[ATTENDED: February 10, 2022] Volbeat
I hadn’t heard of Volbeat before this tour was announced. Although I had to join their (free) fan club to get the pre-sale code because it seemed like Ghost’s didn’t go out as early.
I listened to a few Volbeat songs before the show but nothing really grabbed me. I wasn’t quite sure what I didn’t like about them–they had a kind of “rock-n-roll” vibe which I don’t really care for. Some of their songs were heavier than others, but it did nothing for me.
I assumed that live would be a different story.
And judging by the crowd, you’d think that was right. The crowd went berserk for these guys. And I… didn’t.
There’s so much that I should like about this band. They’re from Denmark, which is exotic and fun. The lead singer is funny and charismatic and he had a terrific voice. The guitarist is from New York (he really looked nothing like the rest of the band) and he was tremendous–doing some amazing solos.
The rhythm section was always on.
And yet, it did nothing for me. I felt like the singer’s voice, while great, never worked with the music. And the solos were impressive but not very interesting, It felt like something was missing–four great parts in need of something interesting to bring it all together.
Their backing videos and such were pretty great. They changed for most songs and were fun to watch. For a few songs they even had narrative videos that were fun to watch. The video screens also did a fun thing where they mirror-imaged one of the guys to be on either side of the person in the middle screen. And I really liked that the lead singer had microphones all over the stage, so he sang from different parts at different times–very democratic.
It’s possible I didn’t like them as much because the dudes in front of me were tall and filmed nearly everything so I could hardly see anything at all (hence watching the videos).
And yet there was nothing about them that I hated. I just felt completed blah by them. I couldn’t wait for their set to be over. I almost never feel this way. But shockingly, they actually played for a few minutes longer than Ghost (the headliner) did.
Strangely enough, or perhaps not, my son felt exactly the same way–Just meh. Just nothing from them.
But the crowd was so into it and I genuinely worried that concerts had lost magic for me. Ghost brought it back, thankfully.
The people in the row behind us were really noisy when they sat down and then were very quiet. When Volbeat was done, we learned that someone in the row behind us peed on the stranger next to him. I don’t have any details and I can’t quite imagine exactly how this all happened. But it sounds like it was a deliberate act? Did he take it out and point at them? Did he just pee his pants? I have no idea. Apparently the victims were allowed to move to a better location. But It was far more memorable than Volbeat. (And fortunately, none of us got anything wet).
Not entirely true. We all enjoyed his little Johnny Cash cover (he started “Ring of Fire” and then said that he had ripped off Johnny for the old song “Sad Man’s Tongue,” but I have no recollection of that song.
I see that they have a Rockabilly vibe going on and I really don’t like rockabilly, so maybe that’s it. They also seemed to be kind of Satanic, but not really. Even just looking at their album titles kind of annoys me.
SETLIST
- Seal the Deal $
- Pelvis on Fire ®
- Temple of Ekur Ø
- Lola Montez ⊗
- Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash excerpt) / Sad Man’s Tongue ¥
- Becoming Ø
- Last Day Under the Sun ®
- Wait a Minute My Girl Ø
- Black Rose $
- Shotgun Blues Ø
- The Devil’s Bleeding Crown $
- The Devil Rages On Ø
- Doc Holliday ⊗
- The Sacred Stones Ø
- Die to Live ®
- Still Counting ♦
Ø Servant of the Mind (2021)
® Rewind, Replay, Rebound (2019)
$ Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie (2016)
⊗ Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies (2013)
♦ Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood (2008)
¥ Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil (2007)
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