Written by:	Jeff
Published:	April 08, 2007
Event:	Pain Of Salvation
Galleries:	Pain Of Salvation & Wastefall by Jeff (17)

A night to remember! It should be the name of this amazing Pain Of Salvation show in Paris. I really like this original band from Sweden but as strange as it might sound, I never had the chance to see them live before this Saturday and you know what? I can tell you that I will never miss them anymore. For sure, it was one of the best shows I had attended in my whole metalhead life. Pain Of Salvation live, that's just magic?

But to begin the night, we had the opportunity to see the cool Greek dudes of Wastefall. This young progressive band is becoming famous nowadays, especially because of the quality of their last album "Self Exile". Their set was a bit shy maybe but our guys released a good and powerful performance. During more or less 40 minutes, the five members gave all their energy to play their best songs (from their whole discography but especially from "Self Exile"). Maybe we can regret that it was a bit basic, let's say, with a cool but not outstanding show but I have to admit that even if they were a great opener for Pain Of Salvation, the performance of the masters from Sweden finally made us forget about Wastefall. However it was obvious that we were in front of a band with a lot of potential and by looking at their discography I'm sure that we will hear a lot about them in the future. Believe me, we will talk about Wastefall soon and if you don't know them yet, you should try to get their last album asap, just to see?





And then, it was time for Pain Of Salvation to hit the stage. As I said in the beginning of this report, it was the first time for me and I was really excited to see them live. The fist thing I can say is that the sound was simply perfect. I saw a lot of shows at the Elysée Montmartre and without any doubt this one was the one with the best sound quality, one of the best that I've ever attended actually. But evidently, it was not only a matter of "technical means". POS was absolutely amazing on that night.

During two hours and without any real "breaks" - only two songs in the middle of the set list were a bit average in comparison of the others - the members of POS gave the best of themselves for the Parisian crowd. And it worked! It was a real symbiosis between the band and their French fans and I rarely saw so much joy in that venue. Of course, we got the best songs of the band even if some like "Imago" for example were missing I think but, all in all, the set list was pleasant and catchy with cool atmospheric, progressive and also real heavy metal songs.





Plus, POS is a real live band. Johan (guitars) jumped everywhere when Daniel (vocals, guitars) gave an impressive performance with an amazing voice, very captivating (like the guy himself actually). Also, Simon - the new guest bassist for this tour - was just excellent with a real charismatic performance full of humour. Honestly I hope this guy will stay in the band, first because he was a great bassist that night, second because it seemed that he had already a good relationship with the other guys and finally, because he really gave a lot of energy and fun to the show. He could become an important member of Pain Of Salvation I think.

To close the set, and before the encore, the band finally played their already famous "Disco Queen". It was hell! Everybody in the venue was jumping and dancing on the simple but amazing beat of the song. The French fan club even had the good idea to bring with them some blue, yellow or red "disco" wigs (and Daniel had one on his head too). It was fun (despite the serious lyrics) and extremely catchy and I'm ready to bet it will become a classic. A POS show without this song in the future will be a mistake in my opinion. Finally, the encore was just exceptional with a cover of "Hallelujah" to begin, in addition of "Cribcage", to finish with the great "Used". It was magic, one of those few shows that can give you shivers. Really, now I understand why I heard so many good things about the live performances of the band in the past. If you can see them, please don't miss it?





It was great, one of the best show I saw lately (and I am lucky I can see a lot of shows so I'm not exaggerating). Too bad that the venue wasn't sold out, that's weird and I still don't understand why. Also I really regret the fact that the band didn't have the right (fucking expensive production costs and taxes in France) to film this live, because they wanted to do it, damn! But at least, they were impressive, they played their best music and gave their maximum on stage. I will never forget this show for so many reasons, and I'm already waiting for the next show of Pain Of Salvation I will be able to attend (if all is ok) at Hellfest (France) in June.

Many thx to Roger and Replica and to Fred and Garmonbonzia for the press accreditation

All photos taken by Jeff in Paris, please don't use without permission.