HIM Entertainment Art Congress Theater Chicago, Ill. October 25, 2007

The suspense was tangible while fans waited for HIM to take the stage. Nine o’clock came, then nine fifteen, and finally, somewhere just after nine-thirty, a low rumble floated from the speakers while white clouds of mist were expelled from tiny lamps with women’s legs on them. The band walked out on stage, sans singer, and began to play. Shortly after their intro, the dreamy Ville Valo took his place behind the microphone and filled the hall with his gorgeously smooth voice.

HIM played through several songs from their new album, such as “Bleed Well” and “The Kiss of Dawn,” but also included plenty of tracks from their old ones, like “Funeral of Hearts,” and “Soul on Fire.”

For those familiar with the band’s goings on, you might have heard about Ville’s recent visit to rehab to discontinue his drinking issues. Up until now, he’d been known for singing with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle in the other. This evening, Ville sported only the cigarette (which he chain smoked one after the other all night) and seemed a bit more reserved than usual. He stood fairly still the entire concert, barely leaving his microphone, and talked slightly less than normal.

During“Dead Lover’s Lane,” Ville at one point in his unbelievably deep range, started singing Amy Winehouse’s lyrics “I’m not going to rehab, I said no no,” thought it seemed barely anyone noticed.

HIM held the audience’s attention quite well throughout the show, even inspiring some girls to throw their clothing up onto the stage. A bra was in attendance before photographers even left the pit after the third song and when someone threw yet another article of clothing onto the stage half-way through their set, Ville said that he wouldn’t be picking it up because now a days, one never could be too careful.

Overall, HIM did an amazing balancing act of mixing songs from several of their albums, while still deftly promoting their latest offering. Fans seemed overall pleased with the strong performance (sans encore), and HIM is more than welcome to come through Chicago at any time.

Bleeding Through opened the night starting right on time at 8 p.m. although that’s probably the only thing that went smoothly for them. Playing song after song that sounded pretty much the same as the one before it, the band encouraged the audience to start a pit and body surf, despite the fact that the audience was filled with children under twelve years old. One guy took their advice and ended up falling on his ass not once but at least four times. Brilliant.

Comments

Ississ Written by Guest on 2007-10-31 21:13:20 AWESOME

Aries (in love ;p) Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 08:37:29 Oh my GOD THEY ARE AMAZING!Oh my god!

Scorpio86 Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 08:47:29 THEY are one of the BEST band in this fuckin' woooooorld!!!!

Ville, Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 09:06:00 you've got to go to rehab!   I don't (nor does anyone else) want you to die!  Take care of yourself, love.

shadowdoomed Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 09:35:24 This writer can't write for sh*t  Read Kerrang or metal hammer! if they are gonna say its crap or good they'll do it with humour and interest

Trakko Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 11:22:27 HIM is the Shit!! best band ever.

I love him... Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 13:00:49 It was the best concert....

RAERAE Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 13:06:19 The BEST Band Ever! I was there that night and it was FN AWESOME!!!! Ville is my love.

Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 13:45:06 As a professional journalist, I also agree that the writing is very pedestrian. But one must consider that HIM's fan base is very young (I took my 14-year-old sister to the concert) and, hence, the writer is probably also quite young and inexperienced.

Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 14:04:10 AMAZING show! =D

yeah... Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 16:35:52 young or not, she's spot on.    they still are one of the BEST Rock bands out there today.     I'm 41...I should know

luv it Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 17:33:03 mg i love them can´t wait until i see them in munich

Children? Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 18:29:27 Perhaps the Chicago audience was far different that the Minnesota one on Saturday nite? All I know is that I didn't see any young children there. Mid to late teens, lots of 20 somethings, and a few in the 30's (such as myself) I was right in the middle of the crowd and I bet that someone under 12 would have stuck out, but I can't recall seeing kids that young, so I just found that comment odd. Overall, a positive review, though.

HIM in Canada Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 19:07:49 On Nov 7th, HIM will be playing for the first time in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to a sold out show at the Event Center. We all look fwd to the show....Nov 8th however, will be a sad day.

HIM in Toronto Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 19:23:45 HIM performed in Toronto on Oct. 24 and were amazing; Ville had the audience in a sexual spell!!! However the evening was let down immensely by the opening act, Bleeding Through, which promoted violence in the audience. Him should have picked a better opener.

At the show Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 19:36:39 I was at this show. It was my third HIM concert. And yes, third times the charm. This was the best they have sounded so far. By the way, are you the girl that was talking to the three of us outside the venue. You told us that you would be up front taking pictures.

HIM in Edmonton Written by Guest on 2007-11-01 22:56:29 him is the greatest i'm from edmonton and i can't believe that they are coming to Canada let alone a little city like Edmonton. wahh if only i could go.. Ville's so gorgeous!

Does anyone know when HIM will be perfor Written by Guest on 2007-11-02 01:02:38

in Munich? Written by Guest on 2007-11-02 01:03:15

ville, human or angel? Written by Guest on 2007-11-02 10:07:44 title says it all

btw, i couldnt visit the concert :( Written by Guest on 2007-11-02 10:13:19 ....too much work and b.s. to deal with, from what i hear it must have been lots of fun ,   -lust n hell , Belthagoros

Written by Guest on 2007-11-03 16:08:33 i'm afraid of his neck . . . .

Review? Written by Guest on 2007-11-03 22:04:06 Yeah, confused about the focus on Ville's looks and how they didn't like Bleeding Through. My mistake, thought this was a concert review.

babble from a HIM follower Written by Guest on 2007-11-04 05:29:09 well well, I will be going to see HIM in Portland Oregon next week, and I just have to say, I personally hope that there will be more adults than childern. My 10 year old neice is dieing to go, and I think its great that the next generation will have better music taste than the one before mine(im 1But I want this to be an artistic experience not a teeny bopper convention on how hot valo is...and on bleeding through Im glad theyre opening. Theyre a departure from what HIM sounds like and the crowd will beable to shake off theyre jitters by headbanging to them. also, I hope Valo moves around or talks more than apparantly he did here. I want the mischevious Valo Ive seen on their dvd. But ill take whatever I get to beable to breathe the same air as Valo!  one more thing, I came here thru a link from heartagram.com, and I thought it would be more than it was, but i guess she was on the mark according to the commenters who were there. (and if ur a true HIM fan, dont insult their choices by dissing their choice of an opening act, if u didnt like them ok, but dont make other people think they wont be good when its just UR opinion.)

Written by Guest on 2007-11-04 09:47:28

ville is special Written by Guest on 2007-11-04 15:59:40 ville is a special guy! i don`t think i know someone better than him.i never saw a him concert {live} cause in my country they were once in 2006 and the show was in another city very far from mine so...but i saw the the concert on tv and it was pretty nice.but it was scarry seeing ville with the microphone in one hand and the bottle in the other.i`m happy cause he stopped drinking is for his health.i`m listening him for about 4 years and all the albums were great but venus doom is the strongest.their lyrics are very good and powerful.i like it very much.well i just wanna say that they are the best band and they discerve all the good things .GOD BLESS YOU{romania loves you}

Written by Guest on 2007-11-04 16:02:34 i love him they are the best band ever

Jim Written by Guest on 2007-11-04 19:20:31 I personaly started listening to HIM when I had my first crash... they awesome   I saw them live in Greece a few months ago but they didn't sung The Funeral of Hearts   damn I suppose this was silly   well I'm just a teenager hehe

at this show Written by Guest on 2007-11-06 02:07:24 hahaha, to anybody who was up in front. i was the one who threw the big ol' mammoth panties on stage.       anyways, that show was AMAZING. pretty sad that they didn't show an encore... but i'm happy, regardless.

Hl76 Written by Guest on 2007-11-07 16:53:38 It was very young crowd. Many parents hiding in the back. I was surrounded by children under the age of ten. I can remember the good ol days when bands played two shows: an all age and a later 21+.     Not a fan of Bleeding Through, and I agree with the author that all the songs sounded thesame to me. BAD idea for the singer to encourage crowd surfing & pits when most of the crowd was underage.     Sad that only 2700 tickets were sold.. Last time 4000.    No matter, I will still see HIM everytime they come to Chicago. Just wish it wasn't @ the Congress... ewww

I WAS THERE Written by Guest on 2007-11-10 20:29:10 This was one of the best concerts I've ever been to!!!! Drove down to see HIM again in St. Louis. They are awesome and can't wait for them to come back.

I was at congress theatre chicago Written by Guest on 2007-11-11 12:31:09 I was just wondering. After bleeding through played.  There was a ancient gothic sounding music being played as we all waited for Him to take stage.    Does anybody know whom that music is done by?  I would love if anybody can find out and pass that information to me. I thought it was killer

awesome concert Written by Guest on 2007-11-16 05:32:39 Although I didn't much care for Bleeding Through, they did put on a nice performance. The lead singer talked a lot to the crowd and that I liked.     HIM was amazing as usual. I love their new album and felt they did an amazing job with the set.     Ville was quite humorous making comments to Gas about ending sour on a note. Saying "You want to end a song with a bang. It's like gizzing on a girl's face after the fucking." I thought that was hilarious. Nice analogy Ville!    Am looking forward to seeing them again and again! Keep on rocking guys!

mery christmas Written by Guest on 2007-12-16 04:56:40 my sweethearts photos very dear very love smiles pictures I love it

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