Ah, back in Knaack again.
This was actually the place where I cut my teeth as review writer, also at a Pain show back in 2007.
Upon looking back, I see I had some positive words to say about the place that time, and Knaack was just the same this time as it was back then. The only problem was that the audience had grown considerably; resulting in everyone standing packed up against each other for the entire gig. Actually, the band could not even get in to do the sound-check for the guitars, which had to be done on the stairs leading up to the concert room.

I had heard from before that Pain was bringing a new stage show for this tour, so I was curious as to what that might be. I was a bit disappointed when I saw that all it meant was that they had put up a small cloth for video projection, but later I’ve found out that they actually had much more than that, Knaack’s stage was just not big enough for all the stuff.
Anyway, when the intro, a weird adaptation of Also Sprach Zarathustra, played through the speakers the screen showed an entering of Knaack, which I thought was a pretty cool idea to start the show with.
Then in came the band, most of which we knew from before (Peter Tägtgren of course, Michael Bohlin on second guitar and Johan Husgafvel on bass), but with the new addition of Tomas Lindgren (ex-Fatal Smile) who was filling in for David Wallin on drums since Wallin was home with a new addition to his family, a son.
The band was literally bursting with energy as they kicked the show off with I’m Going In from their latest release Cynic Paradise, and they kept it going throughout the entire show. Small hints of their playfulness could be seen in the small guitar battle in Crashed or when Bohlin helped Lindgren out with some drumming in Walking On Glass.

“A song for the lovely ladies here. This is Bitch!”
- Peter Tägtgren (vocals/guitar)

Not much was said between songs, but then again they had a set which spanned 22 tracks and a fixed time for the end of the show, so I personally am glad they spent the time playing instead of striking a few songs.
And there was still time for the audience to shout their appreciation and clap their hands, although I thought that the crowd here at the sold out Knaack was surprisingly calm. This could however be because (and I said this for the support band Brother Firetribe as well) there wasn’t really any space to move in, that’s how filled the place was. But the longer the set was running, the more the crowd began rocking a little back and forth, which was the extent of what could be done I suppose.

Sound-ways we could have asked for more, although it was of an acceptable live quality. Bohlin’s guitar went out shortly in Suicide Machine, and there were no female vocals in Follow Me but other than that there were no mayor mishaps. Well, apart from the fact that Peter Tägtgren seemed to have problems remembering the words at one point, but that’s what happens.
The lighting was a bit surprising. It had been really good for Brother Firetribe, but when Pain came on they didn’t really use them to their full potential; combined with a lot of smoke this made for a rather dark concert. The video screen was working well though, giving us something extra to watch. Mostly it was just patterns of blinking light or the pain logo, but for Have A Drink On Me the band had put together a funny (and sometimes scary) drinking video with clips from the road.

“Want one more? Which one do you want?”
- Tägtgren (vocals/guitar)

Well, one guy shouted Zombie Slam, but he was properly ignored as that song had already been played earlier. As the first encore song of the evening they played Same Old Song, and after a few more songs they left again. This was again a “trick stop” as they had more songs on the setlist, but several people missed that and started to leave already here, missing out on the three last songs of the evening. Too bad for them, but you should know better than to leave before the lights come on. We who stayed on got a great ending to a great evening, and we were really happy that we were going to see the show in Hamburg the day after as well.

Setlist:

I’m Going In
Follow Me
Zombie Slam
Suicide Machine
Stay Away
Bitch
Dancing With The Dead
On Your Knees (Again)
Crashed
Walking On Glass
Don’t Care
Just Hate Me
End Of The Line
Nailed To The Ground
It’s Only Them
On And On
Same Old Song
Eleanor Rigby (The Beatles cover)
Shut Your Mouth
Have A Drink On Me
Bye/Die
Greed