Another weekend in Helsinki, another show to check out. This weekend we changed up from the usual melodic death or power metal I've been seeing to taste something I haven't tried in a while... progressive metal!
I have seen one prog show before, and if you read my reviews, you will know that I had been very unimpressed by Dream Theater's live show. Granted, I think that was just a bad night and would be willing to give them another chance because I think they're a great band. However, I went into Riverside with some skepticism because of this former experience with these long songs performed live.
We arrived a while after Ageness started. The band seemed to have some potential, but everyone seemed to be quite old and we got the vibe that the singer (who looked like Geddy Lee and Dio had a child together) was the master behind the band and the whole thing was his special baby. Shame it wasn't better. It wasn't bad but it got old after a while. It was pretty much the quintessential opening band. Good, but not great, and a nice choice to open for a band of the same genre but you know it's nowhere near as good as what you're about to hear.
So, Riverside. I heard about these guys because Michael's brother was really into them (which is surprising because, Opeth aside, he's not really the prog metal type). I have one of their CDs and I consider it to be a good CD but after a while nothing seems to jump out. It's good to have for a listen but nothing to go crazy over anyways. They are also the only Polish band I can name.
I have to say, with very low expectations of this show (and even a tiny bit of regret because the ticket was a bit pricey), I was really pleased that I had chosen to check it out. For starters, the music was really really good. Even when they played long songs (12+ minutes) it never got boring because it always changed up and it NEVER once sounded like the musicians were just showing off. The guitarist was sort of bouncing on the spot all the time and the keyboardist looked like he was enjoying himself. I really liked the vocalist though. Remniscient of Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth, he was awesome to watch live. He had a great sense of humor, joking onstage about singing and the length of their songs, and other such things. He had a great voice too... really smooth transitions between regular and high pitch, and he was just overall really fun to watch.
We were discussing the different bands we could hear in Riverside's music. I could definitely hear Dream Theater elements, as well as some new Iron Maiden style stuff, a bit of Deep Purple, and even a hint of Smashing Pumpkins at one point. The music was diverse, and interesting. It was powerful and melodic and mystical, like good prog metal should be. You got to hear all the members of the band doing their thing and enjoying it and having fun (including the keyboardist and a theramin, haha)!
I really have to conclude that I didn't have much or anything to complain about during this show. It took a while for the band to get the crowd into it but after a few songs, they really started to feel it and got more into it, rocking out and singing along (it really helped that the singer was encouraging and funny, making it easy to sing along even if you didn't know the words). The song selection was good (even though I didn't know hardly any of it) and much more diverse than the Rapid Eye Movement album alone... I even decided I'd look up more of their music because they had one song that they played acoustically that I really loved.
I would completely recommend this band, if you're a fan of progressive metal at all. It was really solid, really well done, and really impressive. Definitely a band to check out if you ever get a chance!
I have seen one prog show before, and if you read my reviews, you will know that I had been very unimpressed by Dream Theater's live show. Granted, I think that was just a bad night and would be willing to give them another chance because I think they're a great band. However, I went into Riverside with some skepticism because of this former experience with these long songs performed live.
We arrived a while after Ageness started. The band seemed to have some potential, but everyone seemed to be quite old and we got the vibe that the singer (who looked like Geddy Lee and Dio had a child together) was the master behind the band and the whole thing was his special baby. Shame it wasn't better. It wasn't bad but it got old after a while. It was pretty much the quintessential opening band. Good, but not great, and a nice choice to open for a band of the same genre but you know it's nowhere near as good as what you're about to hear.
So, Riverside. I heard about these guys because Michael's brother was really into them (which is surprising because, Opeth aside, he's not really the prog metal type). I have one of their CDs and I consider it to be a good CD but after a while nothing seems to jump out. It's good to have for a listen but nothing to go crazy over anyways. They are also the only Polish band I can name.
I have to say, with very low expectations of this show (and even a tiny bit of regret because the ticket was a bit pricey), I was really pleased that I had chosen to check it out. For starters, the music was really really good. Even when they played long songs (12+ minutes) it never got boring because it always changed up and it NEVER once sounded like the musicians were just showing off. The guitarist was sort of bouncing on the spot all the time and the keyboardist looked like he was enjoying himself. I really liked the vocalist though. Remniscient of Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth, he was awesome to watch live. He had a great sense of humor, joking onstage about singing and the length of their songs, and other such things. He had a great voice too... really smooth transitions between regular and high pitch, and he was just overall really fun to watch.
We were discussing the different bands we could hear in Riverside's music. I could definitely hear Dream Theater elements, as well as some new Iron Maiden style stuff, a bit of Deep Purple, and even a hint of Smashing Pumpkins at one point. The music was diverse, and interesting. It was powerful and melodic and mystical, like good prog metal should be. You got to hear all the members of the band doing their thing and enjoying it and having fun (including the keyboardist and a theramin, haha)!
I really have to conclude that I didn't have much or anything to complain about during this show. It took a while for the band to get the crowd into it but after a few songs, they really started to feel it and got more into it, rocking out and singing along (it really helped that the singer was encouraging and funny, making it easy to sing along even if you didn't know the words). The song selection was good (even though I didn't know hardly any of it) and much more diverse than the Rapid Eye Movement album alone... I even decided I'd look up more of their music because they had one song that they played acoustically that I really loved.
I would completely recommend this band, if you're a fan of progressive metal at all. It was really solid, really well done, and really impressive. Definitely a band to check out if you ever get a chance!
Riverside
Year: Nov 2009
Opening bands: Ageness
Who I went with: Marc
Location: Nosturi, Helsinki, FI
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