Location: The Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, California.
Date: May 17th, 2007
“In Sorte Diaboli” will no doubt grace many top ten lists for 2007, probably mine included. With this in mind, it is indeed quite a privilege to have Dimmu Borgir begin their tour to promote said album here in the United States. So, it was definitely with enthusiasm that I made my way to L.A.’s rather historic, and quite beautiful, art deco-styled Wiltern Theater on a Thursday night to see Dimmu Borgir with Unearth, Devil Driver, and Kataklysm as support. In addition, thanks to the efforts of Steve Green, L4M’s editor, and the good folks at Nuclear Blast, I was also able to secure an opportunity to photograph the show.
Things started off on the wrong foot immediately. I was informed just prior to the show of the many ground rules put into place to restrict the photography. I was initially a bit disappointed but I would certainly, if somewhat dutifully, follow the instructions. In addition, the morons that run this city had staged an immigration rally (for you non-Americans, this issue is currently a really big deal in American domestic politics) just down the street from the theater, which snarled the already shitty traffic in L.A. even further. Just great. Luckily, anticipating L.A.’s penchant for traffic nightmares, I left my house with just enough time to spare.
I arrived at the Wiltern just in time to catch the first band, Kataklysm. What?! I thought that Kataklysm was the main support! Not so. What an insult, frankly, to this great, long running and hard working band. The theater’s manager leads me down to the photo pit, about 25 feet or so front and center and slightly above the stage. Sure enough, three songs into the performance, I’m tapped on the shoulder and led back to the manager’s office where I have to leave my camera. Luckily, I’m able to make my way back towards the front of the crowd to catch the remainder of Kataklysm’s approximate one half hour set. Kataklysm’s set was excellent, with very tight playing and great sound. The band’s finish was “Shadows And Dust”, and received an enthusiastic response from the appreciative L.A. crowd.
Up next was Devil Driver and I didn’t bother to go get my camera and repeat the procedure all over again. This time, I staked out a spot fairly close to the stage anyway and sat back to enjoy a great set from Devil Driver. The band is beginning to cultivate an American image similar to Superjoint Ritual, with references to Johnny Cash, lots of “Fuck you!”s and so forth, and, frankly, it works. They delivered a blistering set that included some material from their upcoming album. Watch out for the song called “Clouds Over California” on the new album, it was a killer.
Unearth came on next, and I immediately headed for the lobby. Mallcore bores me and was drastically out of place on this tour (especially as main support), the adolescent weenies that ate it all up notwithstanding. Their set, what I saw of it for the first song, consisted of extremely annoying strobe lights and even had a beer bong as a prop. Come on!
I joined the rest of the photographers at the front outside of the manager’s office, where just about everybody was bitching, to get my camera. We’re led back to the photo pit and Dimmu Borgir finally takes the stage. I’m snapping away madly and barely have time to pay attention to the songs and relax. Yep, three songs into the set, we dutifully go back to the office and then race back in an attempt to squeeze back in to the show. Damn near impossible, as you would no doubt guess, as the lobby had emptied and the Wiltern was at full capacity (the show had sold out). One of my fellow photographers and I glumly found a mediocre spot near the far right side, and I finally settle down to concentrate on the show. The set list is great, with songs ranging from “Stormblast” to a few new songs from “In Sorte Diaboli”, as well as a kick ass drum solo from Hellhammer. A crowd favorite was “The Serpentine Offering”, which included the drum solo. Yes, you just have to take a moment and realize that you’re watching black metal royalty here, folks. Shagrath’s stage presence is also excellent, and he profusely thanked the crowd for the support. Finally, at about 11:30pm or so, it was all over after a two-song encore.
After all of that, my photos didn’t turn out. In order to compensate for the lack of a flash, my camera left the shutter open for a long enough period to blur the images. Oh, well, some of my camera phone photos were a bit decent. My problems and own stupidity notwithstanding, this was an excellent, professional show and you’ll no doubt enjoy it when it comes to your town.
Here's a couple of photos...
Kataklysm
Devil Driver
Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir
Here's a Dimmu Borgir clip...
As usual, you can see all of my photos on the sidebar, or here at my Flickr page.
You can also see all of the videos through the Widget on the sidebar or here.
Next up is the Necrophagist-headlined Summer Slaughter tour at the HOB in West Hollywood on June 16th! In addition, I've heard that Nachtmystium will open for Mayhem's upcoming U.S. tour!
