Every so often I will be posting under the ‘Derailed’ heading. This is for posts that are outside my normal comfort area…indie rock/pop.

While I’m standing in line ,the guys behind me are talking about how they can’t share a cigarette with their buddy because he has herpes.  Five minutes later a guy selling bootleg T-shirts ostracized these guys for not having money and tells them to get a job.   Then I get into the Roseland Theater in Portland, OR and an amazing melodic death metal band, Dark Tranquillity, who has been around since 1989 plays a half hour set and introduces a shitty metalcore band that formed in 2005.  All this after getting a call from my wife telling me we have yet another water intrusion issue in our home.  Shitty night, right?  Well, not exactly, because Dark Tranquillity killed it!

Since I’ve come back around to metal, this band that helped define the Swedish melodic death metal scene known as Gothenburg sound, has caught my attention and not let go.  And even though they had to open for the shitty The Devil Wears Prada and a band that lost their lead singer early in the tour, Killswitch Engage, they made my night.  They brought their Iron Maiden influenced death metal sound to the Roseland Theater and played like a headlining band.

Just like the picture I included above of Tom Waits opening for  Bonnie Raitt, this was an inverted lineup.  But I’m so glad I made it early to catch their set.  It was worth it!  These guys have been around a long time and even though they could’ve pulled a Metallica and sold out, they have stuck true to the game.  They blew away the headliners they were supporting!

As for the rest of the show…The Devil Wears Prada were a joke and Killswitch were alright (even though they didn’t even have their lead singer, Howard Jones).  The bad part about this is it seems most of the crowd did not realize that Philip Labonte of All That Remains was filling in.  When they were introduced as Philswitch Engage…people were pissed!

All in all, I’m glad I got to see DT and that’s all that really matters to me.  But I do understand the frustration of the Killswitch fans.  What I don’t understand is how a band as influential as DT could ever open for a band such as The Devil Wears Prada.

DT Setlist:

1. Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)
2. The Lesser Faith
3. Dream Oblivion
4. Misery’s Crown
5. The Treason Wall
6. At the Point of Ignition
7. Final Resistance