In April this year, Opeth played a landmark gig at the Royal Albert Hall. They performed the whole of their celebrated 2000 album Blackwater Park – and here’s the proof of how special that occasion was.
It’s tough to capture the atmosphere of such prestigious occasions. However, the Swedes have succeeded where so many have fallen down in the past, because they’ve realised that to make a release like this work, you have to go beyond the music, and capture the mood, anticipation and sheer empathy on the night between band, music and the fans.
Stretched over three CDs and two DVD discs, this is a magnificent representation of one of the finest gigs of 2010. Not only do you to hear Opeth in fine form as they majestically stride through Blackwater Park, but they follow this up with a chronological celebration of the rest of their career so far, and carefully choose the songs, so that they seamlessly float across the years.
The filming quality is impressive, the recording standard is of the very highest, and there’s also a documentary following the band on tour. An object lesson to others as to how to make this sort of thing work.
