Review – Opeth At the Riviera Theatre 10/09/16

Going to any live show is a big event, especially when it’s a band you’ve admired and followed for a long time. I’m not overly hard to please, but a lot of acts haven’t lived up to my expectations when they perform. They seem lackadaisical, not interacting with the crowd, or maybe they’re hyped but their music sucks ass. Unfortunately, that’s happened more than I care to remember.

Not in the case of Opeth though, who always puts on a kick ass performance. When you go see Opeth, there’s no need for Mikael or any of the other members to do anything but play their glorious tunes for one or two hours. They’ve always been masters at delivering a show that’s well worth the price of admission and although the band has been around for two and a half decades plus and went through several lineup changes, the one constant is Mikael Akerfeldt who is a metal legend.

Playing such hits as Deliverance, In My Time of Need, Ghost of Perdition as well as the new album, Sorceress, Opeth wowed the crowd with a nearly flawless hour and a half set. They even entertained us by taking requests of oldies, playing only pieces of songs. Mikael claimed not to remember tunes from earlier albums such as “By the Pain I See in Others” and “Remember Tomorrow” but even the small snippets wowed the crowd, proving even after almost thirty years, Opeth is still one of metal’s best.