Written by:	Darkside Momo
Published:	March 07, 2011
Event:	Anathema
Location:	Le Bikini, Toulouse, France
Galleries:	Anathema In Toulouse, 23.02.2011 by Darkside Momo (7) Anathema, Toulouse, France, 23/02/2011 by Moocher (17)

It's always a pleasure to attend a show here in the Bikini of Toulouse? The audience in this part of France might be one of the laziest around, but we do have "one of the best venues in Europe", as Vinnie Cavanagh himself said. Well, I'm sure there's no need to discuss the perfect sound once again, so let's move to the topic at hand: the bands.


Petter Carlsen

First opener was just that: Petter Carlsen himself, alone, armed only with his acoustic guitar. And his beautiful voice. Yes, that was mellow, soft, and all that, but his voice is really warm and the music's cool. So, no complaints here. Simply put, this was a nice, sweet appetizer.



You can listen to his music on his myspace.


Cloverseeds

A prog rock/metal outfit from the center of France, CloverSeeds delivered too. They sometimes come across as similar to Riverside, but that's certainly because they definitely belong to the modern neo-prog scene. And while some of their songs came across as maybe a bit too sophisticated, on the whole they were quite catchy (as far as prog can be, of course). The mix between harsh metal moments and softer rock ones was good, even if they - of course - lean on the relatively softer side of things. That said, both Collin and I found they were much better live than on their studio works (which you can listen here).

I must also add that the singer is great, he has quite a powerful and varied voice. And their lead guitarist kicks ass. Plus they were quite professional on stage, clearly they weren't noobs. Another nice moment, another good choice on Anathema's part, no doubt!



Anathema

Collin warned me beforehand: Anathema's set would be more than two hours long.

First off, they started with their latest opus We're Here Because We're Here, the first in seven years (not including Hindsight, of course), that they played from start to finish. As the album received some mixed reactions, so did this first half of the show. The second part (without any intermission) started with the fabulous "Deep", and then we got a nice selection of songs, but nothing older than "Alternative 4", as you can see if you check the setlist below. Not that I really missed the older stuff either, this selection was quite perfect in its own right (sure, I could have enjoyed "Empty" or "Regret", and I wasn't the only one given the shouts from the audience).



Some highlights? Well, the very fact that they were happy to be there, played two hours without pause (well, for Danny at least), and were as always totally immersed in their music, is a feat not all bands can claim! They didn't even really stop for the encore, welcoming Petter Carlsen on stage taunting him by calling him 'Swedish' (he's from Norway, remember), and going a bit nuts (well, particularly Danny and Jamie) on stage... There was also the accoustic interlude, with Danny playing all alone Pink Floyd's "High Hopes" - he actually changed the song he covered with each day of the tour. And then , I really love how, each time I see them, the songs sound different. They often experiment a bit, with a different solo here (the end of "Flying"), or trying even weirder, creepier vocals, like with "Closer" (a shame they still don't play "Balance" before, though).

What's more to say? Anathema are great and belong to the stage, for sure.



Setlist
Thin Air
Summernight Horizon
Dreaming Light
Everything
Angels Walk Among Us
Presence
A Simple Mistake
Get Off, Get Out
Universal
Hindsight
Deep
Pressure
Release
One Last Goodbye
Judgement
Temporary Peace
Flying
High Hopes (Pink Floyd cover)
Parisienne Moonlight
A Natural Disaster
Closer
Shroud of False
Fragile Dreams


Conclusion

This was a great evening, just as I expected. Anathema once again proved they are a fabulous live band, that play music from their heart, and they love their audience (who loves them too). Plus, both openers were nice, and the sound and lightings were top-notch from the beginning to the very end.
What could be better, really?

The galleries are here: Moocher's and mine.


Thanks to Antoine from the Bikini for the accreditation!