(Live Review) OPETH + TRIBULATION - Milwaukee, WI (10/11/24)
By
The Beard & Little Johnny
Welcome friends, fans, and followers to stop #64 and bands #213-214 of our 2024 never ending tour. Tonight finds us at the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee for Swedish prog metal band Opeth, with support from fellow Swedes Tribulation.
Before we get into the review, the Beard does have a bone to pick with the Eagles Club facility. The Beard obtained his “ticket,” (a VIP table on the balcony), the very day they went on sale almost five months before the actual show. So imagine my reaction to an email received just two days before the show informing me that the seating had been reconfigured and my VIP table was being converted to a reserved balcony seat so freaking far to the side that I had a better view of the back half of the balcony than I did the stage.
Furthermore, there was to be NO REFUND or compensation made for this (other than the sentence “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this causes.”) The Fuck you do! You screwed me and about forty other people who paid good money WELL in advance of the show, (to obtain a good view), by now giving us all a horseshit view and saying essentially “TOO BAD SO SAD!” You “sincerely apologize" huh? I am pretty damn sure you DON’T.
To be quite clear…THAT WAS A SHITTY THING TO DO TO THE FANS YOU MONEY HUNGRY UNCARING JACKWAGONS AND THE EAGLES CLUB CAN KISS MY FURRY ASS. “Oh, and hey…I “sincerely” apologize for any inconvenience that statement causes.” (Ed: Wow - the Beard can actually get angry!)
So, now that is out of the way, onto the show review. Opeth live.
Opening the evening was Tribulation, a Swedish death/black/goth act supporting their sixth studio release Sub Rosa In Aeternum (2024.) Given our seats were balcony HARD stage left, pictures will be limited.
TRIBULATION
Although still having some medium growl-like death lyrics, Tribulation was more akin to a goth/prog type of sound. We could mostly make out the lyrics and singer Johannes Andersson had a voice that reminded me of The Sisters of Mercy. The songs were decent, with some goth and prog, and even some doom sound to them. The crowd initially though was only partially into them.
On their third number, I did think they hit a nice doomy-type jam but once again the sound was difficult for two reasons; one, Eagles Club has notoriously bad sound in that room, and two, FROM MY NEW SEAT I WAS MORE LIKELY TO HEAR WHAT THE BAND HEARD ON STAGE RATHER THAN WHAT THE AUDIENCE WAS SUPPOSED TO HEAR!
The fourth song had a real goth feel to it which is not my thing, but it was still okay. By their final song Tribulation had won over the crowd but it had taken them almost their entire 45-minute set to do so, therefore, I am calling them 81/100. Good but not great.
OPETH:
Opeth takes the basic framework of death metal and incorporates folk, blues, classical and jazz elements. These cause most of their songs to turn into layered and generally lengthy compositions. This will be the Beard's fourth time seeing the band.
My first ever viewing of Opeth was on their way up the success ladder when I referred to them as "Pink Floyd if there had been death metal back in 1971". On the other three occasions Opeth has been the headliner. Since their breakthrough with 2001’s Blackwater Park, Opeth has released ten albums over the last quarter century including their latest, Last Will and Testament (2024). Formed around 1990, vocalist Michael Akerfeldt remains the lone original member.
Opening with “Paragraph 1” from the new release, Michael Akerfeldt continued with his mix of clean and death vocals. Add in the melodic playing of Fredrik Akesson (guitars), and the keyboards of Joakim Svalberg and Opeth remains a proggy death art project.
Newer drummer Waltteri Vayrynen, (and I am so glad I only have to spell that name once), seemed already adept at all the material as Opeth rolled through "The Leper Affinity" from Black Water Park, and "The Grand Conjuration" from Ghost Reveries (which is a personal favorite of mine.)
Looking down from the balcony at the sea of banging heads going in unison was a great sight, (and sadly the only one I could see other than the monitors and lighting rig from side stage.) Akerfeldt's between song rap, where he discussed always wanting to experiment with new Opeth musical styles, ended with a tongue in cheek promise of some country line dancing Opeth, which admittedly was funny stuff.
Opeth then went into "The Devils Orchard" from Heritage and "Eternal Rains Will Come" from Pale Communion as they continued to perform quite the varied setlist. After the death-like growls of "The Grand Conjuration", these two were far more progressive sounding numbers with a touch of Yes style keyboards throughout the center section.
Akerfeldt told a story about his eldest daughter being obsessed with serial killers and asked the crowd if Jeffery Dahmer was the most famous thing about Milwaukee. Next up was some very Pink Floyd-esque material with quite the ethereal keyboard section. With "In My Time of Need" from Damnation and "Face of Melinda" from Still Life, it had so far been seven songs from seven different albums. I am actually kind of impressed by that.
Opeth is music where you could bang your head one number and then get stoned and just zone out on the next. Little Johnny, confined to a balcony seat with virtually no real view, was confused as to how excited to get as these songs progressed from soft to intense. "Heir Apparent" from Watershed made eight songs from eight different albums before they finally returned to the brand-new material with "Paragraph 3" from Last Will & Testament.
Finishing the initial set with "Ghosts of Perdition" from Ghost Reveries was a strong conclusion and the crowd was loud during their opportunity to sing the chorus. Encores of "Sorceress" and "Deliverance" from those two albums brought to ten the number of releases Opeth drew from tonight, making this one of the most career retrospective sets I have heard all year from any band.
Although in the Beard's opinion, tonight’s Opeth set was not as good in production, sound, or lighting as either their Vegas set of 2019, or their Chicago set of 2022 with Mastodon and Khemis, (plus I was still pissed all night from the screw job I got from The Eagles Club on the seating situation. Did I mention you suck Eagle Club?) that said, I am awarding Opeth 88/100 for an entertaining show that comprised almost every single album they have released since 2001. Very impressive setlist.
hat brings to a close show #64 and bands #213-214. Remember to catch our live concert reviews every Wednesday at your home for Metal The Mighty Decibel @ www.themightydecibel.com. Check out all the pictures and videos at our TikTok site thebeard0728 and keep following Mark McQueen on Facebook for all the non-metal reviews. Until next time this is the Beard & Little Johnny saying, Live Life, Stay Heavy and Horns Up.
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