The first ever In Flames DVD Used and Abused-In Live We Trust, will be reason to celebrate for many fans of the band. Yeah, there's that bunch of folks who think that the band hasn't released a good album in years, and spend their days playing Jester Race and Lunar Strain (classics they may be) as if there is nothing else in the In Flames catalog that merits attention. Let's face it, this band has steadily grown a very large and loyal following, and while their last two albums Reroute to Remain and Sountrack to Your Escape have seen them create more accessible sounds, there's no denying that legions of fans are lining up to hear their music and see them live. I'll admit, Sountrack to Your Escape is a far cry from Jester Race musically speaking, but you know what, the band now is much more mature, more polished, and they still create kick ass intelligent metal. This new DVD set contains hours of live and backstage footage, plus videos and interviews, mainly from the last two supporting their most recent album. While much of the material covered is from the most recent albums, smattered with a few tunes from their earlier releases, the band is on on fire throughout (living up to their name!) and give powerful performances in front of rabid crowds.
The first DVD starts off with a show at the esteemed Hammersmith Odeon in London, a nine song set that sprinkles songs from last two albums like "Trigger", "The Quiet Place", "Touch of Red", and the heavy "My Sweet Shadow", with older songs like "Behind Space" and "Pinball Map". A cover of Pantera's "Fucking Hostile" is a great tribute to Dimebag and gets the crowd going insane, and hearing singer Anders Frieden asking the crowd to "...scream for me Hammersmith!" fulfilled a childhood dream of his, no doubt inspired from listening to Iron Maiden while he was growing up. This is a very profressionally shot and recorded show, with great camera angles, and the audio is wonderful. It's nice to see a band like this on a large stage with plenty of lights and a packed house.
Also included on this DVD, and it's the main part of DVD 1, is the show at Gothenburg, Sweden's Sticky Fingers club, which kicked off the 2004 tour for In Flames. It's a small club that packed in 250 fans for the show, and the band plays a blistering show featuring 2 sets practically right on top of the crowd. The interaction is great to see between the band and the fans, and while the presentation of this show is not what the Hammersmith set was, there's a intimacy that you feel even though you were not in the crowd that night that is evident just by watching. The band kicks off the show playing the entire Sountrack to Your Escape album for the first set, then for the second set the band launches into classics like "Jotun", "Behind Space", "Pinball Map", "Colony", "Food For the Gods", and many others. The In Flames fan who maybe is not so enamored of the more recent material, seeing them perform these older tracks should be a pleasant surprise. The energy level and musicianship of the band is spot on throughout this entire concert, and it's obvious they were feeding off the enthusiasm of the local Swedish fans in attendance, their "homecrowd". There's also live clips of two other songs, "Only For the Weak" and "Clayman", recorded on the same tour also in Sweden.
The second DVD contains behind the scenes interviews and backstage stuff, videos made from songs from Sountrack to Your Escape, and some footage from soundcheck. The packaging is nicely done, with a full booklet containing photos, full song lyrics, and information about all the shows covered on the DVD, so it comes across almost like a mini-tour program. A deluxe edition is also available that contains 2 CD's of music from the shows.
It's not often that you watch a concert DVD and almost feel like you are in the audience with the fans that were at that particular show. There were moments were I had that feeling while watching Used and Abused-In Live We Trust , and to me that's an entertaining video experience. In Flames fans, run out and pick this set up. It will easily make your top list of concert DVD's for this year, as it will mine.
Tracklist DVD 1
Live At Hammersmith
- Pinball Map
- System
- Fucking Hostile / Behind Space
- Cloud Connected
- In Search For I
- The Quiet Place
- Trigger
- Touch Of Red
- My Sweet Shadow
Sticky Fingers Gothenburg Set 1:
- F(f)riend
- The Quiet Place
- Dead Alone
- Touch Of Red
- Like You Better Dead
- My Sweet Shadow
- Evil In A Closet
- In Search For I
- Borders And Shading
- Superhero Of The Computer Rage
- Dial 595 – Escape
- Bottled
Sticky Fingers Gothenburg Set 2:
- Behind Space
- Artifacts Of The Black Rain
- Moonshield
- Food For The Gods
- Jotun
- Embody The Invisible
- Colony
- Pinball Map
- Only For The Weak
- Trigger
- Cloud Connected
Soundtrack Tour 2004
- Only For The Weak
- Clayman
Tracklist DVD 2
Jester TV (interviews, behind the scenes footage)
Videos
- The Quiet Place
- Touch Of Red
- My Sweet Shadow
- Friend
- System
- Dial 595 – Escape
Soundcheck
- Dial 595 – Escape
- Touch Of Red
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