20-09-2013 Leprous

supports: Oddland, Vulture Indutries; Venue: Nosturi, Helsinki (Finland)
By: Sabine van Gameren

As first band of the evening the local band Oddland was warming up the audience. Not a complete stranger for Leprous as the bands have played together at the Headway festival earlier this year. Last year the Finns released their debut full length album: “The Treachery of Senses”. The band had a powerful set that they brought with a building tension. Enough excitement to keep you going and that is where they progressed from their performance earlier this year. The variance in the set kept them in advance as well. Of course when the band started the night was still young and not too many were around, but those who were will have enjoyed considering the well-deserved applause the band received. Perhaps the most lively band, but they let the music do the talking and played a good show today.

Vulture Industries is maybe not best to be described as a band. It is more like cabaret . The show of these guys is all about the characters of oddity and you could almost see yourself seated in some lovely theater instead of a music venue. Yet get back to reality, for the music that comes from them is not just entertainment but has a fair dose of heaviness as well. The band has their brand new release “The Tower” coming out during the tour and some of that got presented already. When the band speaks with their audience they never seem to fall out of their roles and therefore the whole comes even more realistic. The guys have a good feeling for drama and the contrasts they create are often hilarious. The singer is not afraid to simply jump into the audience and run through it a couple of times. A show you must have seen some day.

They did have a bit of a false start. The tv’s for their visuals were not working even after many attempts and yet some other technical problems seemed to occur when the band starts their set. So yet during the first couple of songs the band does seem a little insecure onstage. Vocals aren’t coming through completely, but the great advantage is that the audience seem to fill in that spot flawlessly. Their latest release “Coal” has obviously been listened quite some times. The band self was also a bit crippled. Not having their own drummer but (a nevertheless good) stand-in drummer and a relatively fresh bassist in the band may have given it a bit different twist. Eventually after a few songs the energy that the band is receiving from the audience seem to lighten up the scene and does bring some more power into their set. It is not just the playing but the way it is brought becomes a whole more convincible. A few more classic Leprous track come along when “Dare You” of the bands 2009 release “Tall Poppy Syndrome” but it are the tracks of “Coal” that lights up the audience most.
Eventually the show got going and shows that these Norwegians have their audience as an extra member of their band who saves the day.