As old but gold law says metalheads never loved goths and opposite. An explanation for it is unknown because people think we often go together in one package but that is not true. I think that’s because some kind of fake darkness and arrogant attitude goths have metalheads can’t stand, problems are many but about this in some other review. After this night I have a good scenario for some next part of The Blade or remake of The Crow. Many situations that resemble scenarios for every movie in the early 00s happened last night in Dom omladine Beograda at a VilleValo concert. I am surprised on many levels. To be clear, I don’t listen to HIM, to me their music is too soft and too romantic. I could never stand those songs made for a proposal party so, not my cup of tea. Everything sounds the same as I listen to one song for hours.
Series of unpredictable situations are normal for retrograde Mercury faze so our colleague from the crew unfortunately couldn’t go, rest of the crew is invading European cities with Serbian genes and culture, so everything fell on my head. Something I would never imagine, myself between gothic black cloaks and corsets at a VV concert. Every teenage goth girl wet dream and unreachable beauty for boys.
Event was provided by MM concert and of course it started just in time. Support band/duo Zetra gave us an impressive performance. From cold rainy London, they hit us back to the 90s with their appearance and music. Synth-pop metal with a nostalgic atmosphere sound like they made the soundtrack for the movie Queen of the Damned, many scenes were the same. Clothes, corpse paint, jewellery, even the fabric of their cloaks reminded me of that movie. Maybe they ran away from some casting, I don’t know. Audience really was enchanted by them. I am not really a great fan of synth, but I see Zetra as part of the playlist in many goth clubs in Europe. After this metal The Cure put a spell on us, the main star came to break the stage.
Amount of serotonin and estrogen mixed in the air exploded when Ville Valo showed up. Maybe not in his 20s, too skinny and static his appearance made that Tuesday night special for many. For those ladies in white sneakers who listened to this in high school and middle aged metalcore guys this was really like a dream. People really were having fun and that’s only important. I am impressed by the colorised audience from 15 to 55 years old, every colour, fashion profile even people I could never think they listen to HIM were there like hard fans. When Ville Valo put his well-known charming smile on face, I even forgot why I don’t love this band. His performance was really static but the atmosphere he is making is exactly the same as in HIM official videos in the 00s. Coloured in dark blue, neon, black, too powerful for that time.
The dance of vampires in the audience, the beauty of gothic girls like in their videos, makeup, fashion everything was exactly like someone put me in a time machine to 2003. Charming! Next to his shaded beauty I listened to music a little bit. Two songs I knew were on a list, I am proud I recognized them. We all know that’s Wings of Butterfly and Right Here In My Arms of course. A part of every burned CD we got to listen to when we began with metal music from older metalheads. I am not sure how much HIM is metal but, you get me. It’s not fair to tell you other songs I heard because I simply didn’t know them. If there wasn’t our photographer Strahinja Rupnjak I would be lost, trust me. Night coloured in neon with two back on-stage moments kept the Belgrade audience in an excellent mood. Ville greeted us like a gentleman from the gallery and shaded like a vampire in the night. I expected some proposals in goth style in the end but that didn’t happen. Anyway, I don’t know why but obviously this should happen to me to widen my horizons. In the end I can brag to my female friends that I saw Ville Valo two meters from me, who cares.
Photos by: Strahinja Rupnjak
