OK. Let's start from the beginning. I showed up to the show at around 6:30. Some guy (who I later realized was actually drummer Matan Shmuely) was handling press requests. A guy who I had just met through the friend I attended with was requesting an interview for the Queens College radio station. Matan looked over at me and 2 other guys and noticed our yarmulkes. His exact quote: "Kobi's gonna want to see you." And 5 minutes later, I was sitting in the dressing room with the entire band, chatting it up for a bit before we kicked off the interview with Kobi Farhi.
We started out with a few basic questions we wanted to ask, but before we even knew how it happened, we got involved in a free-flowing 45-minute conversation with this incredibly thoughtful and interesting fellow. We touched on topics like musical inspiration (Iron Maiden and Pink Floyd), their progression from all-out death metal to where they are now (I forget the exact quote and won't have the recording until later, but it goes something along the lines of "We were teens then; we've matured."), and we even sprinkled in some religious discussion (If you're interested in what he had to say, PM me). I also asked him about his literary project; he is compiling something of a personal journal which he hopes to publish sometime in the next couple of years. I also got my poster from the Special Edition signed by 4/6 of the people on it.
Of course, this interview meant I missed Gwynbleidd, which takes care of half my concerns going into the show
SuidAkrA was interesting for the first few songs, then got rather repetitive, with some occasionally entertaining "drinking riffs", as I call their Celtic sections.
Then came the fun. Orphaned Land hit the stage dressed as they were in the promo photos. They started with their backs turned as the opening sample of Sapari played (Shlomit Levy did not make the trip- some sections really could have used her). Sapari flat-out rocked, and was followed by From Broken Vessels. The stage presence was not overly energetic, but rather highly magnetic. The band guitarists were very into it, and Kobi had an almost sheppard-like presence at the front. The setlist consisted of almost entirely Mabool and ORwarriOR, with El Meod Na'alah, Estarabim and Ornaments of Gold thrown into the mix. Highlights for me included the solo from The Warrior, which was just as powerful live as it is on the record, as well as some great audience participation.
The sound was at times a bit off, and some really awesome moments were spoiled by it, but other than that the show really met my expectations. I've got plenty of photos and a video of the drum solo, but I'm on a school computer now and won't be home for a couple of days.