Setlist: §1, Master’s Apprentices, The Leper Affinity, §7, Häxprocess, In My Time Of Need, The Night And The Silent Water, §3, Ghost Of Perdition, You Suffer, A Story Never Told
Encores: Sorceress, Deliverance
Opeth must have had a dilemma about their setlist for their latest tour; whether or not to play the whole of their latest album. The Last Will And Testament is an excellent album with a strong conceptual theme which would have well suited occupying half of the set. Instead we got four of the tracks §1, §7, §3 and the finale A Story Never Told, played in that order, interspersed through a carefully curated set from the back catalogue. What we got was an absolutely immersive, dynamic and entertaining performance from start to finish, that I wish had gone on even longer. Mikael Akerfeldt was as charismatic and amusing as ever between songs. Musically I have to mention Waltteri Väyrynen’s drums, which were an immense power – this guy is a monster – and the rest of the band were, as ever, stunning. I would pick them out as one of the best live acts going around.
The new songs came over even stronger than on the album, with A Story Never Told particularly soaring in the Symphony Hall acoustics. Deepest of the deep cuts was The Night And The Silent Water (off Morningrise) which fitted in beautifully, although the big crowd response was for the stellar evergreen favourites Ghost Of Perdition, In My Time Of Need, Deliverance, The Leper Affinity and Master Apprentices. All were blinding performances. From the more proggy recent albums there was the relaxed beauty of Haxprocess (off Heritage) and the stone-cold killer riff heaven of Sorceress. We even got a Napalm Death cover with You Suffer! What really helped was the sound mix which was so well balanced, so the quieter moments stood out as much as the heavy loud riffs.
With such a strong set, which they could have easily replaced with an equally strong second or even third selection of great songs, Opeth are a band at the very top of their game. The backdrops, films and visuals all added a sumptuous immersive level to the show, and the whole package left you feeling that this is a band who have even more great things to come. Their audience was a wide demographic mix too, a real sign that they are picking up fans from different backgrounds and this is boosting their appeal significantly. Gig of the year, band of the year.