Riverside aren’t just progressive, they’re radical: aiming to shatter the boundaries rather than merely push them. Or at least, that was the impression I’m left with after seeing them for the first time tonight at Camden’s lavish Koko venue, deep into the Polish band’s ID. Entity UK Tour. But first, French art-metallers Klone are joining them as “special guests” – and playing a special acoustic set no less.
And what a superb performance it turns out to be. This is a “proper” unplugged set, with acoustic fretless bass and stripped-back drum kit, performed within the decadent red and gold façade of a former theatre. Klone’s set-list spans their career, with most songs from 2015’s Here Comes the Sun, 2019’s Le Grande Voyage, and 2023’s Meanwhile. Tracks like ‘Sealed’ and ‘Gone Up in Flames’ translate effortlessly to the acoustic medium, with their twinkling, intertwined chords sounding brighter and more beautiful, while the atmospheric heaviness of the original electric guitar riffs achieves a similar heaviness unplugged. Guillaume’s vocals soar right through the crowd: very clear and vivid, but segueing into gritty, harsh cries with a truly impressive ease and fluidity.
Klone • KOKO, London • Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland
Having transformed Bjork’s already rather raucous song ‘Army of Me’ into an astonishingly heavy quasi-industrial stomp, Klone have previous in the covers department. And the crowd goes mad when they launch into the distinctive opening chords of Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun’: it’s like watching a mythical VHS of MTV Unplugged that someone dusted off from an archive. This is a truly faithful cover, conveying the power and majesty of the original, with a little Klone twist. Closing with the delicate, yearning track ‘Yonder’ – its chugging heavy crescendo rendered as a glorious acoustic dirge – Klone set a very high standard for tonight’s show. The only comparable show I’ve seen would be Amenra’s acoustic set at the Roadburn Festival in 2016, complete with Tool cover: in both cases, I almost prefer their unplugged guise. And I’m sure that all the crowd, like myself, are hoping they recorded this one for a special release.
Performing under a simple if dramatic backdrop of five, glowing octagons, ‘#Addicted’ from Love, Fear and the Time Machine (2015) makes for a lighter opener for Riverside, then launching straight into the older, more brooding ‘O2 Panic Room’. At some point, that backdrop gets more elaborate as a laser light show is unveiled, with green beams fanning out over us.
Riverside • KOKO. London • Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland
One thing that immediately stands out with Riverside’s sound is the prominence of their keyboards, sometimes adding extra depth, harmony and layering, and sometimes taking the lead. While it’s the bass that’s most distinctive on ‘Landmine Blast’, a clear standout from ID. Entity, the live version showcases how great it sounds when the keys harmonise, first with the bass – how heavy that groove sounds – and later with the vocals.
“People often compare us to bands like Dream Theater,” Riverside’s frontman Mariusz comments, “and we don’t see that as a compliment.” Riverside supported Petrucci, Portnoy and co. back in 2007, so perhaps it’s a controversial opinion. While Mariusz has his tongue in his cheek, in one of his many hilarious addresses to the crowd, he does make a serious point: arguing against the self-indulgence of bands who “play for themselves”, through Riverside’s live strategy of giving their audiences the songs they want to hear, but with new and unexpected versions and additions. And that’s what we get with ‘Post Truth’ from ID. Entity, where Mariusz sets up a little game: spot which extract from another song we’ve spliced in. Well, if I failed at this game, it was at least because I was lost in the complex twists and turns of the song – encoiled in its serpentine riffs, bludgeoned by its staccato rhythms, and spaced out by its cosmic synths. The piano coda is as haunting and melancholy live as it is on record.
Riverside • KOKO. London • Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland
One of my favourite parts of the set is also the heaviest: taken from 2009’s Anno Domini High Definition, ‘Egoist Hedonist’ showcases Riverside at their most unhinged and experimental. Trust me: the combination of slap bass matching machine-gun rhythms with expansive synth underneath is truly glorious. ‘Friend or Foe?’ makes for a dramatic set-closer. . . but it isn’t really the end, of course, and Riverside return for a rapturous encore of ‘Self-Aware’ and ‘Conceiving You’.
Tonight demonstrates that Riverside aren’t just another “prog” band: alongside Klone, they play music that can be radically intelligent and complex, dark and politically astute, yet coming into its own in the live environment by maintaining a spirit of energetic enjoyment and – dare I say it – fun.
