Show: In Flames
Date: February 7, 2012
Venue: The Wiltern
City: Los Angeles, CA
In Flames
Photos by Nicolas Bates
Written by Nicolas Bates
The Wiltern in Los Angeles, CA is often the venue for subdued rock n’ roll outfits or soothing indie-rock bands, but on Feb. 7, it was to be home for melodic heavy metal band In Flames. Being of Scandinavian decent, In Flames doesn’t play as often as in the States as their fans would like. This means when they do tour and play in the states, their shows bring in a large volume of metal fans. Once inside the Wiltern’s main theater, it was apparent this show would be no different.
In Flames commenced the evening with the title track to their latest release, “Sounds of a Playground Fading,” to which the crowd was obviously happy to hear. After ten studio albums, In Flames still draws in the most loyal of fans, and if one were unfamiliar with In Flames’ catalogue, they’d be unable to determine if this song was old or new, judging from the crowd’s engagement and excitement.
After playing “Deliver Us” and “All for Me,” In Flames ripped in to “Trigger.” During the middle of the song, the band cut out, and all that was audible was the crowd chanting in unison: “From green to red our days pass by/Waiting for a sign to tell us why/Are we dancing all alone?” In Flames slammed back in to the song with a fiery rage, and as they wrapped up the song, the crowd seemed to appreciate the chance to be vocal, as they screamed louder and louder.
Lighting was set low, and mostly comprised of reds, blues and greens. Sometimes it appeared that a band member would be lost on stage due to the heavy fog mixed with the aforementioned colors. Anders Fridén often seemed to disappear as he crouched down low while belting out his guttural screams into the Wiltern.
After playing “Alias,” Anders Fridén addressed concertgoers and spoke of how In Flames now has ten studio albums, and then notes the next song will be “Swim,” (off one of their most popular albums, Clayman). By now, it’s apparent that whatever Anders or In Flames do, the crowd will go ballistic with cheers, whistling and screaming.
The band plays an extremely tight set and the FOH engineer does In Flames justice with his mix. Anders, almost crawling at times, makes his way from stage left to right, then center, then back again. While guitarists Björn Gelotte and Niclas Engelin rocked out in one spot, for the most part, bassist Peter Iwers made his rounds on stage, walking across it numerous times.
That night, In Flames played songs off multiple albums. Tracks like “Where the Dead Ships Dwell,” Come Clarity,” “Cloud Connected” and “The Mirror’s Truth.” Song “Delight and Angers” had a strong, driving chorus-assault provided by drums and bass. During the song, I briefly looked to my left and thought I was witnessing a seizure—but, no, just an extremely intoxicated fan shaking with joy (apparently?).
Overall, the crowd stayed loud and energetic throughout In Flames’ set. As the night came to a close, Anders announced the last song: “Take This Life.” The crowd reacted to this song like all the rest before it: with whistles, screams and yelling! That night, In Flames had Los Angelenos leaving with nothing but smiles upon their faces.