Pain

Mejeriet, Lund - 2011

Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen

Riddle: How many times can you see the first show of one tour?
Answer: Unknown, but at least twice apparently.

Yes, we were once again seeing a first show with Pain on their promotional tour for the You Only Live Twice album. If you remember, we saw the first show of the European leg of the tour in Hamburg a while back, where Turmion Kätilöt and Engel were supporting.
This time we were in Mejeriet in Lund and saw the first date on the Swedish leg of the tour, now renamed Griståget (transl. The Pigtrain), and with Raubtier as support.
Well, Raubtier had handled their duties with excellence, so now it was time for ain to enter the stage and put in the finishing move of the night, something they did very much in the same manner as the German shows we had already seen. There was still the good-looking setup with the fence on either side of the drums, and the TV-screens showing video clips throughout the show. Technically, nothing much (if anything) had changed, but on the other hand, why mess with a winning concept?
Setlist-ways we were also in the same ball court, with the same songs being played, and the only difference being the position changes between Psalms Of Extinction and End Of The Line; i.e. there were some safe choices, but also a lot of good material.

So was all the same under the sun?
Nope, not completely. The most visible change was that Johan Husgafvel was back behind the bass-strings, having been replaced on the European tour by Clawfinger’s André Skaug who has also toured with Pain in the past. If you remember my reviews from the German shows we saw, you may recall me mentioning the fact that Michael Bohlin seemed to be ordering Skaug around when it came to choosing sides of the stage to stand on. Well, now the tables had apparently turned; Husgafvel was not one to be pushed around, here it was he who took control of things. Of course not so harsh as it may sound, both Bohlin and he just seemed to have a bit of fun with it, both of them wearing big smiles as they tried to force the other to move.
One who was being pushed however was Peter Tägtgren; during Supersonic Bitch he got a good surprise as Bohlin shoved him in the side as he was concentrating on singing. A short time before this, Husgafvel had been giving Bohlin rabbit ears without the guitarist noticing it...
As you can see, the band was having a good time, and goofed around a lot.

The audience on the other hand, while having increased in numbers since Raubtier, was a bit calmer during the Pain show than they had been during the support band. Of course, as the pressure of people in front of the stage had increased, at the same time the space for moving about had decreased.
There were still a lot of arms being raised, and also a good deal of singing along to the lyrics, there was even a small mosh during I’m Going In, but on the whole there was clearly not as lively a crowd for Pain as there had been for Raubtier.
Nevertheless, those who were there seemed to deeply appreciate the fun-loving band, as they were handed a quality show. The sitting down stunt in Have A Drink On Me still worked as a great break in the normal stage routine, and I could see that Bohlin had amassed quite a few more panties for his guitar since the last time we saw them; no new ones here tonight, but I’m sure he’ll manage anyway.
With all the playing around, there was one thing that was not allowed though, and that was when David Wallin thought he could use a beer bottle to play on Tägtgren’s guitar; for this he was kindly but firmly sent to his place behind his mini-drumkit...

Seeing Pain start up a new tour, or just playing in general for that sake, is always a fun deal. This particular show may not go down in the history books as their most spectacular performance ever, but it was certainly money well spent for those who showed up to watch it. I was particularly pleased to see all the fun Bohlin and Husgafvel was having, this brightened the performance up considerably.

Setlist:

Let Me Out
Dancing With The Dead
End Of The Line
Dirty Woman
Zombie Slam
Psalms Of Extinction
Suicide Machine
Nailed To The Ground
It’s Only Them
The Great Pretender
I’m Going In
Monkey Business
Have A Drink On Me
Supersonic Bitch
Fear The Demons
Same Old Song
Shut Your Mouth

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