Opeth and Enslaved Live at Sokol Auditorium in Omaha 5/8/09

Well this is my first concert review post as it was my first concert since last Fall.

As part of my birthday weekend, I managed to convince my girlfriend to come along with me to see Opeth and Enslaved in Omaha. I had to promise to protect her and keep an eye on her at all times, which I thought was very cute, and a little paranoid, but still cute. She felt out of place all night, but I never really feel at home at concerts either. I like to go and just watch the bands. I'm not there to socialize, although I do always have someone with me, and I don't go near the pit because that takes away from the experience. There was a rather diverse crowd there, but I will get to that in a minute.

ENSLAVED:
I am far less familiar with Enslaved's music than Opeth's. I like them pretty well but they don't have much that really stands out to me. That being said, they had a very strong show. They played several songs that were more straightforward metal songs rather than meandering progressive metal as on their recent records. It was a very good show. I just wish they would have played "Havenless". That was my only disappointment from the night. I decided to pick up a t-shirt prior to the show. I remember at one point sitting against the wall (there were no seats at all) with my eyes closed and my arm wrapped around my girlfriend thinking that this was one of the best nights of my life.

OPETH:
The obvious headliner. Opeth played a very long, diverse show. They played songs from most of their albums. I believe Orchid was the only album that was not represented. They seemed to cut down some of the prog interludes during some of the songs, making a conscious effort not to totally bore the crowd. Mikael Akerfeldt actually proved to be somewhat funny, which I was very surprised by, as he kept up banter with the crowd between songs. Opeth did play "Godhead's Lament" which is my favorite song by that band.

As mentioned earlier, the crowd was diverse. There were the usual culprits: the old school metalheads, the progressive crowd, the fucking hipsters and scenesters, the drunken idiots looking for a good time. I was a little surprised, although I probably shouldn't be, that there were a lot of hardcore kids there. Hardcore dancing is not especially appropriate at a progressive metal show. To the guy who looked like a dying seagull: you are not cool and you look like a fucking idiot.

All in all, a good show.