SOILWORK

w/ Buried in Verona, Paradigm

Manning Bar, Camperdown (Sydney) – 22nd October 2010

I remember one of the first 18+ shows I ever went to was at the Sydney leg of Soilwork’s first tour through Australia back in 2003. It was at the Gaelic Theatre where my mate and I lined up hours before the doors even opened as we had been waiting anxiously towards the shows for months. I remember nervously sweating as the line finally started to move through the doors, both because of the excitement I was barely containing, and due to the fact that I wasn’t actually 18 yet. I saw the bouncers ahead who were checked IDs intently, and while my mate had nothing to worry about as he had just turned 18, I knew that I wasn’t going to be seeing Soilwork that night. But we got up to the doors, and as my friend has his license checked, I had my backpack checked and due to the limited brain capacity of the average bouncer who can’t do two things at once, I was dismissed and allowed to enter the venue. Once inside, I was met with one of the most energetic and greatest live shows I’d ever seen (well, at that point in my life anyways).

7 years on, I found myself on the day of seeing Soilwork once again. I can’t say that I shared any of the excitement that a 7 year younger version of me did, but I was very curious to see how they’d be after their popularity has soared in that time, as well as their extensive touring profile. While I have caught them a few times at European festivals over the years, this was the first time I was seeing them do their own headlining show since their first time here.

The Swedish sextet had two bands supporting their Sydney show this time around. First up was Sydney dark progressive metallers Paradigm. This was my second time catching these guys live since they released their new album, ‘Symmetry in (In)Sanity’. And let me tell you something, these guys are definitely worth catching live! Paradigm played an amazing set, consisting of elements of both progressive and death metal, flawlessly executed before a very accepting crowd. I definitely think that Paradigm made a bunch of new fans on this night.

Second band to hit the stage was metalcore act, Buried in Verona. I can’t say that I’m a big fan of metalcore or anything similar to that, so I can’t really say much about their music. They played extremely tight though, and I did find an enjoyable moment during their set with their rendition of the ‘Inspector Gadget’ theme. They managed to involve the crowd very well, who in turn were very receptive. I think this is a band who is going to go very far in their field, especially with the amount of hype I’ve noticed surrounding them recently. All the best to their future!

As the intro tape for Soilwork’s show started, I noticed that the Manning Bar was probably the most packed I’d ever seen it! The crowd were shouting out in a frenzy and as the curtains opened, the band strolled onto the stage and kicked straight into the opener from their latest album, The Panic Broadcast. The band’s energy was definitely still on par with the first time I had seen them, especially singer Björn ‘Speed’ Strid who prowled across the stage with a presence that was hard to miss, as many in the crowd were fixated on his every word.

Every member of Soilwork knows how to work the stage, as each member enthusiastically gets into their playing and really appears to be enjoying playing to the crowd. It was great to see guitarist Peter Wichers back in the band, shredding through some truly jaw-dropping solos. Seeing the band play As We Speak, then kick straight into The Flameout brought back some amazing memories of when I first heard the Natural Born Chaos album.

For a band that’s released, in my opinion, a few albums in a row that are nowhere near on par as their four albums, it was great to see them play a setlist that touched on quite a few earlier numbers, especially seeing three tracks performed from one of my favourite albums of all time, Natural Born Chaos, as well as tracks Bastardchain and The Chainheart Machine. This is definitely a testament to a band like this as their last few albums have been really popular, especially among a more mainstream metal crowd (which was evident by the type of crowd at the venue), so to see them still do a great deal of numbers from the past is a great thing to see.

One of the highlights of the night was from drummer Dirk Verbeuren’s drum solo towards the end of the night. The guy has played with some great bands throughout his time, as I can see why so many bands want him to play. The man’s a machine! The solo wasn’t too over the top or too long, just the perfect type of solo to keep both drummers and non-drummers alike interested. And then came the moment I had been waiting over 7 years for, finally seeing Soilwork perform Follow the Hollow live! It was great to finally the song that originally got me into the band all that time ago. I would have been happy if the show was to end there, but the band came onstage for the obligatory encore song which seemed to please the crowd.

While the night may have not matched up to my original experience of seeing Soilwork live, I was still thoroughly impressed by the performance and the inclusion of quite a few older tracks. Soilwork is an extremely strong live band whose constant touring around the world is definitely paying off. While they mightn’t be a stadium band, they’re the perfect club band and they know how to work a crowd up there with the best of them.

Setlist:

1. Late for the Kill, Early for the Slaughter
2. Night Comes Clean
3. Overload
4. As We Speak
5. The Flameout
6. Deliverance Is Mine
7. Nerve
8. 20 More Miles
9. The Crestfallen
10. Two Lives Worth of Reckoning
11. Let This River Flow
12. The Chainheart Machine
13. Rejection Role
14. Bastard Chain
15. Follow The Hollow

Encore

16. Stabbing The Drama