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Myles Kennedy, Devin Townsend

Dec 3, 2024 - O2 Forum Kentish Town (London)

London never disappoints and this time it even treated us with some sunny weather in December, who knew? After visiting a friend outside of town, we stayed near Kentish Town, which was convenient, since that tube station was closed. We could walk to the venue on the day of the show!

I was very excited about this show, since I’m a fan of both Myles and Dev. Myles was stopping in Berlin on this tour too, but without Devin, so it was a no brainer to go see them both in London.

By 7 PM, the line was already massive, stretching all the way to a back alley. While waiting, we caught a glimpse of Dev warming up through a window - he would walk left to right repeatedly, with hands resting on his head.

Later on, Dev opened his set with a loud burp, followed by Let It Roll. 😅 Although we saw some Devy fans out there, most people seemed to be there for Myles, so they probably weren’t sure what to make of this. Dev himself acknowledged that this is probably not his crowd, but he still went all in with being his chaotic, if not cranky, self. 

A woman nearby got startled every time he would abruptly scream. He played Ih-Ah, Deadhead, and Life, but no new stuff from Powernerd yet. His set was very short but I hope he got at least some new fans.

Myles was a pure ray of sunshine, and seemed more happy and engaged than in any Berlin show we saw him at. The crowd responded to him with way more energy as well. He wore a Zeal and Ardor shirt - who knows, maybe his next album is going to be more metal. 

His new album The Art Of Letting Go meant he would deliver some perfect solos. Myles revealed once again that at the core, he's a passionate guitar nerd. His nice, new, electric arrangements of the songs from the Year of the Tiger were an absolute blast. Also, his great respect for Dev warms my heart.

Rating: 9/10 Dev can do it better, but my heart is full. <3

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Kaleo

Dec 5, 2024 - UE Music Hall (Berlin)

Icelandic americana time.

I felt a bit tired on that day, so I was happy to find out that G booked us tickets for the seated area. We also saw Kaleo some years ago, so it made sense to go together again. She is a bigger fan of the band than I am, but they do put a nice show.

I don’t remember what was the name of the support band, we spent that time catching up anyway. I was also happy to learn that one can order hot tea at the Music Hall. Rock’n’roll life at it’s finest with tea and sitting.

This was the Payback tour, and Kaleo didn’t have much new stuff out apart from the Lonely Cowboy single, so we did get a nice mix of new and old, and of course Way Down We Go. The show felt more subdued than the last one, and even the light show was toned down and more natural.

Rating: 8/10, a nice one but I’d probably enjoy it more if I was more into Kaleo.

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Countless Skies et.al. 

Sep 29, 2024 - OrwoHaus (Berlin)

It was a sunny autumn afternoon, and we arrived to Orwo early. Doors were not open yet, and strolling around the building, we saw some of the bands warming up. A bit later, we were all let in. S.o. and I were excited. The crowd was small from the start and didn’t grow much throughout the evening.

Countless Skies was the first band to perform, and they were the reason we were there. We missed seeing them at least two times before. Their tech setup took some time, but the band didn’t seem too worried about it. We stood right at the front, and the sound wasn’t great from there—the vocals were too quiet at times. Their epicness still shined through. Their set was short but great - they started with Moon and Summit, somewhere in between had Glow and ended with Tempest.

After their performance, we met the band, got our merch signed, and they even gave me the signed setlist, complete with a little illustration by the singer. So nice of them!

We stayed longer to check out other bands. The second band, Firtan, had a violinist and sounded like a mix between Ne Obliviscaris and Behemoth—an interesting combination. The third band, Finsterforst, gave off major lumberjack energy, but had some decent numbers.

At some point, two obnoxious guys in the crowd tried offering us coke. We walked home before Bucovina’s set.

All in all, it was a pretty good night.

Rating: 9/10

P.S. Countless Skies is in Berlin again, in just 4 days! Go see them immediately, because I—again—can’t. 😭

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Baroness 

Nov 2, 2024 - Huxley's Neue Welt (Berlin)

I’ve never seen Baroness live before this show. I actually expected them to headline the show, but they were the band in the middle. Oh well. 

The s.o. and I got there at the start. Pallbearer gave us a good reminder of why Paradise Lost had them as support back in the day - their doom sound was quite similar. Their set was too loud, though, the treble was piercing our ears too much.

Baroness came right after Pallbearer. They opened with Last Word from their latest Stone album. They were chilled and great, and the sound was better managed. We got only Seasons from Gold & Grey, what a shame. Their set was maybe a bit too short. One guy was crowdsurfing towards the end, it looked cool from the back.

We stayed a bit longer to check out Graveyard, but we were not impressed much so we left before the end... to get burgers. 😅 Turns out that Burgermeister opened right next to Huxley's. What an impeccable business decision.

Rating: 8/10

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Sleep Token 

Nov 22, 2024 - Velodrom (Berlin)

I looked forward to seeing Sleep Token, they’re a refreshing take on the pop metal, and I salute their sudden popularity, unlike my s.o. I was too lazy to go see them the year before, and regretted it a bit, so it was great to get a second chance. The s.o. was dragged along, of course.

The show once again kicked off before we got inside—Bilmuri, the support act, had already started before 8pm. I’m not a big fan of their music, but their energy was infectious. They had this great stage vibe that just felt fun. Gabi, the sax player and co-vocalist, celebrated her birthday on that day, and she completely stole the show as far as I’m concerned. Googling her later on, I found out that she also plays sax for the Jonas Brothers, how cool is that.

Then came Sleep Token—or at least, they were supposed to. The lights went down, the background music faded... and then, nothing. We stood there in the dark while the background music awkwardly came back on. Two heart-shaped balloons were tossed around by the crowd. Waiting… Whatever went wrong, they eventually pulled it together, and the show finally began with neatly, chronologically ordered material.

Since I’m more familiar with their last two albums, I was a bit bored at the beginning of the show. Also I didn’t see much. Why are people so tall these days? The stage setup was nice, with crisp, vibrant lighting, a catwalk, and a raising platform for the drummer. Backup singers also found their place on the left. Vessel wafted from his altair to the catwalk and back. At some point Atlantic started, marking the more interesting part of the show for me. It was followed by Hypnosis, which got me excited. 

Finally, Chokehold and The Summoning found their place. No Aqua Regia though. I guess Atlantic and Rain were enough for the "blue watery vibes" quota.

They closed with perfectly delivered Take Me Back To Eden and Euclid. The laser light show gave me déjà vu from London Grammar’s show not too long ago in the same venue. Vessel’s vocals are really stunning. We couldn’t help but wonder though—was he really playing the piano live? He’d hit the intro for a couple of songs, then be back at the catwalk, singing. Who knows.

All in all, it wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely a nice show.

Rating: 9/10 Better spots needed next time, I guess.

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Rokaj Festival

4-6 Jul, 2008 - Jarun (Zagreb)

I did not like this festival very much. Garage rock is not my crowd really. I can’t really remember why we went—probably because of some Croatian bands like Pips Chips & Videoclips. I vaguely remember seeing Dwarves and thinking to myself if I really needed this in my life. The festival was in a nice outdoor area, and I at least got to catch up with friends, that’s it.

Rating: N/A

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Tesseract

Feb 6, 2024 - Columbia Theater (Berlin)

We saw Tesseract years ago at some festival, so I thought we're due to see them in a solo show. Their new album War of Being came out and it had the right balance of groove and crazy. The s.o. and I skipped the support bands, since we travelled the next day. We saw a glimpse of the Unprocessed. I only vaguely knew them because they did some collaboration with Polyphia.

We then waited for Tesseract. As soon as Daniel appeared on stage, we knew we’re in for a treat. His energy is contagious, and he seemed to grow and own the stage a lot better since we saw him the last time.

Of Mind - Nocturne was somewhere at the beginning and I was already very satisfied. The mix of new and old material continued until, finally—Legion. This is such a ridiculously glorious song, with Daniel really going all in with vocals. I did not think they would dare to play that one live. Lo and behold, there it was somewhere in the middle of the show, delivered perfectly. The show concluded with Concealing Fate.

Oh, and the light show was vibrant, sharp, and beautifully fitting the music.

Rating: 11/10 Great, polished show

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Enslaved, Svalbard

Mar 23, 2024 - Hole 44 (Berlin)

Ah, this was an evening of technical difficulties. Also, the churros place near Hermannstraße got closed, what a sad day. 

We got to the show just in time to see Svalbard. Their guitarist had some technical issues so they had to restart their first song. Serena is a glorious front woman, so they got through this with ease. I found their music to be a bit too depressing, but overall the vibe during the show was great. And of course, we had to take their merch afterwards—it had a cat on it!

However, we were there for Enslaved. It's been a while since we saw them the last time, so it was good to hear a lot of new material and relive the wintery fjord through their music. Ivar was sadly not there, so people from the other bands jumped in to help out on some of the songs during the show. Grutle was cool and seemed happy with the Berlin Saturday crowd. They played Homebound and Sequence, among others. Havenless was also there, with the help from the Svalbard guitarist.

Rating: 9/10

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Tori Amos 

Jun 26, 2007 - Hala Tivoli (Ljubljana)  

It was a fresh summer day in Zagreb when a bunch of us assembled and sat on the bus towards Ljubljana. I booked this trip and a concert ticket alone, since I really wanted to see Tori live. I was just discovering her A Piano collection, and the American Doll Posse album just got released, so this was a perfect opportunity.

It was a mindblowing experience from start to finish.

As soon as we’ve hit the road, people from the bus connected and shared their experiences with Tori's music and expectations around the show. Everyone was pumped.

We arrived to the venue early, but sadly, we found out that we missed the meet & greet with Tori for about 20 minutes. Some other people from Croatia managed to catch her and showed us their photos with Tori. Jealousy.

M, my newly-found friend from the bus, and I decided to stroll around the venue to kill time before the doors opened. It paid off—through the window on the upper side of the venue, we saw Tori having a sound check. She played Almost Rosey.

After some more waiting and racing against one quite entitled American woman for the front seats, the show was about to start. But, not before the group of some Croatian ladies were mysteriously seated in the very first row, to everyone’s amazement. We later learned that they too were at the meet and greet, and told Tori about their life on an island in a commune, doing some beekeeping. Apparently Tori liked it so much that she sent her bodyguard to pick up the girls from the far seats and get them to the front. ❤️

Joshua Radin was a very fitting opening act, with his tender songs and whispery vocals. However, we all eagerly waited for the main act. The venue was not sold out, but the atmosphere from the front made up for it.

Tori appeared on stage and the crowd lost it. She wore her orange wig for this one, which meant we got served the Isabel set for the start, with Yo George, Sweet Dreams, and even Almost Rosey mixed with Tubular Bells.

Somewhere in between, she sneaked in some Happy, Truly Happy Happy People cutesy song, dedicating it to our beekeepers. My other highlights were Sweet Dreams and a bunch of stuff from Little Earthquakes like Precious Things. We threw our hands in the air and stood up many times throughout the show, as the atmosphere was ecstatic. Tori seemed to have enjoyed it as well, as she often smiled while performing. The show ended with the poignant Hey Jupiter.

Out of the excitement, I bore M with too much talking on our way home. For days after, our lovely bus group would reconnect to share impressions and footage from the show.

Rating: 100/10 Pure magic that day.

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Opeth 

Aug 5, 2024 - Batschkamp (Frankfurt)

Well, that was a somewhat nice weekend in Frankfurt, filled with rain, dirt, and questionable art.

I didn’t know if I’d be attending the show until the last minute. Initially, I got two tickets, but when my s.o.’s brother decided to join us in Frankfurt, we needed a third one. The show was sold out, but luckily, a woman outside the venue had an extra ticket to sell—and I even got it at a discount. Hooray!

When we got inside, the venue was already quite packed for the support band—Green Lung. They are best described as a stoner Black Sabbath with their menacing vocals and stage props.

Then came Opeth. Since the new album, single, and tour were announced a couple days before the show, we hoped to perhaps hear some of the new stuff, but that did not happen. The setlist was a standard one, including highlights like Demon of The Fall, In My Time of Need, Face of Melinda, and ending with Deliverance.

At least, we finally got to witness that glorious rendition of Napalm Death's You Suffer.

Rating: 9/10

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Dream Theater

Oct 22, 2024 - UE Music Hall (Berlin)

I wasn’t too excited about seeing Dream Theater this time, especially since their last few shows were underwhelming. The s.o. wanted to see them with Portnoy back in the band, so we went in the end—and I’m glad we did. 

We were smart enough to get tickets for the seated area, but it took us a while to get in so we missed the curtain fall. By the time we found our seats, Metropolis was already well underway—what an epic way to start the show! And, there they were - Portnoy and the band together again! The crowd gave him a thunderous welcome.

Mike also helped with backing vocals (did Mangini do it too before? I don’t remember really). If only James could reach these high notes...

The crazy wizard Jordan Ruddess looked like he was enjoying himself a lot. He would often turn with his keyboard contraption, which was now upgraded with some led displays that showed some colorful visualizations or simply the keys he was playing. Dorkiness level 9000. He also had a keytar solo at some point. What a unique life that must be.

The lightshow, visuals and sound were impeccable throughout most of the show. There was a minor tech issue during intermission, which got a few whistles from the crowd—tough audience. It seems like Dream Theater isn’t allowed to be anything less than perfect.

My show highlights were Hollow Years, Under a Glass Moon, and Octavarium.

Some guy in the crowd was waving his Ziltoid puppet during Spirit Carries On. I was amused and thought to myself to bring mine to the next Devy show. Pull me Under was saved for the glorious end of the show. This was actually the first time we heard it live. All in all, a great ending.

Rating: 9.9999/10 C'mon James, you can do it!

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Placebo

Mar 25, 2022 - Metropol (Berlin)

OMG Placebo again! I stumbled upon this event somewhere on Facebook and, of course, it was already sold out. That did not deter me. I reached out to some people out there and found two tickets for myself and the s.o. 

And so we went.

We got in front of Metropol a bit earlier to meet the people who were supposed to give us tickets. In the end, all four of us hung out in a looong line together, because it took ages to get inside. Apparently, the band management requested that the audience get properly searched and have their phones safely tucked away as an attempt to prevent taking photos. It looked like the entrance only had two people doing the checks, so this took a while… almost two hours, to be exact. So, we drank some radler and froze while waiting. It was still that post-pandemic period where you were not sure whether sharing a beer with someone is a good idea.

The show thankfully started later than announced, so we didn’t miss much—Placebo came on stage just as we came in. 

The lower area was fully crowded, so we found space on the second floor. It was a bit too high, but we could see Brian’s pedals nicely! Throughout the show, all of us walked around and looked at the show from different locations.

This was the Never Let Me Go album release party. They opened with Forever Chemicals and Beautiful James. There were not many words spoken, there was no crazy climbing on light posts. This band has grown up. Or, maybe they were also pissed off at the bad venue organization, who knows.

The rest of the show mostly featured new songs, of which I only knew a couple at the time. The older songs didn’t go too far back, focusing mainly on tracks from Meds or Loud Like Love. At the end, we were treated to a beautiful cover of Running Up That Hill.

Rating: 11/10 Would do it again!

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Rammstein 

Feb 25, 2005 - Hala Tivoli (Ljubljana)

Back in the day, Rammstein wasn’t just about arena shows. Reise, Reise was released a couple of months before and they were just rising in fame, and it was easier to see them from up close.

So we went.

Me and I., my punky almost-neighbour, booked a combo package—concert tickets and bus seats—through a travel agency from Zagreb. The bus left us directly in front of the venue in Ljubljana and was about to pick us up one hour after the show ends. Perfect plan.

We somehow squeezed into the second row, where it was very crowded and at some points hard to breathe, but totally worth it.

Apocalyptica opened the show, and I really looked forward to it. They played their covers of Metallica songs, and were still not that big at the time. The unpolished rawness of the sound and performance was still there, demonstrated by them often breaking their strings. Their set was short, though.

Rammstein really left us speechless. Their set opened with Reise, Reise, and continued with Links 1,2,3. Lol. Fire was everywhere, of course. And confetti. At some point some Croatians threw to the stage some checkerboard cloth, which Till took to wipe his groins with. Up front, we even got handed cups of water to cool off from the heat of the pyrotechnics.

Feuer Frei and Mein Teil were my ultimate highlights, with Mein Teil having a special place due to the sheer lunacy of the stage performance by Flake and Till.

At the encore, Apocalyptica joined Rammstein on stage and together they played Ohne Dich which was out of this world.

As the show ended, we slowly dragged ourselves back to the bus that was somewhat late to pick us up. I. and I have cut short our trip home by leaving the bus right after passing the country border. People looked at us like we’re crazy, but it was easier to get home that way than to go to the capital and back. Turns out that, unknowingly, I also met some people from the forums I used at the time.

For days afterward, I was still finding the red confetti from Amerika tucked inside my jacket.

Rating: 12/10, still the best show of theirs, no matter how many times I’ve seen them since

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R.E.M.

Jan 19, 2005 - Dom sportova (Zagreb)

I went alone to this one. It was not to be missed although the price was huge. Brainstorm was the support band, and I have no idea what they were like.

The R.E.M show was beautiful and with great production, but I missed hearing a couple of songs like "Orange Crush". They introduced songs from their "Around the Sun" album on that tour.

At some point the ridiculous Croatian crowd started shouting “Steeh-pe” to Michael. It was the period of the Croatian presidential elections, and one of the candidate’s nickname was “Stipe”, so I guess people thought that was funny? Idk, to me, it was stupid. Michael, too, looked confused, his eyes barely visible beneath the dark blue makeup.

I decided to stay until the end and wait for the first morning bus home. It was tedious but worth it, since the last song was “Man On The Moon”.

Rating: 9/10

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Pearl Jam

Sep 26, 2006 - Dom Sportova (Zagreb)

K and I went to this show together, and it was a big deal for us. It was an evening with Pearl Jam and we were both big fans.

The show kicked off a bit lukewarm for me as they opened with material I was not that into. Even back then, they already had loads of material to choose from. Eventually, things heated up with “Given to Fly” and “Even Flow”.

Eddie was going crazy on stage and at some point climbed the stage pillars. And when he greeted the audience in Croatian, the whole place lost it.

There were so many bangers throughout the show—"Jeremy," "Black," "Porch," "Better Man," and of course, "Alive".

From “Riot Act”, we got “Thumbing my Way”, though I was hoping for “Love Boat Captain” or “You Are”. No complaints, though—the setlist was still great.

Rating: 9/10 Missed hearing some of the songs

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Opeth, Alcest

Oct 30, 2014 - Arena (Vienna)

This was the first time we would see Opeth live. Pale Communion came out that year, and it was a perfect album. It was paramount that we go see them. We had no idea what kind of treat we’d be in for.

We did not stay long in Vienna that time so there was not much time for sightseeing other than visiting the beautiful Albertina. Before the show, we managed to meet D’s friend A, who took us to some nice cake place.

With our bellies full, the s.o. and I headed to the venue. We were determined not to miss a moment of Opeth’s performance, so we got there early and secured spots somewhere at the front.

Alcest took the stage - we had no idea who they were or what their music was like at the time. As soon as “Opale” started, though, we got blown away! Such beautiful, ethereal sounds, coming from two guys who seemed to constantly look at their shoes. They continued to enchant us with “L'éveil des muses”, and shortly after closed their set with “Délivrance”—same as they do nowadays.

Opeth opened with “Eternal Rains Will Come” which flowed elegantly into “Cusp of Eternity”. Then, they took us back with the stronger “Bleak” and “The Moor” only to calm down again later with “Windowpane”. The soft and heavy waves alternated a few more times before they concluded the show with their own “Deliverance”—same as they do nowadays. Funny.

At that show, I got the best merch ever (right after the Ziltoid socks, of course)—a shirt featuring a shiny gold print of the Opeth logo. I still wish they would reprint those! After the show, we met Neige and Winterhalter and got our copy of “Shelter” signed. Yay!

Rating: 11/10 Pure bliss.

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Rokaj Fest Reloaded (Gojira, Mastodon, Slayer)

Jun 8, 2012 - Močvara, Pogon Jedinstvo (Zagreb)  

I was sick that day but still wanted to go, so I took a bunch of pills and soldiered on. It was an open-air show. In fact, it was supposed to be a multi-day festival, but it got canceled in the end, and made into a one-day thing.

I looked forward to seeing Gojira, while P was there for Slayer. Gojira opened the show quite early and have put on a great energetic performance which included Backbone and Flying Whales. I loved it.

Then Mastodon came to the stage. They were somewhat boring, and not communicating much with the crowd. It was quite a contrast compared to Gojira. I was not impressed at the time although I was happy to see them.

Then came Slayer. To me, all their songs sound the same, I don't get the appeal. P loved them, though. Towards the end of their set, I again felt quite bad so I had to step back and lean on some fence to keep my strength.

Rating: 8/10 Gojira was my highlight