17 March 2024 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
In his first solo Australian tour ever, and his first dates in the country in a decade, Finnish Love Metal icon Ville Valo returned to Brisbane on Sunday night, supporting his latest record Neon Noir. In a show that was expected to be a mix of new songs, and a retrospective of a legendary career, I don’t think I was ready for what was about to unfold in front of me. I’ve been a HIM/VV fan for over 20 years, and I gotta say, this was probably one of the best shows I’ve seen Valo perform at.
Opening the show were Melbourne synthpop group, Dark Waters. After bassist Dettie Sebastian gave a quick Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners speech, Sebastian and lead vocalist/guitarist Jack Siren ripped through a set of Depeche Mode/Placebo inspired tracks that actually kinda ruled. It felt like the band didn’t take the show super seriously, and had a tonne of fun on stage, with songs like the iconically titled ‘Take the Piss’, ‘Pipe Dreams’, and ‘Chain of Hearts’. There was one song I felt really gravitated towards me though, called ‘Poison’, which felt like a five minute tribute to darkwave, that just hit all the right notes for me. Solid band live, and definitely a fine addition for the night.
After a quick changeover, ‘Zener Solitaire’ played over the speakers as the crowd started really amping up for the king of Love Metal, Ville Valo. The backing band walked out on stage, and just with the presence of a foot visible, the crowd exploded with appreciation for Valo. The set itself was the perfect encapsulation of everything Valo has done in his career so far, with the set alternating between a VV song, then a HIM song, all night. As was to be expected, the HIM songs sent the crowd crazy, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the audience enjoying Valo’s solo material just as much.
‘Echolocate Your Love’ received an incredibly warm reception, and in what I would consider a total surprise, the first HIM song off the ranks was ‘Wings of a Butterfly’. The intro guitar sent The Tivoli into the meltdown, as the crowd at times were louder than the speakers. I think it caught Ville a little off guard at times how loud the crowd was, but he was having a total blast, making eye contact with everyone while singing, and giving a lot of the crowd members “moments” that they will never forget.
Hearing the solo stuff for the first time was cool, as there were songs like ‘Neon Noir’, ‘Run Away From the Sun’, and ‘Salute the Sanguine’ being given equal footing alongside classics, like ‘Join Me in Death’, ‘The Funeral of Hearts’, and ‘Gone with the Sin’. The sing along portion to ‘Right Here in My Arms’ went off huge, but the song that surprised me the most in terms of reception, is actually one of my favorite HIM songs, ‘Buried Alive by Love’. Every time that song hits my speakers, the volume goes up LOUD. And hearing it again live for the first time in over a decade, and enjoying it with everyone that loved it as much as me, was a cool moment.
The set closed off with ‘Saturnine Saturnalia’, before Valo and company returned for a huge five song encore, which included ‘Soul on Fire’ by HIM, ‘In Trenodia’, ‘Killing Loneliness’ by HIM, and ‘Baby Lacrimarium’. I thought that was the end of the set, but when ‘When Love and Death Embrace’ kicked in, I almost fell backwards into nostalgia hearing that song again. A perfect way to close out a show that showcased the career of a living legend.
