Live report HAKEN – “An Evening with Haken”, uebel & gefährlich, Hamburg – September 11th, 2024

Haken are bringing “An Evening With Haken” to Europe and tonight uebel & gefählich is hosting the English sextet. Haken started back in 20024 and have released numerous albums, of which “Fauna” is the latest, having been released in March 2023. Tonight is a special night, as the band has decided to play the album in its entirety live on stage, plus a second set that includes additional highlights from the band’s impressive discography.

Originally planned to happen at Markthalle, Hamburg the show was moved to the new location and it was a seated show. Thanks to a rather late start of the show it is a smooth ride with public transport and arriving in time is more than needed today as Haken start earlier than scheduled. Originally the show is supposed to start at 21.00 but “The Last Lullaby”-intro starts already at 20:45.

As the last fans hurry into the room, Haken starts with “An Evening With Haken”. The set is divided into two parts, the first of which contains the entire “Fauna” album. The sextet plays the songs in the original order, which means that we start with “Taurus” into this evening of finest progressive metal.

The start couldn’t have been chosen better, as the people immediately react with enthusiasm, whichmakes Haken even more thrilled than they already were. That Haken’s seventh studio album is full of highlights isn’t something new and also tonight every song shines brightly. The highlight of the first set is the breathtaking version of “Elephants Never Forget”, while next to the music the lyrics are so important, and the fans know these lyrics quite well, looking at the amount of people singing along with Ross Jennings.

The “Fauna” album ends with “Eyes of Ebony” and so does tonight’s performance of the album. The crowd at the sold-out uebel & gefährlich appreciated the effort and passion of the band, which consists of highly talented musicians. Visually, the “Fauna” set ends with Jennings taking off the “jungle pattern” shirt before kicking off “Crystallized”. The song, taken from the “Restoration” album, was the first in a series of tunes that reflect all phases of the band and whet the appetite for the second part of the show.

After a 15-minute break, the band returns to the stage and begins the second set with “Puzzle Box”, a song from the “Vektor” album. Haken caught my attention more than a decade ago with the release of “The Mountain”, so I’m happy to see the band performing “Cockroach King”, one of the many highlights in the band’s repertoire. The excited reaction of the audience shows that it’s more than just me who appreciates the song. Even while people sitting there is a lot of energy in the room. It might be that one or the other had some doubts about the show being a seated one. But it doesn’t take away the enthusiasm and allows everyone to listen to these prog metal anthems with ease.

The second part of “An Evening With Haken” ends with a classic from the debut album. “Drowning in the Flood” is the well-received closer of the evening, but wait, there is one more. Haken added the title track of the “Visions” album to the show as an encore. And since the song is more than just a four minute ear candy, the encore is almost a part three of the evening.

To sum up: “An Evening With Haken” is a show that focuses on the band and their creative output. There is no support band, because it is 100% Haken. In just over three hours, the band gives a great overview of their seven albums, with the latest being the one that gets the most attention. Progressive layers in music and still maintaining a good level of melody is a big element of Haken’s success formula, which obviously excited everybody tonight.