Haken: Glasgow, O2 ABC 2, Thursday 23rd March 2017

Haken: Glasgow, O2 ABC 2, Thursday 23rd March 2017

I arrived at the venue at 7.30pm, unfortunately missing the opening support Next To None a hard-core/Progressive Metal band based out of Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania in the USA featuring Max Portnoy (son of legendary Mike Portnoy) on drums. I did though catch the second support band Algorithm the project name for award-winning electronic producer Rémi Gallego, who started Algorithm in 2009 on Myspace, he is French, 26 years old, currently live in Köln (Germany), playing Guitar, Bass, keyboards also utilising midi, laptop and mixer; ably supported by Jean Ferry on drums and electronic drums. Algorithm are primarily promoting their Brute Force album released in 2016 on the FixT label (its Algorithms 3rd full label released album although prior to this the had 2 self-released albums). The two guys in Algorithm can make a hell of a racket, to try and sum up what the Algorithm are all about, just imagine Jean-Michel Jarre style keyboards crossed with Devon Townsend era Strapping Young Lads guitar and drums and a bit of the manic schizophrenia of Devon’s Ziltoid the Omniscient thrown in for good measure, plus a combination of, trance, hardcore techno, progressive metal and mathcore all rolled into one. Brutal club music that would scare the pants of you, as you can imagine they went down rather well with the surprisingly young audience down near the front.

It has to be pointed out that by the time Haken hit the stage at close to 8.20 pm the 350 capacity ABC 2 is only between half to possibly two thirds full, a bit disappointing in turn out for a band celebrating their 10th Anniversary. The 6 piece band of Vocalist Ross Jennings, Richard Henshall Guitar and Keyboards, Raymond Hearne Drums, Charles Griffiths Guitar, Conner Green Bass and the Keyboards of Diego Tejeida kick off the night via a doom layered intro. As they hit the stage first number up though comes from the band’s latest release 2016’s Affinity album, it turns out actually to be the opening two numbers ‘Affinity.exe’ & ‘Initiate’ bolted together, to provide a fantastic double salvo, with technical savagery and brutal prog metal intensity, combined with fantastic strobe effect green lighting to accentuate the prog rush for the faithful down the front. Up next ‘In Memoriam’ from the bands 2013 album The Mountain, we then get a very brief rest bite of a “Welcome Glasgow” from Vocalist Ross Jennings who by his time has donned the best pair of specs this side of a – ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’, Buggles style video shoot, as he becomes Trevor Horn for the bands own flash back to the 1980’s in the form of Haken’s ‘1985’ track from their 2016 Affinity album. The song showcasing some of the vocal style and production techniques pioneered by erst wise Buggles & Yes men Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes in the 1980’s. The track blending from an intricate mid-section to then grow exponentially, allowing both guitarist’s Richard Henshall and Charles Griffiths (who’s head bobs back and forward relentlessly and rhythmically throughout the gig) to hit their stride on the tracks bridge section up the pace and working with both the Bass Guitar of Conner Green and the excellent Drumming of Raymond Herne to rumble thing’s home to a crushing tech tastic prog metal finale. The Affinity album again is well represented in the form of next track up. ‘Red Giant’, but it’s the following epic that nearly everyone in the room is here to hear. That being, Aquarius, the album featuring a suite of seven tracks is a concept album, it’s about a mermaid, discovered by a fisherman and sold to a circus, whose blood is the only thing capable of saving the human race from a flood resulting from global warming issues. She ultimately dies for mankind's sake. Heady stuff for the band’s first officially released album in 2010 - Aquarius was largely written by guitarist/keyboardist Richard Henshall with lyrics written by Ross Jennings. Due to the album being over 72 minutes long, we get a scaled down ‘Aquarius Melody’ still epic in length and complexity and highlighting the aforementioned Richard Henshall and his immense skills as a Guitar and Keyboard player, as well as Ross Jennings mightily impressive vocal range; stage presence and stage craft.

With tonight’s performance only being the second of a 21 date tour across most of Europe and finely landing in Tel Aviv in Israel in mid-April, if the band get any better than tonight, I only hope where and when its recorded for a live DVD and CD; that a lot more people will be able to see and hear a scintillating modern progressive rock classic; as good as anything in the last 17 years (therefore the best of its ilk in the 21st centaury). ‘Atlas Stone’ follows from 2013’s The Mountain, followed from the same album by the quirky classic they call the ‘Cockroach King’, kicking in with some mightily impressive vocal interplay sung ‘a-cappella (possibly inspired by very early King Crimson and early to mid 70’s Gentle Giant) as well as comprising elements of jazz in style and content. The song tells the story of capitalism and greed as the protagonist in the song tries to become more and more wealthy until he realizes that one cannot buy happiness with money. The basic story line and idea reminiscent of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The crowd also vastly enjoying their involvement in the live rendition, they waste no time in accompanying Ross Jennings on vocals, trying to match him in every symbiotic way known to cockroach or man. When a Prog crowd sing’s along it’s usually a funny, friendly but frantic affair of the heart, its fabulous to see a young audience attending a Prog Metal Gig, prepared to sing to their little Hearts out and stretch lungs to bursting point; having taken Haken as their own and now never wishing to ever let them go.

‘The Architect’ and ‘The Endless Night’ both from the 2016 Affinity album round off the main set in a blaze of glory, leaving only the encore of ‘Visions’ the title track of the bands 2011 album to go, were Vocalist Ross Jennings invites us to finish the night with a “here we f**king go Glasgow" inducing a Prog Metal Mosh-Pit sensation down the front at the start of the song - then approximately 1hr 50mins after they started its all over, in a tumultuous and thunderous roar and applause as Haken leave the stage; Glasgow friends of the band to the last man standing.

As the house lights went up and I ventured down the front to take some photographs of the bands equipment, how they got all Haken’s full 6 piece gear on stage I will never know(?), I manage to bump into a very tall Lithuanian guy, who on talking to him found he was studying, you’ve guest it(?), Computer Science at University in Glasgow, (apparently all young Lithuanians in Glasgow study Computer Science)! He had in fact been standing just to the right in front of me during the show, he got the set list from the band which he allowed me to photograph; many thanks to that young man. I then get tapped on the shoulder, to turn around and see a huge smile on a familiar face in a Haken T-Shirt emblazoned across his chest (he is of course a huge fan of the band) one Mr Paul Logue, Bass player, founder member, songwriter and Manager of Eden’s Curse, as well as a very major part of the team who run Glasgow Promotions and Artist Services company Shock City Productions. It was great to see him, he’s come a long way from the plaster casted youth on a bus trip to see Iron Maiden at Bruce Dickinson’s last gig at Pinewood Studios in 1993 when Bruce left Iron Maiden originally. We got chatting, in particular about the difficulties for bands to buy on to tours, I cannot divulge the figures of Paul’s Eden’s Curse example but needless to say, I can understand why it must be so difficult for a band like Haken to be able to buy on to the size of tour they really need to get the exposure to take them to the next level. As I left the venue it left me wondering, a three band bill tonight with a ticket including booking fee of £16.87 as genuine value for money you will get anywhere, this would be nothing compared to the hype about to happen the next day when Metallica tickets went on sale for the SEC Hydro at between £56 up to top line prices of £96 pounds including booking fees per ticket. The straightforward answer to buying one of the tickets next day mulled over as I went home from Haken came up with a very easy answer, that being ‘'So *F**king What''; there is a difference in profit margins rather than profiteering - band’s like Metallica in the last 10 years seem to have forgot that!

So, really, go save your money, badger Haken’s management and get them back in Glasgow say for around October 26th 2017 the same night Metallica rip the pish out of the fans; dumb enough to pay for idiot ticket prices and vastly inflated tour merchandising. After witnessing Haken performance tonight you wonder how bands like Metallica can even win 9 Grammies in 17 years in the best Metal, Hard Rock and Recording Packages categories? Some people might call this sour grapes, but for those of us like me now in or 50’s having had to listen to the pish recorded over the last 30 years or so of the big 4 trash bands and hailed by many self-proclaimed ‘Metal Experts’ and ‘Critics’ as brilliant(!), personally I feel vindicated to realise that I was right; Thrash was dead the moment bands like Haken came into being (the way Metal should have gone on to progress - not regress up its ass in mediocrity)! Happy 10th anniversary Haken, onwards and upwards to your rise to play arena's around the world, like the Hydro, let’s just hope it does not take another 10 years for you to get there; when you do guys just remember to keep the ticket prices down!

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Stewart Eadie: Words and Pictures

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