Support
this evening is from Caspian, a five piece post-rock
band from Massachusetts. They are a little slow
to start really doing anything much more than
a bit of gentle strumming....then BOOM!, we are
woken up by some glorious sounds, emitting from
the Wulfrun stage. The guitar work, and energy
of the band are quite something, visually they
are certainly making the most of the stage, it's
a little chaotic, but yet if you close your eyes
for a minute through some of the tracks, you get
a feeling of calmness almost, quite tranquil.
Caspian
play a good set of around 45 minutes, and the
crowd seem to have taken to them quite well tonight,
giving the lads a generous applause as they finished,
which I am sure also helped to wake up the few
crowd members that had nodded off to this beautiful
melodic chaos.
For more information on Caspian, check out the
link below:
https://www.facebook.com/CaspianTheBand
Tonight
I for one am really excited to see HIM, it's the
first time I have actually managed to catch them
live, after failing miserably the last I don't
know how many times, and after Rob and I were
lucky enough to interview Ville prior to tonight's
gig, I'm pretty certain not one person will be
disappointed.
Kicking things off with 'All Lips Go Blue', from
8th and latest album 'Tears On Tape' Ville's vocals
are on top form, and I've already got goose bumps!
The crowd are in their element, singing their
hearts out as 'Buried Alive By Love', 'Wings Of
A Butterfly' and, 'Right Here In These Arms' are
performed with such pride, it's apparent from
the expressions
on every band members face and in their presence
on stage they are enjoying it just as much as
we are, Ville has not stopped smiling yet! It's
such a rare quality in many bands these days to
just be themselves, to be the same off stage as
they are when performing to hundreds of people,
there is no 'fakeness' with HIM.
Another new track,'I Will Be The End Of You' is
received just as well as the older tracks, but
then 'Tears on Tape' as an album is back to a
more classic sounding HIM, no doubt regaining
a few stray fans after 'Screamworks'. The set
rages on, only seeing the band take the odd second
to catch their
breath and enjoy the chants and cheers in between
from their energetic crowd, 'Join Me In Death',
'Your Sweet Six Six Six' and 'Passions Killing
Floor', with it's epic riffs are just that, 'epic'.
Title track from new album,'Tears On Tape' goes
down stupendously, following suit of the previous
tracks, I really think having a little break has
done great things for the band they look and sound
better than ever, working together like a well
oiled machine with a lot of heart and soul, it's
fantastic to witness.
Heading
towards the end of tonight's set with the cover
of Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Game', (immense guitar
solos included!), quickly followed with 'It's
All Tears (drown in this love)', 'Soul On Fire',
the beautiful 'Into The Night', and dedicated
track to the crowd and Hogs Head pub in Broad
Street, 'Funeral Of Hearts'.
'Sleepwalking Past Hope' ends what has been a
truly awesome evening for all involved, and I
think it's safe to say that HIM are not 'Buried'
are definitely 'Alive' and there is a hell of
a lot of 'Love' for them!
Caspian 3/5
Him 5/5
Review By Jude Onions
Photos By Robert Lawrence
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