swallow the sun live

“Finland, Finland, Finland, the country where I want to be” once sang Monty Python and tonight sees just a little bit of Finland coming to Manchester with all three bands hailing from the country that “has it all”. For those who’ve never been to the Star & Garter before I should explain that it’s a rather run down looking pub that stands on its own opposite Manchester Piccadilly train station with the venue being the top floor of the pub. From the outside it looks practically derelict and inside it’s cramped, more than a little grotty and yet the place has a charm all of its own – and has a truly brilliant sound.

First up was Omnium Gatherum, who are initially a little disappointing, starting with a slower number instead of really going for it from the off. The band are quickly into their stride though and their blend of thrashy riffs, melodic guitar leads, some brilliant guitar solos and vocalist Jukka Pelkonen’s energetic stage presence soon has the majority of the crowd won over with not even a short power-cut really slowing their momentum with Jarmo Pikka throwing in a well received impromptu drum solo at the request of the crowd and Jukka engaging in some banter with the crowd until the power is back on. Some bands might have been caught cold by something like that happening but Omnium Gatherum cope admirably well with it and are straight back into their stride after power is restored keeping the energy levels of the crowd high until the end of their set.

I’ve been a fan of Insomnium since their debut In The Halls of Awaiting came out in 2002 but I have to admit that I was slightly underwhelmed by the band’s recent performance at Bloodstock Open Air. Tonight though the Star & Garter is as packed as I’ve ever seen it for their performance and the band prove that they’re much happier in the more intimate confines of what is essentially the back room of a pub to a crowd that seem to be hanging on their every chord! Insomnium have never been a startlingly original band, what they do however is take elements of older Dark Tranquillity, Amorphis and a more direct, less meandering take on Opeth’s sound and compose great songs in their own right that are always slightly reminiscent of something else and yet undeniably 100% Insomnium. If there is a complaint to be made it’s that the entire setlist comes from the band’s last two albums with their first two albums being completely ignored but I hope that they’ll add more of those songs into their set once they start headlining over here themselves which, on the evidence of tonight, will be sooner rather than later.

Sadly, whether it’s because people need to catch last buses/trains or just that Swallow the Sun’s music is rather more downbeat then the first two bands tonight and just doesn’t appeal to some of the crowd tonight, there’s a noticeable thinning of the crowd before Swallow the Sun come on.

Whatever the reason, personally I’ve been waiting a long time to see the band play a headline length set indoors and the band manage to live up to all my expectations and perhaps even exceed them. Playing a set that stretches across all of their albums from the early Out of This Gloomy Light to the title track of the latest album New Moon, even throwing in part of the epic (in the truest sense of the word) Plague of Butterflies along the way they manage to convincingly create the hope-infused melancholic atmosphere that this kind of downbeat doom / death metal demands. Despite the introspective nature of the band’s music the atmosphere in the crowd is like that of a house party with lots of singing along and plenty of that slow, side-to-side headbanging during the heavier parts of the music, which just goes to show that just because a band’s music is outwardly quite downbeat it doesn’t mean that they can’t be an awful lot of fun to see live.

Overall then a thoroughly enjoyable night out at one of Manchester’s more interesting venues with great performances from all three bands on the bill, what more could anyone ask for?!

by Neil Woodfin