Árstíðir / Anneke van Giersbergen / Pain of Salvation – Amalgame, Yverdon; April 13th 2013

This concert started with a long train ride to Switzerland. It was rather enjoyable, almost the entire time looking out on a river and as soon as the train crossed the border to Switzerland even a lake with mountains in the background. The perfect holiday panorama. Yverdon itself is a rather pretty little city and I had some time to take a walk and look around.

The tickets said doors to the venue would open at 9 p.m., but after almost being too late in Budapest, I decided to go there earlier. The venue was a bit hidden behind other buildings, but I found it eventually. After a while two people asked me if this was the correct place and we started talking. A. and M. had also come by train from Germany but are originally from Mexico and Nepal. A. is a huge fan of Pain of Salvation and had dragged M. along to see them. We had a nice time talking. 🙂 Gunnar walked out and came over to say hello and hug me before disappearing into the tourbus. We also got to watch how the trailer that carries all the stage decoration was being measured since apparently they were getting a new one.

When the doors opened I was the first person in and took front row center, waiting for A. and M. to join me. Said hello to Linda and Maria at the merchandise stand and got hugs from Karl on the way back. A bit later, Ragnar dropped by to give me a hug as well. All this led to M. assuming that I “must have known the guys for ages”. No, really, I don’t, they are just this lovely. <3

It must have been around 10 p.m. when the lights went down and Daniel G. walked out, switching on the lamps in the living room. “So, death” were the first words he greeted us with. He proceeded to ask who was afraid of dying and surprisingly few people raised their hands. That lead to some musing, ended by Árstíðir joining him on stage. This was the first time I could sing along to ‘Road Salt’ – the song had unexpectedly taken on a deeper meaning since the last concert and almost made me cry this time. So beautiful.

The guys played the shorter setlist again with only 7 of their own songs instead of 8. That didn’t make it any less amazing though. Unfortunately many people in the audience didn’t come until later and missed a highlight of the show. Still, they sang and played their hearts out, winning over those who had come early one by one. Their passion for the music shows whenever they are on stage and I have yet to see an audience that does not respond to it. 🙂

Me? I happily let the music carry me away. Despite all the melancholia the beauty of Árstíðir’s songs never fails to evoke positive feelings and make me smile. It’s always a rollercoaster of emotions though, as soon as I open my heart and mind to the music, making new connections every time. I rarely stop to think about it, but when I do I find it fascinating how easily I fell in love with these songs I can’t even understand. Should that not bother me somehow? Or keep me from being in the moment, instead puzzling about the meaning? Yet there is none of this during a concert, no detachment at all, just being one with the music and letting go of everything else. When it’s over, I often look around slightly puzzled as if I had just woken up. It was the same again this night. Now words can sufficiently describe this magic. <3

Setlist

Road Salt
Á Meðan Jörðin Sefur
Heiðin
Ljóð í Sand
Everwake (Anathema cover)
Þér eg unni
Nú Gleymist Ég
Shades/Tárin

Anneke’s set was the short one as well, with seven songs, must have been due to the late start of the show. I still don’t know her songs well enough to sing along, but enjoy them a lot anyway. She is such an amazing singer. I also love the variety of her songs, even acoustically and only playing them on her own they are quite different from each other. Especially ‘4 Years’ and ‘Circles’ are the ones that stand out for me at the moment. And the ones where the others are supporting her are beautiful as well. I’d love seeing her with a full band.

Watching Anneke work and interact with the audience was much fun once again. She does not give long speeches between songs, but her smile is contagious and it’s clear she enjoys presenting her music. Her set ended with a cover of U2’s ‘All I want is you’, which I hadn’t heard her sing before. It was lovely. This tour is just the perfect combination of musicians.

Setlist

My Electricity
4 Years
Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper cover)
Beautiful One
Locked Away
Circles
All I Want Is You (U2 cover)

During the break the club filled up – the people who came that late missed some of the best moments though. A. was all giddy with excitement because finally the moment she had been waiting for arrived. Just seeing her happiness made it all worthwhile.

Pain of Salvation were incredible that night. I loved every song, every moment, every story told. During ‘Ashes’ Daniel G. switched off all the lights but one and sat in the back on the sofa playing. This song really struck a chord with me. Once again I realized what a great singer he is. 🙂

The more often I see the guys, the more I get used to the music and the more favorites emerge. ‘To the Shoreline’ is another one, so is ‘Spitfall’. For ‘Second Love’ I held up a lighter this time and Daniel G. thanked me with a smile. 🙂 After Budapest this was the second time I managed to fall into their music and enjoy every single minute of their set.

The living room setting sure suits the mood of these shows and they seem comfortable in it as if they were really playing at home and we just happened to be there. While the slower songs were a good entry point for me I am now starting to appreciate the rockier ones. I’m not sure if they’d work for me in a non-acoustic setting but I’d love to give that a try. That night, everything was right, the band, the music, the audience – pure awesomeness. Not once I felt tired, even though it was way past my bedtime and it could have gone on forever. 🙂

When the last chords of ‘1979’ had rung out I looked over to A. and M. who were both overwhelmed and happy. We hung out for a long time, waiting for the guys to come out, chatting. I was so happy, I wanted to hug everyone and hugged most of the guys, talking with them until they left. Pain of Salvation also appeared and I chatted with Daniel G. for a while telling him how the music has grown on me over the past few concerts. To my surprise he hugged me when he left.

Setlist

Falling Home
Diffidentia
Linoleum
Mrs. Modern Mother Mary
Ashes
Help Me Make It Through The Night (Kris Kristofferson cover)
Perfect Day (Lou Reed cover)
She Likes to Hide
To the Shoreline
Holy Diver (Dio cover)
Stress
Disco Queen
Second Love
Iter Impius
The Perfect Element
Spitfall
No Way
King of Loss

Encore
Dust in the Wind (Kansas cover)
Chain Sling
1979

I took pictures of A. and M. with everyone, until it was time for us to go. They did not have a hotel so we were wondering if we’d find and open bar of something. A local guy, F. told us they’d all be close by that time and spontaneously invited us to their home, saying they had guests anyway. Thus we ended up in and apartment in Yverdon at 3 in the morning, drinking wine and having a good time. An unexpected and great end to a wonderful night.

On tour with Árstíðir / Pain of Salvation / Anneke van Giersbergen – 4 gigs down, 3 to go. Next stop: Weert