On the 8th of September Konami revealed that Akira Yamaoka was coming to the Uk for 5 dates with a full live band. The shows titled 'Silent Hill Live' were to begin at the end of October and end on November 6th in Brighton.
The tour was extended soon after to 9 dates and also included Scotland on the tour. Luckily for myself I managed to grab tickets for the Brighton show and it was amazing.
I had already read quite a lot about the tour, with Brighton being the last night, so was going in with a lot of mixed reviews and opinions of the show (mostly positive).
Upon entering the venue I was greeted by a large 'Welcome to Silent Hill' sign and a small table with merchandise available. Only black T shirts with 'Silent Hill Live' on the front and the tour dates on the back were for sale. Previous shows had had Signed and unsigned posters as well as a white variant of the shirt. My original plan was to grab one of everything available but instead had to settle for the one shirt.
The venue (The Haunt) was small and intimate, it seemed as if one minute it was empty and the next full. This particular night hadn't sold out but with how many people that were already at the show I don't think many more really could have fit into the building.
Above the stage was a large screen with continuous images of Silent Hill characters, creatures and locations being projected onto it.
The support came onto stage at around 8pm. Support for the tour was a solo act called Arcimago. An electronic mixture of sound and voice that lasted for just under half an hour. The support act, although usual was enjoyable and felt like it fit perfectly for the shows opening act.
Just after 8:30pm Yamaoka came walking onto stage along with his band. Joining him on stage was Michihiro Imai, Israel Ulloa, Todd Jordan (who was also from Brighton and was lucky to receive the Welcome to Silent Hill sign signed by Yamaoka before he left) and Karina Scuteri who was the voice of the show.
The show opened with Betrayal followed by Overdose Delusion and Theme of Laura. It all sounded amazing and the crowd was really getting into the entire show. When it was revealed that Mary Elizabeth McGlynn would not be on tour with Akira too, one of my main thoughts was the pressure the vocalist would be under to really cover the tracks we've all come to love. She nailed them. At times it was hard to hear her voice as the music did take over in places but she sang every song perfectly and really went for it. Her enthusiasm throughout the entire show was brilliant and she managed to get the crowd clapping and cheering along on several occasions.
Songs such as Tender Sugar and Shot Down in Flames were performed as well a personal favourite of mine, Room of Angel. Which was hauntingly beautiful (highly appropriate given the venues name).
The tour was extended soon after to 9 dates and also included Scotland on the tour. Luckily for myself I managed to grab tickets for the Brighton show and it was amazing.
I had already read quite a lot about the tour, with Brighton being the last night, so was going in with a lot of mixed reviews and opinions of the show (mostly positive).
Upon entering the venue I was greeted by a large 'Welcome to Silent Hill' sign and a small table with merchandise available. Only black T shirts with 'Silent Hill Live' on the front and the tour dates on the back were for sale. Previous shows had had Signed and unsigned posters as well as a white variant of the shirt. My original plan was to grab one of everything available but instead had to settle for the one shirt.
The venue (The Haunt) was small and intimate, it seemed as if one minute it was empty and the next full. This particular night hadn't sold out but with how many people that were already at the show I don't think many more really could have fit into the building.
Above the stage was a large screen with continuous images of Silent Hill characters, creatures and locations being projected onto it.
The support came onto stage at around 8pm. Support for the tour was a solo act called Arcimago. An electronic mixture of sound and voice that lasted for just under half an hour. The support act, although usual was enjoyable and felt like it fit perfectly for the shows opening act.
Just after 8:30pm Yamaoka came walking onto stage along with his band. Joining him on stage was Michihiro Imai, Israel Ulloa, Todd Jordan (who was also from Brighton and was lucky to receive the Welcome to Silent Hill sign signed by Yamaoka before he left) and Karina Scuteri who was the voice of the show.
The show opened with Betrayal followed by Overdose Delusion and Theme of Laura. It all sounded amazing and the crowd was really getting into the entire show. When it was revealed that Mary Elizabeth McGlynn would not be on tour with Akira too, one of my main thoughts was the pressure the vocalist would be under to really cover the tracks we've all come to love. She nailed them. At times it was hard to hear her voice as the music did take over in places but she sang every song perfectly and really went for it. Her enthusiasm throughout the entire show was brilliant and she managed to get the crowd clapping and cheering along on several occasions.
Songs such as Tender Sugar and Shot Down in Flames were performed as well a personal favourite of mine, Room of Angel. Which was hauntingly beautiful (highly appropriate given the venues name).
The visuals on screen ranged from game cut scenes and trailer clips to actual gameplay videos and early previews. At one point in the show clips from the original trailer for Silent Hill Origins were being shown, where over the shoulder gameplay and zombies were originally going to be part of the game.
As well as this clips from the Silent Hills concept teaser were also shown as well as Shattered Memories mod videos in which rust and blood replace ice.
It seemed like whoever had created the videos for the show had snatched a huge bunch of Silent Hill clips together and just ran with it.
The total time of the show was around 90 minutes which was actually longer than I thought it would be. The set list seemed longer than what I had read/heard from other people who had attended the show too. The encore ended with Love Psalm, Silent Hill, Promise and finally You're Not Here which really gave the crowd one last jump around before they finally bid farewell.
As they bowed and left the stage everyone started to leave with a small group staying behind. Slowly one by one they also left with only three guests left behind (including myself). Then in came Akira Yamaoka with the band. After having a small chat with them all, shaking Akira's hand and thanking them all for an amazing show, he signed my T shirt and I left. It was one hell of an amazing experience which really topped off the whole night.
Overall the show was definitely a must see, from the visuals on screen, Akira himself and just the whole energy in the room it is a show I will definitely never forget. For fans in the UK I highly HIGHLY recommend seeing the show if it returns to the UK in the future. For everyone else, if Akira comes to a place near you, GO!
As well as this clips from the Silent Hills concept teaser were also shown as well as Shattered Memories mod videos in which rust and blood replace ice.
It seemed like whoever had created the videos for the show had snatched a huge bunch of Silent Hill clips together and just ran with it.
The total time of the show was around 90 minutes which was actually longer than I thought it would be. The set list seemed longer than what I had read/heard from other people who had attended the show too. The encore ended with Love Psalm, Silent Hill, Promise and finally You're Not Here which really gave the crowd one last jump around before they finally bid farewell.
As they bowed and left the stage everyone started to leave with a small group staying behind. Slowly one by one they also left with only three guests left behind (including myself). Then in came Akira Yamaoka with the band. After having a small chat with them all, shaking Akira's hand and thanking them all for an amazing show, he signed my T shirt and I left. It was one hell of an amazing experience which really topped off the whole night.
Overall the show was definitely a must see, from the visuals on screen, Akira himself and just the whole energy in the room it is a show I will definitely never forget. For fans in the UK I highly HIGHLY recommend seeing the show if it returns to the UK in the future. For everyone else, if Akira comes to a place near you, GO!
Full set list for Brighton:
Intro: Betrayal
Overdose Delusion
Theme of Laura
Love Psalm
Silent Scream
Shot Down in Flames
Tender Sugar
I Want Love
Blow Back
Wounded Warsong
Room of Angel
Waiting for You
Your Rain
Hell Frozen Rain
When You're Gone
Encore:
Love Psalm instrumental
Silent Hill
Promise
You're Not Here
Intro: Betrayal
Overdose Delusion
Theme of Laura
Love Psalm
Silent Scream
Shot Down in Flames
Tender Sugar
I Want Love
Blow Back
Wounded Warsong
Room of Angel
Waiting for You
Your Rain
Hell Frozen Rain
When You're Gone
Encore:
Love Psalm instrumental
Silent Hill
Promise
You're Not Here
If anyone has the posters or white T shirt from the gig for sale please let me know.
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