Apocalyptica - Tilburg 2007

013, Tilburg, The Netherlands
10th of December 2007
Apocalyptica, Larcrimas Profundere

It was a very cold evening but tonight the 013 in Tilburg would be heated up by five men from Finland. With their fierce cello's and thundering drums. The venue was incredibly full. Even the balconies were filled up. If you were too late... all good spots were taken. And I was late, on my way to the concert there had been an accident and thus I had to miss Lacrimas Profundere. That is why there is no extensive report on their performance.


Lacrimas Profundere

Lacrimas Profundere has been founded in 1993. They have been growing ever since. Their music has even been used in the MTV show ' Bam's Unholy Union'. This was mostly from their 2006 album ' Filthy Notes For Frozen Hearts'. They have recently been joined by their a new vocalist and bass player: Peter Kafka. This was due to the parting of Christopher Schmid who experienced too much stress from touring.




Apocalyptica

Apocalyptica started by playing music of one of the greatest metal bands ever. Now they have a great deal of albums with their own material. Their latest album 'Worlds Collide' had no less than four songs on it which they have recorded with some of the greatest singers in the metal scene. We were to hear some of them this evening but of course without the vocals, the audience was more then happy to fill in this emptiness though.

Music
The sound was not as great as I am used to of the 013. it also depended on where in the venue you stood though. Close to the speakers... not such a good place. Apocalyptica played us a mixture of old an new. The songs from the new album were prominently there of course. 'Helden' which is the German translation of David Bowie's 'Heroes' which on the album is performed by Till Lindeman from Rammstein was now performed by the entire audience of the 013. S.O.S. Turns out to be an emotional song even without the vocals of Christina Scabbia. Another silent moment was 'Bittersweet' from the former album. At the ending of the song the music died away so subtle that it left the entire venue silent for a moment, breathtaking. Some of the Metallica classics were played as well, to the pleasure of the entire audience. 'The Hall of the Mountain King' is almost always present on their set list, and it was tonight. It is amazing to see how they can accelerate their play together, building it up to an ecstasy of raging cello's.



Performance
The immense back drop showed the new album cover in black and white. Though this was coloured by lights during the show. Their four chairs (thrones) were decorated with the same skull. There was an amazing light show. It was an extra part of this concert, adding to the atmosphere and the amazement with which one watched the stage. The band members were clearly enjoying themselves. There was good interaction with the audience, even those on the balcony's were not forgotten. Paavo did a jumping competition with the audience, he can jump really high. One of the things that keeps amazing me is that they can band their heads like crazy and play this incredibly fast music at the same time. The applause was deafening. Their show was very much appreciated by the audience, that was clear. After their exit, they hadn't even reached the edge of the stage, the audience shouted for more. They got more. 'Life Burns' was the first song of their encore and it burned the house down! The show was closed with 'Seemann'. It was an energetic, enthusiastic and amazing show which will be remembered by many for a long time.



Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Light: 9
Sound: 6
Total: 8 (8,1)