Apocalyptica
Amager Bio, Copenhagen - 2023
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
Heading the Epic Apocalypse tour, Apocalyptica took the stage as the main main (yes, two main) act after a successful show by Epica.
Apocalyptica was what we had come for however, and we were more than ready to see what the Finnish instrumental quartet had in store for us.
“Copenhagen, it’s pretty fucking amazing to be here! Back in 2020, we released our album Cell-0. Anyone here have it? (Yeah!) Good! And what’s wrong with the rest of you?!”
- Eicca Toppinen (cello)
Apocalyptica chose to open the show with Ashes Of The Modern World, opener of their aforementioned latest album, and wisely so, I feel. The song starts out nice and compelling enough, but soon switches up in gear, providing a veritable rollercoaster of moods and styles. A nice, self-sustaining romp of an adventure, giving us a good taste of what we were in for.
Not surprisingly, the band was good at backing the excellent music up with a similar romp of a performance. Especially Toppinen and Perttu Kivilaakso were going at it, but the other two warmed up more and more as well. And then they were four…
Well, as you can see further down, Apocalyptica had chosen a lot of songs with lyrics attached, and by the third track, we found out how they were going to go about this. In came Franky Perez (DKFXP, ex-Scars on Broadway), who was a member of the band back on the Shadowmaker album in 2015, and then joined forces with the Apocalyptica boys again in 2022 as a touring member. And then there were five…
Perez proved a valuable asset to the band, giving us another dimension of the live experience of Apocalyptica, that we’d never seen or heard before. He’s not my favourite vocalist, but he did a perfect job for what was needed, and the performance was just icing on the cake. I still love when Apocalyptica decides to all in on the cello action, but honestly, they’re good in any way, shape, or form, and this new version was highly enjoyable.
Now, why, when they were obviously comfortable with a vocalist on stage, did they go for the instrumental version of Rise, and not Rise Again, where the song is aided by Simone Simons? I mean, she was literally right there?! How could they possibly get a more opportune moment?
“So you like Denmark’s second greatest band after Volbeat, Metallica? So let’s play some more of them!”
- Perttu Kivilaakso (cello)
Despite this oversight, the band showed such control over their show, and weren't at all afraid to goof around from time to time. In the instrumental part of Shadowmaker, Perez took over the drums from Mikko Sirén, who instead walked to the front of the stage and rocked out. After switching back, and drawing near the end of the song, the band decided to mix things up even further, and threw a bit of Killing In The Name (Rage Against The Machine) in there for shits and giggles, as they say.
This wasn’t the only time the band played around with short snippets of tracks either - Seek & Destroy ended in a bit of Thunderstruck (AC/DC), and in trying to get In The Hall Of The Mountain King going, Kivilaakso made several failed attempts, “accidentally” playing other classical tunes. Finally, Paavo Lötjönen had to step in, and show his bandmate how it was to be done.
Of course, our dear cellists did their best to top each other in silly antics, so we got headbanging, rolling around on the floor, playing the cello above one’s head and behind one’s neck, and countless other tricks, all to the perfect amusement of the crowd.
If it’s not been made perfectly clear as of yet, let’s spell it out together - Apocalyptica kicked everyone’s ass with their splendid show, and my only complaint (except for the surprise about no Simons as a guest), was that it wasn’t longer - both in the sense that I wanted more, but also since I’ve seen them play longer sets elsewhere on this same tour.
Oh well, can’t win them all…
Setlist:
Ashes Of The Modern World
Grace
I’m Not Jesus
Not Strong Enough
Rise
En Route To Mayhem
Shadowmaker
I Don’t Care
Nothing Else Matters (Metallica cover)
Inquisition Symphony (Sepultura cover)
Seek & Destroy (Metallica cover)
In The Hall Of The Mountain King (Edward Grieg cover)
Apocalyptica was what we had come for however, and we were more than ready to see what the Finnish instrumental quartet had in store for us.
“Copenhagen, it’s pretty fucking amazing to be here! Back in 2020, we released our album Cell-0. Anyone here have it? (Yeah!) Good! And what’s wrong with the rest of you?!”
- Eicca Toppinen (cello)
Apocalyptica chose to open the show with Ashes Of The Modern World, opener of their aforementioned latest album, and wisely so, I feel. The song starts out nice and compelling enough, but soon switches up in gear, providing a veritable rollercoaster of moods and styles. A nice, self-sustaining romp of an adventure, giving us a good taste of what we were in for.
Not surprisingly, the band was good at backing the excellent music up with a similar romp of a performance. Especially Toppinen and Perttu Kivilaakso were going at it, but the other two warmed up more and more as well. And then they were four…
Well, as you can see further down, Apocalyptica had chosen a lot of songs with lyrics attached, and by the third track, we found out how they were going to go about this. In came Franky Perez (DKFXP, ex-Scars on Broadway), who was a member of the band back on the Shadowmaker album in 2015, and then joined forces with the Apocalyptica boys again in 2022 as a touring member. And then there were five…
Perez proved a valuable asset to the band, giving us another dimension of the live experience of Apocalyptica, that we’d never seen or heard before. He’s not my favourite vocalist, but he did a perfect job for what was needed, and the performance was just icing on the cake. I still love when Apocalyptica decides to all in on the cello action, but honestly, they’re good in any way, shape, or form, and this new version was highly enjoyable.
Now, why, when they were obviously comfortable with a vocalist on stage, did they go for the instrumental version of Rise, and not Rise Again, where the song is aided by Simone Simons? I mean, she was literally right there?! How could they possibly get a more opportune moment?
“So you like Denmark’s second greatest band after Volbeat, Metallica? So let’s play some more of them!”
- Perttu Kivilaakso (cello)
Despite this oversight, the band showed such control over their show, and weren't at all afraid to goof around from time to time. In the instrumental part of Shadowmaker, Perez took over the drums from Mikko Sirén, who instead walked to the front of the stage and rocked out. After switching back, and drawing near the end of the song, the band decided to mix things up even further, and threw a bit of Killing In The Name (Rage Against The Machine) in there for shits and giggles, as they say.
This wasn’t the only time the band played around with short snippets of tracks either - Seek & Destroy ended in a bit of Thunderstruck (AC/DC), and in trying to get In The Hall Of The Mountain King going, Kivilaakso made several failed attempts, “accidentally” playing other classical tunes. Finally, Paavo Lötjönen had to step in, and show his bandmate how it was to be done.
Of course, our dear cellists did their best to top each other in silly antics, so we got headbanging, rolling around on the floor, playing the cello above one’s head and behind one’s neck, and countless other tricks, all to the perfect amusement of the crowd.
If it’s not been made perfectly clear as of yet, let’s spell it out together - Apocalyptica kicked everyone’s ass with their splendid show, and my only complaint (except for the surprise about no Simons as a guest), was that it wasn’t longer - both in the sense that I wanted more, but also since I’ve seen them play longer sets elsewhere on this same tour.
Oh well, can’t win them all…
Setlist:
Ashes Of The Modern World
Grace
I’m Not Jesus
Not Strong Enough
Rise
En Route To Mayhem
Shadowmaker
I Don’t Care
Nothing Else Matters (Metallica cover)
Inquisition Symphony (Sepultura cover)
Seek & Destroy (Metallica cover)
In The Hall Of The Mountain King (Edward Grieg cover)
Apocalyptica
