This past Sunday, Swedish heavy metal band, In Flames return to Dallas in support of their latest release Sounds of a Playground Fading with Trivium, Veil the Maya, and Kyng along for the ride. Each of the opening bands did a pretty decent job warming up the crowd, but for me, this night was all about finally seeing In Flames after gaining knowledge of them in 2003. Well that's kind of misleading, I did see them at Ozzfest in 2005 on the side stage, but seeing a band in the parking lot of an amplitheater with crappy sound and a 20 minute set really doesn't count as seeing them. I digress.

The normally comfortable stage at the Granada was quickly reduced to being only about 8 foot deep with all the gear the guys brought with them. The lighting rigs flanking the drum riser seemed to be more appropriate for a massive arena instead of the nice quaint theater in which they were placed. But they created an amazing wash of colors (mostly blue) behind the band that was simple and clean, which just like their sound, is exactly what helps set In Flames apart from other metal bands.

Their set was precise mix of songs spanning their 12 year career, including a few surprises here and there. But crowd favorites

The Quiet Place, Deliver Us,

and my personal favorite

Cloud Connected

helped elevate the night into a frenzy. Until the final song of the evening

Take This Life

pushed everyone over the edge.

The one thing I walked away with was how cool the band was. During a technical malfunction midway through the set, Anders joked with the crowd and poked fun at his bandmates in his strongly Swe-English dialect. This is a band that plays European summer festivals in front of 100,000+ people every year, and for the 800 or so people at the Granada, they acted like it was their best show ever. I love when European bands totally embrace the American audience.

After coming off of seeing 5 shows in one week, including Tool the night before, In Flames took home first prize in my book.

Setlist: