ARENA IN CHILE
House of Rock, Santiago de Chile, 17 May 2000
Teatro Providencia, Santiago de Chile, 18 May 2000

Finally, after several months of preparations, Arena’s visit to Chile was set. The concert done in Santiago on May 18th was the live debut of the new material of Immortal?. The band arrived on May 17th from Buenos Aires (where they had played an acoustic set) to Santiago international airport.

The expectations for the concert and the mood of the band were excellent, above all on the side of Clive Nolan (who had been in Santiago twice before with Pendragon) and Mick Pointer who showed himself very interested in coming to Chile with his great sense of humour and enthusiasm. The evening arrived and with it the long-awaited meeting between the band and their fans at House of Rock, which was full from 21:30 hrs on. 

The band were welcomed with a great ovation just as Subterra started their show, our dear and great national prog band who played a great set. After solving some technical problems, the moment for Arena had arrived. Mick, Clive, John, Ian and of about half an hour. For the first time we could enjoy the great musicianship of Arena in Chile and the amazed audience sang along to all the songs. The evening ended with a round of questions from the audience and a photo and autograph session.

Thursday 18th, Teatro Providencia, 21:30 hrs. The long-waited night had arrived at last. For a lot of people it was a dream come true, five years since the band’s successful debut in 1995. This time without the overture of a classical piece, the gig started with the disturbing beats of Chosen, the powerful track of the last album Immortal?. However, this was more than a Immortal? promotion gig, the concert was dedicated to the fans and the set list included a lot of material of the previous records, especially The Visitor, a very logical choice considering the popularity of this CD. 

The band played in front of an enthusiastic audience, that listened with utmost attention to the beautiful parts of The Hanging Tree and sang along to the chorus of Jericho and ‘Crying For Help IV’. They also danced frantically to the rhythm of the instrumental part of Solomon and the well-received Welcome To The Cage, a brilliant end. Another musical surprise was the new version of Crying For Help VII, with a heavy instrumental arrangement, 

The sound was good, but not brilliant, because the engineers were locals and hardly knew Arena’s music. Even some awful mistakes happened, like during the beautiful choruses of The Hanging Tree. However, the mood of the audience and the band stayed excellent, they even had to play three encores because of the cries for more of the astonished fans. In the end both band and audience were very pleased and Clive Nolan promised to return to this part of the world someday. The evening ended with signing autographs and little chats with the band. We want to emphasize the great mood of the whole band, especially Clive Nolan and Mick Pointer. 

To conclude a great gig, that showed us the high level of professionalism, the incredible playing and the great quality of the new members. Especially the powerful Rob Sowden, who sang all the songs with incredible ease. 

After a day of well-deserved rest, including a barbecue in the countryside near Santiago and a trip towards the coast to visit Valparaíso and Viña del Mar (as requested by Mick and Clive who wanted to see the Pacific Ocean before leaving) Saturday arrived and with it the early departure to the airport to catch the flight to Buenos Aires. We said farewell, exchanging addresses and emails with the promise of seeing each other again some day. This was a great occasion to share with brilliant musicians, who delighted us with their music, their presence and over all their kindness. 

Set list 17 May
Midas Vision 
Friday's Dream 
A State Of Grace 
Medusa 
Tears In The Rain 
Crying For Help VII 
Crying For Help IV 
Enemy Without 
Jericho

Set list 18 May 
Chosen 
Sirens
Crack In The Ice
Double Vision
Midas Vision
Serenity
(Don't Forget To) Breathe
The Hanging Tree
A State Of Grace
Medusa
Enemy Without
Solomon
Jericho
Friday's Dream
The Visitor
Crying For Help VII
Crying For Help IV
Welcome To The Cage 

By: Gonzalo Navarro and Leonardo Sacchetti