Written by:	Dark Angel
Published:	December 02, 2003
Event:	In Flames, Soilwork

Unearth was finishing up their set when I arrived at around 8:40. They were the first band of the evening, opening for one of Swedish's hit death metal bands In Flames. I only heard the last few songs so all I can really say about this band is that they sounded semi hard core and that was enough to get the crowd wired.

Second was Chimaira, coming on about 9:00, and by the reaction of the crowed I could tell that they were more well known. The six members that bring this aggressive rock band together roused the crowed to a pulsing head banging session. I personally thought that the keyboard player rocked along with the loud double bass. All together they had a good stage performance and the flaming skull banners added the right touch of flair. They played a song from their new release Impossibility of Reason called 'Eye's of a criminal'. The crowd joined in be yelling along the lyrics "I hate everyone". This was not a bad performance from Chimaira and with the crowd still growing they ended their last song around 9:40.

Beginning the third opening act of the evening, Soilwork blessed us with their presence by 10:00. By now the crowd had grown to I'm guessing about 1000 or more people awaiting for In Flames, but I could tell that their were quite a few Soilwork fans as well. I've read that different components of their music has been compared to melodies like Dark Tranquility and In Flames, solos like Arch Enemy and Armageddon, aggression like At the Gates and soaring vocals like Opeth. I wasn't to sure what to expect after that description, but in my own opinion I got mostly hard core vibes from Soilwork. Please don't get me wrong though, I can say that Soilwork puts on a good show. They're a very energetic band most definitely the bass player.

They mentioned their new album Figure Number Five and played 'Distortion Sleep'. 'Light The Torch', also from their newest was introduced portraying great guitar leads and keyboard effects, I really liked the melodies. With a silent break in the song the singer yells "What do you say Portland", with the crowd cheering he points to the balcony to join in and the song breaks back in again to finish. 'Needle Feast', was also played, a song from one of Soilworks' earlier albums Predator's Portrait. They commented on new drummer, Rich. Soilwork finished up their set at 10:40 with 'As we Speak' and their final song, which I couldn't catch the name. The Portland crowd, especially Soilwork fans, seemed pleased with the last opening act, but by now I could tell that everyone was eagerly waiting for In Flames.






The lights didn't even go back out for almost a half an hour, it was 11:15 already be the time In Flames was ready. With the fans hovering towards the front of the stage, literally smashing into the barrier I went up front to get my photo shots. I happened to hear a younger boy say something on the lines that At the Gates is a better band than In Flames. Personally I thought this to be funny, so I turned and said that there's really no true comparison (they're both great bands I thought to myself) and the comment was even made more obnoxious to me that he was in the front row egging In Flames to come on shouting "you rule". Well, everyone has their own opinions.

We all waited in darkness for several minutes, than finally the band came on stage with the fans roaring as they played their first song 'Cloud connected'. I found if very cool that instead of the traditional band logo back drop, In Flames used a huge Swedish flag backdrop which was dispensed after their first song had started. I also noticed that Daniel's bass drums had the new Rout to Remain design on them. While I'm on the topic of band equipment I must mention that Jesper used a flying V, Bjorn had a Les Paul and Peter played ESP bass.






Anders has great dreads, which I like, he looks a lot different to me than the last time I saw him. All band members have a good, tight stage performance and really interact with the crowd. I especially got a lot of attention from Jesper when taking my photos. I believe this was In Flames first US headlining tour and I just want to add that they gave an amazing performance, which indicated that this honor was much deserved.






They played songs like 'Moonshield', which as a "Maidenish" interlude and 'Scorn' with its added Slayer riff during the interlude. Every time I've seen In Flames live they seem to add that to 'Scorn', which is cool for avid fans. Mentioning their latest single release Trigger, the song began and the crowd was ecstatic, I can relate, that song rocks. Everyone was throwing up arms and singing along.






I was really pleased when they played 'Behind Space', from their 1994 release Lunar Strain, which is one of my favorite albums and Jesper adds a great guitar lead. "A lesson in history", says Anders. It was already after 12:00 when In Flames played their last song, after leaving the stage with the fans wanting an encore. I did happen to notice that they had played a full set, it turns out there was no encore. This left some fans disappointed or confused, but an encore's so traditional and expected.






Why not leave it out? I'm always stocked to hear In Flames preform live and with each new album it seams that their popularity grows, surely when they come to Portland again the audience's response will be twice as big. Never the less, their performance remains true and powerful.