Event:	Ghost Brigade: Until Fear No Longer Defines Us Tour
Written by:	White Winter Sun
Published:	23.10.2011
Galleries:	Ghost Brigade, A Storm Of Light, Intronaut - Paris, France, 16th October 2011 by White Winter Sun (46)

Half an hour before the doors open, the queue outside the venue was far from being huge. Not a drama but not really promising for the opening acts in terms of audience. Anyway, the doors open and it was with great pleasure that I hit once again the floor of the Nouveau Casino, which is a nice place for intimate shows.





Intronaut



It was the first time that I caught the band on stage even though I have already listened to several songs from the band. The band has delivered a really good show and the performance of Joe Lester was simply impressive. Indeed he has played wonderful bass lines during the whole show to such an extent that a fan came up to the first row at the end of the show to congratulate his work. The most damageable point goes to the audience which was poorly active. Probably a lot of people (including me) were here for Finnish metallers Ghost Brigade. Anyway, these guys were a blast live and they clearly deserved more enthusiasm from the audience. So, if this band passes near your city, do not hesitate for one second to order your ticket, you will not be disappointed! I already know it will be so in my case.




A Storm Of Light

During the stage replacement, an interlude was offered by Domenic Seitaby had a microphone problem but was clowning around about it. Indeed, the stand and the microphone were well in place, but the lead was not plugged in. He warned the technicians by whistling away and by titillating to the rear of the microphone, the whole time with a happy smile on his face. After several times, the problem was finally understood and the microphone was plugged. Thanks Mr. Domenic Seita for this entertaining interlude. This little deflection done, let me now be focused on the purpose of this article, I mean the band's performance.



Once again we have had a great bass performance (seems it was their night). Domenic Seita has mishandled his bass in all directions, stretching to near my head when he came on the verge of the stage in front on the first row. The other members were well in place, too, delivering a good performance. The only point which has marred the band's performance was the voice of Josh Graham which was a little bit weak. Otherwise the whole show was very intense, supported by projections on the stage backdrop during the whole show, contributing to create the atmosphere and to fully support the music. The audience was more active than for Intronaut, acclamations being higher than on the previous set, too.



It was the first time that I saw A Storm Of Light on stage and I must say they have caught my attention and I will check out their discography soon. Nice performance dudes!



Ghost Brigade

As you easily understood it, Ghost Brigade was the main reason of my being here tonight. Indeed, I was very interested in catching the band on stage once again for two main reasons. First of all because the last time I caught the band, it was in a festival configuration, more precisely under the Terrorizer Tent at Hellfest Open Air's 2010 edition (and I must say that I took and incredible punch to my face). Secondly, I was really curious to hear the new stuff on stage. Indeed, even though Until Fear No Longer Defines Us is a really solid album, I have found that it does not fully fall short of my expectations compared to the gem Isolation Songs, which remains my favorite album from the band to date. Anyway, I was impatient to be fully convinced by the interpretation of the new songs in live conditions.

Ghost Brigade's set started with a remix version of "In The Woods", immediately followed by two other new songs entitled "Clawmaster" and "Divine Act Of Lunacy". After a couple of new songs my latest doubts blown away: definitely, these news songs sounds pretty good in live conditions. It seems that the audience was fully convinced, too, due to the abundant acclamations which resound in the place, at last!



The whole band's performance was pretty good. Manne Ikonen perfectly handled his frontman position, according to his presence and interpretation during the whole show. Wille Naukkarinen was clearly one of the most active with Janne Julin. Indeed Wille nerver stopped to rant to the audience while Janne headbanged during the whole show.



Once again, the band was not very talkative, but when they spoke to the audience, it lead to bonding moments. Indeed when a fan declaims "We love you", Manne Ikonen immediately answers "We love you, too". As soon as the last tunes of "Into The Black Light" resound, Manne Ikonen announces, "this is the last song". Immediately the audience hoots a lot of "No" while Manne goes one step further by adding "This is the last song and I say Yes!", launching the beautiful "Soulcarvers". When the song ended, all members quit the stage one by one, Veli-Matti Suihkonen being the last one to salute the fans.



After many ovations, the band returns on stage. The Encore begins with "Architect Of New Beginnings". The band has not toned down the intensity at all, leading to pure and intense moments of melancholy. Definitely their atmospheric sludge metal is typically the kind of music where you can close your eyes and let the music grow up on you. Ghost Brigade played another two songs from Isolation Songs: "Lost In A Loop" and concluded their set with the awesome "A Storm Inside". The latter, which was announced by Manne as "this is definitely the last song", concludes Ghost Brigade's set in the best possible way: a communion with the people fully loaded of melancholy. Finally, the band quits the stage after regular salutations and under acclamations from the fans.




Ghost Brigade's set list:

01. In The Woods (Remix)
02. Clawmaster
03. Divine Act Of Lunacy
04. My Heart Is A Tomb
05. Traces Of Liberty
06. Hold On Thin Line
07. Breakwater
08. 22:22 - Nihil
09. Suffocated
10. Into The Black Light
11. Soulcarvers

Encore:
12. Architect Of New Beginnings
13. Lost In A Loop
14. A Storm Inside


Conclusion

It was clearly an enjoyable evening. Opening acts were really great and they have delivered solid shows, even though the audience was clearly here for the headliner. Ghost Brigade has done a really good performance, mainly based on new songs, which perfectly work in live conditions. Guys, you are welcome in France and once again many thanks for this night!




Also, I cannot conclude this report without giving many thanks to Fred from Garmonbozia and Tangui from A Jeter Prom for the accreditation.
Written by White Winter Sun.
All photos taken by White Winter Sun.