In an interview from the fantastic fanzine Bardo Methodology, Erik is asked about this concert…
Whilst on a 2010 tour in South America, Erik was feeling increasingly sickly and weak from one day to the next until finally collapsing three songs into a set in Santiago, the capital of Chile. The following day, after a nerve-racking day of running numerous tests at a São Paolo hospital, he was diagnosed with burnout syndrome.
– After three months of constant touring following the release of “Lawless Darkness”, I was simply drained of energy both physically and mentally. Not so strange maybe. Being unable to go through with the concert was extremely fucking aggravating, but it was a straight fact that would not bend.
This in itself acted as catalyst for some calamity.
– Eighteen people were stabbed in the audience that night, just after I’d left the stage. The knife-man was a young WATAIN enthusiast who from what I’ve been told had forged a special blade for the occasion. So the ambulance personnel who were treating me backstage had to run out and assist the wounded while I was lying on a stretcher waiting to die in the suburbs of Santiago. Quite a night!
From what I understand, burnout is something that’s rather difficult to recuperate from and requires more than simply relaxing.
– The recovery was long but, just like the harsh experience itself, a very meaningful one – stimulating both in terms of personal progression and mental strength. The way we perform with WATAIN takes its toll. No matter how gratifying and transcendent, it comes with a price and perhaps I paid part of my dues then. These days I’m far more serious with physical and mental training of both the empowering and unwinding kind, which makes for stronger experiences.
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
FROM GRINDER MAGAZINE ONLINE
Interview translated to English :
Interview translated to English :
WATAIN IN SANTIAGO
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Teatro Novedades
Text by Oscar Pacheco / Video by Aldo Guzmán
Three years had to pass before we finally saw the band that this year is spreading hatred around the world with the evil sound of Lawless Darkness. I'm talking about WATAIN, a Swedish black metal band visiting our country for the second time as part of the promotional tour for their 2010 album.
Wow, so many things happened at this concert that I can't begin. First, let me say that our arrival at the reviled Teatro Novedades was halfway through the performance of the Chilean band KYTHRONE. At that time, the Chileans were playing their first single, which also has a video clip. The song "Pompeya Fire" was a deafening one, but it was unusually loud. Obviously, I didn't want to be deafened by the main act, so I opted to leave. As for KYTHRONE, the only thing I have to say is that it was ridiculously loud. As the band was performing, the members of WATAIN were entering through the main door of the theater. Next to them was a nurse who, according to what we had been told in the Witches' Mail, was there to care for Erik Danielsson, who was feeling somewhat "unwell." The reason was clear. Everyone will draw their own conclusions... even if the official report says otherwise.
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It was about 15 minutes to 10 p.m. when WATAIN entered the stage. A killer performance; Totems, inverted crosses, tridents with fire, and candles adorned what would ultimately become a ritual in which blood would flow, and this in the most literal way, because of course, seeing the number of people stabbed and slashed at the concert was something that ultimately still has us wondering what the hell went through the heads of 5 or 6 kids to make them do such a stupid thing. Okay, okay, you can tell me it was a moment, it was the moment, they were high, etc. Nothing justifies a person carrying a penknife to a concert, nothing justifies the number of people stabbed or slashed by this gang of single-minded people. Let's not forget that each person's freedom begins where another's ends. If these guys were so bad, they should cut themselves and shove their inverted crucifixes wherever they want. What happened at the WATAIN concert must be the most pathetic thing I've ever witnessed. While things were going from bad to worse in the pit and the risk was evident both for those attending the show and for the security personnel themselves, who were struggling to find and remove the idiots, on stage the WATAIN frontman was doing his best to stay on stage and standing, which he managed to do for approximately fifteen minutes, or three songs ("Malfeitor", "Devil's Blood" and "Reaping Death"), before never returning to the stage. The rest of the show (which lasted almost an hour) was carried on by Set Teitan and Álvaro Lillo on backing vocals. The guitarist and bassist did a good job, but they are not and never have been WATAIN's vocalists. The sound was adequate, not completely, but enough to understand each song. The truth is, I think that going into such a fine-grained detail and carefully analyzing what happened on WATAIN's second tour of Chile is for the police and other (possibly medical) pages. I believe the excesses both on stage and in the pit made this concert an event we won't soon forget. Both WATAIN and the sparse audience were left with a huge debt.
[ Oscar Pacheco ]
