PARADISE LOST
heptagram
‘Mixtape 5’ Club, Sofia, 15.4.2022
Radio TANGRA MEGA ROCK’s 16th Anniversary Bash
words by: Nikola Shahpazov, photos: Orlin Nikolov
There was one and only one right way to do it. The return of the TANGRA MEGA ROCK live events couldn’t be silent and matter-of-fact.
No way. No damn way.
The first TANGRA MEGA live in 2 years could only be a smack in the face of tranquility, an uppercut to those lonely Friday nights, a headspinning evidence that good ol’ rock’n’roll is bigger than all global crises and there’s no power in the world to hold it down.
And it turned out just right. And all circumstances were right – a splendidly warm Spring night, a sold out event, no delays or sound issues, great mood and dozens of friends that hadn’t met each other for far too long. It’s easy to forget that gigs are not simply music events but rather a possibility for people from a like-minded community to gather and strengthen the ties. And maybe these 2 years featuring no real events whatsoever were needed for us to appreciate live music for what it is.
PARADISE LOST were just the right band to headline the great return of the TANGRA MEGA lives. The English masters of doom and gloom are highly revered by the local fans and that sold out show is yet another evidence of this.
The idea of heptagram opening sounded strange and exotic but was actually on point. And not because the band sounds anything like PARADISE LOST but exactly because it doesn’t. After all, half of the fun of going to live shows is listening to something new and discovering cool artists.
heptagram is the brainchild of multriinstrumentalist Daniel Ivanov – a spacy, psych rock experience influenced by the classics of old and by more modern bands like TAME IMPALA. We encourage you to further immerse yourself in heptagram’s richly textured albums and live performances.
PARADISE LOST know how to stir things up. 4 years and 1 album after their last show here, they play a long and diverse set featuring great new songs like ‘Ghosts’, ‘Darker Thoughts’ and ‘Forsaken’, old tracks from the Gothic era, as well as absolute fan favourites ‘One Second’ and ‘Say Just Words’.
We are especially gld to sing along the concert opener ‘Embers Fire’, the grand ‘The Enemy’, as well as our absolute fave ‘So Much Is Lost’ (off their most controversial release Host).
PARADISE LOST are in great shape – they rip through the night with power and confidence. As GREG MACINTOSH mentioned in interviews, the band was eager to hit the road, and it shows. We missed these kinds of experiences too, dammit!
The Setlist:
Embers Fire
Forsaken
Blood And Chaos
Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us
Eternal
One Second
Serenity
The Enemy
As I Die
The Devil Embraced
The Last Time
An Eternity Of Lies
Say Just Words
No Hope In Sight
Darker Thoughts
So Much Is Lost
Ghosts
