GIG: Apocalyptica/Swallow the Sun

I won't lie - I knew little about this band before a mate got me into them and let me borrow an album (which still needs returning!). But I agreed to go along on this proposed five-band-weekend because it would probably be good and different. So we went along pretty early and got into the place before the support had come on. The support were supposedly a doom-metal band, but I'd thought the guitarists would at least be pretty sweet. Well...they disappointed. They were pants. Each to their own, fair enough - but all the songs sounded more or less the same to me, nothing different. I was relieved when they left and had to keep telling my mate that this WAS worth it! And then on came the cello-chairs! These skull-shaped chairs (why is there four? I asked!) were prepared and looked damned good. The lights went down and four cellists came on stage. FOUR!!?! Holy mother of music. Four cellists and a drummer are what consist of Apocalyptica. Originally a Metallica-covers-only band, they now do their own music and also cover some other stuff. Two minutes in and it was the weirdest band I've ever seen. But...it...was awesome. There's nothing like the sound of the cello version of For Whom the Bell Tolls, one of my favourite Metallica tracks. The guys seemed really relaxed and were talking often to the crowd in their Finnish accents. Funnily enough, one half of the crowd wanted to mosh the hell out of these songs and the other didn't, which made for some hilarious elbowing incidents. I was more or less stuck in the middle, but I really was enjoying it. The enthusiasm of the band reflected on the audience as they gave their versions of some really heavy stuff - some of it their own of course. Apocalyptica have been going since 1993 but only since 2005 have had a drummer. The fourth cellist, as I later discovered, is Antero Manninen, an original member who left but has rejoined as a sessions musician. He's the guy who sits with the sunglasses on looking unbelievably scary, or just cool. The other three danced about the stage like madmen, but it was all fun. When it comes down to it, Apocalyptica consists of classically-trained musicians who are bloody good. Not all was heavy cello, as they played us Metallica's Nothing Else Matters, One and their own beautifully moving Farewell. At the end Eicca Toppinen declared: "And now we will punish you by playing classical music!" before mastering their version of Hall of the Mountain King. Different? Definitely.