The COVID-19 pandemic has put a halt to our daily lives for quite some time now. A concert feels more like a distant memory as rescheduled events continue to get postponed or cancelled. Despite the darkness, bands have found a way to bring some life during these dicey times by presenting us with quarantine videos, live Q&A’s, and Livestreams. We’ve listed out our favorite Livestreams of 2020, and now in 2021, bands are turning them up a notch as this time of uncertainty continues. Swedish metal giants Avatar decided to ring in the new year with not only one but four Livestreams. These virtual showings are much different from anything we’ve seen so far, as each set has a unique theme circling around the band’s career.
With one stream left to set for this Saturday (30th), Avatar has been bringing the freakshow right into our living rooms, letting the vibrant circus in during the dead of winter. Presented by Danny Wimmer Presents, Avatar’s theatrical stage presence that we love and miss has graciously returned along with several surprises, ones we wouldn’t be able to see during a live event. Saturday, January 23rd, was a special treat for veteran Avatar fans. It was themed Madness, which included a fan-voted setlist featuring songs from 2012’s Black Waltz and 2014’s Hail the Apocalypse.
The experience was as titled, an impossible concert experience, between seeing the group onstage to being enclosed in a room filled with tricks, doors, and illusion. Unlike other Livestreams we’ve seen, frontman Johannes Eckerström knows how to present himself in front of the camera to unleash one remarkable magic trick: to make it look as though a live audience is in the room with them. While we’re aware there are no concertgoers, Eckerström’s overall expressions and connection with the camera added a warm natural presence as though we were watching a previously-recorded live event. Performance-wise, this is perhaps one of the most dedicated and energetic Livestreams you will experience, making us wish all four will eventually be available on BluRay.
Avatar warmed up our living rooms, reminding us all to have a good time. Eckerström’s dramatic piano rendition of “Tower,” bringing balloons onto the stage for “Black Waltz,” and the natural play with lights and effects that we wouldn’t naturally see in a live setting were just a few of the highlights. What struck us the most was Eckerström’s speech before going into “Get In Line.” Eckerström had a maddening heart to heart touching up something we’ve all been feeling while waiting for the day it’s safe to go to concerts again:
“It’s wonderfully weird to be here because we are here all alone yet we feel your presence. It’s the closest thing to a religious experience a person like me might ever have. We appreciate you, sharing this moment with us. Making us feel so special because we spent some time now, feeling like the least essential workers that there is on this or any other planet. I guess there is no one less essential than us but, and I get that, I don’t drive an ambulance, I get it. I get it. I don’t drive an ambulance, I cannot, I know some first aid, but that’s about it. We’re not very essential, that’s what I’m saying over and over again. But, still, to be perfectly honest, it feels pretty damn essential to us to get to do what we love to do. Makes sense, right? But we are being patient, because we know we will see you, all of you, very soon.”
We highly recommend you to watch this Saturday’s (30th) Livestream, just go here for more information and exclusive merch. We will be there, most likely with some popcorn and wine. And if you haven’t yet, you should check out their latest effort, The Hunter Gatherer, which was included on one of our year-end lists.
Hail the Apocalypse
Torn Apart
Blod
In Napalm – (First time live since September 22, 2015.)
Black Waltz – (Balloons performance)
Let It Burn
Paint Me Red
Puppet Show
Ready for the Ride
Vultures Fly
Tower -(Piano version by Johannes)
Murderer
Get in Line
Tsar Bomba
Bloody Angel
Smells Like a Freakshow
Act 1 – Feathers & Flesh:
Regret – (Piano intro by Johannes)
House of Eternal Hunt
The Eagle Has Landed
New Land
Tooth, Beak & Claw
For the Swarm
One More Hill
Black Waters
Night Never Ending
When the Snow Lies Red
Raven Wine
Act 2 – Avatar Country:
Glory to Our King
(Lounge version with Johannes on piano)
Legend of the King
The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country
A Statue of the King
King’s Harvest
The King Wants You
King After King
Hunter Gatherer Intro
Silence in the Age of Apes
Colossus
A Secret Door
God of Sick Dreams
Scream Until You Wake
Child
Justice
Gun
When All But Force Has Failed
Wormhole
Act 2 – Best of:
The Eagle Has Landed – (Piano intro by Johannes)
For the Swarm
Glory to Our King
The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country
A Statue of the King
Let It Burn
Bloody Angel
Smells Like a Freakshow
Hail the Apocalypse
