Text by Marcos Pereira
On Thursday night, the 9th, an excited and eager audience could be seen awaiting the shows that were to take place at Tokio Marine Hall in São Paulo. The venue wasn't completely full, most likely because it was a midweek show. However, the fans present were ecstatic, waiting for the Swedish band In Flames to take the stage, returning to the São Paulo capital after six years as part of a tour that included other Latin American countries.
Before the main act, minutes before the scheduled time, the band Kryour took the stage at Tokio Marine Hall to open the show. The Brazilian quartet is composed of Matheus Carrilho (drums), Guba Oliveira (guitar), Gustavo Iandoli (guitar and vocals), and Gustavo Muniz (bass). The group performed songs from their most recent release, the EP * Creatures Dwell My Room *, and their album, * Where Treasures Are Nothing *. Known for their melodic and extreme sound, Kryour delivered a very lively show, with the musicians appearing very comfortable in front of the audience. With guitar solos and a blend of guttural vocals, melodic tones, and good sequences of grooves and double bass pedals, the band put on a solid performance, winning over new fans present at the time of the show.
About five minutes late, the lights at Tokio Marine Hall went out and the Swedish band In Flames . After the introduction of "The Beginning of All Things That Will End," which opens the album Foregone , they launched into the song "The Great Decipherer," also from the same album, which is what the current tour is promoting. The band showed what they were made of, leaving the audience in a state of ecstasy, with the crowd making a lot of noise from the very first song.
The band, consisting of Björn Gelotte (guitar), Anders Fridén (vocals), Bryce Paul (bass), Niclas Engelin (guitar), and Joe Rickard (drums), played the show without many breaks, which is quite impressive considering the number of shows they performed during this South American tour. The São Paulo show, as in other cities, was very professional, focusing not only on the technical skill of each musician but also on their charisma with the audience.
Next, the band played "Pinball Map," from the 2000 album Clayman , further energizing the crowd and, at the end, generating the chants that would be heard most frequently that night: "Ole, Ole, Ole, In Flames, In Flames."
The audience was making a lot of noise, which made the band smile and feel at ease, even prompting a playful "Shut up" from vocalist Anders Fridén, before giving in and saying, "Go ahead, you can continue." The audience then shouted even louder.
In Flames varied their repertoire and selected songs from 13 of the 14 albums released to date. The only one that didn't have a representative was "Battles," from 2016. Right after the pair of tracks from their most recent album and one of Clayman , came tracks like "Everything's Gone," "Ordinary Story," "Deliver Us," "Behind Space," "Graveland," and "The Hive."
Continuing the show, the Swedish band performed several classics, such as "Cloud Connected," a hit from their 2002 album * Reroute to Remain: Fourteen Songs of Conscious Insanity* . "Only For The Weak" and "I Am Above" were two other big hits played that night. The fans at Tokio Marine Hall sang along to every song, prompting the band to thank them repeatedly for their enthusiastic support and ovations after each track. In Flames then finished with "Take This Life," from their acclaimed 2006 album * Come Clarity*
Even though the venue wasn't sold out, In Flames delivered a memorable show, playing songs from their new releases as well as tracks from their early albums for the nostalgic fans in attendance. The absence of one of their biggest classics, the single "Trigger," played only in Ecuador, didn't seem to faze or change the opinion of an audience that left satisfied with what they received from both the opening and main acts at Tokio Marine Hall.
Check out the photos from the In Flames show in São Paulo taken by our contributor Wellington Penilha:
