I just came from the Riverside gig held at Lutakko, Jyväskylä and wanted to share my feelings about it.
As I had never heard their new album I was quite anxious and a bit on my toes because I usually like to check out the bands material beforehand. I picked on a vibe that the rest of the audience was the waiting side as well, because apparently not many, maybe even any, had seen them before. Luckily that wasn’t a problem at all.
They started with some old songs, I’d name them if I’d remember which were they, but I don’t. Anyway, it set the mood right and sucked me in. The vocalist, Mariusz Duda, was a nice chap and kept chatting to the crowd between the songs. After the first piece he announced that they were not here to play songs but compositions and that they’d play the whole new album. Crowd cheered and I felt sting but forgot it after the first composition started to build up. I was tapping on myself, waving, enjoying it. There on I didn’t really loose touch to the music, I was living and solely concentrating on it with my way of course, tapping and “drumming”.
There were highs and lows. The music took paths that seemed familiar but felt still right and weren’t too familiar. I didn’t feel lost at all with the new album and I was just able to enjoy it and the gig. There were short pauses between some songs as Duda was trying to interact with the crowd, apparently trying to probe the mood. I don’t know the impression he got but I felt that others were enjoying too although I didn’t really connect with anything but the music. I couldn’t because I was too busy admiring the way it flowed, progressed and felt.
The drumming being the key aspects of my enjoyment, there was quite enough hooks and technicality in it that kept me awed, but again didn’t loose me. I would not have changed hardly anything.
The new album finished, I only knew it because I could actually recognize the melody again and I suspect that Dura might’ve said it. I knew that the end was near but didn’t want it break the spell so I concentrated on jamming along. Then it came, the last song, encore and the end. I was left wanting more, so I bought the new album which came with 2008 live DVD. Again I was but mere mortal but for a while I was just living through music.
Thank you Riverside for cheering me up and providing me with a amazing experience.
This one I saw in 
