HIM latest live perfomances...(rock am ring and the future...)

[Jack Sparrow]

Greetings gals and guys!

Well you know I've been a fan of the band for quite some time now,  the Screamworks album I just quite love it from the start to the end and I find their music very inspiring and rich musically speaking in these days were finding a decent artist is very very hard;   with this I go to the point of this thread:

I live in Guatemala and I'm planning to travel somewhere to finally see the band live, the most possible being the US but there's just one thing that its holding me back:   their latests shows.   I just saw the rock am ring show and man that was awful.., first question:  were Ville and Mige on drugs??  was the sound tech on drugs??  are the manager and road / tour manager on drugs??

I know that a frontman has to be very carismatic but up to a certain point but in this show, Ville acted like he was some sort of standup comedian!   Mige vocals were so up volume that almost completely muted Ville's and so off tune.   Another thing:  the playlist!  man,  the Screamworks album is full of good songs!   they just dont get tired of playing Wicked Game aren't they, and now its longer and with every passing tour they just keep playing it worse!!!  Why dont they play it the way its recorded!  No Scared to Death, no Love the Hardest Way and of course... no Ode to Solitude.

Sadly I think my time to see them live has passed by;  so I wanted to ask you guys that already saw them live: is it worthy?? taking into account I have to travel from another country to see the show they are doing now? is it really worthy?  cuz if you tell me it is I'll probably make up my mind.

In conclusion I had to take that out of my system so bare with my complainings!  

cheers!

[616]

well man i agree at all with you, i am HIM fan since 2002- 2001? ...
and i was on their show only once when they played in my Country in 2005 few days before DL was released.
I always say that HIM is good to year 2005 , i love 2004 year,but 2005 was for me something hmmm i don´t know but it was no the HIM i fell in love
but that show i went to back in 2005 was worth it ,setlsit was good,they played new songs from DL and poison heart too
i wanted to go to Donauinselfest 2010 in Austria only because of HIM ,but after seeing them live on Rock am ring 2010 i decided to not to go
at least i was expecting that they will play after US tour here on festivals some new songs like Shatter me with hope or i have read that they are currently available to play more than 30 songs. Ville told this in one of the interviews , he also told that they will play love in cold blood ..... actually they did not
Miges and Burtons vocals pretty sucks,they both were off key and it was terrible ..... only positives - Gas and Linde still perfect in their playing

[eairthrow]

I feel totally the same. I'll catch them at the Donauinselfest but maybe for the last time... 

[Danny]

I think you should catch them as soon as you can before Ville gets his mic stand back Their live shows now are pretty good. You cant compare it to the year 2000-2003 because then you only get depressed,but they are still rockin like never before.
And i agree their festival set-list is quite boring. I would recommend seeing them on a headlining tour. Longer set and if your lucky maybe you will get a few goodies in the set list

[stigmata92]

Danny is right. Comparing HIM to how it was live from 2003 and before is just going to depress you and wonder how the band has become what it is. That being said, Ville may be the most energetic he's been in years. In fact, not only does he not use his mic stand, but he also has his eyes open now when he sings which is a rarity.

Think of it this way HIM's going to keep becoming worse live so you might as well go now and see them.

[Jack Sparrow]

You all have a good point.  thanks!

I was looking over at Heartagram.com for any tour date but they haven't updated the site so probably I'll have to wait if they return to the states by the year's 4th quarter (if that happens).    If not,  I'll probably will have to sell my body to go to Finland! 

[Jay]

Put your body on ebay. I'll bid $1.  Nah, I agree though...ten years of the same set list is just ridiculous.  I saw them in April in Houston and I thought they were great.  They looked as though they actually wanted to be playing.  Full of energy...empty of alcohol. 

[Jack Sparrow]

   maybe with that $1 bid I'll get lucky and people starts bidding higher;  I might get the chance to go to Finland.     

Actually I saw some rumors of HIM having a concert in Mexico between august and september but surely it will remain in just rumors as we are already in July (my gosh how time passes by...)  and there are no announcements yet.    The official site tour section only 2 upcoming europe dates.     Let's see what happens in the future.

[six6sixways2love]

If you love the band and have never seen them, any show would be a good show in my opinion.

And it's sort of hard to please everyone. for instance, I LOVE chatty Ville. He can make jokes, tell stories, whatever. There's nothing worse than a frontman that just comes out and goes through the motions with an unenthusiastic "thanks" between songs. Ville has done that at shows i've been to, and those shows are never as fun. If the band is having fun, the show is fun.

Sound levels aren't too bad. Festivals are trickier because they are trying to fit everything in a tight schedule. Sound techs don't necessarily have time to get it perfect. The band before might play longer, and thats less time for HIM to get their shiz right. As for headlining shows, it hasn't been too bad. I saw them twice on the screamworks US tour. night 1 band sounded fine, VV mic a little quiet. 2nd night was perfect. If you don't wear earplugs to filter noise, it's all going to sound like crap.

Sorry, you don't like hearing Mige and Burton. Mige sang a full line or 2 of St. Valentine and it was fantastic! His accent was adorable and for me made the song very special. Also, w/o Burton's mic we wouldn't get cryptic messages during WOAB breakdown.

In the end, just go. If you can afford to, follow them to 1-2 shows in the states or wherever, so in case you get 1 off night, that's not all you have to judge them by.

Hope this helps.