Originally posted in Valkyrian Music.

“Adapt & Survive” was the album we were celebrating last night, but it could have well been the motto of the event. The main reason I avoid gigs at Metalpoint is safety – unless you stay in the back (which I’m not fond of at all) or you lean against one of the side walls, you have nothing to hold on to when the mosh circles start rolling. The second reason is the sauna-like heat the venue generates with just a half-full house. Now Equaleft’s debut release party managed to sell out the place a few days prior to the event – a record in Metalpoint’s 6 years of existence, by the way. You think you can imagine how hot it must have been, but trust me – you just can’t.

The support acts were awesome but not as awesome as Equaleft. True, it was their night, that certainly was hard to compete with, but I’ve been seeing these guys live for the past 5 years and the stage is definitely their element – release party or not, everybody knew what a blast that show would be.

They played “Adapt & Survive” in full, by the same order of its track list, and you know the expression “all hell broke loose”? Well, even in the temperature those were the accurate words to describe what was going on. Singer Miguel is usually the one who joins the mosh pit and goes crowdsurfing while performing – this time was no exception – but even bass player Mike stepped off the stage to play among the first rows and guitarist Malone jumped into the hands of the fans (although he put aside the guitar first – he wasn’t that reckless in his crowdsurf adventure).

Since none of the three guest musicians that are featured in “Adapt & Survive” could be there that night, Equaleft decided to invite some other friends over for the older songs, which were played after the official presentation of the album. “Cynical Plague” was the first one, having Danny from Forbidden To Fly playing a third guitar. Then as Marco from Tales For The Unspoken was called, what I feared would happen to me, ended up happening to drummer Marcos – he got sick from the heat and had to leave for fresh air, before he passed out. Miguel, always the entertainer, tested the vocal skills of the crowd. Then he himself went behind the drums and did a very basic act, that the audience still cheered enthusiastically. So Sérgio, drummer also in Tales For The Unspoken, took his place and jammed a bit with Equaleft. Until Miguel had the idea of changing the order of the setlist and call the next guest Filipe from Gates Of Hell (who was their previous bass player) and his drummer Afonso, since the latter helped them out in the past and so he knew how to play the drums in their older songs. They played “Denial”, and as Marcos was still recovering, Afonso stayed for “Erased” as well. Even though he claims – as usual – that he sucked because it had been a long time and he was unprepared, he did a hell of a job – also as usual.

Marcos came back, not exactly good as new but close enough, and so Marco was called back to sing along “Alone In Emptiness”. At some point Miguel left him alone on stage, to mosh a little.

In order to spare Marcos, they wanted to cut the set one song short and so “Sleep When I’m Dead” – a song that “means a lot to me”, said Miguel – would be the last. But the drummer was determined to give it all and so “Uncover The Masks” was performed as originally planned, even if not in that order.

They later said there were no words to describe what they felt that night and I must say the same, as “brilliant” doesn’t quite cover it. One thing is accurate though – it was unforgettable.

www.facebook.com/equaleft

Peachy!

Of course, when I manage to catch him in mid-air, everybody’s in my line of sight…

I was using my 45mm lens, so I couldn’t frame everybody at once.