Location: Patronaat Haarlem, 11th of April 2022
It has been nearly two years since I have been to a concert. Two long years and I think a lot of us have been anxious to finally attend a good show again. Therefore I could not pass up this opportunity to see both Ensiferum and Dark Tranquillity in this co-headliner tour in Haarlem. As supports, they brought along The Legion Ghost and Nailed to Obscurity.
To be fair, it might not have been the best choice to start the show at 18.30 PM on a weekday. When The Legion Ghost kicked off their set, there might have been a total of fifty guests at the venue. Nevertheless, the band made the best out of it, even though people were slowly pouring in and the crowd definitely still had to wake up a bit.
It was my first time seeing Nailed to Obscurity and, man, was I mesmerized. Lead singer Raimund Ennenga puts in a lot of passion during his performance, it’s like watching a theatre play. The north German band can best be described as melodic-death-doom and as the first couple of small moshpits started to form, the band had my attention during their full half hour show.
Ensiferum and Dark Tranquillity co-headlined this tour and this was their second show here in The Netherlands, after performing in Nijmegen the day before. Ensiferum was first to kick off and in the meantime the venue filled up quite nicely.
Two years ago, the band released their latest record, “Thalassic.” Naturally, some songs from that record were played, such as the opener, “Rum, Women, Victory,” followed up by “Andromeda.” Who could forget other classics like “One More Magic Potion” and “In My Sword I Trust.”
I loved the fact that everyone one stage seemed to enjoy themselves just as much as the crowd. In the audience, everyone went wild, moshpits appeared and in general the whole atmosphere was stellar. Next to that, the sound was great, as was the lighting on stage.
A cool moment during the show, was that keyboardist Pekka Montin stepped away from his keyboard and sung his vocal parts during “Run from the Crushing Tide.” Ensiferum concluded their setlist with “Lai Lai Hei” and “From Afar,” two fan favourites that could not be missed from their setlist if you ask me.
Last but not least, Dark Tranquillity was to set foot on stage. They also released a new record mid-pandemic, which according to lead singer Mikael Stanne was very weird with no possibilities to tour and perform those songs live. Still, with their show it was as if time stood still.
Dark Tranquillity had a fantastic performance this evening. The whole show just connected with the audience. From the energy of Mikael Stanne, smiles on stage, the videowall backdrop which resonated with the songs played and the interaction between the audience and the band, the whole atmosphere was fantastic.
The great mixture of old, very old and new songs was great. Who could not like a setlist which contains songs like “Phantom Days,” “Focus Shift,” “Terminus” and “Atoma.” Dark Tranquillity even made time for a little encore, which consisted of “The Treason Wall,” “Lost to Apathy” and “Misery’s Crown.”
What a first concert to attend after such a long time. I’m sure this kicks off a great start of more and more shows to come. One thing’s for sure, the bands were just as anxious to get back on stage, as we were willing to show them our appreciation.
