Anubis Gate

So what’s the furthest you’ve ever traveled to see a concert? 100 miles? 500 miles? A thousand miles? Across the United States? Try crossing the Atlantic Ocean to see your favorite band!

Up until a week ago, I thought I would be crazy to go all the way from the East Coast of the United States to go to Denmark to see a show! My previous record was going from Washington, DC to San Diego to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in 2015. Even then I thought I was crazy. Just a long weekend to see a show, right? I’ve been to San Diego a number of times so it was no big deal. But that was nothing compared to the awesomeness that ensued in April 2018.

Let me explain. I’ve been a fan of the Danish progressive metal band Anubis Gate since 2014. Their album Horizons had just come out and when I found about it, I really liked it. I mean I really, REALLY liked it. When my metal loving friend from my hometown (who introduced me to both ProgPower USA and Anubis Gate) asked about co-sponsoring them for 2015, I thought they’d be perfect for the fest. They have really a great progressive metal sound, awesome guitar riffs and hooks, and well written lyrics. It would be a great show. To our amazement and astonishment, they were announced at the fest in 2014 that they would play there in 2015. Sadly that never came to pass as they backed out a couple of months before their scheduled American debut due to health reasons.

Fast forward to late 2017. My really awesome friend whom I’ll call My Concert Buddy (whom I attend a number of local shows in the Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD area with) is a super large fan of Anubis Gate. I found out that she was also to be a sponsor of the band at ProgPower USA and we were both disappointed that they were unable to make it. Anubis Gate rarely plays shows anyhow, so we had said to ourselves that if they ever play a show that we’ll travel to see them, even if that means that we have to travel to their native Denmark. That came to pass in late April 2018.

Lead guitarist and principal songwriter Kim Olesen mentioned on his Facebook page that they were playing a show in his hometown of Odense, Denmark (about an hour and a half train ride west of Copenhagen) on April 28, 2018. I told My Concert Buddy about that it and we both agreed that a trip to Denmark was going to happen. She had never been to Denmark.. and wait for it.. I had never been outside of North America! Yes, I’ve been to Canada, but that doesn’t really count being outside of the country – and the last time I was there you didn’t need a passport! So now it’s not just traveling to Denmark I would have to be worried about, but traveling outside of the United States PERIOD! But I’ll talk about that in another post. I’ll just stick to the Anubis Gate show here.

So My Concert Buddy arranged for travel to Denmark and I followed her lead on making my plans. Airline set, hotel set – and not much later the tickets were acquired. Now the long wait to go to Denmark and see one of the best progressive metal bands on the planet blow the roof away! And that’s just what they did!

On Saturday April 28, 2018, Anubis Gate played their second concert of what they billed as the “shortest tour on record” (a whopping two dates – they also played April 13th in Aalborg, Denmark) at the Musikhuset Posten in Odense, Denmark. I was really happy to be there with My Concert Buddy and our respective spouses. We also met in person a couple of our friends that we had met only online – one from Denmark and one from Norway. Even one of my American friends who is currently working in Germany showed up! But My Concert Buddy and I didn’t win the Most Distance Traveled record – that belonged to an American couple who flew to Denmark from San Diego! Strange thing that none of us know about them until we all met at the venue!

Myself sandwiched between a Norwegian and a Dane

 

My American friend came up from Germany to see the show

The interesting thing about Anubis Gate is not only the music, but their longevity. Though they’ve changed out a few band members over the course of time,  it was a sight to behold to have all of the present members and almost all of the former members (except one – former guitarist Jesper M. Jensen couldn’t make it) be there at the same time! The current members are Kim Olesen (Guitars, Keyboards), Henrik Fevre (Vocals, Bass), Michael Bodin (Guitars), and Morten Gade Sørensen (Drums). Former vocalists are Torben Askholm and Jacob Hansen (who is also a guitarist in the band Pyramaze and is a well-known metal band producer). Note that the original drummer is Morten Sørensen – which leads to confusion. So My Concert Buddy nicknamed the original Morten “Morten 1.0” and the current Morten “Morten 2.0”.

Past and Present members of Anubis Gate

So on to the venue itself. The Musikhuset Posten is a small venue and appears to have been a remodeled train depot, as the modern-day Odense train station is next door. The outside looks a bit old and dirty, but inside it’s quite a nice place that’s geared towards great metal shows. Upon entry is a coat check that costs 20 DKK (about $3 USD) that I have never seen in a metal venue – ever! Then inside there is a back room with a bar, and the front room with a slightly raised stage and a small bar to the right hand side.

Anubis Gate was of course the headliner. The first two opening acts were nothing to write home about – so much so that I forgot their names! The first band was a typical death metal band with “Cookie Monster” type vocals. The second band was a female fronted death metal band that also had “Cookie Monster” type vocals. Enough about them, let’s move on, shall we?

Finally Anubis Gate took the stage and awesome progressive metal emanated from the speakers. They featured songs from all seven of their full-length albums. The first two songs of the night were Psychotopia and The Combat, both from their latest album Covered In Black, released in 2017.

They went into their back catalog for the next set of songs. Next was Golden Days from their self-titled album from 2011. But they went all the way back for Purification from the album of the same name from 2004. Next was Endless Grief from their 2005 album A Perfect Forever.  They then went back to their self-titled album for Hear My Call, Destined to Remember, and Never Like This (A Dream) –  all three of which are my personal favorites from the band.

After those wonderful songs, they then returned to Covered in Black for the song Black and Revolution Come Undone from Horizons The last two of the main set were Options – Going Nowhere from 2009’s The Detached and Snowbound from 2007’s Andromeda Unchained. They ended their show with a two-song encore featuring Future Without Past and Hold Back Tomorrow, both from their self-titled album.

I also wish to point out that the Danes are some of the nicest people on the planet. If this show were to have been held in the US, people would have crowded the stage and wouldn’t have given you any sort of “personal room” in order to give you a bit of space while watching the show. On the other hand, at this show – the Danes not only didn’t crowd the stage, they respected your place and gave you plenty of space. No crowding, no getting in your face or your back or anything like that. The US audiences can definitely take note from how well the Danes treat others during a metal show!

And finally, My Concert Buddy lost her Fitbit at the show! All of us thought she would have lost it forever, but one of us suggested that she ask one of the bartenders if anybody had turned it in. Sure enough, someone HAD turned it in! Another kudo for the Danish concert audience!

So overall what did I think? Was it worth it going all the way to Denmark to see them? Absolutely, positively, without a doubt a one million percent YES! Would I do it again? Absolutely YES! In a heartbeat! I hope they play again soon because I’d LOVE to go back! One show was definitely NOT enough!

Anubis Gate and friends – I’m second from the right