Location: Royal Arena (Copenhagen)

It’s Saturday night and “And it’ll be okay like everyone says / It’ll be alright and ever so nice / We’re going out tonight”. Yes, we’re going out, specifically to Royal Arena in Copenhagen along around 11,000 other people. And “we’ll go dancing”, because Suede are playing and their frontman Brett Andersonis ready to charm all of us.

On a fairly essential stage, the concert opened with Disintegrate and Antidepressants and those were the songs that we, photographers, were allowed to shoot from the pit. I believe that only by trying to keep the singer in focus in the frame of the camera, one can really realise how energetic the performance is: Brett sings, runs, whips the air with the mic cable and restlessly moves in a continuous exchange of feelings with the crowd.

The crowd: a very mixed assortment of people of all ages, from veterans to young followers, packed like sardines totally unaware of their surroundings almost all the way to the mixer, making it very difficult to fence my way to the back and to some large shots.

The setlist balanced nicely between the two newest albums, Autofiction and Antidepressants, and older releases. Although it was mentioned a couple of times that “We are an anti-nostalgia band” it’s also true that “sometimes we like to dig into our past” and it’s with the oldies that the arena becomes a gigantic karaoke (also thanks to the lyrics projected on the backdrop).
The generosity of the frontman towards the attendees is literally tangible, as he often goes down from the stage to touch hands with the first rows and if it was not enough, venturing in the middle of the floor during Beautiful Ones, a bright white shirt in the spotlight among a sea of adoring dark t-shirts.

Let’s be honest though: despite the band on stage – precise and professional – it’s a one man show from start to finish. It is Brett Anderson who charms the crowd and has it at his fingertips, moving bodies, putting hands together to the rhythm of the music, even making the people sing in his place to rest his voice a bit.

Where do I want to get with all these random thoughts collected after a good 1 hour 40 minutes of performance?
I guess the point of all of this is that Suede in their 25+ years of activity are still a staple of Britpop; they might or might not have lost a touch of glam in their sound along the way, but they can still mesmerise a small few-hundreds-of-people club as well as a big several-thousands-of-people arena. According to your preference of setting, you’ll probably have to balance out intimacy with the grandiose feeling of a crowd that acts as one, but either way the word of advice is, if you’ll ever have the chance, don’t miss them out.

Having missed Electric Callboy at Copenhell a few years back and becoming a fan since, it was finally a blast to get to see the German group tonight as they kicked off their TANZNEID World Tour at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen tonight. 

Partycore or electronicore? Whatever it’s called, their fusion of Metalcore, EDM, Dubstep with a strong slice of cheese is simply the most fun, singalong riffage you can find around.

With opening acts Wargasm and Bury Tomorrow kicking things off in fine style, we finally got to the main course. 

A new intro to reflect the release of new song TANZNEID, it’s a ballzy move to start the new gig and tour off with a song that’s only 24 hours old. The crowd was into it of course but I would have preferred to kick off with an older banger. 

That was really the only complaint I had of the night as the rest of it was a pure joy. Vocalists Nico Sallach and Kevin Ratajczak are a commanding stage presence bringing a nonstop energetic vibe to the whole event. 

We had older hits. Hypa, Hypa, MC Thunder, and Pump it that got the crowd to ecstatic levels. With Sum 41 drummer Frank Zummo on stick duty it was rather fitting we got the first cover of the night with Still Waiting. It was not the only one, with of course Everytime We Touch. This was part of a 2-song acoustic part of the gig that had our frontmen join the crowd to perform. However, some technical difficulties with the sound slowed things up and after some jeers from the crowd they managed to get the job done, as well as poke fun at the situation when they returned to the stage.

The stage production for this show was phenomenal. With giant LCD screens projecting words from the songs, giant robots and more along with plenty of fire, bangs and confetti, kudos to the team that brought this all together.

After Elevator Operator it was encore time. First up was RATATATA, the collaboration they did with BABYMETAL. It was so great to see the girls of BABYMETAL towering over the band on the screens as giant backlit 3D animations. We then wrapped up the night with Spaceman and We Got the Moves.

So, it was a little rough around the edges. Too much dry ice at the start and some technical sound issues. It was the first run of a highly complex production so there was always something to iron out. However, the crowd at this gig walked out into a cool November night ecstatic with the experience they just had. This was a behemoth of a concert, some of the best fun I have had all year at a gig, and I can’t wait to see them again. Go see.

Setlist

TANZNEID (Live debut)
Still Waiting (Sum 41 cover)
Tekkno Train
Hypa Hypa
MC Thunder
Neon
Pump It
Hurrikan
Revery
Hate/Love
Mindreader
Monsieur Moustache vs. Clitcat / Muffin Purper-Gurk / We Are the Mess / Crystals / Best Day
Drum Solo
Fuckboi (Acoustic in the middle of the crowd)
Everytime We Touch (Acoustic in the middle of the crowd; played breakdown on stage)
MC Thunder II (Dancing Like a Ninja)
Elevator Operator

RATATATA (BABYMETAL × Electric Callboy song)
Spaceman
We Got the Moves

As September closes in on October, the weather was uncommonly sunny as I pulled into Copenhagen’s Royal Arena for the first stop of The Sickness 25^th Anniversary tour fromNu Metal legends, Disturbed with heavyweight support from the legendary Megadeth.

What can I say about Megadeth that has not been recounted numerous times before. Dave Mustain is Megadeth. The announcement earlier this year that their next album and tour would be their last was a bit of a shock. Dave’s voice is not as it once was so maybe bowing out in style is a good idea, unlike some other legends that keep flogging a dead vocal cord horse (cough, Axel, cough Rose) It was a pleasure to hear that Dave was on good form.

So, it’s important we get all the Megadeth goodness while we can and Dave and crew hit the stage with a slick, tight, no nonsense one hour set that kicked off with Hanger 18,  had some deep cuts and a lot of classic bangers such as Symphony of Destruction, Peace Sells and to wrap it all up the always awesome Holy Wars. Poignant considering the times we live in.

Poignant considering the political undercurrents Disturbed lead man David Draiman has been embroiled in in recent months. The ever-present question of separating the art from the artist something this reviewer most definitely had at the front of mind in attending this concert. 

Politics to the side, Disturbed hit the stage to manic rapturous fans with Draiman a commanding stage presence in a show that did not skimp on the theatrics like pyro. Draiman rolled onto stage all wrapped up like some balding Hannibal Lecter and straight away this was a very different performance from the lean Megadeth set. With The Sickness songs playing a large part of the setlist the concert was split into two parts with the first part leaning into The Sickness, and the second part a mix of greatest hits. We had a dip into the new with recent songs I Will Not Break and Indestructible and with classics Ten Thousand Fists. Disturbed are also known for doing some covers and the excellent version of Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence, a highlight of the night. Their version of Genesis’ Land of Confusion less appealing to my ears. 

As we wrapped up the night with fan fav and nu metal classic Inside the Fire we exited into a crisp Danish Autumn night with another banger of a gig under our belts.