Having formed way back in 1991, Finnish rock band HIM must now be considered veterans in the much changing music industry. Led by their enigmatic front man Ville Valo the band have enjoyed much success over the years. This year saw the band drop album number eight in the form of 'Tears On Tape' and that's what brings us to Norwich's UEA LCR venue.
The venue isn't very busy when our one and only support act take to the stage, but Americans Caspian impress those that are here. Caspian are a six-piece experimental rock band and are completely instrumental. The lack of vocals hampers them in some ways, with a number of audience members clearly losing interest half way through. The pure quality of musicianship however easily keeps me entertained throughout and although their music will likely never trouble music charts, you get the impression that this doesn't bother them. They clearly love what they do and most in the crowd are appreciative of their performance.
With HIM due on stage shortly the venue has filled up nicely although it's still far from capacity. HIM have never enjoyed prolonged mainstream success, but have instead forged a very successful career on the back of their fanatical fan base. The term "diehard fan" could be used for most people in the LCR tonight with the bands heartagram symbol covering clothes all over the place. And it's an updated version of their heartagram that adorns their backdrop on a simple stage setup.
The band take to the stage to the sound of screaming fans and open their set with a new track from 'Tears On Tape', namely 'All Lips Go Blue'. They then reel off three of their biggest songs in succession with 'Buried Alive By Love', 'Rip Out The Wings Of A Butterfly' and 'Right Here In My Arms' pumping the crowd right up. The fans show their passion tonight and are treated to a career spanning performance.
New album 'Tears On Tape' is well represented tonight with 'I Will Be The End Of You', 'Into The Night' and title track 'Tears On Tape' all getting airings and being well received. Some of the best received material tonight however is those taken from 1997 debut 'Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666'. 'It's All Tears (Drown In This Love)', 'When Love And Death Embrace', 'Your Sweet Six Six Six' and their fantastic Chris Isaak cover 'Wicked Game' all feature and help bring their set list full circle.
Valo, dressed all in black with hat and scarf covering all but his face, keeps his talking to a bare minimum tonight. He and his band mates instead let the music do the talking for them. Musically their performance is sound but for me it appears that the fans passion isn't quite reciprocated by the band. It's nearly as if the band are simply going through the motions and at times keyboardist Janne Puurtinen looks as if he is about to fall asleep but then the band have been on tour since June so perhaps they're tired.
This is my only qualm about tonight and despite this they put in a decent performance and no doubt their loyal fans go home happy having been treated to the likes of 'Join Me In Death', 'Soul On Fire' and 'The Funeral Of Hearts'. After all if tonight isn't HIM at their best then HIM at their best must be one of the best live acts out there.
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.