Back in 2006, I got a call from a friend that asked if I wanted to go to a concert in Boston, over at the Paradise Rock Club. I asked her who was playing, and she told me Apocalyptica. I asked her if she meant those guys that had that album where they played Metallica songs on cellos, and she told me yes, and then lent me their album Cult. So I listened to it, got really into them, and went to the concert.
Fast forward four years. As of Monday, Apocalyptica had released six albums, every single one of which is fantastic. The only one I took issue with was Worlds Collide, where they collaborated with a whole bunch of other musicians to create an album that was much more commercial (although, honestly, no less packed full of talent) than their previous efforts. You see, Apocalyptica is a group of Finnish cello players, that use their cellos (and one drum set) to create a classical/metal blend that sits up there with some of the greatest music out there. They’re finally getting the recognition they deserve (thanks to Worlds Collide), and just released their 7th album on Tuesday, titled 7th Symphony. It has all the raw energy and refined playing of their other six albums, and is worth every penny.
On Thursday, I went with one of those two friends that took me to the first concert (along with a few new people, including Brandon), and saw them on the new tour, this time at the Royale Boston. The venue, in case you’ve never been there, is a good three times bigger than Paradise, and they still filled the place really well. Dir En Grey, the opening act, was solid but, honestly, not my cup of tea (or, I guess, my pint of beer. This is a metal show, after all). When Apocalyptica took the stage, the crowd went nuts, and didn’t stop going nuts until the second encore (their rendition of “Hall of the Mountain King”) ended and the band finally walked off stage admist cheers and rollicking applause. It was an awesome show.
Naturally, I bought a t-shirt (because I am a consumer whore). I took a picture of the front of it and posted it as my Thursday Photo of the Day. According to some notice that was hanging up at the merch booth, this was a limited edition tour shirt that was only being sold no more than 35 times at each show. When you have hundreds of kids, 35 is not a high number. Luckily, I was able to grab one in my size, and now I can proudly show the world that I’m a fan of a group of Finnish metal cellists that went on tour with a Japanese metal band that features a tiny screaming shirtless Japanese man.
Life is a wonderful thing.
Tom