I had been looking forward to seeing Arch Enemy ever since the first day that I heard "Wages Of Sin" (2001). At that point in time I had never heard a female vocalist scream like that, not to mention the totally phenomenal guitar playing thanks to Mr. Amott.
The first band on the roster for the evening was A Perfect Murder. This band is one of those bands that you have heard of, but never heard. They played a fairly decent set. The singer had quite a bit of energy and seemed to have a good command of the crowd that was paying attention. He kept stressing that they were from Montreal, well they certainly looked like they were in Montreal, all of them were wearing hoodies. On the whole though you could lump them into generic Metalcore. They were just your average paint by numbers Metalcore.
Next up for the evening was Mnemic, who in case you haven't heard of them, they are kind of a Cyber Metal or like a Fear Factory type sound. I picked up both of their albums because well, I heard a couple of songs on the Internet and dug what they were doing. The singer was definitely energetic and had a command of the entire crowd. He was like making the crowd get into it. Now I had been listening to their music not for too long but I did recognize the song "Door 2.12" which was the second to last song, but it really got the crowd moving as well as singing along. The bassist I could tell by his stage presence is definitely a goofy guy off stage. He was making all kinds of faces and he would make eye contact with you. At one point I was standing semi close to stage (not real close) but I gave him horns and he pointed horns right back at me. I just think stuff like that is too cool.
All That Remains was next up and they opened with "For Salvation" which was totally awesome. It is one of my favorite songs off "This Darkened Heart" (2004). I had to leave after this song to interview Mike Amott from Arch Enemy, but it was okay because they were playing the same set as when I saw them with Chimaira in August. I was able to come back in and hear "Passion" and "This Darkened Heart". I was able to get a setlist from my friend.
All That Remains Setlist:
01. For Salvation
02. Focus Shall Not Fail
03. Vicious Betrayal
04. The Deepest Grey
05. And Death In My Arms
06. This Calling (New Song)
07. Tattered On My Sleeve
08. Passion
09. This Darkened Heart
Then came the moment I had been waiting for 3 years to see, the absolute wrecking machine that is Arch Enemy. The crowd that I had thought was fairly small had finally all come together at the front and it was a decent turn out for a concert in Kansas, one of the capitals of conservative thinking in the U.S. They opened with "Nemesis" which they also made a video for, a couple of months ago. It was definitely a good song to pick as the opener because the crowd went fricking nuts; the pit was fast and furious and there was a lot of headbanging. Another highlight was another new song called "My Apocalypse"; it was really awesome except for when I was headbanging because a dude from the pit got knocked into me and he caught me on a down stroke and his shoulder got me in the head. Ouch!! Micheal's solo was also friggin spectacular. Then I was also very impressed not only with Fredrike's solo, but also with his solos during the songs, definitely a fine replacement for Chris. The end of the normal set was "Ravenous" and I couldn't believe how incredible it was. It seems that bands always like to play songs that are my favorites; which is really cool. Then they played "Fields Of Desolation", an old track from the Johan Liiva days; this track was also featured on the "Wages Of Sin" bonus disc.
To finish up the evening, Angela said: "This will be the last one for the evening…" and before she could finish like 30 people in the crowd including myself yelled "WE WILL RISE!!" She didn't even finish saying it, they just went right into the song. It was once again friggin awesome. As they were exiting the stage, I was trying to give Michael five and tell him thanks for the interview again. Security really wouldn't let me get close enough to talk so I just put out my hand and he just kind of looked at me like what the hell, but up on the upside he gave me a pic.
On the whole, it was an awesome concert, not the best of the year (*cough* ProgPower *cough*) but it was an excellent concert. Thanks to Mike again for the interview.
Arch Enemy setlist:
01. Nemesis
02. Enemy Within
03. Dead Eyes See No Future
04. My Apocalypse
05. Burning Angel
06. Daniel Solo
07. Taking Back My Soul
08. Diva Satanica
09. Michael Solo
10. Hybrids Of Steel
11. I Am Legend_Out For Blood
12. Bury Me An Angel
13. Fredrike
14.Ravenous
Encore:
15. Fields Of Desolation
16. We Will Rise
