Opeth @ Nokia Theater, NYC, Sept. 19

[Phantopeth]

I got to see Opeth live last night for the first time, after being a fan for probably 4-5 years now. The show was excellent, although I was a bit underwhelmed by the sound at the Nokia. Can anyone that has seen them before tell me if Mikael is always a comedian on stage? He took his time transitioning between songs, and always had some funny stuff to say; he had me in stitches on a few occasions.

For those interested, their set lasted over an hour and a half, spanning nine songs with a one song encore (see setlist below).

They were supported by Nachmystium and High On Fire. I only got to see the last two songs of Nachmystium's set, and they appeared to be rocking out (their bassist was especially fun to watch), but they plagued with horrible sound issues, at least where I was standing on the floor. High on Fire put on a great show. Matt Pike (guitarist/vocalist) is a madman, and always entertaining.

Here's the setlist:

Heir Apparent (Watershed)
The Grand Conjuration (Ghost Reveries)
Serenity Painted Death (Still Life)
Hope Leaves (Damnation)
The Lotus Eater (Watershed)
Bleak (Blackwater Park)
The Night and the Silent Water (Morningrise)
Deliverance (Deliverance)
Demon of the Fall (My Arms, Your Hearse)

Encore:

The Drapery Falls (Blackwater Park)

P.S. I didn't actually intend on this being a pseudo-live review, I really just want to know if Mikael is known for being such a riot on stage

[God of Rapture]

High on Fire are amazing.

[Mark Latimour]

Yeah, hes always pretty funny on stage. I've seen them 4 times and seeing them again in November. I was at the taping of the Roundhouse Tapes. Some of his best material was used on that night!

[alapantera]

yeah, he's usually a funny guy on stage. I was dissapointed with the sound of the venue i saw them at back when they came around the area with the Progressive Nation tour as well. It was the venue though, cause all of the "opening" acts sounded equally sub-par.

search for Mikael Akerfeldt on youtube and you'll probably find more of his onstage antics.

[Syeknom]

High On Fire are -awesome- live

[heroincredible]

On the prog nation tour, when he was introducing Heir Apparent (before Watershed came out), he introduced it as a song about egg sandwiches and lemonade on a hot, sunny day. Definitely a joker.

Unfortunately the tour isn't coming to Calgary. But I saw Opeth twice this year on both Calgary prog-nation dates, and saw High on Fire at gigantour, so no biggie. Plus I'm seeing Baroness and Genghis Tron next week.

[jollygiantchris]

Awesome glad it was a good show, gonna go see that tour Wed. in Chicago, only thing thats weird is the doors open at 5pm and the start time is at 5:35pm...First time I have ever seen those start times kinda weird for a show, how long of a set was everyone playing?

[Phantopeth]

Originally Posted by jollygiantchris

Awesome glad it was a good show, gonna go see that tour Wed. in Chicago, only thing thats weird is the doors open at 5pm and the start time is at 5:35pm...First time I have ever seen those start times kinda weird for a show, how long of a set was everyone playing?

Nachtmystium's set was almost precisely 30 minutes, and High On Fire's was around 45 minutes. Opeth was on stage for a good hour and a half.

Nachtmystium was weird: they never introduced themselves, the kick drum was logo-less, and High On Fire's banner was up the whole time. Anyone who came to the show just to see the other two bands would have had no idea who they were!