Testamant / Susperia
8 May 2005
Koko, Camden London
On route back from the Dynamo Open Air, disembarking the ferry well after 6pm, we headed up the M20 towards London knowing we were going to miss a few of the opening acts tonight. Regret in particular was for missing openers Panic Cell.
Susperia were the other support I particularly hoped to catch, though the sound was so bad for them I wished I hadn`t bothered. Even before they started they seemed to be fighting a losing battle with the crowd chanting for Testament as Susperia walked onstage.
Now knowing all three albums by the band I expected to recognise what they were playing, but for most of the set I was straining to hear Athera`s vocal and trying to pick at least one guitar line up from Cyrus and Elvorn, which seemed completely lost in the mix everytime the drums kicked in.
The guitar intro to Chemistry briefly seeped through before Tjodalv`s drums flattened everything. Bassist Memnock was as animated as ever, but as Beast By Design closed the set early the rest of the band trudged off looking a bit downhearted.
Susperia set list:
The Coming Past / Anguished Scream (For vengeance) / Chemistry / ? / Beast By Design
By UK time I had been up since 4am and had just driven 500 miles so was skulking at the back wondering whether I could stay awake through the second Testament set in two nights. However, when The Preacher kicked in watching the entire crowd in front of me erupt in chaos I was completely jolted back to life.
The sound miraculously had cleared considerably and when Alex Skolnick ripped into his first solo, the cheer that greeted it proved the crowd were as impressed as I had been astounded the previous night. Really Skolnick took the major honours on both nights and it`s to be hoped he doesn`t just save his talents for his own jazz fusion project in future. Later in the set the crowd chanted his name and he was clearly touched by this gesture.
Without a pause Testament raced through the first four songs of their set with Eric Peterson churning out riff after riff. Like at the Dynamo the first eight songs featured John Tempesta on drums, and whilst perhaps the sound was better in Holland, mirroring the London crowd, the energy levels were up a notch tonight.
Switching to Louie Clemente and hence the original line-up Practice What You Preach again had Skolnick centre stage for an awesome solo section. Deviating from the previous night`s setlist the band surprisingly included Let Go Of My World from 1992`s The Ritual. Chuck Billy was clearly loving every minute of the gig and looked delighted to have his old bandmates around him.
Again The Legacy gave the crowd a breather, but there was no respite when Over The Wall was quickly followed by my personal Legacy favourite Raging Waters. A slight fluff of closing number Disciples Of The Watch was met by a "who cares" shrug from Skolnick as the band departed to unanswered calls for their return.
Tonight`s gig was filmed for Testament`s first ever DVD, so I suggest you pick up a copy and judge the gig for yourself. Your only disappointment will be if you weren`t there!
Testament set list:
The Preacher / The New Order / The Haunting / Electric Crown / Sins Of Omission / Souls Of Black / Into The Pit / Trial By Fire / Practice What You Preach / Let Go Of My World / The Legacy / Over The Wall / Raging Waters / Disciples Of The Watch
LINKS:
Testament
Susperia
|
