If you already read the review from Hypocrisy’s release party and tour start in Fryshuset, Stockholm, from the day before, you will know that the stakes were high for this show.
If you didn’t, go back and do it now. That’s an order!

Yes, after a highly successful show in Stockholm, Hypocrisy had now moved a bit southward and was moments away from playing in Brewhouse, Gothenburg for a large and expectant audience.
As Gothenburg was on the way home for us anyway, we figured we might as well stop by for this one as well, and the fact that they had blown our minds in Stockholm only made the visit that much more relevant.
Shortly before, support band Deals Death had finished their highly successful warm-up, and since this night only held one support, the main act was drawing nearer by the minute, and to tell the truth, I was beginning to feel a bit worried. You see, when I wrote “large and expectant”, I was referring to what I had witnessed during Deals Death’s show; however, now that Hypocrisy was closing in, Brewhouse looked nearly deserted. Could it be that everyone had just been here to watch the support band?

“Hello Gothenburg, thanks for showing up tonight!”
- Peter Tägtgren (vocals/guitar)

My fears were uncalled for; as the intro music began playing, the floor was mysteriously filled with people within the blink of an eye almost, and everyone seemed to be looking forward as much or more to the main act as they had been to Deals Death. It wasn’t like the Brewhouse was sold out or anything, but there was a great deal of people nonetheless.
Set ways, Hypocrisy played the same card again and started out with the title track of the new album, End Of Disclosure, a worthy opener with a classic Hypocrisy sound which worked its magic on the crowd who were all for it straight from the start. It quickly became apparent that for the crowds sake, it was a pity that they weren’t shooting the Tales Of Thy Spineless here in Gothenburg instead of in Stockholm as this crowd was leaps and bounds more into the show than the previous one had been (you might remember me complaining that the only real downside to the Stockholm gig was the (a)pathetic crowd).
Here we got shouts and cheers straight from the beginning, without anybody having to ask for it, and there was a very intense core of headbangers in the crowd who were so into it, it was more like body-banging than just headbanging.
When we got to Fire In The Sky, there was an outburst of spontaneous of rhythmic applause in the start, and later in Necronomicon the middle section of the floor opened up for a wild mosh fest! Yes, this was definitely better than the other day. Even the band noticed this; after being answered by a thick wall of screaming voices on his request for a shout contest with the Swedish capitol, Tägtgren could only comment; ”Forget Stockholm! You’re not many, but you’re loud!”
I guess you can guess the response to this...

“We’ve got a new record out and I think you should hear it. I don’t give a shit about how you get to listen to it, but you should definitely give it a try.”
- Tägtgren (vocals/guitar)

Up on the stage, the deal was a little different though, the band was clearly suffering from the second date lazies.
Before the first show, you have a long, long time of preparation during which time you build up a certain tension and energy which is then blown out in all directions on that special premiere night. The hard part is then when you come to the second date; at this point you haven’t had time to build up the same energy level again, and you feel more secure because now you’re underway, thus leaving you more relaxed and laid back. It is hard work to make the second gig as powerful as the first one, and Hypocrisy certainly isn’t the first or the last ones to fall into this trap, but the way they started the Gothenburg show out, it was easy to see that they were falling deep into the hole.
Sure, both Tägtgren, Mikael Hedlund and Tomas Elofsson moved about on the stage, and also headbanged when the time was right, but it was as though they didn’t really mean it if you catch my drift. They were basically just going through the moves, but without being present when they did so. Horgh was really the only one I got the same feeling from both days, and that feeling was awe for the surgically precise way he was playing, it was insane, like a machine almost, but his expression when playing was completely blank, sadly also very machine-like. I understand that playing in this way must take up a great deal of concentration, but a little bit more presence here as well wouldn’t have hurt.
Something happened with Hypocrisy throughout the concert though, and my theory about this is that they simply couldn’t stand for the great response they were getting from the crowd. Little by little, and then when the lid was of more and more did they find their stride back from the previous night, and it made a huge difference in the impact of the concert. Whether they reached the same height or not, or if they maybe even aced it, it’s hard to say, but rest assured that when Hypocrisy began kicking ass again, there wasn’t a bum left untouched when people went home!

Another very clear difference between Stockholm and Gothenburg (yes I know, a lot of comparisons, deal with it) was found in the production of the show.
Hypocrisy still used all of the same stage gear, and once again it looked absolutely fabulous, and the sound wasn’t way off this night either, but something was up with the lights. I’m guessing the film crew in Stockholm had had a finger in how things were to be done there to get a good looking shot, because here in Gothenburg someone clearly resented the front-lights a great deal and had decided that they worked best when turned off. Because of this we still got a very good-looking light show from the back of the stage, and four completely black shadows playing their music for us. Not so lucky if you ask me, and I don’t know about you readers of course, but when I go to a concert, a great part of the experience is actually being able to see the band. I mean, staying at home and listening to a record will always beat it in pure sound, so it is the other details that makes up for it. A slight rant there I admit, but I hope get what I was going for, and don’t read too much into the negative comments as this was still a great show in the end!

If nothing else, this concert really proved how important the mutual sharing of energy between band and audience really is. When the audience is a bit slow of the mark, a good band knows how to pick them up, and in contrast an energetic crowd can help a band reach new heights of awesomeness.
This night we got to see the latter in full effect, and it was really interesting to see the difference between the two first gigs of Hypocrisy’s End Of Disclosure world tour.

Setlist:

End Of Disclosure
Tales Of Thy Spineless
Fractured Millennium
Left To Rot
The Eye
The Abyss
Fire In The Sky
Necronomicon
Buried
United We Fall
44 Double Zero
Elastic Inverted Visions
Warpath
Roswell 47
Adjusting The Sun
Encore:
Eraser