Paradiso, Amsterdam, the NetherlandsMay 31st 2005
Life of Agony
Finally Life of Agony are back to play the Netherlands again, last time they played here was about one and a half year ago and now that they have a new album out called ‘Broken Valley’ it’s about time they returned! They are currently doing a small tour in Europe, playing Paradiso and the Waldrock festival in Holland.
Paradiso is the perfect spot to pick for a show like this: it’s intimate and its location is right in the center of Amsterdam. Hmmm, could this be the reason so many bands want to play there- near the coffeeshops, bars and what not? Also this venue is legendary, for bands like the Rolling Stones, Nirvana, name a any name in the rock/ metal bible and they played there for sure! The venue is actually a converted church and the insides have been kept intact. This means that there are two large balconies adorned by beautiful woodworks and tall stained glass church windows behind the stage. A true music temple, in which we gather to pay hommage to the God of Rock...
Life of Agony
You might consider Life of Agony to be old school, but this night they prooved that being old school does not mean that you are out of date. In fact, this show which was packed with classics from the debut ‘River runs red’ till the new album ‘Broken Valley’ was a prefect example of how a band can stay true to their roots, but still keep finding new directions to their music. Now let’s see if the fans get the message?
Music
First song played is an old one: 'Rivers Runs Red', it goes down a storm naturally. With this song they set the tone for the rest of the night. A lot of the material on the setlist stems from the first two albums: ‘River Runs Red’ and’Ugly’. I cannot say that anyone thought about complaining about the setlist, the crowd is quite wild in Paradiso tonight. By the time the band set in the first chords of ‘This Time’( third song played) , I even see the first people crowdsurf- this is forbidden in Holland, but heyyy no one cares and luckily the security does not bother people about it. Then even stage diving starts, a rare sight!
First song played is an old one: 'Rivers Runs Red', it goes down a storm naturally. With this song they set the tone for the rest of the night. A lot of the material on the setlist stems from the first two albums: ‘River Runs Red’ and’Ugly’. I cannot say that anyone thought about complaining about the setlist, the crowd is quite wild in Paradiso tonight. By the time the band set in the first chords of ‘This Time’( third song played) , I even see the first people crowdsurf- this is forbidden in Holland, but heyyy no one cares and luckily the security does not bother people about it. Then even stage diving starts, a rare sight!
I have to tell you that I wasn’t too sure about the quality of the songs on the new album: to me they sounded like too much Keith and not the rest of the band in there. But on hearing them played in a live setting, I have to say that the songs change and sound much more like a team effort all of a sudden. The energy that is lacking a bit on the album is there for sure when they play them tonight. So back to have another listen to it when I get home after this. You can hear how Keith’s voice changed after all these years, it may be a bit less powerfull but it is much more polished and balanced now. Here you can see that he learned a lot from getting experience as a solo artist . By doing this he got the chance to take it away from the Life of Agony sound and explore the possibilities of his voice. Surely Life of Agny benefitted from this, cause he delivers all the material with an unbelievably big passion and strenght for such a small man- hell, for any singer I know! Considder the fact that this band has been around for a lot of years already, but they never show any of the fatigue that I see with other ‘oldies’ bands.They still rock like the best for sure.
About half way through the setlist, the guys play a few riffs from ‘Walk’ by Pantera., as an ode to Dimebag Darell. The whole crowd joins in to sing ‘Breed, Spit, Walk’. Luckily the band/ Keith do not waste much time talking after this, cause the set they play is only 1 hour and 15 minutes long and that is about the only point of real criticism I have concerning this show: it’s way too short!
As far as the sound is concerned; I am a little dissapointed about it. It’s not great and the only reason they get away with it is the fact that Life of Agony luckily does not need to have the best of sound to deliver their message. Their songs have a great impact, no matter what.
Performance
The band looks like they are enjoying themselves; Holland has always been good to them and Amsterdam is Keiths’second home after all. They make for a funny contrast on stage: Joey Z, Alan Robert and Sal Abruscato wearing kinda standard US band clothing and then Keith wearing a tight shirt and fitted jacket, looking very hip. Most of the energy onstage still comes from Keith- he is singing whilst dancing around his part of the stage. Almost getting caught in his microfone wire a few times, why doesn’t he use a wireless one? He’s gonna break something some day carrying on like this! Joey Z is the oher bandmember to look for interaction the most, both with Keith and the audience.
The band looks like they are enjoying themselves; Holland has always been good to them and Amsterdam is Keiths’second home after all. They make for a funny contrast on stage: Joey Z, Alan Robert and Sal Abruscato wearing kinda standard US band clothing and then Keith wearing a tight shirt and fitted jacket, looking very hip. Most of the energy onstage still comes from Keith- he is singing whilst dancing around his part of the stage. Almost getting caught in his microfone wire a few times, why doesn’t he use a wireless one? He’s gonna break something some day carrying on like this! Joey Z is the oher bandmember to look for interaction the most, both with Keith and the audience.
Lights tonight might be simple, but it is very effective. The colors red and green are used mostly and the sombre, but bright uni-toned lights do not distract from the show, but just add to the atmosphere. With Life of Agony it is not about posing, elaborate solos or any of the metal standards, fancy multi coloured over-the-top lights just would not work for them. So I say a job well done to the lighting engineer, he understood what was needed here.
Setlist
01. River runs red
02. Don’t bother
03. This time
04. Love to let you down
05. Other side of the river
06. I regret
07. Lost
08. Weeds
09. Wicked ways
10. Bad seed
11. Junk sick
12. Through
13. Strung out
14. Underground
01. River runs red
02. Don’t bother
03. This time
04. Love to let you down
05. Other side of the river
06. I regret
07. Lost
08. Weeds
09. Wicked ways
10. Bad seed
11. Junk sick
12. Through
13. Strung out
14. Underground
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 7
Total: 7
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 7
Total: 7
(sorry to all the fans of Sal, Joey and Alan: there just wasn't enough light to make pics of them this time)
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