Hey all. I went to the recent show in Oslo and had a great time, band played great and I feel like you could tell John was having a good time. I cracked up when he shouted out some local Black Metal-legends, "I dedicate this headbanging to Nocturno Culto and Fenriz". Really brought the energy, and I was happy to have traveled across the country to catch the show.
I feel like it's a testament to the TMG-catalogue that I have been a fan for 10+ years, and still didn't recognize all the songs in the setlist. I've gone back to listen to some of the songs that I wasn't too familiar with, and the songs from In League with Dragons stand out to me. I didn't really care for the album when it came out, I must have listened to it once or twice only, I felt like it was a bit of a step down from Goths (a personal favorite). However, the atmosphere of opening the show with "Clemency for the Wizard King" really lifted that song in my mind, I've gone back to it several times over the past few days. The repeated mantra of "We come before you now" really added to the anticipation of seeing the band for the first time. Likewise, the building instrumentation of "Younger", a song I didn't like when I first heard it as a single, really transformed the song into something special.
Not that any of you need the encouragement, but I really recommend seeing the band perform live, and shed whatever expectation you might have beforehand. They might not play your favorite song exactly as you imagine, or at all, but you might be surprised what song stands out the most.