Written by:	Darklands
Published:	October 25, 2010
Event:	Apocalyptica: 7th Symphony Tour
Location:	Aula Magna, Lisbon, Portugal

Aula Magna, in Lisbon, is an all seated conference room with 1460 places, that is usually used for music shows... but not metal shows!

Outside, waiting for the doors to open, the lines were long, and I noticed that with each group of metalheads (the t-shirt winners that night were clearly Metallica), there were also some people clearly not usually in Metal shows, proving that the cello music of Apocalyptica reaches a wider spectrum of people.

Livingston

As openers for a metal band, Livingston were an odd choice, since they are a brit rock band from London, UK. But they weren't scared by that, or by the about twelve hundred people comfortably seated in front of them, and pulled off 30 minutes of an energetic show, with decent music and a humble attitude.
The audience didn't go wild (stayed seated), but gave Livingston enough cheering and clapping to allow them to leave the stage with the feeling of a job well done.

Apocalyptica

Presenting their latest album, 7th Symphony, released less than two months ago, the finish band opened with two songs from the album, On the Rooftop with Quasimodo and 2010, which were received by a still seated audience.
It was only with Grace from Worlds Collide, their 2007 album, that the crowd finally stood up, followed by Master Of Puppets, one of the highest moments of the show, with the audience going wild in the first chords and taking care of the vocals through the whole song.

By then the crowd had surrendered to the band, and welcomed Tipe Johnson on stage to replace Gavin Rossdale (Bush) in End Of Me and Corey Taylor (Stone Sour) in I'm Not Jesus.
After another cover, this time from Sepultura, it was time to return to our seats and listen to some "beautiful cello music" as Eicca put it, in one of the many times he addressed the audience. Beautiful and Sacra were the songs.

Bittersweet had no singer on stage, but part of the audience filled in during the chorus part, followed by Last Hope and the return of Tipe to replace Joe Duplantier (Gojira) singing Bring Them to Light.
Seek and Destroy was other of the highest moments of crowd singing, proving that Metallica's fans were a majority in the audience.

Inquisition Symphony ended the main part of the show, but not the crowd cheering, that only stopped when the band returned to the stage.
The encore started At the Gates of Manala, continued with the last appearance of Tipe Johnson, this time replacing Adam Gontier (Three Days Grace), in I Don't Care, and finished in the Hall Of the Mountain King, with the band helding high their cellos, before leaving the stage.

I would have liked more a set list less focused on the last album (most of the people reacted much more to the older songs), since Apocalyptica hadn't played in Portugal since the year 2000 (except an appearance in Rock in Rio Lisbon 2008). But, nevertheless, it was an amazing show!
The band was very energetic, communicated very well with the audience, and produced a couple of funny moments that grabbed some laughs from the crowd.
Next time Apocalyptica comes to Lisbon, I will be there!

Setlist:
On the Rooftop With Quasimodo
2010
Grace
Master of Puppets (Metallica)
End Of Me
I'm Not Jesus
Refuse/Resist (Sepultura)
Beautiful
Sacra
Bittersweet
Last Hope
Bring Them to Light
Seek & Destroy (Metallica)
Inquisition Symphony (Sepultura)
--
At the Gates of Manala
I Don't Care
Hall of the Mountain King