I will not write a biography of ROYAL HUNT on principle. Seva Baronin's articles are readily available online — he has been writing about Andrei Andersen's work since the late 1990s, when Andersen, already well known worldwide, had not yet given a single concert in his homeland. Today the situation is different. So different, in fact, that the band's only official DVD to date was recorded right here in russia — in st. petersburg at the end of 2005; the moscow concert that had been announced alongside the st. petersburg one was, unfortunately, cancelled.
The current visit by the band was marked by an appearance at the "Heroes of Rock" festival in st. petersburg and a single solo show at the moscow club Apelsin. Following the concert an autograph session was held for fans of the celebrated collective.
Looking ahead: the setlist of the concert completely mirrored what we see on the DVD — which is entirely logical, as the tour is formally the same one, in support of the latest, eighth album, Paper Blood, released by Frontiers Records on 6 June 2005.
The Apelsin club's stage is not particularly large, and when two vertical banners reproducing fragments of the latest album's artwork were hung on either side of it, sightlines became even more restricted — the drum kit was positioned not in the centre but in the corner! The backdrop was dominated by no fewer than five of Maestro Andersen's synthesizers.
As for the audience, there was no sellout, but the hall was more than adequately filled. A fairly mixed crowd. One could note a comparatively smaller contingent of archetypal metalheads — minimal leather clothing, few long-haired people — which is logical enough, since the ROYAL HUNT fanbase comprises progressive rock enthusiasts, neoclassical music lovers, and metal fans in roughly equal measure.
Around half past eight the intro sounded — a brief passage that is not formally separated out as a standalone studio track but opens the latest full-length album, to be precise within the composition "Break Your Chains." The intro breaks off at the start of the title track "Paper Blood." Already at that stage one could not fail to note with frustration that one of the most melodic and lyrical metal bands — built around keyboard parts as its foundation — sounded absolutely terrible. What came from the speakers was a muddle of bass, guitar, and pounding drums; against this backdrop the keyboards and vocals emerged rather eclectically — these at least could not be faulted, though they weren't particularly audible at first.
"Time" — one of the band's most beautiful and tragic songs, closing the third studio album Moving Target — is, without exaggeration, one of the main hits across the fifteen years of their studio activity (recalling the lyrics of other songs on that album, it is also the heaviest and darkest of all the band's releases overall). Andersen's hands, and Andersen himself, dart between five keyboards arranged around him; directly in front of him a backing vocalist joins on the choruses (not very successfully); and at the centre of everything is the stocky figure of West. Next up: 2001, and another undisputed masterpiece — "The Mission." Due to the less-than-ideal sound, this song suffered considerably; it features a stunning keyboard solo at its conclusion, which unfortunately lost much of its charm against the pounding rhythm section, as did the subsequent guitar solo. What follows on the programme — "Never Give Up" from the new album — was received quite coolly and was indeed one of the few lacklustre numbers in the set; this composition is essentially a showcase for the guitarist first and foremost. Well then — "Can't Let Go," continuing the concert, was the sole track from the 2003 album Eye Witness; in its format and sound it is one hundred percent progressive metal. The audience seemed to droop somewhat — presumably to save energy for "Last Goodbye," another trip back to 1995.
ROYAL HUNT has several genuinely great ballads; one of them, beyond question, is "Follow Me." To your humble servant's great regret, it was mercilessly cut short — the chorus was sung only once, after which something very strange began: "Cold City Nights" was stretched to over ten minutes, incorporating a passage featuring every instrument and group singing. Though the communal singing had yet to reach its peak — at the concert's finale West was cheerfully making the audience join him in some elaborate recitative chanting. But let us return to the middle of the concert. "Martial Arts" — a short instrumental from the very first album — flowed into the brilliant "Surrender" from the 2001 album, a song recognisable from its very first notes. The sound had more or less levelled out by this point (or perhaps the effect of adaptation had set in). In any case, the hit from the very first album, "Running Wild," came across more than successfully — with general sing-along, the band unleashed an ocean of power metal energy. And right after this thoroughly positive song came, without interruption, unquestionably the most tragic song Andersen has ever written. "Far Away" is dedicated to one of the most terrible tragedies of the twentieth century — the Kobe earthquake. On 17 January 1995 the disaster claimed the lives of over 6,000 people; the song was written by Andrei in the same year and immediately became a hit in Japan, cementing the band's success there.
With the next composition your humble servant has a touching personal connection — it was this song, through its music video, that first introduced him to this collective; and alongside "The Mission," it remains my favourite ROYAL HUNT composition. It should be noted that the "Lies" video cuts the wonderful introductory instrumental passage — but at the concert the song was performed in full, all seven minutes.
"Intro Wasted Time" from 1993 and "Message To God" from 1997 — which again prompted enthusiastic sing-alongs — together with the instrumental "SK 983" brought the main portion to a close. The musicians departed, leaving only Andrei, who approaching the microphone — as was to be expected — began speaking in perfectly fluent russian without the slightest trace of an accent (though he left russia at over twenty years of age, it is reasonable to assume any accent he might have developed in Danish and possibly even English, but not in his native russian). Three DVDs and a branded T-shirt were then presented to the winners of a radio competition.
An effective single-song encore rounded things off, and logically it was "Epilogue," which closes the 2003 album Clown in the Mirror.
The band left the hall after nearly two hours on stage, then returned refreshed to sign autographs. What to say about the concert overall — one simply had to be there, and had to see it. On the negative side: less-than-ideal sound, and the band members' capabilities as backing vocalists were very limited — those are the criticisms, and they are the only ones. Everything else was simply brilliant without the slightest complaint: in particular I would single out West as an excellent frontman, and of course Andrei Andersen himself — throughout the entire concert he commanded his synthesizers with mastery, periodically stepping out front to the audience with his "comb."
Apparently a new album will be available by the end of 2007; one very much hopes that the practice of recent years will continue, and that the next tour's itinerary will include a stop in russia.
Report by Alan
Special thanks to the Apelsin club and personally to Ilya Zinin for the accreditation provided
Setlist:
- Paper Blood
- Time
- The Mission
- Never Give Up
- Can't Let Go
- Last Goodbye
- Follow Me
- Cold City Lights
- Martial Arts
- Surrender
- Running Wild
- Far Away
- Lies
- Wasted Time
- Message To God
- SK983 Encore:
- Epilogue
Photo report (photos by Gunslinger)
