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OK, perhaps it was Finnish touring partners, Insomnium, but the Scandinavian pair conjured up the winter's first measurable snow (I know, most of the rest of North America has already been inundated), plus the frightened drivers and delays that annually return with the white stuff. Their logo on a giant video screen behind them, the band strolled onstage. Visually, the lights sucked for photographs (can we dispense with the outdated notion of "no flash photography"? Fans can/do use it throughout the ENTIRE performance and those trying to make the band look good and/or trying to earn a living are relegated to just 3 songs without! Usually it's the venue's stupid rule, not the band and in this case, caused the only other photographer to leave before Dark Tranquillity even hit the stage, already upset with the lack of favorable lighting. I on the otherhand, persevered and adapted).

The setlist situated between the front monitors had been taped over, blocking out certain songs and then re-written, in different color (red) marker. The nattily attired frontman Michael Stanne, in suit coat, was a fury of activity during the opening "Science Of Noise": up, down and all around, headbanging his ginger nut curls. The guitar tandem of Niklas Sundin and once lengthy dreadlocked, now bald Martin Henriksson switched sides of stage, repeatedly, through the early part of the night. "White Noise/Black Silence" was followed by "Damage Done", complete with raging inferno onscreen. "What Only Your Know" was accompanied by a sort of lyric video (words flashing behind them) and the struggling death throes of a bug onscreen. "The Silence In Between", another newbie, followed. Honestly, the natives were getting a little restless and some, who were there to see the openers, began to leave.

Thankfully, an old, recognizable standby, "The Lesser Faith", introduced by Stanne saying, "dedicated to the Bible Belt," won back the crowd instantly. On the video wall, a repeated caricature of a trio of skeletons in See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil pose. The bouncy, telltale keyboard intro to "The Wonders At Your Feet" was met with a sudden burst of blue hues from a perpetually rust-colored stage that heretofore had been so darkly lit as to render the members all but invisible. The oft recorded/aired live classics continued to flow, with "The Mundane and the Magic", which the scruffy bearded singer described as "The highs and lows, the euphoria of being in front of a crowd like you." The gruff, melancholy number (with piped in female backing vocal) showed time lapse photography of flowers blooming and a slo-mo humming bird video. "The Treason Wall", which people had been boisterously calling for since the second song, finally obliged. Onscreen saw a fit of random designs, as the nearly black metal/gremlin throated Stanne began the long requested tune. Eventually, the scribbles morph into the pattern of an oscillascope sound wave, before the Swedes headed into more "obscure" territory.

They announced that the aggressive "Through Smudged Lenses" had never been performed in America (prior to this tour) and the (lack of) crowd reaction, even from the most ardent supporters, filled the air with unfamiliarity, After "State Of Trust", off Construct, the audience again got vocal (it is Philly, after all!), screaming all sorts of suggestions. Undeterred, Stanne handled it adroitly, offering a mere, "All good suggestions, some of which we'll play later." The tide had turned, as the closing stretch off seven offerings only included a pair of new material ("Uniformity" and "Endtime Hearts", the latter had the title superimposed over a moving clock), beginning with a jagged, audio signal and lyrics on screen accompanied "Therein". At times, Stanne was nearly a cappella, the crowd singing the chorus. A frenetic "Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive" kicked in and those assembled seem to feel the band was headed in the right direction (in terms of song selection. A dizzy array of light speed graphic whizzing towards us (numbers, lights, even a winged person) as "Focus Shift" capped a triumphant, old-school, three-song arc, tempering the surprising (late in the set) inclusion of the aforementioned "Uniformity".

"Final Resistance" is always a fan favorite, but it remains them mission of "Misery's Crown" to give everyone a happy send-off. Not that anyone was in a hurry to leave, or endure the chill outside!