JULY 27th, 2022
AVATAR + GUESTS
Review by: Metal Mom
Photos By: Char Tupper
http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/avatar-guests/
Metaltitans very own Metal Mom Rita had the opportunity to review Avatar, Light The Torch and Imonolith on July 27 at the Vogue Theatre here in Vancouver, BC. Been about a month since the last metal show I reviewed, so nice to be back at it again.
First up tonight . . IMONOLITH - Vancouver's very own catchy, heavy driven music band was the best choice for an opener tonight. I saw them on their first live show at the Red Room on Feb 23 2019, and I knew then what I know now, they will excel, they have the talent to go far. They played: State of Being (intro), Dig, Instinct, Army of Me, The Lesson, Angevil, Becoming The Enemy, Hollow and The Reign, now I bet you attended don't you. Great choice of songs, and to tell you the truth, they performed them to perfection, each member giving 150% of their talent, professionalism, experience, dedication to what they do, and their fans. I love that. A lot of energy went into giving us exactly what they had to offer, giving us some great memories to take home. I could have listened so much longer, in fact, maybe they could have been direct support for Avatar, they have that kind of talent. For only having 2 albums so far (State of Being 2020, Progressions 2022), they chose just the right songs to play, but I know that I would have loved every song they put out to us. I hope they have more plans to tour, they need to show their talent. Really a band that has a lot to offer, things just flowed, all combining together to deliver their masterpieces. Really proud to call them our own. Thank you guys for such an awesome show that we won't soon forget.
LIGHT THE TORCH - Light the Torch is an American metalcore supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 2012. They are currently signed to Nuclear Blast Records and have released four albums. The floor filled a little more when they came on. Enjoyed the music, but not too sure about the lead vocals, now maybe the microphone wasn't spot on, or it was too hot. But tonight this wasn't one I could sit through for long, 5 songs and I moved to another area out front where it was also a tad cooler, I could still hear them. I know looking around the room the fans enjoyed, and that is what counts, this is just my opinion, but in all fairness, I will also give them another listen when they come to town. I am sure that others on their tour enjoyed them on stage, probably sang along too. Sorry guys, just could have been not in the mood for this style music tonight.
Headliners tonight . . . AVATAR - From Gothenburg, Sweden, heavy metal, groove, melodic death, progressive and industrial. Put that all together and you have a band you need to check out. Last time I saw Avatar was Oct 28 2018 at the Commodore Ballroom. I hope I get this right, band members are: Jonas "Kungen" Jarlsby, John Alfredsson, Johannes Eckerström, and Tim Öhrström, and yes, there seems to be one missing, Henrik Sandelin, who couldn’t be on stage due to a messy bunk incident involving duct tape and what not, he is ok, so said Johannes hilarious explanation on stage during their set. But even one member short, they put on one heck of a performance, what can I say, if you have seen them before you know what you can expect from this band. I sure wasn't disappointed. From the get go, I was super excited to see them enter on stage, and all come to the front in formation, and the drummer as well. Kind of an introduction to what they do. They are extremely talented in putting their music together, exceptional performance, the colour and the clothes remind me of a circus, but I have never seen one like that before.The crowd sang along, they knew the songs, especially a couple of them in the first 5 songs. Their head banging almost gave me a headache to watch, but sure adds to the show when they all do it in unison. Even in that heat, they gave 150%. Love the song choices they made for us here in Vancouver, way to go guys, you brought us all here to The Vogue and you gave us some great memories. Exceptional band, musically, visually and just a whole lot of fun.
All in all it was a good night, it was pretty hot for a show, but you wouldn't have known that by how all the bands performed. My only complaint, the lighting, at times it was good, others times too red, or suddenly little to no lights at all. It was hard to see some of the band guys up there, but you could hear the music ok