Opeth at The Crossroads

I didn’t think Opeth was due to play here, except that their Hong Kong show on this same date was canceled. Dunno which party canceled it, but the Hong Kong ticket-holders weren't pleased. The refunds process apparently is terrible. For the band, to minimize losses in their way to Australia, they might as well stop in Singapore for a small show. Sound was surprisingly fine at The Crossroads at Clarke Quay. When the venue is also a commercial live show venue, they got their drinks system right.  Getting beer was easy. The taps by Crossroads Brewing Co. were very decent. The venue was small enough for screw-ups not to happen.

In case it's not clear, I'm a huge fan of Opeth. I’d have been more enthusiastic but for that LAMC Productions is the organizer and I really don’t trust them now after the fiasco that was Guns N' Roses in February 2017. I'll never forgive them for depriving my access to water and causing a mild onset of asthma at the venue. They’ve never been strong in logistics planning for the prices they levy on show tickets. This show, at a way smaller venue, thankfully proceeded without glitches.

I never knew the original band of 1989. I know it for current singer and guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt, who joined the band in 1992 and is the only one left of the 'original'. But that 'original' doesn't matter when who I know are what the band is today. Thirty years of music-making and they just released their thirteenth album ‘In Cauda Venenum’. It has two versions- one with Swedish lyrics and the other with English. I was blown away at the first listen. It's damn good. The new album translated well live. The 90-minute show closed with my all-time favorites, ‘Deliverance’ (2002) and ‘Demon of the Fall’ (My Arms, Your Hearse, 1998). Ahhhhhh. HAPPINESS.