Salt Lake City, UT (USA) /24.05.2006/
www.slccglobelink.com

"H.I.M. Makes Females Go Wild"

PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1 Shooting out from the back of the standing space, a stark blue spotlight lit up the 12-foot tall Heartagram on the banner hanging onstage, which ignited even more shrieks from the clamoring female half of the group's fan base.

Gas Lipstick and Burton Emmerson ventured to their positions along with Mige Amour who trekked his bass to stage left while a blonde, dreadlocked Linde carried his axe to stage right. Once all comfortable in their spots, the onstage band members started playing an ethereal, instrumental intro to hail the arrival of the iconic, world-worshiped front man, Ville Valo.

Valo then signaled the band to begin the high-energy, precisely played and continuously entertaining set.

The Finland natives proved their set diverse, as they touched on songs from several of their six albums. H.I.M. played the bulk of their set from 2004-released "Dark Light," with songs such as "Rip off the Wings of a Butterfly," "Behind the Crimson" and "Under the Rose." The band also reiterated "Razorblade Kiss" and "Right Here In These Arms" from "Razorblade Romance."

As their performance progressed, female fans began tossing their own bras onstage, somehow as to say thank you to Valo for gracing them with his sex appeal. After each bra was thrown, Valo would simply hold it up for the crowd to see and smile, without ceasing his rangeful and highly trained vocal stylings, then drape the undergarment over his microphone stand.

But the bra tossing did not go unrequited, as a progressively drunker Valo returned the favor by throwing the female fans both verbal and gestured sexual innuendos.

The many intoxication-induced high points of the show didn't stop there. After finishing off two cups of beer and the song "Buried Alive by Love," an antsy Valo candidly told the crowd that he needed to exit the stage before they were "buried alive by piss" and ran off; his band mates taking this as a cue to also exit the stage.

And even though the Congo music turned on again, signaling the end of the show, it was soon shut off when all the band members leaped back onto the stage and into position to play an encore.

After the band assembled, Valo gave a speech about the founding fathers of hard rock and how much they influenced H.I.M. The band's idolized founding fathers turned out to be Black Sabbath, of whom H.I.M. then played a cover.

During the song, which was Black Sabbath's infamous anthem of the same name, Valo had the crowd repeat after him the phrase "Black Sabbath saved my life." Valo then finished off the song with a glass-breaking scream and after thanking the crowd again, he and the remaining four reluctantly left the stage, taking time to individually wave and nod to fans.

While they were part grateful to leave the rectangular inferno and part disinclined to leave behind a band so revered, the sweaty, exhausted audience that filed slowly out of the doors couldn't deny the fact that H.I.M.'s first trip to Salt Lake had left them with a greater appreciation for the individuals behind the music; and a greater respect for their bra-stealing magnetism.

Amanda Chamberlain