I had the opportunity to review Evergrey’s 2019 release The Atlantic earlier this year. The only U.S. date to have been announced early on was ProgPower USA in Atlanta Georgia. I held out hope to see these guys live. My hope came through. This past Friday, I not only got to see an amazing show from Evergrey, I also had the opportunity to interview a member of the band.
A little backstory regarding the interview. I was all prepped and arrived at their tour bus at the agreed upon time. I studied up on each of the members. I hadn’t been told who I would be interviewing, just to show up at the prescribed time. When the door opened, a member of the band calling himself Bjorn answered the door. There was NO Bjorn listed as being in the band. I couldn’t remember what each member looked like with the exception of Thomas. I went with it and asked the questions I had prepared. The interview turned out quite insightful and I thoroughly enjoyed my time.
Sometime after the interview I took my friend and introduced him to Ashleigh, lead singer of Tulip. I had interviewed her some time before their set. I explained I had interviewed a Bjorn but didn’t even know who he was. She chuckled and said, “that’s Henrik, he’s known as a practical joker.” He did the same thing to her when she was first introduced. We all laughed and I went on my way purchasing merch from Tulip and Evergrey (support bands!).
When I reviewed The Atlantic I found the music mesmerizing. There were many peaks and valleys. That was my first time hearing Evergrey. I have since purchased more albums from their catalog (you should too). The show that night was nothing less than mesmerizing. Tom Englund (lead singer, guitarist) commanded the stage in a subtle yet powerful way. He was accompanied by Rikard Zander (Keys), Johan Niemann (bass), Jonas Ekdahl (drums) and Henrik Danhage (bass). The majority of the set was made up of songs from their recent release as well as mixed in with others throughout their catalog.
In short, you better not miss your chance to see these guys live. They gained new fans that night and commanded the respect as deserved by musicians of this caliber!
