HIM gig Review

HIM

Festival Hall, Melbourne

March 27^th 2008

Maybe it was a coincidence. Or maybe it was a sign of things to come. 

After months of no rain, the heavens opened to give Finnish band HIM a warm (or not so) Melbourne welcome.

The soaking was not enough to deter thousands of black clad fans from filling Festival Hall to catch a glimpse of their favourite band.

But many were about to be disappointed.

Opening act McQueen (an all girl punk/metal band from the UK) were confident and looked the part but didn’t have what the crowd needed to get excited.

Playing a set that was too long created an awkward atmosphere and all the girls seemed to care about was getting off the stage and finding as many drinking buddies as possible.

After McQueen left the stage, HIM-mania began to take over with a Heartagram (the bands logo) visible on every fan.

At last the lights dimmed and the room was filled with smoke and ear piercing screams from the young crowd.

The no smoking indoors law apparently didn’t apply to front man Ville Valo who loomed onstage with a cigarette in hand using every spare moment onstage to light another.

Valo, complete with his signature beanie, initiated very little audience participation, spending most of the set making conversation with his band mates.

When he did acknowledge the fact that there were thousands of eyes glued to him, he mumbled into the mic, at one point complaining about the air conditioning being on and having a book to finish.

The rest of the band remained fairly static with guitarist Linde throwing in a few impressive solos to keep the crowd happy.

There is no doubt about it HIM (completed by Mikko Paananen on bass, Burton on keyboard and Gas on drums) were tight, melodic and sounded amazing but passion and enthusiasm was scarce.

Playing the majority of songs off their latest album Venus Doom, the quintet rolled out old favourites including covers of ‘Wicked Game’ and Black Sabbath’s ‘Black Sabbath’. 

‘Passion’s Killing Floor’ and ‘(Rip Out) The Wings of a Butterfly’ were melodically flawless with the bands musical talent being shown at its best.

Although it seemed the band couldn’t wait to leave, it is clear that they have their fans in the palms of their hands.

Next time, lets hope Valo has finished his book and can concentrate on the task at hand.