It’s been far too long since we saw Ville Valo in Sydney and tonight he’s back but as a solo artist and with his band VV.
The stage and the updated VV Heartagram is lit pink as the crowd cheers for the return of Ville Valo and haunting music plays setting the scene for what’s to come. The band arrive and here’s Ville. Starting the set with the opener from his solo album, ‘Echolocate Your Love’ this sounds great, excellent way to return and the big notes are hit early and this rocks out. The first HIM track of the night is up and it’s ‘Poison Girl’ and that was awesome to hear this one again as it’s been a long time and that won’t be the last of those I bet and he’s got the crowd sucked in now so let’s keep going. ‘The Foreverlost’ comes across amazing live man that was great, and I feel like we’re almost going to go one for one here as ‘The Funeral of Hearts’ keeps that catchy dark gloom going that we all love and are here for. The guitar rings in ‘Neon Noir’ the title track from his first solo outing, and hearing this rocked up live version is outstanding, and the bridge was perfect as it slowed the song down before building back up to finish. ‘Join Me In Death’ gets a huge cheer and they’re singing this one straight back to the stage. That was the biggest of the night so far and the smile on his face says it all.
‘Salute the Sanguine’ flips us back to Neon Noir and hearing these tracks live is a treat. The album itself is so good and that next level the songs are taken to in this room tonight just truly brings them out. Things get heavy for a minute with ‘The Kiss of Dawn’ and a killer guitar solo got the applause it deserved. I think that was my favourite so far. ‘Heartful Of Ghosts’ slows things down a little and then back to the HIM catalogue and ‘Killing Loneliness’ and it was as good as your expect. Our first taste of VV solo was the single ‘Loveletting’ and hearing it live for the first time here was awesome, as was ‘Buried Alive By Love’ which has always been a banger and it got even better tonight and easily got the biggest reaction of the night.
‘Baby Lecronarium’ is as catchy as all get up and what a groove, just shows you that while HIM may be no more that VV still has what it takes to make amazing music and tonight has been the proof. Then my favourite HIM track is up next ‘Right Here In My Arms’ and you can see it’s many others favourite here too. So good hearing this one again and the band nailed it and it takes you back and you remember just how great these songs were. ‘Run Away From The Sun’ from Neon Noir is a great choice as again the band just really bring this one out. Slowing things down for ‘When Love And Death Embrace’ and it’s so hauntingly beautiful and Ville’s voice all night has been as smooth as butter, he just has that tone that is mesmerizing. The band continue to play as Ville leaves the stage.
Returning to the stage and it’s with a bang, and that bang being ‘Soul on Fire’ and that was a perfect return for an encore. The almost 80’s sounding intro to ‘In Trenodia’ keeps that vibe rolling for this hook laden track. That was impressive and I think easily my favourite from Neon Noir. Then as that riff rings in for ‘Rip Off The Wings Of A Butterfly’ as expected it was brilliant. That had to be in the set and it was. Stoked. You could see by the sea of phones capturing this one that many had been waiting a long time to hear that one live again. Closing the set with the closer on Neon Noir ‘Vertigo Eyes’ and that was a great choice to perfectly bookend the album and the set. Ville says goodbye leaving the band to rock out the end of the song.
Welcome back VV, that was impressive, half HIM, half VV, and this twenty song set was just what we’d hoped for. It’s safe to say that the number of people I saw with Heartagram tattoos would’ve walked away happy as he gave us exactly what we needed on this Saturday night.
Essential Information
Venue: The Metro Theatre
Date: March 16, 2024
Presented by: ThePhonenix.au
Website: http://www.heartagram.com
Set List:
Echolocate Your Love
Poison Girl
The Foreverlost
The Funeral Of Hearts
Neon Noir
Join Me In Death
Salute The Sanguine
The Kiss Of Dawn
Heartful Of Ghosts
Killing Loneliness
Loveletting
Buried Alive By Love
Baby Lecronarium
Right Here In My Arms
Run Away From The Sun
When Love And Death Embrace
Soul On Fire
In Trenodia
Rip Out The Wings Of A Butterfly
Vertigo Eyes
