Haken, Auckland NZ, 2019

Haken

5th June 2019
Galatos, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Richard Myburgh.

English prog metal heroes Haken pulled into Auckland last night to play for a small but dedicated audience; some making the pilgrimage all the way from Dunedin to witness Haken’s latest recordings live.

Support band Pale Lady, had made a little bit of a journey themselves, the Wellington based alt pop-rock band braving the current tumultuous winter weather to bring their high energy set to the Auckland punters. For a four piece that only formed in late 2016, they have already hit a few auspicious milestones; taking out Battle of the Bands, releasing an EP (Told to Fold) and supporting more than one international band. On stage Pale Lady have a natural spark about them that is rather alluring, the band seemingly having as much fun playing as the audience did listening to them.

With a set list that included both recently released single ‘Fear the Fun’ – which many of the Haken fans would have appreciated with it’s prog metal overtones during the breakdown – and tracks from their aforementioned EP in the form of ‘Don’t Let This be Your Life’; Pale Lady presented a formative set that points to their steady musical growth. With accomplished dexterity being shown amongst the members when it comes to musical instruments, Pale Lady will soon be hitting their stride with impassioned clarity.

As the audience gathered closer to the stage, the lights dimmed and Hakens backdrop of the cover of their latest album Vector glowed eerily red, the darkness soon cracked apart by a rather amusing pre-recorded version of Rossini’s William Tell Overture. This was soon followed by a taped version of the Haken instrumental track ‘Clear’; shifting through the air it shrouded the band as they emerged on stage one by one to generous applause from the fans, the most enthusiastic cheers reserved for lead vocalist Ross Jennings himself.

For many – since their formation in 2007 – this is the first time that Haken have played in New Zealand, and while that is true for Haken as a band, for five of the members, Auckland would have been looking rather familiar considering it was less than two years ago that they had performed at The Studio located just down the road. While it may not have been their own material, they still dazzled with their outstanding musicianship, the five members joining the one and only Eric Gillette from the Neil Morse Band to support yet another progressive metal god; Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress – a musical event that many still talk about fondly today.

But last night the stage belonged to Haken’s music and despite being jet-lagged the London sextet were intent on impressing, their goal already achieved it seemed by the end of their opening track ‘The Good Doctor’ which thanks to fast fingered keyboardist Diego Tejeida was a hurricane of melodic vocals underpinning heavy and at times chaotic riffs.

Expectedly the set was comprised of much of their latest work Vector; the critically acclaimed album that is the shortest of their five studio offerings released (coming in at just over forty-five minutes) noted to be one of their heaviest as well. Continuing down the path of the new, Haken swiftly moved into ‘Puzzle Box’, a track that when witnessed live leaves one stunned at just how technically proficient each member of Haken is; the almost military precision of drummer Ray Hearne who also contributes some moving backing vocals throughout the night, soon giving way to Richard Henshall and Charlie Griffiths on guitar whose hands brought forth symphonies of sorcery as their fingers moved from gliding across the strings to tapping out intricate compositions.

‘A Cell Divides’ showcased Jennings vocals, the emotively animated vocalist – who at one point took centre stage in illuminated Kanye West style glasses – often reaching impressively high octaves. Never wanting to detract from his fellow members or crowd the stage, Jennings would often quietly leave altogether, which allowed for the audience to bask in the complexities of such instrumental tracks as ‘Nil by Mouth’, or get up close and personal with Tejeida as he would step forth with his skull encrusted keytar and tear out a solo, bassist Conner Green soon getting in on the act with some gnarly bass plucking himself.

Banter was kept to a minimum, the music instead speaking loud and clear; unlike most metal shows where jostling and mosh pits are the expected, many of last night’s fans stood almost motionless as they watched in awe, allowing the interconnected, serpentine tracks to wind their way around their cerebral cortices.

Haken didn’t neglect their earlier work either injecting two tracks from both 2013 album The Mountain (which included the delightfully and popular Monty Pythonesque ‘Cockroach King’) and 2016 album Affinity, ‘The Architect’ bringing the evening to a close. Well not quite, the crowd were far too invested to let go that easily, a called for encore answered with the epic ‘Crystallised’ from their 2018 L+1VE record.

Sadly, their cover of Toto’s ‘Africa’ which has been featuring on many of their set lists recently, didn’t make the grade last night; but there was no denying that Haken certainly did.

Were you there at Galatos for this prog metal showcase? Or have you seen Haken perform somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Haken Setlist:

1. The Good Doctor
2. Puzzle Box
3. A Cell Divides
4. Falling Back To Earth
5. Nil By Mouth
6. 1985
7. Veil
8. Cockroach King
9. The Architect
10. Crystallised [encore]

Pale Lady Setlist:

1. Culture Vulture
2. Never Gonna Be This Way Again
3. Fear The Fun
4. Tell Me Why
5. Don’t Let This Be Your Life
6. Told To Fold
7. Taken By The Toad

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