Of Melody & Mayhem

To watch Dark Tranquillity twice in a span of two months is every diehard metalhead's dream oblivion come true. It happened on the Memorial Day, no less. To get to meet and greet the band, to share gifts with them and hang with them is even better than just watching them play live. So, I saw DT once again in their incredible live show @ Slim's on Harrison, SF, few days back. The setlist was perfect, more than an hour long and heavy as heavy can be. Spanning their entire career (check the Stanne autographed setlist above), from Lethe to Fatalist, DT rocked Slim's like an earthquake.

I met Stanne and Henriksson outside their tour bus as I was hanging around Slim's before the show. Since I got so much great music from the band, I thought of giving them something, something like a DVD or a book etc. Since the new album (Void) is pretty darn serious I thought of giving them a serious book. So I bought a book on Buddhism (which talks about meditating on the emptiness, defocussing on materialism etc) and presented it to Stanne, explaining the concepts of the Eastern philosophy to the Swede. He said that he would surely check it out. After chatting with him, I went in and it was time for Mutiny Within and Threat Signal. MW was alright, as I never heard them before but TS had a few terrific songs. The guitarist was really incredible. Should check them out more. Before DT took to stage I ran into Brandstrom and Antonnsonn, who were gracious enough to click snaps and chat for a while.

DT took the stage with @ The Point of Ignition and never a dull moment thereafter. Stanne and Henriksson were hitting high flys with us fans in the front row, as they forged ahead with the songs. I passed hours in exile playing DT in my room all these years, so watching them play right in front pumping fists with them was unreal. For true DT fans, the setlist cannot get better as many classic from Gallery to Void were played with full force. Especially notable were Fatalist/Focus Shift for their raw intensity, Lost to Apathy/Lesser Faith for their energy and Iridium/Wonders @ Her Feet for their melody. Stanne shook like a leaf while delivering some of these songs, with the intensity shaking his guts. Incredible!

The band hung out on the floor right after the show, which was really sweet since most bands charge fans for meet & greet (Aerosmith, the superstars charge $1600 for this and Testament, a much much smaller band compared to Aerosmith take $200 while Soilwork, a band one might compare {I wont} to DT takes $30). I told Jivarp how incredible his drumming is on Lesser Faith and he said that he loves playing that live. Sundin is a shy Swede who writes the darkest of dark melodies such as rchangelsk. This is a band that you will love when you watch them play live. The energy makes you come alive. Few bands can match DT in the live performance business, they guys are true professionals who know how to hit those notes live. I cant wait to watch them again. Thanks for doing this tour DT, and coming back with the headlining tour after being humble enough to play before Devils Wears Prade in March. The entire band signed all my DT CDs and DVD. Stanne corrected me as I was trying to ramble in Swedish, Jar Algar Dig, he was like no no its Alskar and then he looked at me and my girlfriend and said, I love you too. Very few bands show this level of affection to their fans. They really dont have to, the music is enough but being kind to fans is just DT's Character. This is a really special band. Thanks for everything guys.