Dalhalla Last Night

[u/intraspeculator]

Me and my mate travelled all the way to Dalhalla from London for the gig last night and the in my opinion sound mix was awful. If I was opeth I’d be livid with their front of house team.

I know it wasn’t the venue because Katatonia and Candlemass sounded amazing.

The biggest problem was the drums were not mixed properly. There was no power to the bass drum at all but the toms, and especially the floor tom was super loud in the mix so all the fills sounded completely uneven.

Pretty disappointed but still had a great time.

[u/Omnitoid]

This sounds very strange to me.

Opeth sounded very great overall. Detailed and powerful. The bassdrum not sounding powerful? The freaking bassdrum (or whatever its called) was bombing me in the chest entire set. Almost too powerful. They have such a big variety of songs, has to be hard to mix and get right. But they kind of did. Very good sound.

Candlemass sounded awesome. Some of the clearest heaviest guitars i have heard.

Katatonia on the other hand, did not sound that good to me. A bit messy muddy unclear sound. Except the guitar solos and drums. That was really good.

My experience and opinion is completely opposite of yours.

I was sitting in the middle of the entire arena.

Im not saying you are wrong or lying, its your opinion and experience. It can differ very much depending on where you sit, ear protection quality, etc.

Overall, an amazing evening there, unforgettable.

[u/throughalfanoir]

If you guys were the ones in row 26ish right side complaining through the whole show the entire time (and being very disrespectful about the openers too), I would say that if you are so picky about the mix then why sit on the side of the venue where in most places (Dalhalla is actually super even with its sound but that's not a given) have worse sound?

Personally, I think the show sounded great, all 3 bands

[u/Murky-Material-1065 → u/throughalfanoir]

It was an amazing night but some of the people there were just allergic to fun i swear

[u/FlexibleHead]

If Katatonia sounded amazing live then something must have been WAY off.

[u/pubstompmepls → u/FlexibleHead]

Hahaha

Yeah, Katatonia are generally very muddy sounding

[u/bravodeboer → u/FlexibleHead]

Saw Katatonia playing at a festival in 2023, probably the worst sound I had ever heard at any concert ever. It was so bad that I genuinely couldn't recognize 90% of the songs they were playing.

And this was a case of them actually having a soundcheck before the performance. Could not imagine how horrific Katatonia must sound at festivals that don't allow bands to soundcheck before shows.

[u/Possible_Formal_1877 → u/FlexibleHead]

😂 for sure, not the best sounding band live. At least this time Jonas hit most of the notes. I have seen them live when that was NOT the case.

[u/Possible_Formal_1877]

Really? Maybe it depends on where you sat. The drums were slightly weak, but not too bad IMHO.

[u/intraspeculator → u/Possible_Formal_1877]

I don’t think so because the support bands both sounded great.

[u/cyanopsis → u/intraspeculator]

I think I know what you mean and I think that's they way they want it. The sound is clear and everything but lacks in power. Candlemass is probably a dream to engineer because of their simplistic approach and heavy riffing, but the complexity of Opeth is on another dimension. I had the same thought two years ago at another venue but it didn't take away anything from the experience.

[u/Automatic-Sense-7185]

I thought exactly the same at the Piece Hall gig in Halifax a few weeks ago. Katatonia and Paradise Lost sounded great but I thought Opeth's first two songs, particularly the drums, were really thin sounding. The remainder was stellar though so assume they adjusted something!

[u/zwade7270]

Outdoor acoustics are awkward, and depend on a lot of shit like where youre sitting, where the winds blowing, etc. Red Rocks in CO is exactly the same way. Can be awesome, or awful.

[u/ArbyLG → u/zwade7270]

Yep, I was sitting front middle in the Red Rocks show and was blown away by the performance, especially with how cold and windy it was.

My friends sitting in the back rows thought it sounded like refried buns.

[u/AbsorbedPit]

I strongly disagree! They sonded very crisp and clear, and the drums were very present (and the kicks not overpowering as is often the case with metal bands)

[u/mr_sp0kk80]

I saw all three acts yesterday, Katatonia had a nice sound, Candlemass had EPIC sound but unfortunately Opeth was weak, drums where all over the place (toms too loud, snare "snapping" and guitar solos where TOO loud. A great show non the less, but a pity with the sound since Dalhalla is famous for good acoustics. PS: I sat in the same seat all night.

[u/intraspeculator → u/mr_sp0kk80]

Yes! Exactly.

[u/tommyland666]

I sat a bit more to the right and in the middle and it sounded great where I was.
The volume was definitely lower overall compared to Katatonia and Candlemass but I was in awe of Waltteri drumming and it definitely sounded good where i was.

[u/milsonian]

Sounded great to me near the center, near perfect mix. Same for Candlemass. Katatonia was muddier but likely by design... For me it was a legendary show throughout.

[u/erje2]

Katatonia sounded like dogshit to me. I was very disappointed with the sound. But both Candlemass and Opeth sounded great in my opinion. Row 39 right side.

[u/Boring-Mountain]

Bass overdone, drowning the acoustics, taking half the fun out of the concert 

[u/Agent4777]

The same setlist every show. I’d be pissed if I was following them to multiple shows.

[u/cyanopsis → u/Agent4777]

You'd be pretty pissed with most touring bands then.

[u/Migeil → u/Agent4777]

The same setlist in the same tour is fine. The issue with Opeth is they hardly change their setlist between tours.

[u/Omnitoid → u/Migeil]

Not true. I saw them 2025 TLWAT European tour. There were a bunch of songs that they changed now in Dalhalla and this tour.

This is also a TLWAT tour but, not part of the same one last year.

Examples 2025 that were NOT played yesturday in Dalhalla:

Masters apprentices Leaper affinity In my time of need Häxprocess Night and the silent water Ghost of perdition A story never told Sorceress

In Dalhalla, Instead of those we got these songs:

Heart in hand Godheads lament Devils Orchard Windowpane Demon of the fall Grand conjuration Drapery falls Hex omega

(This is not the entire set lists)

This is a very different. So 8 songs that i did not hear when i saw them play the time before.

[u/Sea-Anything-9749 → u/Agent4777]

I saw Opeth few weeks ago in the Dublin concert that happened in a theater, it was amazing because there was only seats, no standing, and the seat I got was good enough, I could see everything. I was yesterday at Dalhalla and the biggest thing was the place, the most beautiful place for a gig I’ve been. The setlist of this tour is very weak in my opinion. only Godheads Lament is the song I wouldn’t change.

[u/Agent4777 → u/Sea-Anything-9749]

I was at the Dublin show too, I was right at the front and I agree the setlist was not to my liking but loved it all the same. The bass drum was very loud where I was sitting.

[u/Sea-Anything-9749 → u/Agent4777]

In general the Dublin concert was better in technical terms, the Dalhalla for me was all about the place

[u/blodyn__tatws]

I'll be sure to tell their FoH. He's my boyfriend.

[u/Arthusamakh]

From where I was standing in the back section in Bologna mid july the keyboard mix was quite bad. Way too low. And something else was wrong too but I can't remember what. And I moved around quite a bit in the back, in all directions. Quite a bummer for all the keyboard heavy tunes.