Dark Tranquillity 2/3/14

Stage 48 is quickly becoming the new hotspot for rock and roll with several international artists flocking this year to perform. 2013 was an amazing year for this young venue that recently opened over 2 years ago. 2013 became home for many acts such as Overkill, Kreator, Fintroll, Blackguard and many more. Now, With a solid 2014 lineup like Nile, Y&T, Stryper, Primal Fear and Loudness for the first half of the year, things are shaping up to be interesting in the realm of Manhattan based venues. Stage 48 opens up their Rock year with Sweden’s own Dark Tranquillity, who are currently on the Century Media Records roster. Accompanying them on this tour are Omnium Gatherum and Exmortus. The show was already a problem once I walked into the general admission floor. No barricade for a photographers pit and REALLY bad lighting placement were just 2 of the red flags I encountered.
Exmortus and Omnium Gatherum were incredible live. I never saw acts that carried such musical force over crowds in this venue since EVER. Stage 48 was rockin’ hard even though the show went by super quick. Guess its true about how time flies when you’re having fun. Exmortus was a thrash masterpiece. They caught me on the first song with heavy tunes that are not only technical, but catchy. That is NOT an easy feat to accomplish in the thrash genre, so kudos to them on this. Best part was watching guitarists Conan and David Rivera play each others guitars during their set which there are photos of. Very impressed by how commanding they are on stage.
Omnium Gatherum, who are touring the United States for the very first time in their career, could not hold straight faces their entire set. The Finnish band was full of smiles and happiness. Lead singer Jukka Pelkonen was happy the entire time, as he should be since the band worked diligently to obtain these bragging rights for their first U.S tour. Most of my photos came by way of full band shots thanks to the sheer volume of the crowd. Some crowd-surfers came out to liven up the show, but to me it wasn’t necessary since the audience was already in full force.
Exmortus and Omnium Gatherum were great choices for this tour to support Dark Tranquillity. The harsh lighting however, was not my cup of tea. Most of the night was dark, with my saving grace to be a massive strobe light atop the ceiling hanging over the lead vocal area which illuminated the entire stage and some parts of the audience. Dark Tranquillity was up next. The band opened up with what can possibly be the best usage of projection screens I have seen at Stage 48 thus far. All of their video pieces were individually set to each song they played. The atmospheric value was high as the audience got into it with hair windmilling, joshing and singing. Staane, the bands singer, was very interactive. His sheer elation to the crowds response was nothing more of humbling. Staane would come down and greet audience members with handshakes and fist-pounds and even at times singing next to them. Its always nice to see bands interact with the fans that care about them. Music is a humbling medium that brings out all emotion responses. The nights response was filled with good times, smiles and a lot of unity.
Exmortus and Omnium Gatherum had no set-list to be brandished. However, Dark Tranquillity did and here it is: Science of noise, White noise, What you only know, Lost to apathy, The fatalist, Silence in between, Zero distance, Mundane and the magic, Punish my Heaven, Wonders at your feet, Mono, Iridium, Terminus, State of trust, There in, Endtime, Final resistance, Lethe and Misery’s crown.

At first, I thought this tour package deserved better lighting and a photo pit. However, seeing the high interaction levels between the band members of all acts and its audience, I knew I was going to capture some pretty outstanding memories. Finland rock with a touch of SoCal thrash and Sweden melodic death metal. Its a keeper. Check out the photos below and the flickr link accompanying the article. Thank you for reading.

Photo Gallery

You can find Dark Tranquillity on the links provided:

Dark Tranquillity online:
http://www.darktranquillity.com/
www.facebook.com/dtofficial
www.twitter.com/dtofficial

Flickr Link: Dark Tranquillity 2/3/14 Tour