"Dankeschön! – Bitteschön!"
Translation: Hanna Häßlein
On January 12th 2017, Singer Niilo
Sevänen (video-interview here) was just as excited about the German language as the audience
during Insomnium’s show at the Colos-Saal Aschaffenburg. The Location
was the second stop of the ongoing Winter’s
Gate European Tour.
Hence, it is no surprise that the band started their show by playing the
entire album “Winter’s Gate”, which
consists of one single, 40 minute long song. During this, the atmosphere was the priority, the
audience was not addressed and a dim blue from the back was the only light
which led to the band members moving across the stage like silhouettes. This
worked really well to reflect the album’s mood and the short story behind it. For
the photographers, however, it was hell. Even as just an audience member, I
could not warm up to the dim lighting since I like to see the emotions on their
faces as well as other facial expressions and gestures, especially the
musician’s craftsmanship. However, one heard enough of their craftsmanship
during the song. When the second half of the concert, which consisted of older
songs, started, one got to see it as well as the lighting went back to normal.
The set list included all Insomnium albums except the very first one and a
balanced and strong mixture was ensured. This led to a great atmosphere which
was fueled by riffs like the ones in “While
We Sleep”. These strong songs were accompanied by strong musicians – this
goes for all four of them. Niilo’s vocal performance as well as his intense grunts was thoroughly
convincing. His bass matched
the insomniac songs perfectly and his speeches and comments were refreshingly enthusiastic
and showed off this youthful side – even after 20 years of band history. Ville
Friman wasn’t only amazing with his guitar
but his supporting clean vocals were
simply superb. This was especially noticeable during “Winter’s Gate”. His rough
voice was brilliant – almost more appealing than on the album itself!
Another strong force during the process of wining the audience over was
most certainly Markus Vanhala. He
swept across the stage with his black Flying
V and a double P consisting of power and precision and threw himself into
pose. Lastly there was Markus Hirvonen
who could barely be seen behind his drum
set – yet, he successfully provided rhythms and made them sound clean from
the back of the stage.
All in all it is not surprising that the audience loudly demanded an encore
which they got in form of an Across-the-Dark-selection.
Conclusion: Insomnium delivered an almost intoxicating
performance which started out with an atmospheric super-song and was continued
with songs that were in no way inferior. The band offered their usual mixture
of halting and impelling melodies, of captivating riffs and soft tones, of
blaring grunts and melancholic sounds. This was completed with a coherent look
and good sound – and of course a number 1 album that was right to give the tour
its name. And as if that wasn’t enough – the location crew and the security
were remarkably pleasant – a more than successful concert!
Setlist:
Teil 1:
1. Winter's
Gate
Teil 2:
2. Gale
3. Mortal Share
4. While We Sleep
5. Bereavement
6. Change of Heart
7. Only One Who Waits
8. Promethean Song
Zugabe:
9. Equivalence
10. Down With the Sun
11. Weighed Down With Sorrow
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