It was another great night of metal here in Seattle, Mossington. Back from a short break at home in Gothenburg, Sweden, prog-death rockers Dark Tranquillity returned to headline the first tour in support of their ninth studio album, We Are the Void (released March 2010). Their two-hour set included songs dating all the way back to The Gallery, but the biggest chunk of their set was dedicated to the new material, and boy oh boy did it sound good live. Pianist Martin Brändström had set up a projector before the show that displayed trippy psychedelic orbs, colors, strings, and eventually the new video for "Shadow in Our Blood." This was also the first headlining tour with new bassist Daniel Antonsson, former Soilwork guitarist.
Dark Tranquillity took us through 20 years of experience on a peanut shell of a stage at Studio Seven, proving that these guys are in it for the love of performing. Vocalist Mikael Stanne was all smiles in front of the crowd, pulling adoring fans onstage for a hug and then diving off into the sea of grabby hands below during "the Fatalist." The crowd overpowered the band during the chorus each time, feeling the triumph and energy flow throughout the room.
Dark Tranquillity's Setlist:
At the Point of Ignition
The Fatalist
Focus Shift
The Wonders at Your Feet
Final Resistance
Misery's Crown
Punish My Heaven
Iridium
Shadow in Our Blood
The Lesser faith
Dream Oblivion
Lethe
Therein
The Grandest Accusation
Just before, Threat Signal tore the room to pieces, despite missing a guitarist. Coming onstage to Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive," frontman Jon Howard announced, "We had to say goodbye to Adam [Weber] for the rest of this tour. He had to go back home and take care of some family matters, but we are still going to show you what we came here for tonight." Sure as shit, the remaining four members showed just how brutal and tight the new material off their second album, Vigilance, really is. Impressively, Howard and drummer Norman Killeen edited uncut studio tracks from the recording sessions with Weber while driving to the show.
Travis Montgomery's guitar solos are just as eloquent and perhaps better onstage. Killeen's intense syncopation paired with his use of boom trigger pads--like those used on the recording of Vigilance--provided a rhythmic and deep canvas for Montgomery's solos and Howard's shearing screams. Pat Kavanagh provided the movement and headbanging for all four members.
Threat Signal's Setlist:
One Last Breath
Through My Eyes
Haunting
The Beginning of the End
A New Beginning
Counter Balance
Rational Eyes
After Life
Faceless
