With the Thanksgiving season over, I trudged out feeling mighty fat on a Saturday night to Hard Rock Live to see one of my all time favorite bands, H.I.M. Maybe I can work off some of those turkey and stuffing calories at the show…hmmmm…jamming out might be a good workout.

Having recently reviewed the bands latest CD Venus Doom, I was somewhat skeptical at what I would find at their live show this time around. Thankfully, I wasn’t let down by any stretch of the imagination. The set list was chalked full of fan favorites like “Wings of A Butterfly,” “Buried Alive by Love, “Killing Loneliness,” “Sweet 666,” “Poison Girl” and “Join Me.” The mix of old and new material was just enough to whet the appetite of a seasoned H.I.M. fan who may not yet have fallen in love with the guy’s latest release. It definitely translates better live than recorded if you ask me. There were bursts of brilliance among a few of the newer songs but all in all, they mostly blended into the show while the anticipation level grew for the old favorites. 

Ville Valo’s voice was tuned up nicely and perfectly pitched throughout their performance. His look this time around saw him starting out in a grey blazer and then stripping his wardrobe later in the set to the cheer of many darkly-clad girls. His smile gives him away every time. At this show, he grinned and laughed while a pair of young women engaged Valo with a showing of “the Twins.” Smoking like a chimney, he continued to enchant the audience with his own brand of mystery.

The rest of the band too looked and sounded amazing. Drummer Gas seems to have become a much healthier man in the past year. I may be wrong, but he appears to have lost a great deal of weight and has toned up considerably. Way to go Gas! His skill behind the kit remains one of the driving forces of H.I.M.’s live show.  

With my adventure through the Venus Doom album and live show complete, I am now looking forward to the next chapter in the H.I.M. odyssey.

-Christine Herb