Anathema, Resonance Tour, The Academy, Dublin, Friday April 17th 2015

IC2A1540

Live gig review by Alan Daly

© Olga Kuzmenko

Photos by Olga Kuzmenko

Less than 6 months since Anathema last visited Dublin in support of their Distant Satellites album, the Liverpudlians are back. But tonight is no ordinary show. It is the final date of their “Resonance” Tour; an epic three-hour, three-part, career-spanning performance that has drawn Anathema fans old and new out of the woodwork, apparently. The queue outside the Academy before doors open at 7pm is a sight seldom seen. But with no support bands, everyone wants to be here in time to catch the opening act.

Proceedings start with tracks from their albums recorded mostly this side of the turn of the millennium, and featuring the current line-up of the band (the three Cavanagh brothers, the Douglas siblings and Daniel Cardoso). Each of the three sets is close to an hour long, with ten minute breaks between them, and as the night goes on, tracks from earlier albums are performed. For the second set, featuring songs from Alternative 4, Eternity and The Silent Enigma, former bassist and song-writer Duncan Patterson joins the band in place of Jamie Cavanagh, and in the final set featuring classics from their debut album Serenades and the Pentecost III E.P., original singer Darren White returns to lend his distinctive vocals to the performance.

The overall production and sound quality of the entire show are incredible. Exceptional vocal performances from Vincent and Daniel Cavanagh, Lee Douglas and Darren White crown the layered mix of guitars, keyboards and solid, punchy drumming. For the most part, the band seem to be enjoying the special event as much as the audience, and interactions between Vincent, Danny and the crowd seem natural and genuine.

Anathema is one of those bands with very loyal, appreciative fans, to whom this comprehensive live anthology and re-union is a dream come-true, likely never to be repeated (or so Vincent and Darren repeated on several occasions). For others, Anathema are an undoubtedly talented group of musicians who have delivered the goods across genres ranging from doom to prog- to post-rock, but yet fail to strike a chord, metaphorically. As such, and since the camera never lies, the best way to share this unique event is via the emotive photos captured by Olga Kuzmenko.