With 5 minutes to spare, I walked into the much more sparsely crowded, heavier atmosphere of the DNA Lounge to see Hypocrisy.
I was supposed to see Hypocrisy last year with Ensiferum, but due to visa issues, they had to drop off the tour. They were actually supposed to do the tour with Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho on guitar, which would have been interesting. But after experiencing this set last night, I’m happy to have waited 6 months for it, and have it delivered sans Alexi.
The Swedes had a shaky start, as the bassist had to bail up the stairs (which is always weird, but that’s the layout of DNA) to have an issue fixed. But after that, they proceeded to completely blow my mind.
Going from Airbourne to BFMV to Hypocrisy shows the breadth of metal my taste encompasses, but all sets were especially pleasing tonight. Perhaps everyone was in a special place because of Dio, and the spirit at the shows was better for it.
Hypocrisy is not a showy band, like I had just witnessed over at the Regency. They are very focused and deliberate. This set was all about getting lost in the live sound crashing over us. The guitars sang, the drums pounded; it was dramatic without the theater…..an intensity I craved.
Vocalist Peter Tagtgren dedicated the final song, ‘Fire In The Sky’, to Dio, giving a little speech about him. There was a point in the song where it paused, and everyone…and I mean EVERYONE…raised their horns. I had chills.
The show was over before midnight, and I walked home in the cold fog to clear my head.
You know, it’s amazing that I arrived at the Regency at 7pm, saw three bands, made some new friends, took some fun pictures, went to a second show and saw another amazing band…..all in 5 hours. 5 hours that most people spent sitting on their couch watching television. Life is way to short to not spend doing….anything but watching television. Every second counts.
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