11/08/2012- Alestorm, Epica, and Insomnium Live @ The Complex, SLC

Take a good hard look at the order in which I put last nights line up at the Complex in Salt Lake. That’s the order these bands should have been playing. Nothing against Alestorm (except that they’re a psudo-folk, Disney-pirate novelty act) or Epica (except that *fart noise*) but the fact that Insomnium opened was offensive.

So we showed up late, assuming Alestorm opened, and missed Insomnium’s opening song, the first notes they’ve ever played in my great state. The rest of their half-hour set was spot-on, had I missed it fits of hissy may have been thrown. Vocalist/bassist Niilo Sevänen vocals were fucking on point. Guitars and drums sounded as good, if not better in some spots, as on the album. The crowd, small as it was (it was a Thursday, after all) rallied for the band’s classics, Where the Last Wave Broke, Down with the Sun, but reactions were generally mixed or less-than enthused for newer material. One of the downfalls of being an opening act only allowed half an hour, there was not so much as a hint of material older than their 2009 album Across the Dark.

The final song they played, One for Sorrow, was brilliant and gloomy as only Insomnium could do but also served as a stark reminder that I didn’t love the new album like I loved Across the Dark or Above the Weeping World. I’d give the performance a solid 85/100 though I think they’d have been better served to end with Where the Last Wave Broke.

Alestorm followed, sung about pirates and beer—it was fine but certainty not up my alley, not something I’d have paid for. And finally there was Epica, who had the biggest crowd, an amazing light show, and all the trappings of a headliner but the headliners of my heart already had their half an hour (pfft) and we were hungry, so we left.

You can catch Insomnium and the rest at the following dates, and I highly recommend you do--no telling when they’ll be back in The States so make sure you show them a good time, buy some merch, and raise your horns to the sky.

10.11.2012 | FiveSixty – Vancouver, B.C. – CANADA
11.11.2012 | El Corazon - Seattle, WA
12.11.2012 | Hawthorne Theater – Portland, OR
14.11.2012 | Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
15.11.2012 | House of Blues – San Diego, CA
16.11.2012 | House of Blues – Hollywood, CA
17.11.2012 | Joe's Grotto – Phoenix, AZ
19.11.2012 | Trees – Dallas, TX
20.11.2012 | Scout Bar – Houston, TX
21.11.2012 | Backstage Live – San Antonio, TX
23.11.2012 | Headliners – Louisville, KY
24.11.2012 | Soundstage – Baltimore, MD