Despite a near twenty year gap, reassuringly Rock City was the same unkempt flea pit I remembered. We took way too long in a local curry house for me to get parked up for free (almost impossible in city centre Nottingham, £7.50 for 5 hours, jokers!), get to the bar and catch the support, so apologies to them, whoever they were, saw the last two minutes and they were a rock band!!! DOH!

Anyway to the job in hand, Opeth live! Could they match the dazzling musical ability they display on their sumptuous recent opus Ghost Reveries and kick some booty live also? Yes is the quick answer. The place was packed with all ages, giving Death and Doom a run but also introducing Prog to a new generation and dragging in some oldies for the ride. The set lasted one hour and forty minutes, in that time they managed nine songs, which tells you all you need to know about the style of music. 

Tonight was the tour opening night and the band ambled on stage to a cacophonous welcome, singer and main man Mikael Akerfeldt grinning and waving merrily, not at all doomy? They opened with “Ghost of Perdition” a song never performed before in front of an audience Michael informed us cheerfully. Immediately it was obvious the punters were there to have a party they could have played crazy frog and it would have been met with thunderous support.  Jaw dropping spidery handed chord sequences coupled with bewildering time changes veering from loud to virtual silence all with some superb backing vocals by Hammond rocker Per Wiberg and Akerfeldt himself in full AOR mode set the scene.

It appeared the band members were having an hair length contest amongst themselves, Akerfeldt’s touches his shoulders but the rest of the group have it way down their backs, an impressive sight when all five are shaking heads. The between song banter was upbeat and relaxed, Akerfeldt has a natural bonhomie and warmth that counteracts the image of the music portrayed.  “Baying if the Hounds” was delivered with precision violence/calm and yet more Scandinavian chatter followed. It made a pleasant change from the hordes of bands from over the pond “Yanking” the audience off with the usual trite “You sure are louder” “ You guys can rock” “You sure are crazy” platitudes. 

The set concluded with the excellent “Grand Conjuration”, every bit as epic live as the studio, followed due to time constraints with the awesome Deliverance from the album of the same name. It harked back to a past age of rock music, where musicians stretched themselves, taking them and their audience to greater heights and guitar solos were king, and I loved it. 

Go see them before they get BIG!

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