The Halo Effect, Pain & Bloodred Hourglass at Batschkapp
Right at the beginning of the new year (January 29), the fans received full service indeed with this grandiose package of bands: The Halo Effect with exceptional singer Mikael Stanne, probably the friendliest death metal shouter of all time, and Pain, having Peter Tägtgren, an absolute scene icon, in their ranks who had already made a guest appearance here in Frankfurt a year ago. The Swedes were joined by the Finns Bloodred Hourglass, who had already attracted attention on this tour with their excellent performances. Once again, a purely Scandinavian mix of bands, which ensured that tickets were already selling well in advance.
Consequently, many fans were standing outside the Batschkapp Frankfurt long before the concert began, in order to secure the remaining tickets for the event.
When Bloodred Hourglass opened the evening, the Batschkapp was already very well filled and the likeable Finns created an exuberant atmosphere in the audience right from the start. Singer Jarkko had the fans quickly on his side and was in constant contact with the audience. The rest of the band was also very playful and eager to move. Bloodred Hourglass offered a convincing performance, their melodic and technically sublime death metal was very well received by the Frankfurt audience and deservedly met with a lot of applause. Especially the ingenious “Waves Of Black” got the audience moving and here the Finns brought enough originality to the stage, in addition to obvious In Flames influences, so that their very own signature was clearly recognizable. It’s been a long time since an opener has convinced me as much as Bloodred Hourglass did today – Hats off !!! Mahtavaa !!! (More about the band in our interview)
Setlist Bloodred Hourglass:
The Sun Still In Me
In Lieu of Flowers
Leaves
The End We Start From
Waves of Black
Drag Me the Rain
Nightmares Are Dreams Too
Veritas
Where the Sinners Crawl
While the stage was being set up for Peter Tägtgren and his men from PAIN, the rows thinned out briefly – but that didn’t last long, because the Batschkapp was now quite full. The Swedes opened their set with “It’s Only Them” from the classic 2002 album “Nothing Remains The Same” and thus won over the Frankfurt audience with the very first notes. With a crystal-clear sound, Pain presented themselves in their usual manner and with constant contact to their fans, who supported the band more and more intensively as the set progressed.
Pain’s setlist was really excellent: They concentrated mainly on the songs from the new album “I Am”, but had also made a colorful selection on top of that, so that the fans got their money’s worth here. No Pain gig without “The Same Old Song”! This can really be categorized as a “tradition” and so it happened in the Batschkapp that night: The fans celebrated the band in every manner and sang the song along at the top of their voices. Peter Tägtgren and his boys seemed visibly moved by this incredible audience enthusiasm and thanked them a thousand times over for this vociferous support.
The already exuberant atmosphere reached its peak during “Party In My Head” and it was simply wonderful to witness this brilliant concert. “Shut Your Mouth” was another highlight from the Swedes’ previous work at the end of their set and Pain said goodbye to the Frankfurt audience to boundless applause. Top performance !!!
Setlist Pain:
It’s Only Them
Don’t Wake the Dead
Call Me
Zombie
Suicide Machine
I’m Going In
Go With the Flow
Same Old Song
The Great Pretender
Party in My Head
Have a Drink on Me
Let Me Out
Shut Your Mouth
Actually, the upper limit of genius had already been reached with this brilliant performance and a big task awaited Mikael Stanne and his boys to top that. And The Halo Effect more than lived up to the audience’s high expectations: right at the beginning, the Swedes presented the title track of their new album “March Of The Unheared” to the Frankfurt audience and got the packed venue moving. What The Halo Effect offered was simply top notch, sparks flew and as the gig went on, the connection between the band and the audience grew stronger and stronger. The Swedes received huge applause for their almost perfect and sweat-inducing performance, as we know it eg. from good old In Flames days.
The temperatures in the Batschkapp rose and the emotions of the fans were also kept high by the very high, playful level on which The Halo Effect performed. Mikael Stanne was his usual confident self and used the entire stage to celebrate with the fans. His first-class vocals rounded off the songs impressively and especially during the brilliant “Cruel Perception” it became clear that the Swedes are far more than just gifted musicians. The seemingly endless applause made this clear. The actual set ended with “What We Become”, but The Halo Effect struck a chord with the audience once again by filling the first encore section with songs from their debut album, which was gratefully received and celebrated by the fans, before bidding a fitting farewell to the Frankfurt audience with the universally known and loved “Shadowminds”.
Setlist The Halo Effect:
March of the Unheard
Feel What I Believe
In Broken Trust
The Needless End
Detonate
Conditional
Cruel Perception
A Truth Worth Lying For
Become Surrender
What We Become
Encore:
Gateways
Last of Our Kind
Days of the Lost
Encore 2:
Shadowminds
Conclusion: A very nice evening in Frankfurt’s Batschkapp where the fans got their money’s worth and all 3 bands gave an outstanding performance. This was really great entertainment and we can only hope that the fans will soon be able to enjoy such an evening again. The security at the Batschkapp deserves a lot of praise for organizing the evening perfectly and always keeping an overview, even when the house was this full!
Text und Fotos: Hanzi Herrmann
