HIM – HOB – 4/24/10

Last night HIM hit Las Vegas’ HOB stage on their Screamworks tour. Ville Valo led his band through a red hot new song, “Like St. Valentine” to open the set. This first single, from their Screamworks CD, got the fans into a frenzy. An older song, “Right Here in my Arms” featured a nice guitar solo by Linde. The fans sang along to every word and the screams between songs were deafening. The crowd grew louder still, as the band launched into their big hit, “Wings of a Butterfly.” Ville sounded better than ever since he was not lighting up a cigarette for every song he sang. He has been reported to have quit which was a good idea for him as his voice never cracked as he hit major highs and baritone like lows. I never knew this man to be this good of a singer except on CDs in the past.

“Love the Hardest” kept these fanatics on their feet for this love metal band. The rhythm section of Gas and Mige kicked it up on the “Kiss of Dawn”. The roar of the crowd increased on “Join Me” because all we wanted to do is join our heroes. The passion rolled on with a super energized version of “Heart Killer”.

It was great to hear the band do the Chris Isaak classic, “Wicked Game” and keyboardist Burton was a highlight of this show, especially giving the HIM treatment to "Wicked Game", which included a Black Sabbath tease. “Babl” flowed smoothly into a killer version of “Disarm Me” as their loyal following grew louder.

HIM kept up the intensity on “Poison Girl” but these fans couldn’t get enough. “Killing Loneliness” almost brought the House of Blues crashing to the ground. The band tore it up one more time on “Katherine Wheel”, my fave off the new CD. Valo did a little bit of Neil Diamond’s “Solitary Man” before HIM crushed it’s fans with set closer “The Funeral of Hearts”.

The group returned quickly as the crowds chanting would not subside. They did another great job with Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”. The fans were exhausted and happy as they headed out of the show but they still wanted “more, more, more”…