In the world of progressive metal, there is no band hotter than Haken. Their 2023 release Fauna topped most best-of lists in the genre and opened them up to a whole new audience. For the current leg of the tour, the British band is trying something new, An Evening With Haken sees the band playing in seated theaters with no opening act. The 3-hour show is divided into two parts, the first sees the band play Fauna in its entirety while the second sees the band touch on every album in their history. The new format works perfectly as the night was a triumph for the band.
Beginning right on time, the band took the stage to “Taurus” the opening track from Fauna. Right from the beginning the band commands your attention. While the musicians, Richard Henshall and Charles Griffiths on guitar, Raymond Hearne on drums, Connor Green on bass, and Peter Jones on keys, are all masters of their craft, all are dressed in dark colors and remain mainly in their spots. Vocalist Ross Jennings, however, dressed in a splash of color simply owns the stage with his presence. Jennings has one of the great voices in progressive music and puts everything he has into every song.
As the band played through Fauna, it became clear why it is considered one of the best prog records of the year. The songs took on a new life on stage, plus with perfectly mixed sound you were able to hear every note clearly, which added to the depth of the songs. After the fan-favorite “The Alphabet of Me”, the band launched into, for me, one of the highlights of the night, “Sempiternal Beings”. While the song is fantastic on the record, seeing it played live lifts the track into the upper echelon of prog epics.
The Fauna portion of the night closed with the emotional “Eyes of Ebony” and then the band through in a bonus, “Crystallised” from the 2014 “Restoration” EP. This track served as a preview for the second half of the night by showing just how deep the band would dig into its catalog. Throughout the Fauna portion, there was no crowd interaction. Jennings did not address the crowd at all until the end of the set to let everyone know they’d be back after a short break.
Set 2 began with the 2018 track “Puzzle Box”. The second half felt much looser than the first. some songs featured extended solos and really let the band shine. One of the highlights of set two is “The Strain” from 2020’s Virus which, similar to the record, morphed into the wonderful “Canary Yellow”, both songs making their live debut on this tour. The second set was a perfect choice of songs by the band. It featured enough rare songs so that the die-hard fans would love the selections, but also provided a perfect introduction to all of their studio records for fans just discovering the band with Fauna.
Fauna saw Haken take a huge step forward musically, and this leg of the tour sees them take a major step forward in their development as a band. Haken has shown that they belong in the same conversation as a band like Dream Theater and they have shown that they have outgrown the club scene and belong in theaters. They have the catalog and ability to bring their amazing stage show to seated theaters where they can take advantage of the better sound and use their full, stunning light show. Haken has worked themselves to the top of the prog metal genre and I can’t wait to see what they do next.
