Sure, for most people, the big music story of Sunday night was probably something Super Bowl related – the halftime show featuring Usher, Beyonce’s surprise announcement of a new album, or the Taylor Swift-iness of it all. But for the select few who gathered at Lee’s Palace last night, Sunday was all about Poland’s Vader, who brought their 40 Years of the Apocalypse anniversary tour to town in celebration of their four decade long career.
As he took to the stage, frontman Piotr Wiwczarek started things off with a questions for the crowd: “Are you ready for a trip to Hell and back .. tonight?” And while he may have promised some kind of hellish journey, truth be told, if this is what Hell is like, well, it seems like it might be kind of fun.
As Vader ran through a selection of songs from throughout their career, both the band and the fans seemed to be having a hell of a lot of fun with it – a mere 20 minutes into their set, Wiwczarek praised the crowd for being “so fucking crazy already.”
And let’s be real – “a trip to Hell and back” is probably a more apt description of the Kansas City Chiefs’ experience on the field for the first three quarters of the “Big Game” before turning it around in the end last night. That’s right, I’m just going to shoehorn as many football references as I can into this review and there’s nothing you can do about it. Flag on the play! Touchdown! Shoulder pads! Sports!
All in all, Vader put on an impressive performance, giving it their all and putting on quite the show. The band may have been going for 40 years now, but they’re still going strong – in concert, they play these songs with a vigor and an energy that matches that of their early years and would likely put a few of today’s younger acts to shame.