Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band.
Upon entering the theatre, all eyes feasted on massive twin canvases, each portraying a black and white image of a crow’s skull. Lightning static in the form of coal-colored lines shot out from its eyes and beak.
Katatonia performed the way an opening act should. There was no doubt that the band produced enough electrifying atmosphere to last the rest of the night. Jonas Renkse, the long-maned vocalist of Katatonia, was cheered on by the pumped-up crowd to perform for an extra three songs’ worth of time. His low, growling voice was accompanied by a mishmash of guitar and bass sounds, the drums keeping everyone, including the audience, in line.
After the elongated opening act, what seemed to be a lifetime’s wait of an intermission followed. Stagemen removed Katatonia’s two stage pieces, revealing a floor to ceiling drape. Adorning the drapery was the tree off of Opeth’s tenth album’s cover, Heritage. Instead of apples, the band mates’ heads were dangling from the edges.
People had the opportunity to grab everything from Stellas to Heineken to Indian Pale Ale at the standing bar located at the back of the loge in the theatre. The kids, some as young as ten, who attended with their family had ice cold bottles of water to drink.
As the lights overhead disappeared, the crowd roared in anticipation while shrouded in darkness as Opeth took the stage. Mikael Åkerfeldt, vocalist and leading band member of Opeth for over twenty years, graced the stage along with Fredrik Åkesson on guitar, Martín Méndez on bass guitar and Martin Axenrot on drums. Åkerfeldt, with his Swedish accent, proposed on singing Jon Bon Jovi’s “Runaway.”
The band then began playing “Ghost of Perdition,” Shaun O’Deill’s preferred song of the night. Again, Åkerfeldt said the band will now play another Bon Jovi song, but then proceeded to play one of their own songs. “Watch the headlines in papers. They are going to say ‘Opeth played some Jon Bon Jovi songs yesterday night,'” Åkerfeldt said to the half-laughing, half-cheering crowd. Soon enough, a suggestion of “Slayer!” came out from somewhere in the audience.
After a few seconds of battling “yea’s!” and “no’s!,”, Åkerfeldt settled the argument with: “We’re not going to be playing any Slayer tonight.” A flash of golden lighting set behind the drum set ran in sync with the fans, such as Kelly The Merch’s most beloved song “Deliverance,” sending the crowd in the pit into a moshing fest and those seated into a headbanging frenzy.
Opeth will be touring in Canada until April 26. Their next show in America will be at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, Penn. Coming next to the Wellmont is Sarah Silverman on April 26, which is sure to be an entertaining night!
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