Music scene flashback: Arch Enemy in Manila (Oct 20, 2009)

Deciding whether or not to watch Arch Enemy was a debate in my head. If I went ahead, this would be my first ever foreign metal scene to witness live. There were actually a lot of pros. The tickets for concerts produced by Pulp are relatively cheap compared to other productions. The ticket purchase comes with a lot of freebies (Draven gift certificates worth PhP 500, free Arch Enemy CD, and free drinks). And there are a lot of homegrown metal bands as opening acts. 

Promotional poster by PULP



My only little reservation was that Arch Enemy wasn’t an ultimate favorite of mine among other metal bands. I didn’t want to watch Arch Enemy just because Filipino metalheads don't have any other choice if our Philippine promoters cannot afford to bring Slayer or Carcass (where Michael Amott of Arch Enemy was also in) to our shores. But I resolved that Arch Enemy would still be worth watching because they're still good and worth listening to. I also had that mindset that this may be the only melodic death metal act I know that would ever come to the Philippines. Besides, melodic death metal, doom metal and the likes, for me are as masterpiece-ly as the standard classicals. So I gave it a go and had a blast!

The opening acts were Intolerant, Badburn, Mortalfear, and Bloodshedd. It was a long opening scene that made the concert even more worth it.



Clockwise from top left: Intolerant, Badburn, Mortalfear, Bloodshedd



We waited almost an hour before the main event. The Swedish band was super nice and friendly to the audience. They were all smiles and waved hello before their deadly performance, conversed with the crowd with sincerity, performed as if Manila is not just another ordinary gig in their very long world tour, and physically expressed deep gratitude during and after the performance.


Arch Enemy on stage

Sharlee d'Angelo on bass



Michael Amott on lead guitar



Altogether

 

Despite all these super nice and pleasant things going on, the whole concert set (lights, fire, fireworks, stage design and the showcase of individual talent of each band member) became a reminder that Arch Enemy is still a metal band. And of course, what a powerful woman Angela Gossow was! She particularly dedicated Diva Satanica to us ladies in the audience. The only breaks the band took were the exhibition of each member’s solo performances: brothers Michael and Christopher Amott on guitar-shredding, and Daniel Erlandsson on drums. I took videos of their individual performances to remind me of how great those moments were.



Stage design



Angela Gossow

Michael Amott

We went home happy with our freebies (the free CD we had was Wages of Sin with rare and unreleased tracks). I remember most the band members’ faces where they were all smiles most of the time during the concert. Yes, it seemed far from metal but what the heck, I liked them even more for being so!



Arch Enemy at the end of the show