Some lumberjack fronted Isis in the smoke o' Dälek

Isis, Dälek, and Transitional played in Teatar &TD, Zagreb, Croatia this Monday. I went with a friend. At 14:15 we boarded a bus, rode to the highway, jumped over a fence, hitched a ride, and come 16:00 we were in Zagreb. As we empirically found out, the tickets were already sold out everywhere except at the venue's cash desk. Before the gig started, all five hundred and fifty were gone and you could see, hear, and feel people with desperate mad eyes looking to buy one. Lucky for us, we came early, no problem, beer and schnaps.


Transitional had a big, tsunami sound, one on guitars / vocals, one on bass, and the lone drummer-in-a-laptop. I only heard the last three songs, though, but I did like it. Heavy heavy stuff, clear enough, a bit monotonous.

Dälek was a two-piece this time, too. The Oktopus on the laptop, drinking wine, the MC rapping with sunglasses. It's not like he could see the audience anyway; see, they filled the venue with smoke. You literally couldn't see shit. Other than that, Dälek had an awesome wall of sound, and the sound was fine. None of the acts talked about anything in-between songs, which made for a pretty merciless aural experience. (Hey, I do like when bands talk. I guess I might even be in the minority.) I believe that most of their set was off Absence - fine - more than fine - very much so - with me. I remember hip-hop with enough respect, in smoke curtains.

When Isis got up, I wondered where Aaron Turner was. Turns out, he transformed into a lumberjack, big beard, wild hair, checked red shirt and all. Minor sound problems at the start, all handled as soon as possible, proceeding into clarity and hugeness. Nothing was heard pre-Oceanic. And boy, their setlist sure was a pile of steaming shit. The evening was theirs in the end anyway, but you know... I mean, they didn't even play The Beginning and the End. What? Yes. No way! Seriously, I'm absolutely positive. How could that have happened? What were they thinking? Aaron Turner, I'll forgive you this time, but only 'cause you played your guitar with a screwdriver.

Post-Altered Course, we disappeared in green smoke spirals.