STUDIO GRÖNDAHL, SWEDEN
Katatonia should be touring their 11th album, City Burials, right now. Released following a hiatus they didn’t know if they’d return from, it would have been a triumph for that reason alone, even if it weren’t for its breathtaking melancholic brilliance. Tonight the Swedes are doing the next best thing - a lockdown live-stream, at Sweden’s Studio Gröndahl.
As they open with Buildings, we see a room bisected by roving lights and fluorescent tubes, members spaced apart. For a band who aren’t grandstanding rockstar types, they look cool. Following a comfortingly familiar Teargas, Serein and Deliberation, Jonas Renkse finally addresses the audience. “Hello, we can’t hear anyone, but we know you’re there,” he says softly. “We are kind of nervous.I hope it’s sounding alright, wherever you are.” The sound, by longtime collaborator David Castillo, is thrillingly crisp.