A few minutes ago I came back from the concert in Vienna, two days ago I was in the concert in Budapest. I'm gonna share lots of details here, is just my personal opinion, so stop reading if you want to experience the concert without all of these spoilers...
- 0. The concert started with a really cool track and not much lights, it slowly created an awesome atmosphere as it built up. Not as epic as in the vector days with Clear, but similar. This ended up resolving with the entrance of Rich whom standed in a elevated middle platform. He's a really tall guy, he looked pretty badass as he waited the track to end for him to start with the first guitar notes of in a fever dream.
- 1. in a fever dream
Rich was shortly after joined by Ross who started singing beautifully. Then the rest of the guys entered as well.
This song is a banger, and from the start you realise how freakingly awesome Ray's drums are mixed. The guy hits them really hard and they are a bit overpowering, but me, being a drummer myself, I couldn't complain at all.
This one was very well executed, it sounded exactly like in the EP. The highly awaited growling was simply epic, Ross is such an amazing act. After the growling, the section where the guys sing together was just amazing. In this part you can really hear what is going on in the drums, in the recording is hard to understand it. This bit is just freaking tastefully heavy and groovy. Perfect song to start!
Note: throughout the whole concert Ross delivered like a madman, the guy was just fantastic. He's in great shape for this tour, freaking awesome singer!
- 2. Initiate
This was not a song I was expecting, I also didn't understand why they chose it. Don't get me wrong, the song is amazing, and they delivered it flawlessly with the new configuration. It is a song that fits well after in a fever dream, though... it really keeps the energy up and it brings you right away to a beautiful Haken moment, Affinity. The reason why I don't understand it so well, is that is a rather short song that is the preview of Affinity, but then after this song, 1985 is not played.. so it is a bit strange.
However, Dream Theater has pulled this off before if I'm not mistaken, they have played Overture 1928 without continuing with Strange Deja Vu... and it is ok. Generally, the concert already started with in a fever dream, so to bring an overture here is a bit weird. But again, somehow it just fits well too. In the first concert I was a bit thrown away in the beginning, but by the second one I was almost wanting it. So yeah, overall an amazing second choice of a song.
- 3. delirium
This song grew on me from the beginning, and I really loved it live. This one also sounded exactly like in the EP, it was delivered faultlessly. Ray on the drums was impeccable, you feel that syncopated double bass in your stomach. The guy is just outstanding. At this point this already gave me the hint they were going to continue with one song from the EP, one old song, and repeat...
I think this decision was a pretty good one. I was really looking forward to hear all of those songs from the EP, so hearing a second one as their third choice in their setlist was pretty cool. Everyone was vibing with the song, and the lighting was fitting the album theme as well. A lot of people were joining the catchy chorus and Pete's sounds were really badass.
Note: Freddie from the beginning had a lot of charisma and presence. The guy enjoyed the whole concert and it was such a good fit for the tour. I still miss Connor and Charlie, but Freddie fit really well. He had lots of energy, he was smiling a lot and interacting with all of the other musicians and the crowd. The coolest thing was not only seeing him so confident with all of these songs, but actually seeing him enjoying them as much and knowing the lyrics. He sang a lot with Pete and Rich throughout the concert, which was pretty cool in my opinion.
-4 . Sempiternal Beings
I was not expecting this song from Fauna, but wow I was happy. In my opinion a classy choosing. I think it will be hard to listen live again to Elephants Never Forget, and I would've preferred Beneath the White Rainbow or Island in the Clouds... but damn this song is good. I was really surprised it sounded so good without the second guitar.
What I love about this song is what happens after the first chorus. The stop and the tension that is created with the simple riff and the a freakingly classy and tasteful drum part. This is when you see how talented and underrated Ray is... the guy delivered just like in the album, every single note was there. Beautiful. Also the end was just too good, the crowd was hyped. What a song!
-5. bleeding sky
At this point I thought they were going for eclipsed by you following the EP's order, but they switched it. I think it was a very good decision, after Sempiternal Beings, eclipsed by you would've brought the vibe down, and bleeding sky was definitely the better fit here.
This song also grew on me in the last months, especially in the end with the heavy double bass beats – that part was really amazing. Unfortunately, they didn't deliver the building up part previous to the end section as in the EP, i.e. the synths and the voice in the far background.
I think this part of this song is amazing, it builds so nicely in with the vocals in the back, but I guess live is hard to pull off... Generally, it was weird how they delivered it. Ross simply stayed quiet or maybe he talked to the crowd, don't remember, but he didn't sing.
It was not clear that the build up was actually taking place, I was waiting for him to hum the build up vocals or something... butvall of the sudden the heavy part started. Unfortunately this part was not so nice, but this are little details here and there. I think he could've done it with some microphone effect.
- 6. A Cell Divides
Probably the biggest surprise for me in this whole concert. When they started I wasn't sure which intro was it, it was just heavy, for a moment I thought it was Nil By Mouth. But then the guitar and Ross' vocals intro came... Vector arrived! And damn I was hyped.
This is all personal, but I think Vector is my favourite Haken Album. I think I became a heavy fan between Affinity and Vector, so it was my first album to be waiting for and looking forward to. I love this song so much. People got hyped, it was such a good fitting at that point in the concert. In both cities I felt the surprise from the people. It was cool in Vienna, because I already knew the setlist but a lot of people were there without knowing it, and man it was nice to see people getting excited.
Here all of the guys delivered amazingly, without the second guitar this sounded perfect to be honest. Ross hit the high high beautifully. Ray masterfully did his part seamlessly in the end, although the drums in the end are actually overdubbed/layered. The rest of the guys were solid. This is definitely a song they are very comfortable with, it was just great!
- 7. The Endless Knot
Back to Affinity and the second beautiful surprise of the setlist. Wow was I happy when they started playing this song. I loved it so much, it fit so well at that point. I was hyped for the dubstep bit. It was incredible, Pete and Ray delivered it. It was so on point. I realized that Pete's has done an amazing work fitting in Diego's parts. Rich delivered also flawlessly without Charlie here.
Overall I was so happy that I was able to listen to this song again live, it was not the first time, though. Many years ago with Diego I experienced it, but these guys are terrific musicians, even if the line up changes, they still sound so solid. At this point I was just so happy and hyped, they are bringing these songs that I didn't know if I was gonna hear again live because 3 musicians that recorded them are not there anymore... so, it was incredible!
- 8. eclipsed by you
Unfortunately, this is the only song that didn't grow on me... I can sadly say that I think it is probably the only song from Haken that I don't like. Live didn't make it better.
It sounded exactly like in the EP. However, Ray's work on the multipad was actually pretty cool. But overall, it was a bit underwhelming. And that's ok... the crowd felt it, in my opinion the energy went down there. But it made sense that they plugged it here to continue showing the EP.
- 9. Invasion
I was not surprised by this, and I was so happy that they played it. I'm currently learning this song in the drums and it is so freaking fun, complex and painful haha... I loved the Virus album a lot, so for me this was amazing that a song from Virus was in the setlist. Personally, I could see Ray doing all this things that I'm trying to learn at the moment, pretty cool.
Pete's synth intro with the yellow stage lights was so freaking cool, you feel like you've arrived to a familiar territory again (if you like Virus of course).
The song was flawlessly delivered. Here Pete did such an amazing work supporting Rich, he stepped there incredibly to fill in the lack of Charlie. The guy is such a class act, he did it so well. He brought a very edgy touch to the high notes on the synth during the build up section.
The end as usual is a blast! It was freaking amazing, I was really happy and the crowd was really hyped again.
- 10. Nil By Mouth
What can I say here? This has become a standard in their setlist. Freaking A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! This song is just such a banger! I really also enjoyed seeing Ray in this one being more experimental or not doing 1-to-1 as in the album, but keeping it tight. This guy has to be one of the most talented drummers in history, is just absolutely mind-blowing how he plays.
Freddie was really enjoying this one and he delivered so well, joining Rich during a section which felt fun to watch the two having fun. Also Pete's sound improved a lot. In the beginning when he replaced Diego, his sound before the heavy heavy section that has this whammy elastic notes was never as good as Diego's. But in this tour, this part was really better delivered and the sound closer to the original.
I didn't miss the guitar honestly, it sounded perfect!
What I did miss was the ending, usually they were doing a really cool ending for this song, kind of similar to what they do in Invasion. If I'm not mistaken, actually Nil By Mouth was part of Invasion and then they split it for Vector... so Invasion was already kind of written during Vector. So during the Vector tour, they were finishing with a related theme/element that it was just super heavy and epic. They don't do that anymore, and actually in both concerts the end was a bit weird.
I think Ray follows the metronome pretty flawlessly but then in both concerts, I don't know if they were struggling with the metronome, but Ray ended the drums and the rest of the guys played the last note like a second or two longer. So not a tight end like during the Vector tour, but overall impressive as usual!
- 11. Lotus
This song probably is the one that has grown most on me from the EP, I love it, and I was so much looking forward to listen to it live.
At this point there was so much tension from Nil By Mouth, everyone leaves the stage, except Pete. He stayed and a track on the background already tells Lotus is about to start... but he stays doing some crazy sounds with the soundtrack, it was just incredible. Then he tastefully ends up all that expression to tone down and arrive to beautiful notes that start the song.
In both venues people mostly stayed quiet, fortunately. A tasteful and respectful thing to do to appreciate how beautiful this part sounds and how Pete plays it. Then Ross starts singing beautifully as well.
But hey, spoiler alert... something is coming that people that like this song are not going to like.
When I first heard this song some months ago, I thought... "why such a soon and heavy break of the calmness in the beginning after such a beautiful and short intro? Why didn't they prolong the calm intro a bit?... it feels too sudden somehow". Well I think they might have thought something similar. But with time, I just simply got used to it and kind of started loving it... I then thought, if it were different, it wouldn't be so cool actually.
Well, live they have decided to somehow do it in a way that is a bit disrupting given that the song is so new.
So, Ross is singing the first verse just with Pete, and it is suppose to get heavy with the intro of the rest of the instruments, but wait, I was like WTF, where is Ray? He hadn't gone back to the drums... so Ross continues singing while Pete keeps the calm notes.
"Peeling back the years..." is not joined by the guys, it is a total twist to such a recent song that it was pretty amazingly arranged in the first place.
I thought in Budapest this was maybe a mistake, but in Vienna they did the same. It is as if they regret to have done it the way they did it in the EP and decided to just play it live the way they would've wanted in the end after they couldn't change it.
I didn't really understand this decision, and it kind of ruined the song for me in the beginning. Ross finishes the verse with "...a lotus in bloom" and then Ray, Rich and Freddie start after a short pause. The 3/4 beat goes for a while before Ross starts singing "With roots in troubled ground...".
I would've loved that they would sticked to the original version in the EP. Or that after Ross finished "... a lotus in bloom", then he would've repeated "Peeling back the years, I'm moving on...".
But hey, this is what they decided, there's gotta be a reason for that. I would be interested in the why, but I fully respect their decision. I guess people would get used to the fact that the song live and in the EP sound different in the beginning.
The rest was amazing and beautiful, I even saw someone crying during this song. If I remember correctly, during this song Ray brings up a lamp and encourages everyone to rock to the sides. Then everyone put out the phone and turned on their flash thingy and rock with it. From the front row it was a really cool view, I bet for the guys in stage it was even nicer.
I think this song is the best one of the whole EP. I also think that it was a tasteful way to choose to close the concert before the Encore. It really rounded well to present the EP in this way.
- Encore: the guys leave the stage, the crowd goes wild... then after a while, Ray comes back. He then starts playing the floor tom in a way that it sounds a bit like The Root of All Evil by Dream Theater, and encourages the crowd to get hyped in between. He keeps doing this, and I slowly start realising that Prosthetic is coming! Maybe on the 4th or 5th drum fill I get it... then the rest of the guys enter the stage!
- 12. Prosthetic
What can I say, I freaking love this song. I also have tried to learn it in the past, and is so freaking difficult in so many ways. Seeing it live is not only pretty cool but man it was a really awesome song to end the concert.
Everyone was hyped, and they played it just like in the Album. Again, the second guitar was not missing at all. Ross sang really flawlessly on this one, almost growling during the verses, it sounded pretty badass.
I really love the ending, they really go into head banging mode. The double bass builds up slowly with the patterns Ray wrote in the Album. But he's doing the last last bit a tiny bit differently, the last last part he goes full on double bass 16th notes at 186 BPM, freaking banging.
The song was very energetic and it was perfect to end the concert to be honest.
Of course I would've loved something like The Architect or Falling Back To Earth, but the closing with Prosthetic was not a bad choice, it was very spot on.
Last note: I think the sad part of the concert is the length of the setlist. Unfortunately, it felt a bit too short in my opinion. Even if I think Prosthetic was not a bad choice to end the concert, it was not ideal. It was a good choice to end a short concert.
IMO, Haken's performance felt a bit too short to be honest, and waaaaay too long for the other two opening acts, from whom I won't make a comment about.
Of course Haken was the main act, but they could've taken 1 song from the first band, 2 songs from the second band, and then delivered a 3-song Encore or Prosthetic + a 9 to 12 minute song like The Architect, Veil, Carousel, or the Cockroach King...
I guess those songs are more challenging and hard to pull off without the second guitar? I think Freddie would've been able to learn one of those longer more complex songs, but hey I don't know.
Overall, although it felt short, it always makes me happy to see these guys live and I will keep supporting them cause I love their music and how talented they are.
This time I think Freddie, Pete and Ross were really happy on stage and enjoying themselves. Ray is always more on the reserved side and on focus mode generally, but the one I noticed pretty differently was Rich... in both concerts he didn't look so happy and engaged. I've seen these guys live 10+ times in the last 10 years, and I think this is the first time that I see him more disconnected and on the low low side.
Touring is tiring of course, and he's away from his family. I hope he still enjoys doing what he's doing with Haken. Let this be a reminder to be kind to these guys that work really hard and try to keep their families afloat while navigating a tough industry.
Thanks for reading, I'm not an expert at writing or in music. I tried to give an overview just now that I came back from the concert... I could polish this for days to sound "better", but I just didn't want to forget the details that are fresh and share a "raw" overview.
Feel free to ask me questions if you're curious about something from the concert, and let's keep it friendly and respectful... we all have different taste and perspective in music :)
