CONCERT REVIEW/PHOTOS - DARK TRANQUILITY/AMORPHIS

It has been a crazy few weeks of concerts in Toronto but that didn’t stop drones of metal heads from assembling on a Tuesday night to catch Dark Tranquility and Amorphis at The Opera House, another Inertia Entertainment concert.

The night started off with Fires in the Distance, a melodic death metal outfit from Connecticut. Unfortunately thanks to the lovely transit system in Toronto I arrived too late to snap pictures, which is always a drag. I did manage to catch the last few songs which I thoroughly enjoyed, the band were successful in getting heads banging and the room warmed up. I liked what I saw and heard and will make a mental note to catch their set the next time they stop in T.O.

Next up, Amorphis! A heavy metal band from Finland formed in 1990 making them the same age as me which is pretty cool. Before they took the stage the venue was starting to get very cozy and when I say cozy I mean really hot and sweaty. I’m not sure if this was officially a sold out event but if it wasn’t it was damn close that’s for sure! And at this point it looked like all the ticket holders had arrived, because who would want to miss Amorphis?

Right off the bat as a photographer I have to comment on their stage setup which was simple but effective. The Opera House isn’t typically my favourite place to shoot with their lighting, but the band had additional side towers which provided an extra bit of colour and intensity which was fun for photos and equally as fun as a concert goer.

Amorphis rocked a solid 13 song set featuring tracks throughout their career starting from 1992’s Tales from the Thousand Lakes and up until their most recent offering, 2022’s Halo. The band were extremely tight and had amazing energy, frontman Tomi Joutsen and keyboardist Santeri Kallio especially kept my attention with their electric performances. You could just tell that they were really having a blast and that energy absolutely transferred from the stage into the crowd. On a personal note, I was happy to hear their hit “House of Sleep”, as I had it stuck in my head all day leading up to the show.

SETLIST
NORTHWARDS
ON THE DARK WATERS
SKY IS MINE
THE MOON
THE CASTAWAY
SILVER BRIDE
THE WOLF
WRONG DIRECTION
MY KANTELE
MAGIC AND MAYHEM
BLACK WINTER DAY
HOUSE OF SLEEP
THE BEE

Tuesday was pretty much Dark Tranquility day for me. I played hooky from work to catch their Q&A and beer release at Blood Brothers and then transited across the city to catch the show. There are definitely worse ways to spend a Tuesday than seeing a melodic death metal band all the way from Sweden that has been around since 1989!

The changeover was definitely a very humid one and I had to squeeze my way through the crowd to get to the photo pit where I was shooting the show with my friend who is a mega Dark Tranquility fan. His excitement was definitely contagious and we waited slightly impatiently, though not for long. Soon enough vocalist Mikael Stanne and company were doing what they do best and the crowd was treated to a 15 song set, heavily featuring tracks from their album Endtime Signals which came out a couple months back. However fans of their older work weren’t left empty handed with a setlist featuring songs from albums such as Damage Done and Character.

Visually as a concert goer it was awesome, instead of a backdrop they went with a projector so each song had its own accompanying imagery which is always interesting. As a photographer it definitely made shooting the band a bit difficult though! But of course it’s not about the photographers but the fans, who were clearly enjoying every minute of the show with all the headbanging and moshing going on. I’m pretty sure I saw a decent circle pit happening from where I was standing!

SETLIST
SHIVERS AND VOIDS
HOURS PASSED IN EXILE
FORWARD MOMENTUM
UNFORGIVEABLE
ATOMA
THE LAST IMAGINATION
NOTHING TO NO ONE
WAYWARD EYES
ONE THOUGHT
CATHODE RAY SUNSHINE
NOT NOTHING
EMPTY ME
PHANTOM DAYS
LOST TO APATHY
MISERY’S CROWN

Once the show came to an end the Opera House emptied of smiling metalheads into the rainy weather that I didn’t hear any complaints about as it was actually pretty refreshing after the sweaty show. All in all, Dark Tranquility and Amorphis was an excellent way to spend a Tuesday night and I’m glad to tick two more excellent bands off of my “seen live” list.