Being that it’s only February, it’s far too early to label any one show the “best” or “worst” of 2024. However, I can safely brand this past weekend’s Haken show at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, Illinois as the most ambitious live musical event of 2024. Roughly halfway into their An Evening With Haken Tour (these non-opening act affairs being the dream of any true progressive act), the UK progressive metal powerhouse promised their latest album, Fauna, in full “and a whole lot more”. And boy, did they deliver and then some.
While the Arcada is primarily known for hosting classic acts of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, Haken had the equally classic venue at near capacity with a crowd of primarily new school prog fans. When promoter Ron Onesti introduced the band, he asked how many were attending the Arcada for the first time. At least half of the audience’s hands went up. Indeed, Haken are one of the most modern acts to grace the Arcada stage thus far, and yet they felt right at home playing the same hallowed ground as acts like Yes, Nektar, Kansas, and a slew of other classic prog acts who played before them.
As promised, the first half of the show saw Haken run through their latest studio album, Fauna. This multi-genre monolith took on a whole new meaning when being brought to life onstage. From the colossal soundscape of “The Alphabet of Me” to the feelgood ’80s prog AOR singalong of “Lovebite”, the crowd stood at attention, fully immersed in the visual and audio majesty being presented before their eyes and ears. The band’s ability to pack multiple sounds and styles into one album, hell, sometimes even within a single song, is damn near untouchable, especially in a live capacity.
After a brief 15 minute intermission, the band took the stage for the “and more” part of the evening. With such a vast catalog to choose from, Haken took the high road, opting to include at least one song from every album they’ve released thus far. Diehards rejoiced when the band tore into the Queen flavored “Cockroach King” off the critically acclaimed The Mountain (2013). Hearing those intricate vocal harmonies executed live was an absolute marvel. In the same breath, my personal highlight was hearing the beautifully nostalgic “1985”. My favorite song in the Haken catalog, “1985” is an full blown arena prog anthem. I’d go so far to argue you haven’t heard it properly until you’ve heard it live!
Despite some technical difficulties towards the end of the show’s latter half (Richard Henshall’s keyboard broke during “Drowning in the Flood”), Haken stayed true to the term “grand finale”, treating us to an encore of the 22 minute epic, “Visions”, the title track off their 2011 sophomore album. If no other moment of the evening cemented Haken’s status as live music wunderkinds, this one absolutely did. By the time all was said and done, Haken played roughly 3 hours, or as vocalist Ross Jennings said, “I think we’ve played more notes tonight than ever before!” It’s on that note (pun fully intended) that I implore any self respecting prog aficionados to catch An Evening With Haken if you haven’t already. For as long as the show is, the songs will be playing in your head even longer!
Setlist
Set 1
- “Taurus”
- “Nightingale”
- “The Alphabet of Me”
- “Sempiternal Beings”
- “Beneath the White Rainbow”
- “Island in the Clouds”
- “Lovebite”
- “Elephants Never Forget”
- “Eyes of Ebony”
- “Crystallized”
Set 2
- “Puzzle Box”
- “Earthrise”
- “Cockroach King”
- “Nil by Mouth”
- “1985”
- “The Strain”
- “Canary Yellow”
- “Drowning in the Flood”
Encore
- “Visions”
