Pagan’s Mind, Avian, Dimension, Fluxx, Stormlight, Leviathan
Monday, September 26, 2009
Station 4, St. Paul, MN
The Twin Cities had a special treat this night, with Norway’s progressive metal masters Pagan’s Mind appearing for only one of three headline shows on their first visit to North America. This was the final night of a short, 12 date tour that had Pagan’s Mind opening for Stratovarius on 8 of those dates. Unfortunately I missed the opening acts, and entered the din of Station 4 as local power metal heroes Avian were finishing their set with “Into The Other Side” and “Time And Space Part II: Unlock The Mystery” from the impressive Ashes And Madness release.
The club was well over half-full as a loud audience greeted Pagan’s Mind as they took the stage to “The Conception” entrance tape and launched right into “God’s Equation”. The God’s Equation album is two years old now, but they played a majority of the album with vigor and excitement. Pagan’s Mind is every bit as impressive live as they are on record, and an excellent sound enabled the guitar, keyboards, and vocals to all be distinctly heard. Other songs from God’s Equation were personal highlight “United Alliance”, “Hallo Spaceboy”, “Atomic Firelight”, and instrumental “Farewell”, dedicated to their late guitar player and a local fan. Short keyboard and guitar solos were interspersed in the set alongside a number of catalog tracks, including “Enigmatic Calling”, “Dimensions Of Fire”, and set-closer “Through Osiri’s Eyes”. Extensive thanks were issued to those who helped on the tour, and the crowd brought them back for an encore of “Alien Kamikaze” and surprise cover “2 Minutes To Midnight” to end the hour and 40 minute show. The band seemed surprised and overwhelmed by the warm reception tonight; let’s hope that this helps to encourage them to return to America again.
No comments:
Post a Comment