Photo report from the concert (photos by McAllen)
MOONSPELL — another report about a band I count among my favourites. So how objective I'll be — that's not for me to judge…
The band was visiting russia for the third time. On the afternoon of March 11th, 2006, I entered the "Gorbushkin Dvor" shopping centre building. "Follow the signs," I was told. I followed the signs for what must have been about seven minutes before finally reaching the destination, where after a 30-minute wait the guests of honour arrived to hold a brief press conference and sign autographs.
Who are MOONSPELL? Simply a Portuguese band who, if you take Portugal, France, and Spain together, could out-famous any band from those countries. The band is known worldwide, with countless devoted fans — why things turned out this way, who knows, but the fact remains: MOONSPELL don't play any particular genre; however they get labelled — dark, gothic-black, or anything else — they have their own genre, unique and like nothing else, just as it's a fact that every one of their albums differs from the others in essence, sound, and theme. The band started in the early 90s, releasing several demos, then a single; finally in 1995 and 1996 the band put out two albums — Wolfheart and Irreligious — which are today considered MOONSPELL classics. Eerie yet very beautiful melodies, the combination of growling with a powerful, expressive clean voice — in a word: magical albums, not just records. And it's precisely from these two albums that a number of songs have been permanent fixtures in their repertoire for many years, performed at every concert. Then came the lighter-sounding Pekado/Sin, the frankly electronics-overloaded Butterfly Effect; after that many fans began to worry the band was about to join the ranks of those playing in the style of later PARADISE LOST, since Darkness and Hope is indeed quite light, monotonous, with a predominant clean voice — but in 2003 Antidote arrived and literally shocked everyone: clean vocals to a minimum, heaviest riffs yet. Finally, towards the end of that year an album would come out, of which at the time only a sample was available online on the official site — and yes, sorry, this is just almost black metal. The band heavied up their sound, in many ways returned to their roots, and reasserted themselves as representatives of extreme metal. That's the short version — in any case, every MOONSPELL album deserves to be listened to in strict order.
So: today the band consists of Fernando Ribeiro — vocalist, effectively the band's founder and leader; keyboardist and also rhythm guitarist Pedro Paixão; drummer Mike Gaspar; guitarist Ricardo Amorim; and brand new bassist Aires Pereira. The latter had a rather hard time during the press conference as his English wasn't at a high level; for the most part Fernando and Pedro answered the questions. The questions were of various kinds — about the upcoming concert and the album, including some quite daft ones like "why didn't the band come on the Antidote tour," to which Fernando replied that formally the concert would be part of that tour, since the new album hadn't yet been released. It was also said that songs from the 1998–1999 albums wouldn't be performed, as they would clash with the band's current sound. The musicians also spoke about their preferences. Fernando, for example, named a whole list of russian composers — Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, Prokofiev — and also attempted to hum "Kalinka-malinka." Of russian bands they mentioned Gorky Park, and Fernando also recalled the band "BUTTERFLY TEMPLE" that had supported them on their previous visit. There were, unfortunately, some inappropriate questions too — along the lines of "Why are you virtually the only truly famous band from Portugal," which put the musicians in an awkward position from the start.
After the press conference nearly everyone had the opportunity to get an autograph and a photo; specifically for those who hadn't managed in the general allotted time, Fernando walked around the small improvised barrier and signed everything… Your humble servant got autographs and managed a photo, after which, mentally preparing for the concert while listening back to Antidote, I slowly made my way toward the "Tochka" club — and I was wrong to have done it so slowly: I had not expected that after a press conference and autograph session attended by perhaps 70 people at most, a substantial queue would have formed at the gates preceding the steps down to the small space in front of the club entrance. There weren't just many people — there were a great many people.
I was inside the club just before eight in the evening; the support act MELANCHOLY were already playing. At 19:18 I'm inside; the hall is already almost full. Another hour would pass before moving around the club became very difficult, as the number of people reached what I'd estimate at 1,200–1,300 — essentially the "Tochka" capacity. MELANCHOLY performed very well; the sound was decent; the band had just released a new album, which they had literally presented the day before. They played, I'll repeat, at a thoroughly respectable level; the sound overall was neither good nor bad; the set ran for around 50–55 minutes.
The hall dims; on stage it's even darker; part of the crowd is at the bar; FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM — a cult band in gothic rock — is playing through the speakers; more and more people arrive, there is practically no space left; already I'm dreading the unbearable heat that will come during the concert. On this point I want to express enormous respect for the club: my fears proved unfounded. The club has some kind of powerful air conditioning system installed, and there was no stuffiness — at least in the back sections (where the density of people was at its maximum regardless).
The minutes of waiting are interrupted at exactly half past eight by the sounds of an intro and a lilac wash of light across the stage. Everyone understands that this is it… a little more — and we hear the dirty sound of the guitars and see the musicians on stage (it's true — songs from Pekado/Sin would not work in this situation; the guitars and bass were tuned very heavily), which announces that the first song will be "In And Above Men" from Antidote. Seconds, seconds — and there he is: nothing remains of the smiling, calm, somewhat phlegmatic man from the press conference. On stage is a genuine demon. The song flows into "From Lowering Skies," exactly as on the album. That drum-keyboard intro through which everyone instantly recognises the song. Pedro's position deserves a mention — his synthesizer alternated between appearing right at the front of the stage and being rotated 90 degrees as he stood in profile, while periodically not forgetting to play rhythm guitar as well. Fernando reads out the first part of the song in a quiet voice, and soon the entire hall erupts in a single cry (some reinforcing it with a growl), joining him in the song's key phrase.
What came next — the first surprise: the hall goes dark again, and suddenly everyone hears an astonishingly familiar guitar melody, which cuts off again into a single cry of "Wolfshade" from the debut album. A number of people sing the song from start to finish; everyone is then invited to appreciate Fernando's clean voice — which is as reliable as ever, even though it is clearly secondary in the band's current sound. A long and beautiful guitar solo follows, flowing into the song's final section. Fernando doesn't announce the next song — and I didn't even recognise it at first, as it opened with very heavy guitar riffs; but within 10 seconds everyone had understood what this song was, and 15 seconds after that the entire hall was singing "Opium, desire of will / Inspiration bound from an elegant seed"… the hall is simply going berserk. Then Fernando reads the closing verses in Portuguese, and just as on the Irreligious album, "Opium" flows into "Awake" — a composition that has almost no words, but in which the phrase "Awake... for all is dying" repeats many times — and naturally the hall chants it back in unison. From what I observed, there were a number of people in the hall who knew primarily the band's later work — i.e. above all the Antidote album — but the main body of the crowd had been, so to speak, raised on the band's classics and was waiting to hear them. The age range in the crowd, incidentally, was very diverse — from 14–15-year-old teenagers to a substantial number of people with grey at their temples.
Fernando then announces "Nocturna," the only song from Darkness and Hope that evening; thus three of the band's six albums released to that point were essentially unrepresented. The song received a lively reaction — the hall relaxed somewhat — but only to prepare for the main anthem from Antidote: "Southern Deathstyle." Then Fernando announces a song from the new album — the very one whose sample had been posted on the official site and played automatically on page load. The aggressive and triumphant "Finisterra" — an intro and near-screaming vocals evoking Norwegian black metal acts. A brilliant song; an unambiguous new classic.
A brief calm and a brief intro. Then the next song — back to Antidote — "Everything Invaded." Fernando wasn't deceiving anyone; the concert was genuinely being run as part of the 2003 album tour. What happened next I honestly can't quite explain — people didn't even recognise the song at first, because it is traditionally part of the encore, yet here it was: almost the band's signature hit — "Alma Mater." But then people recovered from the surprise; the phrase is sung in Portuguese in clean voice — a pause — and the entire hall cries out ALMA MATER in unison. The song goes over brilliantly, and it's followed by another track from the debut album — another hit — "Vampiria," during which Fernando manages to create a genuinely eerie effect — something you could never feel just listening to the album.
Then a few words, after which I already know what comes next, and that understanding produces a certain euphoria — because within moments, the composition that for me has always stood at the very top of MOONSPELL's catalogue began. Here I won't even attempt to be objective: Fernando performed my favourite song of theirs — "Mephisto" — with genius. What can you say; I was not the only one declaiming the whole song from start to finish, giving the title word particular emphasis. Honestly, beyond that I was following along out of simple curiosity — would they play anything else from the debut and second album besides "Full Moon Madness," which by my reckoning was supposed to close the encore. While I was working this out, Fernando announced the last song — and demolished all my calculations, as this wonderful slow composition was played at the end of the main set. The band retreated for a moment.
Obviously this is not the end. But I'll be honest: the encore left me mildly disappointed — first a song from the new album, "Blood Tells" — a very decent track — followed by "Tenebrarum Oratorium" from the 1994 single — which was fine — but then the concert ended strangely with "Capricorn At Her Feet" from Antidote. After which picks flew into the crowd; the drummer took off his t-shirt and launched it into the hall as well.
The fact that the encore was not particularly compelling in no way affected the overall impression. The concert was excellent in every respect. The drummer and bassist were absolutely on fire; the guitarists were somewhat more restrained; as for Fernando — this person radiates astonishing energy; he is a true frontman with inimitable artistry and charisma.
The sound was more than good — not perfect, but very, very decent. Which was gratifying. During the press conference Fernando said he would be delighted and hoped to visit russia on the new tour following the release of the Memorial album — so we are left, as the Count of Monte Cristo used to say, to "wait and hope."
**
Report by Alan
Photo report from the concert (photos by McAllen)
Special thanks to SPIKA MERCHANDISING for providing accreditation.
**
Setlist: Intro In And Above Men From Lowering Skies Wolfshade (A Werewolf Masquerade) Opium Awake Nocturna Southern Deathstyle Finisterra Everything Invaded Alma Mater Vampiria Mephisto Full Moon Madness —encore— Blood Tells Tenebrarum Oratorium Capricorn At Her Feet