The Sacrament

HIM => Discussion => Topic started by: Jay on November 03, 2017, 09:15:11 PM

Title: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: Jay on November 03, 2017, 09:15:11 PM
I'll start by saying that I haven't read any reviews or watched much Youtube videos, so I don't know if my opinion/experience is the norm.

3Teeth
- I enjoyed them.  They were a mix of NIN, Dope and Powerman 5000.  I'm not a huge fan of industrial metal, but they weren't bad.  The singer kept bitching about the lights, but, again, they were good overall.

cKy
- As a fan of the video series and a few of their songs, the nostalgia kicked in as soon as the crowd started chanting "cKy! cKy! cKy!" Deron left the band a while back, so Chad has taken over the vocal duties.  As Inferno noted, Chad's voice is different and doesn't have the same style, so while the new stuff sounds fine, the older stuff does not.  His voice clashes with the bass player's backing vocals.  I did enjoy them though, as they seem to still enjoy playing.

HIM
- I bought my tickets the minute they were on sale.  I bought them for both Dallas and Houston.  As you can imagine, this being their farewell tour, the hype was off the charts for me.  It had been a few years since I'd last seen them, so I was looking very forward to these shows.

HIM took the stage at 9 sharp.  They come out and when the high hat signals the beginning of Buried Alive By Love, for the first time I remembered that Gas wasn't a part of the band anymore. Not that Kosmo was terrible or anything, it was just a reminder.  From that point on, it was just song, after song, after song without much pause.

Ville barely addressed the crowd, and when he did it was in a hurried fashion.  Towards the end, he did make a joke that when they arrived in Houston Wednesday night, they heard the city cheering and how he thought it was for them, but then found out it was for the Astros.  He congratulated the city on the win and then it was the final 2 or 3 songs. 

My disappointment in the show didn't have anything to do with the sound, but more so how the band was very obviously just out there doing their job.  I get that at this point in their career and lives, that's what HIM is to them.  A job. It was painfully obvious tonight on stage.  I remember other shows where Ville was charming and charismatic.  He would also sometimes give an introduction to the song about what it means to him.

This time, it felt like "You know what song this is, so just listen and sing along so we can get this done."  Like I said, he barely stopped to engage the crowd.  We barely got a "smoke break/jam" that didn't last long. 

Mige and Linde seemed to interact with each other, but for the most part they stayed on their sides.  Kosmo was in the back in the dark and Burton was Burton.  HIM is done.  It doesn't seem that they have the same passion they used to.  And I get it, I probably wouldn't either if I played relatively the same songs each night for 10+ years, in practically the same order.

Maybe the hype I built up for myself was too much.  After all, I've seem them quite a few times and I've known about the tired set list, but I figured it's their last time out and that they would put their best efforts into this.  We all had hoped that the band would find the passion on this tour and decide to continue on.  That isn't happening.  They are done.

My final complaint is that at the end of WLADE, the final time we would see HIM as we know it, Ville simply says "Thank you very much" waives, and walks off stage WHILE THE BAND IS STILL PLAYING.  After that, the rest of the band leaves as well, with Kosmo being the very last to leave.

You'd expect them to come out for one final bow, but no.  House lights came on and that was it. 

Maybe I'm being a bitch about all of this, but it's that I love the band.  I love what their music has done for me and I still listen to them often, so I guess I'm just disappointed that they could be so much more than what they are.  Maybe that's just my bias.  I liked their final album, so I feel like they're leaving a lot on the table.  At least I felt that way until last night.  The tank appears to be on E and they're sputtering towards the finish line song, after song, after song.


Setlist
Buried Alive By Love
Heartache Every Moment
Your Sweet Six Six Six
Kiss of Death
The Sacrament
Tears on Tape
Wings of A Butterfly
Gone With the Sin
Soul on Fire
Wicked Game
Killing Loneliness
Poison Girl
Bleed Well
Heartkiller
Join Me
It's All Tears
In Joy and Sorrow
Right Her In My Arms
Funeral of Hearts

- Encore
Razorblade Kiss
Rebel Yell
When Love and Death Embrace

On stage at 9, out about 10:30/10:45.

I did not go to Dallas as planned. The decision was made in part by me being exhausted and then not wanting to drive 3 hours one way for the same show I just saw the night before.
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: six6sixways2love on November 04, 2017, 01:05:20 AM
Jay, you're certainly not alone.  While there were little changes for the better in Ville's attitude on stage, it's absolutely true that they are just going through the motions. Nothing about the shows seem like it's the end.  We all bitch about the set list, but even a 'Beginning of the End' or 'OLT' would have changed the vibe. I try not to take offense, but it would have been really nice if we got a "thank you for supporting us for the past 2.5 decades. It's been a wonderful ride". Instead every night was met with a "thanks, see you soon" or some inaudible mumble.

Even the way he was singing was very odd. Not that he didn't sound good (i've certainly heard him when he's bad), but he wasn't singing with much emotion or energy. He'd belt out a scream or a baritone note out of nowhere and the crowd would go crazy. It's a very pop singer approach in that regard.

My lady and I were totally stoked for the 3 CA gigs. We definitely felt a bit let down but still looked on the bright side that we were together seeing our favorite band. One of the theories we floated, and maybe it has been mentioned here, is that it wasn't necessarily the band not having any creativity to discover. Instead, Ville dropping the axe himself. And because of that, he didn't really want to do a farewell tour and was somewhat forced into it. That might explain his lack of umph on stage.

I'm sorry it didn't live up to what you had imagined it would be. I know you're like me and have probably +/- 15 yrs of memories of shows that once all put together, makes for alot of good feels.


Openers - in general, probably the best openers HIM has ever had and that's including the Dommin shows:
3Teeth - Good music. Lead singer has so much charisma. An industrial Freddy Mercury if you will.  Didn't listen to records prior, and tbh, they are better live.
cKy - been a continued fan as long as I've been a fan of HIM.  Yes, Chad can't sing. New songs, old songs, doesn't matter.  Deron had a unique voice. More importantly, without having 2 guitars, all the old songs fall flat.  That's really what kills the old songs.
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: 616 on November 04, 2017, 02:49:00 AM
i wrote the same thing to Lujja over the mail, about the Mexico gig, that the performance just sucked, Ville was not in the mood, just like he wanted it to be done as fast as possible, without any emotions, spark in the performance.
I see that the Houston show was the same, so i assume that the rest were not much different. This is the obligatory tour and towards the end of the tour it will only get worse, the band will be tired and Ville's mood worse.
I was really HYPED becuase they played Resurrection and Stigmata , but now it seems that i wont hear anything "new" on the last HIM gig, just same overplayed songs, current setlist is pretty much one big piece of shit for me, stone me if you like for my constant bitching, but are you really interested in hearing all those 22 songs AGAIN for Xth time? One old song, one rare song makes the difference for me here. And yet they retired Stigmata and Resurrection very quickly. From all my HIM gigs i have only experienced maybe 28 HIM songs .....
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: HelldoneFestival13 on November 04, 2017, 05:08:50 AM
Hi,

Thank you Jay, for your review. Sad to hear it wasn't upwards your expectations  :(

This reminds me to the Amsterdam 2013 gig. Like the band had to catch the last train towards home ...
I'm afraid what to expect at the Amsterdam and Tilburg gig in December ...

My hopes for a great / *better* final ending are located in Helsinki, where i shall attend the NYE gig ...   :-\
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: Alex on November 04, 2017, 05:52:42 AM
As a expected.
They wanna split but first they have 50 concerts in 70 days to do this. Kind of understand them...
The summer reviews sounded much nicer but they getting worse...Bad.... wish me luck for the december dates...  ;D
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: 616 on November 04, 2017, 05:58:40 AM
Alex, what gigs are you attending??
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: Alex on November 04, 2017, 08:20:32 AM
1st december berlin
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: Jay on November 04, 2017, 08:56:08 AM

I'm sorry it didn't live up to what you had imagined it would be. I know you're like me and have probably +/- 15 yrs of memories of shows that once all put together, makes for alot of good feels.

You are 100% right. The overall product of HIM far outweighs one gig. I was lucky enough to have only experienced them in this mood once. The other times I?ve seen them, they were great. And I?ll always have a positive memory of them.

I do think that the final Helsinki show will have more energy and MAYBE some rarities. See, there?s that blind hope that we all have for them, lol.
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: 666WTLOnVinylFTW on November 05, 2017, 11:43:03 PM
Jay speaks the truth.

Those who haven't been involved with HIM as long as many of us on here have will never understand our disappointment with what we feel has been the steady decline of our favorite band into what it is now. To see their passion disappearing right before our eyes. The effort to put on the best show possible each and every night and make it different and interesting each time out to really make it worth our time and money gone. To be reduced to looking and sounding like animatronics on stage is sad for us.

What the band has given us over the years far outweighs anything we've ever given them, and I'm sure we're all eternally grateful for it. They don't owe us anything  We all carry with us memories of them that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. But then when they go out and put on performances like they have been on this farewell tour, Jay summed it up perfectly by saying “that's it?”. That's the best you could do for us considering the circumstances? The same routine setlist, very little crowd interaction, and not even a proper goodbye at the end? What are we, chopped liver?
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: The Bloody Glove on November 10, 2017, 06:42:26 PM
Sorry if your experience wasn't as good. Sounds like they didn't enjoy Texas.

I went to.the Phoenix show and he occasionally spoke to.the crowd cracked jokes about forgetting the lyrics to in joy and sorrow and did two encores with rebel yell being the final.one. I still adore their spirit but come on guys this is their.final tour be grateful they are giving us this last opportunity to.see them live! I can't change ur opinion but I was still happy to see them come all the way out to the states and bring all the HIM fans together
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: regularwill on November 10, 2017, 10:56:49 PM
I went to the show at The Fillmore, Silver Springs, MD and it felt rushed. Not much crowd interaction, a lot of bitching at the sound guy, as usual at this venue, and lastly, only Rebel Yell as an encore? They did sound spectacular but it seemed they were just on autopilot. I hate to say it but I enjoyed CKY more than HIM. Chad really brought the energy and knows how to get a crowd going. HIM has lost their luster over the years. At least Mige, Burton, and Linde came out to sign and take pics for five minutes. Ville just hurried right to the bus. I don't blame Kosmo for not coming out after someone called him Gas lol. Either way, if this is how shows will be, I'm glad they're calling it quits. I'll save my money for bands that know how to have a good time with their fans and show they appreciate them.
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: ItsAllTears97 on November 13, 2017, 12:50:28 AM
Coming from the Detroit show on November 11th, HIM actually engaged the crowd more than what I've seen. They didn't really seem too rushed or anything, although we only got one encore (Rebel Yell). You could definitely tell it's time to call it quits though, it seems like they want to do other things with their lives and there's nothing wrong with that. They've given so much good music for over 2 decades and what more could we ask for? Amazing band, awesome show, and a sad truth in the end. All good things must come to an end.
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: Len777 on November 13, 2017, 10:01:39 AM
Apparently I was right in the decision I had made, not to attend this final tour. My final memory of HIM live will be an excellent gig, in the venue no more than 30 minutes from my home, where I recorded the entire performance with a beautiful set list. It just sucks they could have been much more, a shame they ran out of steam. If they kept going they were iconic enough to be the next Black Sabbath in another 25- 30 yrs. (in my opinion of course.)
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: 616 on November 13, 2017, 12:24:47 PM
what gig was that Lenny?
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: vampireheart616 on November 13, 2017, 01:11:42 PM
what gig was that Lenny?

Starland in nj I believe
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: six6sixways2love on November 13, 2017, 10:43:30 PM
Went to see The Sounds last night here in Hollywood while they're doing a little 5 show CA stint before playing a fest in MX and heading back to Sweden . First show for me since the CA HIM gigs. Totally different band, I know. But probably 3-4 times in between songs, singer expressed her genuine appreciation and love for all the fans support over almost 2 decades and how California is like second home to them. Best line was "Coming back to California makes me all nervous. It's like playing in front of your mom".

 It's a night and day difference in what saying that does. Makes a show all the more special.
Title: Re: That's It? - Houston Show Review 11/02/2017
Post by: Jinzouningen on November 22, 2017, 12:13:54 PM
I know I'm extremely late to the party Jay but I have to agree. I was at the Houston show as well. It was lackluster.

I felt they were quite professional getting through the set. I dislike long pauses between songs but their hearts weren't in it at all. Mige had great energy as always, Burton did his thing, and the drummer was enthusiastic. But Ville and Linde were just getting the job done.

Linde's solos were cut on a few songs. Ville seemed shy and annoyed by the whole process. I think the smaller venue made him uncomfortable since people were staring right at him. He'd often look away, to the side, or walk towards the back of the stage. Also I rather him modify the song instead of attempting to scream and pull the mic away.

He sang very well although his voice isn't the same. WLADE was excellent.

At the end everyone just left the stage. The only one's that waved goodbye with any enthusiasm was Burton and the drummer. Linde attempted to wave goodbye but then just flicked his wrist (as if to say "what am I doing") and bounced.

The crowd was  extremely foul  as was mentioned in the other thread. I guess a farewell tour makes people pissy. Everyone trying to push to the front and get their money's worth.  It almost soured the already bland experience.

 As long as the band has been around I was shocked by the age demographic (college aged). I expected to see alot of people my age or older. But my age seemed to be the limit along with a few older people here and there. 

There was a line after the show to possible see the band. In the crowd a girl showed me a picture of her with Ville that she got from previous show. Cky made themselves available but HIM's bus drove off. We then saw the same bus again leave. At that point I knew and another fan confirmed that they left from a different exit to avoid the crowd waiting for them.

I wasn't surprised I honestly expected them to do so. Wishful thinking I suppose. It would've been nice if they had a limited amount of meet and greets for this last tour.  I've been to impersonal signings akin to those at comic conventions where everything is quickly signed and photos are snapped with little interaction to finish fast. Even that would've been nice.

I just find it felt like everyone got bamboozled. Not from lack of autographs or opportunity to meet the band. Just their lack of energy in the show. I found the merch to be overpriced as well.

I was so excited yet sad leading up to the show but now I'm happy. I'm glad they quit when they did (and Ville's voice is still decent). Better to leave on high note when they're still wanted. I'm also enjoying Gas's and Linde's bands. HIM took up alot of their time.

Gave my Warsaw ticket away to a member of a different forum.