1.10.2017 Jinjer & Arch Enemy @ The Circus, Helsinki

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It’s 1 October 2017, around 7 pm. A large queue was forming in front of The Circus at Helsinki. More people and people joined in on the queue, all with one single purpose: to get to Arch Enemy‘s show in time. A show, not only special because it was sold out, but also because it was during this show, the new music video of Arch Enemy would be recorded. If I would like to keep my review simple and concrete, I would just describe the whole evening in one word: unforgettable. And trust me, it took me almost 12 hours to come up with one word to describe the magic that happened during a what would normally be a boring Sunday for most. Luckily, for those who weren’t part of the experience, I have some more things to say!

One thing that was kind of problematic about the show was that the production team in Helsinki, did not provide any information about the schedule. People basically only knew when the doors were going to open and that the show was sold out, causing a gigantic queue.

The night started off with Ukrainian 4-piece Jinjer, a progressive metal band with strong hardcore and groove metal origins, formed in 2010. Female fronted. I had never really heard of the band before this evening and had no time to check them out before the show. Shame on me, it turns out that I totally should. Jinjer turned out to be a great support act for Arch Enemy. Vocalist Tatiana Shmailyuk takes the band to a higher level with her enthusiasm and stage presence. While the other band members were a bit less active then her, her performance totally made up for that.

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As the concert was sold out, a lot of people gathered there for Jinjer already, to ensure a great spot for Arch Enemy. Jinjer thus had only one real task, which was to hype up the crowd for Arch Enemy. And that’s precisely what they did. Jinjer delivered a solid performance of 9 songs. From “Who’s Gonna Be the One” up unto “Bad Water” and they sure spiced up the venue.

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Setlist

  1. Who’s Gonna Be the One
  2. Words of Wisdom
  3. Sit Stay Roll Over
  4. I Speak Astronomy
  5. Just Another
  6. Pisces
  7. Captain Clock
  8. No Hoard of Value
  9. Bad Water

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At 21.15, right on schedule, “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC started filling up the venue, allowing Arch Enemy to get ready for the start of their show.  The show kicked off with the intro for their newest release “Will To Power”: “Set Flame To The Night”. After which the first single of the new album “The World Is Yours” kicked in. “Will To Power” hasn’t been around that long yet, but the fans clearly already practiced a lot of the songs beforehand. “The World Is Yours” was in my opinion the best song of the new album, which is why its energy serves as a great opener for the entire show. Even though they just released a new album and the tour serves to promote it, Arch Enemy is not shy to play older songs as well. As the next song “Ravenous” started, fans got more and more excited.

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The setlist as a whole, was a good combination of some new songs, songs from “War Eternal” and some old classics that we all love and like to sing along to. As mentioned before the band was recording their newest music video during the show, with director Patric Ullaeus. Ullaeus directed the video for “War Eternal” previously. During the show, he received an award by Sony Music for the music video, because it has been viewed over 27 million times. The band was clearly as excited as the director was, which brings me to my next point. Arch Enemy doesn’t only have great musicians, they do things with such a passion and dedication that it is hard to think of anything negative happening during the show, in fact… There seems to be no bad thing here to say at all.

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The show progressed with “War Eternal”, “You Will Know My Name”, “As The Pages Burn”, “The Race” and the latest single “The Eagle Flies Alone”. Time after time Alissa White-Gluz asked for more noise and every time it felt like the audience was louder than the time before. Alissa White-Gluz did an excellent job at delivering all songs, whether old or new. Both Alissa and Jeff Loomis are the newest members of the band, but it seems like this lineup has been together forever.

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The audience got really hyped up when “We Will Rise” started playing, which of course marked the soon coming ending to the show. But after a compelling “We want more” from the audience, the band came back to play some more songs for us. “Nemesis” marked the grand finale and also was my personal highlight. You just get happy to shout along with “One for All”, which was the audience’s line. And we did it with a lot of energy. It’s clear that tomorrow everyone’s voice will be hoarse.

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More in general the show was tight as fuck, the melodic sections that Michael Ammot and Jeff Loomis take care of, with their crushing riffs and captivating fast solos, are amazing to experience live. And then there’s the times that fans sing along with the melodic riffs, the energy that it releases is immense. D’Angelo and Erlandsson take care of the super tight and solid rhythm sections. Alissa White-Gluz is not only an excellent vocalist, but world’s best performer. What’s best about this band is that they can’t seem to perform without often smiling and having a blast on stage.
Even though you kind of figure that everything was supposed to be very solid because of the video, I think that every show during their tours are performed with the same anima and professionalism. The sound was great, the lights were also phenomenal. When I left the venue, I heard some guys singing “Nemesis” all over again. I think that’s what marks the best shows, when you just can’t get enough!

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Setlist

1. Set Flame To The Night
2. The World Is Yours
3. Stolen Life
4. War Eternal
5. My Apocalypse
6. Blood On Your Hands
7. You Will Know My Name
8. The Race
9. The Eagle Flies Alone
10. As The Pages Burn
11. Burning Angel
12. No Gods, No Masters
13. Dead Bury Their Dead
14. We Will Rise
ENCORE
15. Avalanche
16. Snow Bound
17. Nemesis
18. Fields of Desolation