Therion, Arenele Romane, 19.10.12

I saw them, I saw them, I saw them! You’re going to have to excuse my loghorrhea, but I’m really enthusiastic about it, it was great!

I stayed front row center (which for me was probably once in a lifetime, as my friends hate staying in the front, but this time I wanted badly to actually see them and not just hear them and I think I would’ve killed anyone saying “no” to front row).

I was standing next to a kid who couldn’t have been more then 12 and the members of the band (Lori especially) would keep smiling and nodding at him, I think they were really happy to see such a young person cheering for them. At one point Snowy was singing and Lori and I were singing along and we made eye contact and she smiled approvingly at me 😀 I was surprised I got to the front row, it’s usually really hard to get there, even if you show up early because it’s not the earliest there to get it, but the one with stronger elbows and less common sense that does. But this time the crowd was really civilised (same at Haggard, I suppose you can’t like this kind of music and behave like a brute at concerts) and I got my wish.

They were amazing, their acting, the costumes (Snowy’s costume was so awesome), the voices… everything was perfect. It was a pleasure to watch and hear them, everything was accompanied by a gesture, a wink, a smile… everything was like a theatre play with them and I loved that so much. I knew they were theatrical, I just never realised to what extent. Snowy biting Katarina’s neck, Thomas licking Kat, Lori “flirting” with the guitarist, Thomas scaring Lori, Kat running away from Snowy, Thomas being the puppet master of Lori and Kat, the masks, Lori playing the piano… always a small gimmick that would please the audience. I loved loved loved it. 

They brought a dacic symbol on stage (they certainly did their homework, as our people come from the dacians) and Chris had a speech about how amazing the crowd was (he said it was the best audience in Europe, but I bet he says that everywhere, though we were pretty awesome ourselves) and how special Romania is to them, as they had their first orchestra&choir concert here and he went on holiday here. He also said that he’s happy to see people of all ages (my mom was very excited he mentioned there are people of 50 years old in the audience) and that we were the biggest crowd in Europe, which really surprised me because I don’t think we were more then 2000-3000 and I would’ve expected them to be more popular then that in other countries.

I loved how they were always trying to involve the audience, most of the bands only try to get you to hep or cheer or sing a few times during a concert, they were constantly doing it, I think people were screaming and cheering for like 80% of the concert, it was great!

The setlist was amazing! I’m a bit sad they didn’t play Wand of Abaris, I would’ve loved to hear that one live, but eh… I got enough anyway 🙂

And the lead singers… God, they’re all sooooooo awesome, I simply can’t decide who I like best. Lori was incredible and perfect as always, her vocals were insane and she was so sweet, always smiling and dancing and flirting. She is such a sweetheart and has such an overwhelming elegant stage presence. Katarina was crazy and theatrical as always, making faces and putting on a show with her “evil” character. Snowy was hot as always and did a great job at connecting with the audience, he is sooo cool. And Thomas… well, I never really liked Thomas before, but I definitely changed my mind about him. He is a great singer (that scream in Abraxas!) and he fits the theatrical atmosphere of Therion way better then Mats ever did, he fit in like a glove. It was a pleasure watching him too. Gosh, I could talk for ages about this, it was so awesome! They were even better then I expected them to be (which really is something considering I expected the moon and the stars from them). I want to do it again!!