“Thanks everyone for still standing up, we know it’s been a long and warm day!”
- Anders Fridén (vocals)

In Flames was the first headlining act of Metaldays anno 2013, made apparent not only by the timeslot they had, but also by the fact that they had pulled the largest crowd the festival had seen so far up to the main stage.

“If anyone is sleeping, just send them up to the security guards, they know what to do.”
- Fridén (vocals)

Judging from the anticipation that hung heavy in the air, this was most likely not something that would be an issue. Metaldays was ready to sing, bang and mosh at the renowned band’s slightest command, as was seen already in the third song, Pinball Map, where the crowd got to take the chorus by themselves, and did so in great style. The song even saw a small mosh going, but this didn’t grow into anything particularly noteworthy until later in the set...
Trigger was another sing along favourite for a crowd that didn’t shy away from shouting loud and waving their horns in the air between songs as well, Only For The Weak got everyone running for full engines as this crowd favourite always does, and when Ropes arrived and Anders Fridén asked for an attempt at breaking the festivals crowd-surfing record, people were only too willing to accommodate his wish.
Ok, so I’m pretty sure no new records were set and that Kataklysm are still the unrivalled masters of this activity, but people were surely having fun, and the crew had their hands full (pun intended) for a while.

“You’re a lazy crowd!”
- Fridén (vocals)

Up on the stage, things were different though...
Niclas Engelin was an eye-catcher as he was a happy little poser with a lot of energy, whereas the entirety of the rest was dull to say the least.
Regarding the quote above, the crowd certainly was doing what they could with what they had and I have nothing bad to say about them. I would on the other hand never recommend any band to complain about the crowd they have been dealt, and would also ask Fridén to take a good, hard look at what his band was doing to instill some inspired response from the fans this evening. Nothing is what.
Well, ok, that’s not entirely true. In Flames did deliver a lot of long and unnecessary breaks between songs that were delivered without presence and nerve (except for Engelin that is). On the upside, Fridén didn’t shy away from opening his mouth a lot, although on the downside it should be mentioned that he primarily did so to whine about things – in addition to shaming the crowd that spent their time trying to support their favourite band, he also found time to complain about the journey, make fun of a security guard for wearing red shorts (as if he himself was some form of fashion oracle) and bitch in general about the hardships his bandmates and he was going through to be here.
In between all of the negativity, In Flames did dedicate a song away. The song was Take This Life, and the dedication went to their friends in Soilwork. Why Soilwork didn’t get on stage and have a bit of fun at this point I do not know, this might even, most likely even, have lifted the show from the abyss it resided in...

In Flames and I fell in love when Reroute To Remain hit the street, but from then on we have moved in different directions. As the band have been moving away from its more raw melodic death roots towards a more streamlined and radio friendly style, my taste have moved in exactly the opposite way.
There was only one point during this concert that the band and I saw eye to eye, and that was when Fridén opted to end the show by saying; “We are nothing”. Well, after a performance like this you won’t hear me arguing.

Setlist (incomplete):

Pinball Map
Trigger
Embody The Invisible
Cloud Connected
The Hive
Only For The Weak
Ropes
The Quiet Place
Delight And Angers
System
Deliver Us
Take This Life
My Sweet Shadow