O2 Ritz, Manchester
Friday, 20th September 2024
Haken … where have you been for the last 15 years of my life?
I cannot believe that this band has passed me by during all that time. It’s my fault entirely for not investigating them so much earlier in their career. I simply had no idea just who they were, or how good they sounded. Yet fortunately for me, the band had put out a little promo piece on Facebook back in late July, to advertise their 2 approaching gigs in the UK. And those algorithms that everybody complains about invading their privacy, actually did a really cool thing. It came up on my wife’s feed, and with her good instincts, she sent me a link, knowing it might interest me. In that short video promo of some live footage, there was an audio that accompanied it …and that was the chorus section to the song Nightingale. As soon as I played it, I was instantly hooked. I knew that this was something that was musically right up my street.
So I then spent some time happily trawling through YouTube and watching everything I could that featured Haken, and my appetite for more just grew & grew. I then got my hands on all their studio albums (and the EP), dived headfirst into their music, and immersed myself in it completely, listening to nothing else but Haken for the next several weeks. So it became a total no-brainer that I simply had to go and see this band live, and of course there were 2 UK dates quickly approaching. The London one would have been cool to go to, but it was further for me to travel, and I already had pre-booked commitments for that date. So that narrowed my choices down, just a bit. Manchester it was going to be then. But on further inspection, The Ritz looked like a really great venue, and right around the corner from Oxford Street train station. No further deliberations needed … ticket bought.
The date arrived, and off I headed for Manchester to see Haken perform a special show, which was their ‘An Evening With Haken’ presentation. This was the first of only 2 UK dates to feature this particular show, which had already been toured in the US during February & March of this year, with a 20 date North American tour. And now they were presently nearing the back-end of an 18 date tour of Scandinavia & Europe. I’d never been to The Ritz before, yet found it to be a really cool venue in which to see a band. You could tell by the age of the building and the surrounding balcony that this must have, at one time, been a ballroom, reminding me in a way of my very own much-missed Newcastle Mayfair. Although undoubtedly, in comparison, the Ritz has way more character & charm. I positioned myself about 20 foot from the front of the stage, slightly off the centre mark, so I could get the best audio quality from the suspended line-array PA system. I wanted to hear the band in all their glory, as well as get a good view.
No support act on this occasion. Haken often tour with 1 or 2 other bands on the bill, yet for this leg of the tour, the evening was just pure Haken music all night long, with the show being split into 2 sets. The first one being the performance of their last studio album Fauna in its entirety. With a much-loved fan favourite, epic 20 minute song, tagged on to the end. The 2nd set would be a selection of a song or 2 from their remaining studio albums, and the full show would last for a time period getting close to 3 hours. This was definitely not a gig for someone who just wanted to get an essence of what Haken was about. This was in fact a proper celebration of their last studio release, featuring every track being performed in album order, as well as a good cross-section from all their other recordings over the last 15 years. And with me just discovering this band, embracing their entire back catalogue in a matter of weeks, and with all of the tunes still very fresh in my mind, then this gig could not have been more perfectly timed.
Haken took the stage and started their Fauna set, opening up with Taurus. From its brooding intro, to its stripped-back verses, majestic choruses, bizarre & yet clever time signatures, breakdown section, wondrous intertwining melodies, this song set the scene perfectly, just as it does being the opening track on the album. Haken are one of those bands where you literally cannot predict where the music is going, or what is going to happen next. They are a law unto themselves, yet somehow their music does have its own signature & character. It definitely features the more metal side of progressive music, yet at any time it can change in rhythm, drop in tempo, bring in other musical genres, and songs can range in length from 4 minutes to 20 minute epics. Therefore they truly are flying the prog banner.
The following song is a huge personal favourite of mine. Nightingale has to be one of the band’s finest ever moments. Starting off with a Fender Rhodes keyboard intro, incorporating some strong jazz elements. But as the song progresses, it just opens up this incredible musical landscape where anything can & will happen, and also has one of the finest choruses of all-time (in my honest opinion). I really do view this song as Haken’s tour-de-force, as it features so many different elements of the band that it becomes the perfect showcase for their talents & creativity. I never get tired of listening to this song, and every time I do, I discover something new & astounding about it. Yes it’s musically clever, but it is also packed full of fabulous melodies, and an intensity that just sucks you right in.
Now for a very different switch in direction with The Alphabet Of Me, which starts off almost like an Ed Sheeran urban dance song. Yet by the time the chorus kicks in, we’re fully hit with a huge slab of sound, with really great commercial hooks. I absolutely adore how Haken can delve into so many different musical genres, without any kind of musical snobbery, embrace those styles & influences, and then adapt them into their own. Always done in a respectful way, paying homage to those genres, yet never in any sort of mocking manner. This set list moves faithfully in the same order as the Fauna album, so it seems pointless me just listing every song from that album in the order that as it was performed. It’s very hard for me to pick favourites as I truly love this entire album, and I was absolutely overjoyed with the prospect of hearing it in its entirety.
Other stand-out songs from the particular section of the show probably were the magnificent Lovebite, which must be one of the most perfect prog ‘pop’ songs ever. It throws in so many influences (even The Police), it is ridiculously infectious, and just brings forth the biggest grin on my face. It’s one of the most fun 4 minutes of your time your could ever spend listening to music. Another fantastic tune was their longest track from this album, which is Elephants Never Forget. It starts off with the pomp & grandeur of classic early Queen, with a section of music that would not be out of place on the awesome Queen II album. From there it moves into the most madcap of verses, yet still comes back with a gorgeous chorus melody. The recreation of these songs into a live form was quite astonishing. The sound mix was marvellous.
I couldn’t possibly comment on how much (if any) backing track was used during this concert. I know that the music was time-coded, because the lighting was also time-coded, pre-programmed to react perfectly & instantly with any beat or accent of the music. So yes there might have been the slight audio embellishments within the sound mix, yet overall it did feel very live, and the band were certainly all performing and singing live in the moment. The sound in the room was really very good indeed. And you have to give credit to all the band members on that stage, because their playing was really exceptional. I’d just been watching Big Big Train the night prior, and the level of musicianship there was highly impressive, but Haken just took it up another notch again. What an amazing collection of musicians, all with their own styles, yet blending together so beautifully.
Ross Jennings on lead vocals has a magnificent vocal range. At times he can be almost reminiscent of Jon Anderson from Yes, yet is so versatile that he can adapt his tone & style to suit whatever music is being performed. Richard Henshall & Charlie Griffiths both play on 8-string guitars, that can produce some really deep-sounding chords & notes, and are both equally outstanding players in their field. Connor Green on bass looks like the quiet man of the band, but do not be fooled by that, because his ability on that 6-string bass is very exceptional. Peter Jones on keys was an original member of Haken back in their very early days, but returned to the fold back in early 2022, and his work on the Fauna album is superb. Lastly, and certainly not least, Ray Hearne on drums. What a beast of a drummer he is. All those poly-rhythms going on in the music, yet he magically holds it all together. I swear, all of these musicians are so good that my gaze was equally divided among them all. They truly are an amazing team.
The first set was rounded off with the Fauna album closer, Eyes Of Ebony. It’s probably the lightest sounding track from this album, but closes things off so well, giving the entire performance of the album a proper musical journey from start to finish. The very last song of this section of the show was the much-loved fan favourite from Haken’s Restoration EP, the near 20 minute epic that is Crystalised. I like it that this band can pull anything off, from a 4 minute pop song through to tracks of this length, that in the good old days of vinyl being the only listening source, songs like this would have filled an entire side. Originally this was a demo song titled Snow, written before their first ever official album release. Restored and re-titled for a special EP project, and even though it harkens back to their very early embryonic days, it still has some stunning moments in it that has found its place in the hearts of many of their hardcore fans. And as such, it certainly earned its inclusion among this very varied set.
So after around an hour & 25 mins of music, there was a brief 15 minutes interval. After finding myself slowly melting in the audience, because this gig that took place during the back-end of our fabulous Indian Summer, I decided to watch the 2nd part of the show from a position further back, right along-side the sound & lighting consoles. That way I could hear the sound the way their sound engineer was hearing it too, and also get to properly take in the full lightshow, which had been brilliant throughout the concert so far. I made the right choice, as the 2nd set opener of Puzzle Box sounded outstanding, and the lightshow was so impressive. I love this song, yet performed live it took on an even greater intensity. What a song, and what a perfect choice to start this 2nd slot with.
This section of the show gave Haken the chance to include at least one song from every album they have released, and for the more recent ones they played a couple instead. These included 2 songs from their Affinity album, with the absolutely gorgeous sounding Earthrise, and their heavily 80’s influenced song, suitably titled 1985. Such great songs. And no Haken gig could ever be complete without the inclusion of The Cockroach King. This is such a good tune, very cooky & quirky, yet has remained a firm favourite with fans, and has pretty much been a regular set inclusion for over a decade now. My surprise of the night was how good their instrumental number Nil By Mouth, came across as a live piece. Not only did it sound truly huge at times, but also the accompanying lightshow was fairly spectacular.
Next up were a couple of songs from their prior studio album, the aptly titled Virus, which by bizarre coincidence was released mere months into the global covid pandemic. Featured here were The Strain, which flowed into an improvised musical section, with just the drummer & keyboardist playing. Then this was followed by the beautifully haunting Canary Yellow, which was probably the lightest sounding number included in this entire show, yet placed just right in the set to give it some light & shade dynamics. The 2nd set was concluded with a song from their debut album Aquarius, and even with it taken out of its context as part of a concept album, Drowning In The Flood still held its own as a superb track. I love how different Ross Jennings’ voice sounds during the opening verses of this song. He is such a fabulous vocalist.
And from one old song to another one, as Haken returned to the stage for an encore, to perform the title track from their 2nd album, Visions. This is another epic, lasting around 22 minutes in length. I must admit, that as a rapidly aging man, standing in a room for 4 hours plus can be very tiring. Fortunately for me, I really love this band, and their music kept me focused enough to ignore my aching back, and instead just enjoy the glorious sound & lighting wash over me like an invigorating remedy. Visions is such a marvellous number. Powerful, dramatic, massive choruses, very reminiscent at times of Dream Theater, and a lot more in line with traditional progressive music. Old-school Haken. It was a great way to end the full show by acknowledging their roots, and giving their long-term fans a fitting farewell to the evening.
2 month priors to this gig, I had little idea of who Haken were. Yet after a crash course in their music, and then getting to see this band as a live unit, I am completely besotted with them. Suddenly they have now become one of my very favourite bands, and I will be following them closely from now on. What a band, what a show, and the following evening in London was all recorded for a future live Blu-ray release. Keep your eyes peeled for that one when it lands, because I’m sure that it’s going to be magnificent.
[Photos courtesy of Floh Fish (Prog In Focus | Betreutes Proggen) and used with kind permission]
SETLIST
First Set
Taurus
Nightingale
The Alphabet Of Me
Sempiternal Beings
Beneath The White Rainbow
Island In The Clouds
Lovebite
Elephants Never Forget
Eyes Of Ebony
Crystalised
Second Set
Puzzle Box
Earthrise
Cockroach King
Nil By Mouth (instrumental)
1985
The Strain
Canary Yellow
Drowning In The Flood
~ Encore:
Visions
MUSICIANS
Ross Jennings – Lead Vocals
Richard Henshall – 8-String Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Ray Hearne – Drums, Backing Vocals
Charlie Griffiths – 8-String Guitar, Backing Vocals
Conner Green – 6-string Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Peter Jones – Keyboards, Backing Vocals
LINKS
Haken – Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube | X | Instagram