concert, when handled by professionals, is always an awesome affair. Precious escape from the vagaries of everyday life. Yet no matter one’s enthusiasm, it’s always disheartening to see a near empty venue right when the headliners are about to go onstage. Frankly dear reader, the goddamn audience didn’t even fill a third of the immense convention center reserved for the event. And this was after a string of four opening acts who did their best to enliven the dullness.
After a near endless wait for the roadies to prep the stage for Arch Enemy, the lights change colour and sound effects blare from the amps. An air raid siren wails and to everyone’s ecstatic delight, the opening lick of 'Blood On Your Hands' electrifies the air. In the ensuing hour and a half performance, Angela Gossow and her four Swedish band mates perform everyone’s favourite Arch Enemy tunes from each album, including a couple of originally Johann Liva songs, then throw in volcanic pyro, clouds of fog, and dramatic guitar driven instrumental segues. If you’re an honest to goodness Arch Enemy fan, you would’ve hated yourself for having missed this event.
The sound was great throughout, with Angela’s growls horrendously rad when not speaking to the crowd in her thick German English. She actually looks better in real life than in her pictures, though someone mentioned in passing that her posterior wasn’t as attractive as expected. (“Dude, she has a small butt.”) And the Amott brothers (tons of respect to Archenemy’s rhythm section as well), man, their performance...beyond words. To this writer’s relief there was no shortage of friendly violent fun at the heart of the whole event—that’s the moshpit. Not just a moshpit even. Swirling circle pits, crowdsurfing, a savage wall of death, dozens of crazy punters playing air guitar along to the Amott brothers’ fretboard magic. The works. It was an adrenalin orgy.
On the flip side, there was absolutely no beer, lighters were forbidden for some reason or other (but people still managed to enjoy a few smokes), and there just weren’t enough warm bodies present to partake in the festivities. That, and it all seemed to end too soon. Capping the whole experience with an encore that featured 'We Will Rise' back to back with 'Nemesis' that had the whole venue screaming along to the chorus, Arch Enemy let the curtains fall on their performance in classic fashion, throwing junk (read: souvenirs) at the audience before bowing out.
With the concert wrapped, everyone went their separate ways, quietly savouring what they had just witnessed. This metalhead returned to his buddies and spent the ensuing trip home showing off his ”battle scars” from the pit.
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