Event:	Opeth, Extol
Written by:	Jeff
Published:	26.04.2008
Galleries:	Opeth & Extol by Jeff (10)

The Locomotive is a well-known Parisian nightclub under the famous Moulin Rouge, but in addition to its Techno, Disco and other parties' activities it is also one of the most important Metal venues of the French capital. Just have a look at these few names: Marduk was there at the end of August, Nile was playing in the venue last Sunday and last night the lucky French Metalheads saw one of the first dates of Opeth's Ghost Reveries tour.

Of course, Opeth wasn't the only band there that night; the Norwegians of Extol were the openers for this really promising concert. Even If I can't say that the performance of Extol was bad or uninteresting I must admit that I was a bit disappointed by the show. The band is not bad at all but a bit monochrome and above all not really active on stage. Live, their songs sound like a powerful Radiohead; it's not boring but just a bit insipid. I didn't have a bad moment with Extol, but I'm not sure that I would like to pay to see the band one more time.





On the other hand, all the other 1000 Metalheads of the venue and I weren't here for Extol, but for the mythic Swedish combo Opeth. First important anecdote to note - even if the crowd was a bit young in general, it was for the majority real Metalheads and Opeth experts. All the ones who were thinking that the transfer to Roadrunner could be prejudicial for Opeth were probably wrong, the Metalcore lovers and some others trendy wannabes weren't at the Locomotive that night and damn what a fucking incredible crowd it was!!!



Opeth played for approximately two hours and the set included songs from "My Arms, Your Hearse" to "Ghost Reveries". One can't say that Opeth is a band that isnt made for a live setting. Actually, Mikael Åkerfeldt, in addition to being a really nice and cool guy, was also really communicative with the crowd. He talked a lot to us, joked and requested some crowd surfing or really powerful screams between each song.



The show was really excellent, even if we didn't have a really "special" ambiance, and believe me Opeth was like a real machine this night and even some really long songs like "Blackwater Park" or "Deliverance" were really addictive. Same feeling for the two new songs "Ghost of Perdition" and "The Grand Conjuration" that we had the chance to listen to. Those songs were nice live, no problem with the songs really? Same remark for the ballads - "Hope Leaves", "To Rid The Disease" and "Face Of Melinda" - these songs were perfect for the ambiance of the show and weren't a loss of time at all, quite the opposite.




The show wasn't boring at all and I don't know if it came from the venue or from the sound engineer of the band but the sound was perfect. It was even possible, despite the impressive power of the sound, to hear the magnificent voice of Mikael like every sound made by the drums, bass and guitars. And god what a magical lights show?



Åkerfeldt is without any doubt a really charismatic guy and on this Tuesday 13th of September 2005, I had the proof that every member of the band (note that Martin Lopez was replaced by Martin Axenrot of Bloodbath) was, in addition to being fantastic musicians, perfect live players. Opeth is not only a magical band on CD, they're also a magical band on stage and if they come to your city, don't miss them or you will regret it all your life.

Hoo and I'm sorry for the bad quality of the photos, but there is no room for the photographers at the Locomotive and I had to fight in the crowd to get a few average pics?

Opeth setlist:

The Baying Of The hounds
When
Deliverance
Hope Leaves
To Rid The Disease
The Drapery Falls
Face Of Melinda
The Grand Conjuration
Blackwater Park

Encore:
Demon Of The Fall



Big thanks go to Fred and Garmonbozia, and to Laure and Alexandra of Roadrunner for the photo pass.