I have to say that this was a much better all round experience than I expected. I've never been to a gig at Sentrum with even remotely good sound, and while the sound was never great where I stood (middle of the ground floor, about five rows in), it did improve from the complete mush it was from "Out Of The Woods" through to "Doldrums" into something physically involving, and thus enjoyable. That being said - the sound of Bent and Snah's amps was absolutely fantastic, but the drums were more or less drowned out to the point of being a sloppy mess (which they actually weren't, as Kenneth seemed to be playing with loads of focus and passion). Maybe the sound was a whole lot better further back/higher up in the room?
The band were in very good form, under beautiful lights, clearly enjoying themselves, and playing with a lot of heart. A big plus was the vocal performance from Bent and Snah, which was excellent imho. The vocals were loud and clear where I stood, and I haven't heard them sing this well in years. Bent was also going for a few screams throughout, and nailed some really high notes during "La Lethe", which was the CLEAR highlight of the set! It was absolutely MASSIVE, and the biggest rush I've felt from any new song live since "The Alchemyst". It really was "The Wheel"-heavy, and was the jaw dropping moment where they really brought out the magic for me tonight.
The level of musicianship was obviously insane. Snah was definitely in God-mode, and while he did struggle with a few technical issues, his tone and feel was exceptional throughout. Bent did an amazing job at keeping everything together, while still being on top of all the impovs. Is there a finer bass player in the universe? I don't think so.
"Mutiny" was great (as expected), with some very tight and energetic jamming towards the end, and as otherdemon pointed out, "Into The Gyre" (which is also my favourite track on the record) was very, very good. Another highlight was Ståle's psychedelic synth-work during "Into The Mystic", where he almost sounded like Deathprod at times. If this was because of a keyboard failure (which I didn't catch), it was really for the better! He continued to impress me during "Gullible's Travails", which was about 50 times better than the Rockefeller-gig on the Heavy Metal Fruit tour. "III) Circle" was absolutely gorgeous, Floyd-ish psychedelia.
In some ways I agree with the posters from Trondheim who pointed out that "Gullible's" might not be what you really want to hear after 90 minutes of the Unicorn, but this version was so well played, that it felt more right than wrong. Very inspired. "Burn" was hysterical, but played with less irony than some might have hoped for. They absolutely nailed it, and it was a great display of how brilliantly shameless Motorpsycho can be when it comes to going "all out rock", and also a friendly reminder of how exciting that can be in itself when it's done at the lysergic energy level of a band like Motorpsycho. And although '74 Purple IS very hairy territory, it seemed fitting yesterday with Snah up there on stage looking like Ritchie Blackmore's cooler, younger brother, having just finished a progressive rock opera. There were people in the audience from various younger bands that would never in a million years admit to having liked a Deep Purple track (even in their childhood), fiercely banging their heads to "Burn". Snah didn't go for Hughes' high notes, but Bent did, and I was smiling all the way through the song.
The audience was generally very responsive and positive, but talkative, which was a bit disappointing, but not unexpected. A few people also seemed to walk out, and a guy right behind me was pointing out loudly just how dreadful it was, while his friend was trying to convince him (just as loudly) that it wasn't that dreadful. Still, it seemed to me that the band won over most of the sceptics, and Sentrum was shaking from all the people clapping and stomping their feet after the Unicorn/encores. The reception was in general much better than the lame Rockefeller audience on the last tour.
While the album itself doesn't make my personal top 10 out of MP's albums, it is way better than Heavy Metal Fruit imho, and also made for a much better live experience. I have to agree with Evol that the Unicorn was a hundred times better live - which much of their work is anyway, but this one to a larger extent than I was hoping for, and thus I am also hoping for a stripped down Roadwork. There were no cameras at Sentrum, as far as I could tell.
I love the fact that after 23 years, Motorpsycho is still an irresistible, colourful challenge that keeps expanding minds and inducing unprecedented sonic bliss. Looking forward to the Opera!
