ARCH ENEMY

Does size really matter?  Not to this band as they play in one of the smallest venues in Vancouver

This gig was a really head scratcher for me.   Back last December they announced this tour with Thrown Into Exile, Baest, Fit for an Autopsy and headliner Arch Enemy with a Vancouver date.  We then found out it was at The Pearl, of all places.   The Pearl is a small bar that holds approximately 365 people, which is great for local bands.  But for this tour, it is a undersized facility especially for the likes of Arch Enemy who usually play 1000+ capacity venues.   So then I thought, ok, maybe there was nowhere else to play?  Well, as I looked across the street, the Commodore Ballroom (seating 1000), and a on the other side of downtown the Rickshaw Theatre (600 Capacity) sat empty.    Many fans that wanted tickets, were left out of this one unfortunately.   Of course the show was sold out, but if you are brave enough to be in the extremely cramped floor area, you will get a up close and personal show of the band.  God forbid there was a fire or emergency, the place is packed tighter than an Olympian’s spandex.   Another visual is that they are all 5 piece bands, who are nearly touching guitars. There barely was any movement from any of these bands around stage.  Lights, drums and gear take up much of the space on the compact stage.  Tonight, I notice they added a barrier for bouncers to catch stage divers, so that added to the cramped environment, to make it even worse.

Arch Enemy comes to Vancouver with a new album in tow called Blood Dynasty, just released this past March 28 2025.   It’s a great album, with the usual ultra slick production, and formula, that we are used to hearing from this band from say the past 4 albums of the 12 they have in the discography.

However, this go around we do have a change in band personnel as super shredder Jeff Loomis amicably left the band and has been replaced by Joey Concepcion.   Sharlee D’Angelo (bass) Daniel Erlandsson (drums), Michael Amott (guitar) and Canadian lead vocalist Alissa White-Gluz are still intact.

Tonight, they start off with a new one with “Deceiver, Deceiver” from the last album Deceivers, as the Charismatic Alissa starts the night with a scream.  Her growly vocals are at top form, as she wears an ultra designed jumpsuit for the occasion, and still has her blue mane blown by cooling fans for that added rockstar effect.    She has definitely become one of the most talented vocalists in metal, as she knows how to command an audience

“Ravenous” is up next, with that hooky start that Michael does down the fret board. Not sure I’ve seen this song played so early in a set on previous tours, but definitely a great start to the night thus far.

The next songs 3 & 4 are from the new album Blood Dynasty, with “Dream Stealer” and “Blood Dynasty”.   Later they do another pair of new ones with song 7 “A Million Suns” and song 8 “Liars & Thieves”.   You can really tell they picked up the speed and voracity on this album with these new songs.

As far as the sound and lighting at The Pearl, it’s just ok, not great.   The lighting is poor, with exception of some the lights that the band likely brought along.  Sightlines in the place are great if you are standing upper floor but if you are short, you can just about forget about seeing much of the show (no fault of the band of course).

This is a highly professional band.   They are extremely well versed at what they do and their movements, when not trying to trip over one another on the little stage, are choreographed to sync.   Both Michael and Joey are bang on for the most part, maybe saw abit of struggle with Joey on his part in the solo in “War Eternal”, but otherwise was on point for the rest of the night.  Sharlee on bass, and Daniel on drums are criminally underrated players.   Always been a fan of Daniel’s drum playing as his style hits hard.

For the more seasoned Arch Enemy fans, they didn’t completely ignore the post White-Gluz era, as they did “My Apocalypse”, “Nemesis”, “Dead Bury Their Dead”, “Ravenous”, “We Will Rise” and one from their first Black Earth opus “Fields of Desolation” which is the show ender.  Did we get any surprises or deep cuts tonight? No.   Pretty standard, albeit safe and predictable set which are from the last 4 albums (6 of the 17 were not).  Alissa did a “raise your hands” mid show of who has not seen Arch Enemy before, and I think about 50% said it was their first.  I think  those people likely saw a great show, for those like myself that have seen Arch Enemy just about every visit to Vancouver, I will say it was just a good performance that I have seen many times.  Like I mentioned, it would be nice to see them go abit out of their comfort zone and try 1 or 2 new ones, that are not video songs, in a live show or dig deeper on some other albums.  Overall, it was the slick aggressive metal we have all come to expect. Would this show have been even better in a larger venue?  I think so.