HIM Keep It Old School

For the past three years or so, HIM has been my guilty little secret. Up until Sunday, I'd only ever seen one person in Toronto sporting a HIM T-shirt with the band's trademark heartagram symbol.

This particular night, however, there were hundreds. You'd think people had to make a purchase at the merch booth before being allowed to enter the venue.

I didn't make it to the Kool Haus in time to catch first opening act, Skindred, but by several accounts, they put on a decent show, featuring a blend of heavy rock and reggae. Sorry, Skindred!

Sounds like they fared better than second openers, Finch, who had two things working against them: first and foremost, by this point, the crowd was frothing at the mouth for HIM. They wanted HIM and they wanted them yesterday. Patience was short.

Second, it was as if Finch didn't know what to do with all the room they had on the fairly spacious Kool Haus stage. Lead singer Nate Barcalow paced the length of it throughout the band's heavy-handed emo-punk-influenced set, but despite the occasional intensity of the sound, I found my attention drifting and would come back into reality thinking, "Oh, are they still playing?"

They might as well have been playing the Finch CD over the P.A.

Shouts of "YOU SUCK!" and "Get off the stage!" didn't improve matters.

"I told you, HIM's coming out! Relax!" snapped Barcalow after another chorus of "HIM HIM HIM" in between songs.

Poor widdle Finch.

Let's hope they treat like a character-building experience.

HIM's increased North American profile is due to their new record deal with Sire/Warner and the release of their new album, Dark Light, but their Toronto debut belonged to old-school fans who had been waiting for this moment for years.

After a short, moody and cinematic pre-recorded intro, the band took the stage to shrieks of ecstasy and a sea of raised devil-horned hands. They launched into the first single off Dark Light, "Wings Of A Butterfly."

Unlike most bands flogging a new record, though, HIM played moderately from Dark Light and, to the delight of the more devoted fans, took care to pay attention to their extensive back catalogue.

Older tunes like "Soul On Fire," "Your Sweet 666" and "Right Here In My Arms," got a fanatical crowd response.

The band have apparently been plagued by sound problems during this tour, but there was no evidence of that tonight. Valo was all smiles and snappy banter. He chose his vocal moments, sometimes opting out of high-range filler to really give'r when it counted. Bass player Mige took care of the metal posturing and guitar player Linde let it rip, while attempting to keep his 15 pounds of dreadlocks out of his face.

HIM have had 10 years to hone their stage act and they've got it down to a fine art. After an encore of "Funeral Of Hearts" and The Ramones' "Poison Heart," the crowd was left wanting more — but no one can say that the band owed anyone anything.