In Flames may not be the draw in this country that they are over on the continent, but even by their standards this is an intimate run of dates. They have gone for small venues in towns that they don’t usually visit and the faithful have rewarded them by selling out every date. This ‘up close and personal” tour was meant to happen two years ago, but you know what got in the way. Rather than chuck it under the bus, In Flames have honoured their commitment and these shows are on.

Defects are first on, and they bring all the feels. They are a hybrid band, sort of half supergroup half side project, but what they do have is emotional resonance in abundance. Tony Maue is usually the guitarist in Raven Age, but here he has swapped his axe for a mike and is intent on pouring out his sorrows to all that will listen. His honesty and integrity manage to rapidly win over the audience, and he seals the deal with an impassioned “fuck lockdown” chant that is both cathartic and communal. Tony seems to revel in this new role and spends most of the set at the barrier interacting with the highly responsive crowd. This is metal but it is fragile and vulnerable, and it is its vulnerability that really strikes a chord with the crowd. Deeply personal and bathed in stunning melonic melodies, there is definitely something here worth raving about.

You know that a support act has made a mark when they are the only subject of note in the bar queue at the end of their set. Vexed really are the surprise package here tonight. Surprise in how good they are but also surprise in how undeniably heavy they are. They may describe themselves as prog metal but my still ringing ears can assert that the emphasis is very much on the metal. Frontperson Megan Targett is an absolute powerhouse. She bounds around the stage like some caged animal looking desperately for an escape route and her vocals range from guttural screams to tight taut hip-hop delivery. What Vexed seem to be doing is taking the technicality and inventiveness of Prog but then upping the coarse brutality. Their riffs are brittle and jagged which means that the prog elements provide ominous atmospherics, as opposed to in any way softening the blows. It is in the final moments of their set where they really throw down their gauntlet. They tease the most almighty of breakdowns and when they are assured that we are indeed ready, they bring down the most heavy, caustic and crushing of crescendo that makes light fittings rattle all over the shop. Stunning.

As the roadies set up for In Flames, a fevered expectation starts to build in the crowd. They may not get the dues they deserve in this country, but they still have a committed following and most of that following that live within two hours travel time of Liverpool are here tonight. The lights dim, the crowd roars, the band wander on … and immediately it is obvious that something (or more accurately someone) is missing. Anders Fridén goes straight to the mike and tackles the elephant that isn’t in the room. Björn Gelottewas rushed to hospital earlier in the day and is missing in action (whatever it was wasn’t serious and he is back in situate for the London show). Anders states that things are going to be a little different this evening but that they will soldier on, which invokes a massive cheer from the assembled throng.

Dealing with the issue straight on, Bjorn’s dominating guitar work is conspicuous by its absence. In Fames’ style may have evolved massively over the last thirty years but a central component has always been the melodic interaction and entwinement of the two contrasting guitar sounds. They wrap around each other, sometimes conflicting and sometimes complimenting but always enhancing the overall sound. Tonight, Chris Broderick's rhythm guitar sounds lonesome, like it is bemoaning the absence of its partner in crime. 

However, In Flames have been doing this for too long and are too much the consummate professionals to let the small matter of a missing member put them off their stride. They make up for Bjorn’s absence by ratcheting the energy levels up to maximum and hurtling through their set at a breakneck speed. From start to finish they are on meticulous form and prove beyond doubt why they are regard as one of the most important and influential metal bands of the last thirty years. There are those that will scoff that In Flames have shifted their sound to keep up with metal’s various zeitgeists. However, the reserve is true as tonight’s set list proves that In Flames, like some shadowy Svengali, has been instrumental in shaping metal’s direction over the years.

We get tracks from across their twenty-eight-year recorded history, with stops at all but two of their albums. ‘Behind Space’ from their debut “Lunar Strain” and ‘Graveland’ from its follow up “The Jester Race”, prove how influential they were in setting the Gothenburg Sound that has defined metal since the late nineties. Whilst ‘Cloud Connected’ from “Rise Reroute” shows how they set the blue-print for Alt-Metal and ‘Where the Dead Ships Dwell’ from “The Sound of Playground Fading” shows how they yet again re-invented themselves at the start of last decade, combining melo-death with modern synth sounds. Basically, when metal has gone through a re-invention, In Flames have been at the heart of it and tonight, whilst they are playing to the converted, they nevertheless show how important they continue to be.

I Am Above’ from their most recent record closes the night and is dedicated to Taylor Hawkins from the Foo’s. There are calls for the classic ‘Take This Life’, which has ended the set on all the other UK shows, but its tight, taut twin guitar strut seems a step to far and with a cryptic note about being back later in the year they make their farewells and don’t return. However, nobody feels short-changed as In Flames have proved that even with one hand tied behind the back, they are still the most formidable of live acts. Tonight, they had their backs to the wall and pulled triumph from the jaws of adversity. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.