Quite a range of shows over the past three weeks...some outside the "metal" spectrum but still a lot of fun. Just some brief notes (no full reviews):
WOVENHAND. My favorite psychadelic fundamentalist neo bluegrass metal headbanger David Eugene Edwards graced Bottom of the Hill in SF with his odd presence. Scary intense strange presence. Basically a man who looks like a far more insane Tom Petty. Odd quirky ticks and head movements. Weird Indian chants thrown in which do not look hokey or cheesy in any way because he MEANS it. Electric guitars, mandolin, processed vocals....amazing show. David was helped out by an absolutely intense bass player who just stood like a rock and set an incredible bottom line to the music. Can't forget the drummer, either. Amazing rhythm section! Eeery, scary music that sounds like nothing else out there, in my humble ranting opinion.More after the jump.
Wovenhand was a PLANNED concert. The Church came about because of a quick glance in the SF Chron's entertainment section. Luckily, my freind Dave and I snagged tickets (the show sold out). This was Australian Prog Rocker's The Church's 30 year anniversary. They played one entire album from each decade....Untitled 23, Priest=Aura, and Starfish. Simply awe inspiring. Steve Kilbey is 56 years old and he hopped around the stage like a teenager for 3 1/2 hours. The Church are the DEFINITION of tight. The highlights for me are still the pop-prog from Starfish (what a stunning album) but I enjoyed every part of the show. Bravo!
Finally, back to "metal" with a twist. San Francisco trio Grayceon brought their incredibly heavy cello and death metal guitar sound to Bottom of the Hill (what a great venue...cheap tickets, good beer, decent bar food, and plentiful parking without having to negotiate a phalanx of strung out heroin addicts). This may be better music as recorded...a little more intellectual than "fun" but they were amazingly loud and hard rocking. I love the quirkyness of jackie as well...and that GLASS electric cello is pretty bad ass!
Had to actually use ear plugs at this show!
Except for the very annoying overmiking of the bass (to the point of blaring feedback) the second opening trio, Worm Ourorboros, were a major discovery of the night as well. Plus, I scored the new Grayceon CD for free!
Worm Ouroboros from last year in SF. I will definitely go see them again!
Grayceon from last summer.
And Grayceon from a few years ago...This video has extremely good sound and it does capture the character of the band...
So the night of February 10th, 2011 I find myself yet again standing in line at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, CA. For my own off the wall reasons, I paid the extra bit and went for the meet and greet with (what I thought at the time) the whole of Fintroll and Ensiferum. Initially, the crowd outside was pretty minimal and when I got there about 5:30 there was already a line of about 10 or so people. By the time we got to where they were going to let us in for the meet and greet, it appeared that there were about 20 or so going in for that, and I couldn't see how many people were in the regular line.
I'll be the first to admit, I have a rudimentary knowledge of these two bands as far as their music is concerned and I couldn't pick any of them out of a crowd. The same could be said for the opening acts, I've never even heard of Barren Earth or Rotten Sound but I was there to support these bands though and I'm well aware of how some of these shows can turn out (the Tarja one a few years ago was the worst, with only about 100 or so people there). I wanted to do my part to keep these bands coming back to America.
Thanks to Jimmy from HBIH, Draeden and I journeyed to San Jose to catch Ozzy Osbourne in concert.This would be second time seeing Ozzy in concert the first being way back in '96 for the Retirement Sucks tour. This also was essentially the second time for seeing Slash though the first time was with Guns n' Roses. Overall there was some highlights and lowlights so after the jump let's go back and you can see some of what we experienced.
When we arrived to the HP Pavilion in San Jose of course there was the obligatory holy rollers outside. What started as one person quickly expanded to about half dozen or so. Here is video of us heckling the one guy. This wouldn't be Devil Music without this.
So now we get to the venue. This was my first trip to the home of the San Jose Sharks and if you've been to one indoor arena you've been to them all. Turns out our tickets were on the floor level seating area probably about 15 rows back almost dead center. So really good seats for more then one reason. More on that later.
Now I would like to take the time to formally admit defeat. My droid work phone is absolutely garbage and for future shows I may need to purchase a real camera or get my own smartphone with better audio and video quality then this. My pictures sucked ass as you can see here.
And to top it off while the video is not bad the audio quality on these Droid A1's is horrific. As seen here. I think this was the opening song by Slash.
Therefore any further video clips will be provided by other people that were there last night. Photos will be provided by Draeden. Case in point here is a much better quality video of 'NightTrain' then what I ended up with.
Overall Slash's band put on a decent show. There were a few numbers off the solo album,and quite a few songs from Appetite for Destruction. Notably most of my favorites and a couple of standards. Myles Kennedy did an admirable job of fronting the band though he did appear to strain on some of the G n'R songs. Slash's guitar playing has never really impressed me. I always thought he was overrated and it was the signature top hat that always made people think he was better then he was. It was evident in spots last night as he was really sloppy on some riffs and solos. But a decent hour of tunes was played.
And now for the main event. Ozzy Osbourne. I do have to give him props for being the age and physical condition he's in to still continue to go out there and put on a show. Even if it's basically the same show he's done for the last 30 years. Ozzy does love the crowd and it shows every time. The first time I saw him it was a shortened set due to stomach issues or something but this time it was an hour and a half set filled with the same tired Sabbath songs. With the exception of Fairies wear boots. And mostly the same tired Ozzy solo songs like Mr. Crowley and this.
Here is the set list for Ozzy to enhance what I'm saying.Though there were a few songs like Fire in the Sky and Shot in the Dark that were pleasant surprises for me.*Note* I do realize that this is labeled for L.A. It's the same damn thing and I don't entirely remember the order of the songs.
There were a few sound glitches such as feedback throughout the night. The rest of the band played ok though it was hard to tell due to the heavy bass over the sound system to really get a feel if the usual nuances of the songs were present.
There was a long guitar solo by Gus G and though Draeden is enraptured with the guy to almost man crush levels I was not impressed with him last night.For somebody who is supposed to be a guitar whiz he did not have a flow to his solos and was not very fast or accurate with scales. Mostly hammer on and pull off tricks. The drum solo was one of the atypical drum solos just on a elevated drum rig.
At the beginning of the set Ozzy looked clean and dry but as in so many of his other shows it doesn't stay that way for long.Observe.
Which then devolved into a firehose contraption that he sprayed on himself and the first 5 rows of a foam substance.
Hence why I'm glad we sat back where we were and why he looked absolutely drenched in that first video.
I miss the days though when you could do whatever the hell you wanted once inside a venue short of fighting or throwing dangerous items on stage. To the floor person in last night's show I'd like to say this. After the headliner comes on, who gives a flying fuck who is sitting where and if you're standing in front of your designated chair? Stupid bitch proceeds to squeeze her fat ass in front of me as I'm taking video and ask me which is seat 6 and when I told her it was sort of behind me motioned me to move over and then grilled the hot girls next to me on their seats. The second song wasn't even done during this. Fuck you and go back out in the aisle.
Overall it was a fun night and though Ozzy has lost a step or two it was nice going to see a legendary figure that is so loved by so many people still go out and entertain people.
So as far as shows go, this one was pretty epic. Even the dreary torrential rains and the cold San Francisco weather couldn't keep the atmosphere down around the DNA Lounge where an almost repeat lineup from an earlier in the year show was to take place. Tonight on the bill is Epica, Scar Symmetry, The Agonist and Canadian favorites, Blackguard. The night started off kinda dodgy; to be honest I almost turned around when I hit a quarter of the way to San Francisco; the rain was coming down in buckets and I was afraid my truck would end up hydroplaning into a wall or something, but thanks to some previous communication with Blackguard's front-man Paul Ablaze and my setting up an interview for That Devil Music, I couldn't pass this opportunity up. I also had a meet and greet experience with Epica, and you just don't pass that up either.
I got there early, made my initial contact with Blackguard's bass player Étienne Mailloux who kindly passed on my arrival to Paul. While waiting, DNA staff placed a sign on the walls reporting that tonight's show will be recorded and streamed live on their website. I called Rob Liz, informed him of said awesomeness and later learned that he streamed it on That Devil Music. Looks like we'll be doing that more as time goes on.
After getting searched, through the doors and out of the rain, we were lined up to get our autographed poster (and my other items) and were able to chat the few minutes at the table. The line then circled around again and we then waited to get our pic taken with the whole band (something I have yet to accomplish in the previous meetings with them - until tonight). On a quick note, though I have two or three Epica shirts, I had decided to wear my Blackguard (to show my support) and Mark had joked to me as I walked up for my picture that I was wearing the wrong shirt. I know he was just messing around, but as far as I'm concerned, I was in exactly what I needed to be in..
So, being true to his word Paul came and grabbed me and we went up to the VIP area for our interview. He was truly thankful to have us do the interview and little did I know he was very talkative (which was unexpected and awesome). I guess I expected a metal musician to be of fewer words but I was pleasantly wrong. We talked about the beginnings of Blackguard, the comings and goings of band members (including the recent departure of keyboardist Jonathan Lefrancois-Leduc, old labels and their new partnership with Victory Records and a little bit of this an that. You can see part one and part two here:
Part one:
Part two:
For part two, I had to cut it short. There was a "DJ" there, and although he played some great music, I wish he wouldn't have started until I had a chance to finish my interview. You can still hear our conversation well enough though. Oh, and by the way: Eff you, Rob Metal.
All in all it was a great experience. Even though they tour non stop they still feel that they might not be as well known as they would like to be, hopefully with the new label behind them and a new Album (entitled "Firefight" due out in March 2011) on the way that will change. They all certainly have the drive and the passion to climb up the ranks of metal's finest.
After the interview (again, thanks Paul!) I headed over to the Merch tables which was packed with some great stuff (if only I could have registered there for Christmas gifts). I chatted with Terry Roadcase (off camera) and made a couple purchases. They are all dedicated all all know their roles. I always see Terry at the table, chatting with fans and selling their goods. They are all passionate about getting their names and music out there, as well they should.
After getting my spot at the right side of the front of the stage (which apparently was the spot to be because everyone who was watching the show online could see me clear as day (though I'm not so sure that's a good thing). And I waited patiently for Blackguard.
They never seem to disappoint. This is the third or fourth time seeing them and they always a packed with energy and give the crowd back the energy they're being given, which was a lot. They treated us to the greats from Profugus Mortis, This Rounds On Me, Allegiance, The Sword and also we were given a sneak peek to the upcoming release. It sounded amazing and I can't wait to get my greedy paws on it. As a treat during one of their numbers a smoking hot blue-haired pixie came out on stage and sang along, well more like screamed along. I wouldn't know her identity until the next band's performance.
Next up is Montreal's The Agonist. I can honestly say I know nothing of them though as their set went on I had realized too little too late that their lead vocalist and the blue haired angel who popped in on Blackguard's set was familiar to me. I actually read an about Alissa White-Gluz in the pages of Revolver Magazine in their "Hottest Women in Hard Rock" pictorial. Yeah, great choice Revolver.
So from my perspective, standing that close to the stage with ear protection, I really enjoyed their set. In talking to people who watched the show online they weren't too impressed with her performance but I also heard that there were issues in the streaming of it. I'll have to check out their music in the privacy of my own iPod to make a final decision on them. What I could tell from the show is that Alyssa is freakin' gorgeous but appears to be kinda over dealing with fans, dunno why, just an impression I got watching her body language and demeanor while she worked their merch table. I kept trying to get a good shot of her on my camera but she never really moved around the stage like Paul or even Simone or the guys from Scar Symmetry and her guitarist kept cock-blocking my camera (most pics attempted of her ended up with knees and crotch - not at all what I had hoped for).
Still I was entertained by their set which was just a touch longer than Blackguards. The band, for the most part seemed to love being on stage and playing music and it showed in their set.
Next up was Scar Symmetry who I've seen before with Epica in February at a venue down the street. That time I was only there to see Epica and Blackguard and couldn't care less about Bands I've never heard before. This time however, I made it a point to really pay attention to their performance. I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed the two vocalists and how they both seemed to blend really well together. Again, not really knowing much about them it seemed that they had a clean vocalist and a growly vocalist though at times I'm pretty sure I saw them both do clean vocals and some great harmonizing. I think I need to give their studio stuff more scrutiny because I think they put on a really good show, even missing a guitarist who was there but apparently broke his arm at a previous venue. They mentioned something about karate kicks and failed landings. After getting a good look look at the guy (who looked a LOT like Kerry King), I could see why the karate kicks wouldn't be a good idea.
Last but certainly not least was Epica. What can I say, they're amazing; though now I realize as I think about last night that this is truly the first time I've seen them live. My first time to see them, Simone Simmons was ill and they had Amanda Sommerville cover her spot. She really did an amazing job and I'm very thankful for her being there so they could keep the date. The second time I saw them, earlier this year in fact, Coen (their keyboardist) was getting married and so they had asked Kamelot's pianist Oliver Palotai to cover for him. He, of course, did a fantastic job and it was amazing to meet him and see him work his magic live. This time, however, it was the full Epica experience.
They were amazing. It was everything I had hoped for. Simone sounded great, the band was awesome (though it appeared that they had a couple technical difficulties here and there). All in all, they lived up to their standards and gave us all the Epica package we all spent our money to get. You put on an Epica live CD, that's what you get: Perfection.
Here's a pic with me and Epica
Here's a pic with me and Alyssa from The Agonist
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The Ghostbustour @ The Boardwalk in Orangevale, CA - Oct. 14th, 2010
iwrestledabearonce
Eyes Set to Kill
Chelsea Grin
The Chariot
Vanna
Ok, so. Let me start by saying I have been anticipating this show for a while now. For the past month or so, I've been slowly incorporating both IWABO and Eyes Set to Kill into my brain pan and really enjoyed doing it. I'm going to go on the record and mention that I know these aren't the most popular bands in the world, but for the two I was there to see, I was really excited. The price point for the ticket was an excellent bargain, at $15.00 bucks for the ticket, BUT they offered a Meet and Greet with IWABO for $30.00. Normally you'd say; Thirthy fucking bucks for iwrestledabearonce??? I say, yes! With the Meet and Greet you obviously got into the venue early, which is always a plus for me. They gave you a IWABO shirt, and they brought along a photographer who took your pic with the band, printed it out for you, and as an added bonus, they all signed the back (which I wasn't expecting). During the time you had with them, depending on how many people were a part of it (there were 7 - myself included), you also had time to shoot the shit and get anything else signed you wanted.. I brought my two CD's and also had them sign the back of the shirt I had just acquired - SCORE!
IWABO was really, really nice. All of them. They were all super thankful for all of us, the meet and greet peeps as well as the long line of people outside, coming to the show. Speaking of the line outside.. I'd say the vast majority (as Rob had assumed - were kids). There were a few people closer to my age, but it appeared they were there with their kids, and a small handful of twenty-somethings.
The rest of the band members from the other acts were wandering around back and forth, but I couldn't tell you a Vanna from a Chariot, so I wasn't really arsed about it. I did, however, see Anissa and Alexia Rodriguez wandering around a bit, but I didn't get a chance to meet them til their performance and after - more to follow.
The evening started off with Vanna. I've never heard of them. I'm not sure if their name is a homage to the Wheel of Fortune's letter spinning beauty or a boat or something, but they were there, and I hate to say it, wasn't too bad. I didn't rush to the back to buy their CD, and I don't plan on going down to Best Buy to look for a copy sometime later, but I have to say that they rocked out pretty good. I wasn't a fan of their main vocalist, but I really did enjoy the guitirist (with the big ear plugs) and his clean vocals. Normally, these relatively unknown bands have clean vocalists who can play guitar and kinda sing, this guy wasn't one of them. He actually really did have a great voice - even live, and if they were to make him lead vocalist and have Mr. Screechy pipe in every once and a while, I would like this band a LOT more. All in all, I really enjoyed them and it was a great way to kick off the show. Sadly, that experience wouldn't last long.
Vanna
Next we have The Chariot from Georgia (According to thier Wikipedia page). I have to start this out by saying that THIS BAND SUCKS!!!!!! Oh my fucking God. It's like Corky from Life Goes On went down to the mental institution and picked up some fucking crazy ass lunatics and gave them instruments and formed a band. I can't say enough how fucking horrible this band is. Please, The Chariot, if you ever read this; STOP MAKING MUSIC! STOP TOURING! JUST STOP EVERYTHING AND GO AWAY! I'm sorry for being so repetitive and not going into details, but seriously. I hate this band. Watch this video and see why.
The Chariot
I was praying to the Gods of Metal that this would end, but sadly - they must have been busy playing Pinochle or watching porn or something, because they weren't listening. Next we have Chelsea Grin from Utah (of all places). Here's another crap band. They seemed to have a decent following in the crowd as a lot of people were smashing their way to the front of the stage (where I was - Meet and Greet, hello) and you can hear and see them singing along. Apparently, this band not only makes crappy music but they also do Calisthenics on stage, concentrating on squats, to keep in top physical condition. While everyone else was rocking out, I was laughing my ass off - what a joke. Seriously? Synchronized hair spinning I can do (a la Blackguard), but leg thrusts and squats??? Maybe they were farting along to the music? Sadly it was so loud, we'd never truly know. I believe you might see some of said exercises here in this video, unfortunately, I couldn't get through enough of it to see much of it, for as I said before, they suck.
Chelsea Grin
Please, please, please don't let ESTK suck live. I just couldn't take it.
Ok, so I see Caleb setting up his drum kit and some people loading gear up and banners for the ESTK show. Soon enough, Anissa comes out toting a bass that looked too big for her and then finally, Alexia comes out with a Les Paul style guitar. The hotness factor just shot up a LOT. Enough about their looks aside, my m fears were pleasantly set to rest, as they came out and rocked out well. Cisko, the screamer, sounded great regardless of being under the weather (as he had mentioned to me earlier when I chatted with him for a minute and the band performed together amazingly well. It seemed like their set, however, went by really fast, and I can only remember them playing about 5 or 6 songs. Near the end, however, Lexia had taken her ear monitor out and seemed like she had to struggle a bit with her vocals. I wasn't sure if it was a sound problem or the closely packed together tour dates, but either way, I can't complain - I got out of that show exactly what I wanted and expected - also getting Anissa's pick (she handed it to me directly) and one of Lexia's that had fell off her mic stand and was given to me by Jonny (from IWABO) while they were setting up. Double score! Please enjoy this, their latest track from their cd "Broken Frames" (which pretty much rules).
Eyes Set to Kill
Now for the headliner - iwrestledabearonce. They took quite a while in setting up, they had a LOT of props. Lighted Clouds, a big lighted Rainbow behind Mikey, a laser light emitter and some cannon looking things they set on the speakers (More on that later). The worst part of their set was the fog machine they set off as they were prepping - it filled up the whole building rather quickly and sadly, made it REALLY difficult for me to take pics - which is why I basically stopped taking them since they turned out so shitty.
According to their setlist (and they were the only band to have one), their show would consist of the following:
You Ain't No Family
The Cat's Pajamas
Still Jolly After All These Years
Eli Cash
Danger in the Manger
Corey Feldman
Pazuzu for the Win/Black Eye/See You in Shell
Alaskan Flouder Basket
Vlork: Mighty Wielder Of Sheep
Ulrich Firelord: Breaker Of Mountains
Taste Like Kevin Bacon
They really did put on a great show. Sure, they're weird. They're strange. Some of what they do doesn't make sense. But musically, it makes a LOT of sense.. They really do have a way of putting some really crazy shit together and making it sound really interesting, and they're amazingly talented - even live. They put so much into their performance and had the crowd at their mercy. I, sadly, had to cut out of the front with only four songs left to go, as I am old and unable to take the squashing of lesser beings. Plus, I was hot, fat and sweaty (which is never a good combination) and dehydrated. I found out, as I was at the back of the stage, that the crazy tube guns on the speakers were confetti launchers, and the ENTIRE crowd was covered in coloured streamers... lol. Glad I left when I did. :)
To close, I ended up in the back and met Cisko (again), super nice guy), and Caleb and I chatted a sec. Whilst he was signing my cd's, a ruckus formed behind us, as security was removing a SHITLOAD of people who were STILL fighting each other as they were being cast out of The Boardwalk. Seriously, violent shit. Me and Caleb looked at each other in shock - yes, we had a moment.. :) Once the show ended, Anissa and Alexia came over to their merch table to meet people, take pics and sign shit. I had them sign the CD's I brought with me, and lastly, I stopped at the IWABO merch table to get my pic. I, of course, look hideous, but I still love the pic. Another memento of a great show and a great evening.
You'll probably have to forgive me but this post might actually turn out to be the longest I've written. This night turned out to be the wierdest and ultimately the coolest nights I think I've ever had at a show. There were the bands, the impromptu interviews,the conversations with legendary singers,piece of shit cameras....and fetish fairs. Yes you read that right. So if you're a Nevermore fan or if what I've said here has peaked your interest, then continue after the jump to get the full story. Otherwise you might want to do something else productive with your day.
So the evening began like any other by driving into San Francisco to Slims to see Nevermore headline a concert. This was highly anticipated because as a fairly new fan this was going to be my first show. Accompanying me was Martin from Malastrana who is a huge fan of Nevermore. I think it's pretty safe to say that this band is like his Beatles or Led Zeppelin. So we were both pretty excited for this show to say the least. Once we got in the area though the excitement turned into a what the fuck moment of a pretty epic scale.
You see as a lifelong resident of Northern California I'm fully aware of the reputation San Francisco has for let's just say alternative lifestyles. Having been in the city a pretty fair number of times I've seen some pretty freaky people. Well they were all out in force that evening. All the bars a block over had lines of people and other pedestrians were walking en masse dressed or not dressed in all forms of fetish garb. Here let me show you an artist rendering of what I'm talking about.
Credit to South Park
There were hundreds of people dressed like this and quite a few women that might as well have not bothered with clothes on the lower half because the tits were flying free otherwise. Apparently this is not a common occurence on weekends it seems but actually the 5th Annual Folsom Street Fair had been going on and there were a ton of after parties. Here is the official site if you're into that stuff. This is very NSFW and kid inappropiate btw.I'd have some real pictures of some of this stuff but my new work phone is just as shitty with the camera as my old. Or so I thought, more on that later.
Before I get into the actual show itself here is some backstory on the lineup. Originally it was supposed to be Mutiny Within, Hatesphere, Warbringer, and Nevermore. Mutiny Within had to cancel because their drummer quit a week before the tour. So the question was going to be was it going to be just three bands or would there be a replacement. It turns out as I got in the club and saw the merch tables that Blackguard who seem to perpetually always be in the area was the replacement band. Any long time readers should be familiar with that name as Draeden has done an article or two on them.
So the first band to come up was Hatesphere. I apologize in advance to how shitty this pic is . It was to be the second to last picture I got that evening.
They're a band from Denmark that mix hardcore vocals with thrash riffs. They put on an entertaining set mixed with good crowd interaction. Apparently Slim's is the first club to allow the drinking of beer onstage so they were stoked about that and as was to be the running theme for the night they were hilarious about the events outside. Overall their set was pretty good for an opener and the music was pretty tight for what it was. Very riff oriented.
So after their set was done we stepped outside to have a smoke. And this is why going to clubs to see bands is so much better then going to arena shows.
Yes, that way too dark and grainy picture is of me with Warrel Dane.He was walking up to the tour bus while were out there and we greeted him and shook his hand. The lady on the left is Christine Rhoades who did guest vocals on "Dreaming Neon Black".Here is that particular track which is actually my favorite off of my favorite cd.
Let me say how awesome it was for Warrel to stop and talk to us and take pictures for a few minutes. I asked him how the tour was so far and he stated that this was night three and so far the tour has been awesome. I mentioned the crazy events outside and he laughed and said it was wild and that he had a ton of video of it. Martin asked him about some songs that might be on the set and he told us that the set was going to be shortened up by a song or two due to things out of their control. Which translates to San Fran's silly curfew and noise ordinance laws that force things to shut down at midnight. Fuck you San Francisco. So we said our goodbyes and thanks and stood there blown away by what just happened.
We then went back in because Blackguard had just come up on stage. This picture was taken with Martin's phone as mine decided to completely lock up where I couldn't do a damn thing. Any more pics from here on out are courtesy of Martin.
This band is from Quebec, Canada and they did point out to the crowd of why they were there and not Mutiny Within. What a crazy thing to happen where the tour you're supposed to be on with Kamelot cancels and then another tour has a cancellation to where you can jump on. Good for these guys(and gal)as they did put on a good show. I do like the folk infused thrash music though I'm not a fan of the vocals. It was fun though listening to a story from frontman, Paul Zinay, during some techical difficulty time about a disgusting scene he had witnessed at the fair.
After their set I saw one of the members at their merch table so I decided to go over and say a few words. See, originally Draeden was going to do an interview with them before the Kamelot gig. Well for obvious reasons that was not going to happen so I actually squeaked in an impromptu mini interview right there and I'll dedicate a separate post to that. The person I talked to was the lead guitarist, Kim Gosselin, and he was very gracious in speaking with me.
Next up we had Warbringer. I don't have a usable pic of them so here is a video taken at Slim's from last year. It's so close to being the same thing it'll have to do.
Warbringer's set was an unrelenting series of brutal thrash songs. Lead vocalist,John Kevill,plays up the thrash front man as much as the great ones in the 80's did with over the top introductions to each song. And the pit was the most active of any bands that night. Warbringer is a band that needs to be heard live because their studio work doesn't do the music justice.
So now it's time for the main event. Nevermore took the stage and we were right up front.
Here is the setlist.
Let me get the bad things with the show out of the way first. Warrel, if you ever read this, I apologize for any jinxes we might have caused in talking with you earlier because like my phone this set had more technical difficulties then I've ever seen. Jim Sheppard's bass equipment was the primary problem with bad cords, not being able to hear it out of the amp, and cutting out. Many times the set was delayed to fix a problem and I know Warrel was trying to put up a humorous front but the aggravation was evident as the night wore on.So much so that at one point Jim left the stage after a song and the crowd had to do an intervention to get him to come back out.Not to mention Warrel having to go in the back and talk to him or yell at him or something.
The other problems were Jeff Loomis guitar was very low in the mix and it was hard to hear his parts which is a detriment because he is one of the most skilled metal guitarist on the planet.And Warrel's vocals were being taxed all night because it occurred to me later that he may have had a cold or something because outside he sounded a bit out of it but as the set neared it's end he was touching his throat and grabbing drinks of water among making the audience sing alot of the choruses.
Now to the good things. The set itself was a good mix of songs from multiple albums. 7 Tongues of God was omitted otherwise the only album not represented was the self titled debut. What was really cool was the inclusion of Taste Revenge from Warrel and Jim's previous band Sanctuary. When the equipment behaved the sound was great and Warrel is a good front man with a lot of conversation in between songs and at times almost like a stand up comic dealing with hecklers.I think the highlight of this set was both myself and Martin scoring one of these things.
Mine was a complete shock because as I was putting my hand up to make a fist the pick smacked into my palm and like a nerd ninja I snagged it in midair.
So overall it was a very interesting and great night even with the problems during Nevermore's set and one not easily forgotten. I hope this novel was at least entertaining and if anyone happens to catch this tour later let me know how it went.
For now go these fine Myspace sites and check out the bands covered and if you like what you hear, by all means buy their stuff.
*Update* You can tell I'm not paid anything to do this. I'm a complete jackass for neglecting to mention Van Williams was awesome behind the drums through this whole thing. At one point the crowd asked for a drium solo during some of the downtime and he did a funny version of one for a couple of minutes though sadly, no drum solo.
I'm also an idiot for not mentioning touring guitarist,Attila Voros, who appeared on Warrel's solo project Praises to the War Machine. He did a great job in both playing rythmn and was a great sport in the shred duel with Jeff Loomis. So there ya go, Hopefully this atones for my previous brain fart.
Monster Uproar Festival Sleep Train Amphitheater (Sacramento, CA) 9/22/10
I’ve only been to this venue once or twice before… I can’t quite remember, it also doesn’t help that venue’s change their names with the coming and going of whomever has the most money to throw at them. Either way, I pretty much treated this venue as my first visit. I can honestly say, I’ve never been to a massive concert of this magnitude where you didn’t have to pay for parking, that was a nice surprise. You could pay $20.00 if you wanted for the deluxe parking, but fuck it.. that’s half a shirt.
I’ve been spoiled, I realized as I wandered around. I haven’t been to a major/festival concert in I don’t know how long. I’ve been attending local shows (in Sacramento), or seeing bands I adore, who might not be as popular here as I think they should be, at clubs in San Francisco. There was a LOT of people there. The line to the merch table took quite a while, though it seemed that if you wanted a tasty beverage or food, it wasn’t that long of a wait; then again, we got there about 4 or so, and the doors opened around 2ish.
After the concert necessary purchase of a tour shirt, and a five dollar bottle of water (rip off, as usual) for hydration for the day, we headed to the venue lazily. There were shows going on at the jagermeister stage, but considering the line up, I wasn’t going to waste my time and energy there. The line up, at various times were: The Chimpz, Hail the Villain, New Medicine, Airbourne and Hellyeah. I really could give a rat’s ass about all of them, since the only two reasons I was there was to see Hailstorm (again) and Avenged Sevenfold (first time).
There was also scheduled autographs at various locations, but, again, I could give a crap about any of them, even though I am quite the autograph whore. Halestorm WAS signing, but, since I already met them in Santa Rosa earlier this year, and got my autograph fill, I didn’t want to take the chance to lose my place in line and get a good spot in the front of the pitt. Don’t get my wrong, I would have loved to meet them again, and show support, but I weighed my options and I took the awesome spot over a handshake and an autographed mini-poster.
So, let’s jump ahead to where we’re actually in the Pit and waiting for the bands to play. So far, so good. Things are pretty laid back. Everyone is respecting eachother’s space and there’s no real crowding to the front of the mass. We stayed to the right side of the stage, just past the speakers and stuff, so we had not only a great view of the stage (without the angry mob pressing us into the rails, but we got to see what was going on behind the curtains before A7X played.
Halestorm started off first. The stage was empty, sans Arejay’s drum kit, but as soon as the stage appeared ready, you can hear Lzzy’s sultry vocal melodies from the speakers. She finally comes out on stage to say hey to us, while Arejay (dressed in an amazing band outfit with a skull mask), Joe Hottinger (Guitar) and Josh Smith (Bass) followed. I think, for starters, it seemed like not a lot of people knew who they were or liked them. That changed pretty quick as what started off with a few fists in the air, turned into a huge part of the crowd fist pumping, jumping up and down and throwing up the devil horns. They only had a 30 minute set, but they definitely made the most of their time.
I was really happy they performed my favourite song, A Familiar Taste of Poison. Before it started, Lzzy grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass, poured herself some, and toasted the fallen rock Gods we’ve lost this year. She never mentioned any names, but for me personally, I envisioned Dio, Paul Gray and Jimmy Sullivan as she drank the wine. Somewhere during the song she tossed the glass to a fan, which I thought was pretty awesome. Here’s a video of that performance (not filmed by me, because my camera sucks). Enjoy.
After that, Arejay had a nice little drum solo, which I was pretty much expecting, because he’s such a bad-ass and HIGHLY entertaining drummer. After his Animal attack on his drum kit, which gigantic drum sticks, the band came out and all banged away on these garbage can looking drums. It was pretty spectacular. Here’s a video (from another Uproar festival) to give you an idea of what I walk talking about and then tell me you don’t get an image of Animal (from the Muppet Show)..
I really thought they did an amazing job, and hopefully made some new fans. As for their set, here’s the list, painstakingly taken by me during the show.
It’s Not You Dirty Work Familiar Taste of Poison Arejay Drum Solo Nothing To Do With Love I Get Off
Following Halestorm was Stone Sour. I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan. Though I do like some Slipnot, I wasn’t impressed with Corey Taylor and his inability to command a stage. The songs they played were sometimes unfamiliar, sometimes recognizable, but for the most part, really uninspiring. Anyways, out of their setlist, which I did not write down as they played, they did this new song, which I am happy to say, I actually liked. This is their newest song, from their upcoming CD, called “Say You’ll Haunt Me”. Here’s a video of that performance, again not from me.
Skipping ahead to the main reason why I was there; Avenged Sevenfold. So, as I mentioned earlier, the stage was covered with a big black cloth to obscure the view from the majority of the crowd. What they didn’t see was the construction of the stage. An INCREDIBLY bad-ass backdrop of a haunted house, complete with brick veneer stands for the band to stand on as well as cemetery gates in front of the backdrop. They also didn’t see the magic happening. A man, being harnessed into a cable and climbing on a scaffolding. I had assumed he would be dropping something like snow or whatever cheesy image came into my mind. Once the lights went out and the curtain pulled back the crowd goes insane. As you can see from the video below, this is what happened to bring Nightmare to life.
They toured through past hits and newer songs from their latest CD and all the while I was amazed on how much time and effort Mike Portnoy took to really learn those songs. I’ve talked shit about him in the past, and though personally speaking, even though I’ll always prefer the Rev as a drummer, I have to give him some respect for what he did for A7X. That was really cool of him.
After about five songs, M. Shadows talked about his fallen brother, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, thanked Portnoy again and again, and dedicated the next song to him. The image in the back changed to a beautiful image of the band of brothers hugging it out, with Sullivan in the forefront. The image is also on their CD, Nightmare. It’s amazing. They asked everyone to light up lighters, cellphones, anything they had that gave off light for Jimmy and played this song “So Far Away”. It was a beautiful sight.. here’s a little bit of that moment.
Even though I can talk for hours about how amazing this show was, I have to jump to the last song, and something that really got the lump stuck in my throat, more that the heartfelt loss we all felt remembering the Rev, when they played the last song, Almost Easy, they had left Jimmy’s vocals in their and played them during the performance. For a moment, I had forgotten he was gone and looked for him at the drum kit. It was just the perfect way to end the evening..
All in all, this is one of the best shows I’ve been to in a long time. Though I missed Disturbed, because of having to get up early the next day, I really enjoyed this experience a LOT. I haven’t been to a large festival in a long time, having been relishing in the intimacy of bar shows and smaller venues for the past few years.. If you have a chance to catch anymore Uproar shows, I highly recommend you go.. And although I did take a LOT of pics, I really wanted to get this post in, to capture the essence of this amazing show from the cobwebs of my memories before they all faded away. I'll try to post a couple of them later.. keep an eye out for them. Here’s Avenged Sevenfold’s setlist (again, written down by me during the show) for your entertainment.
Nightmare Critical Acclaim Welcome to the Family Beast and the Harlot Buried Alive So Far Away Afterlife God Hates Us Unholy Confessions Almost Easy
Before I forget, I have to share this. Rockstar made a program for the events, sharing information about the bands, their music, the instruments they play and interviews and whatnot. Here's a brilliant pic, taken by my camera phone, of the Disturbed band interview and review. Read through it and check out Disurbed's new lead singer "Don Draiman". LOL FAIL.
To say this year has been horrible for me attending concerts is an understatement. I've been sick, had no money,show cancellations and rescheduled on my son's birthday to name a few reasons. But luckily Draeden has the uncanny knack of being able to win tickets out from radio stations and came through again. So last night with my wife as my date I was able to go see Iron Maiden with special guest Dream Theater. I've wanted to see DT for quite some time now and it finally arrived. And Iron Maiden always delivers. So being free and all was it worth it? Let's find out after the jump.
Well the evening started by just making sure we got to the Concord Pavilion on time(I refuse to call it my it's corporate name now. Since these tickets were won through a radio promotion I knew we would have to hike to the box office and then possibly stand in line forever so I wanted to get there in time for Dream Theater. I have never been to a DT show and I didn't want to miss this.
Well all things considering we got to our spots a few minutes before the opening track " As I am" finished so it was sort of a victory though the song started 10 minutes early. Overall I'd have to say Dream Theater's performance was a let down. I knew that the set was only going to be 50 minutes or so and that there was only going to be 6 songs. So you would think that Dream Theater would have ramped up their show seeing as Iron Maiden was one of their heroes and a larger audience was going to be present to check them out. Nope. It turned into a glorified medley with only twice did James Labrie acknowledging the crowd. The first time was to say hello three songs in and the second time was to try and get the crowd pumped up for the final number "Pull Me Under". Not even a mention or thank you to Iron Maiden (which my friend Martin pointed out and I realized..hey..you're right).
The other thing I noticed and it may have been because of where we were sitting but Labries vocals were ok through most of their set but fell flat during Pull Me Under, in fact the whole band seemed to slow down on that tune like it was a grind to play.Musically they sounded great and I had no problems with that it's just their performance up there just seemed kind of flat. This fact was further amplified when Maiden took the stage.
Dream Theater's setlist in all of it's brief glory is:
Here is clip from my wife's much superior Iphone to any thing I had(more on that later) just before it died of Pull Me Under.
This was my third time seeing IM and my wife's first time. And each time they never fail to deliver. The set mostly comprised of newer stuff over the past 10 years which I was ok with because I'd seen the classics performed on the Somewhere Back in Time tour 2 years ago. In fact here is the setlist from the show.
As you can see they did mix in 3 pre-Dickinson tracks in there and a few classic Dickinson era tunes so there was a balance of sorts. I heard a lot of complaining about the set list with a lot of unknown tunes but honestly, that's not really the bands fault that people have chosen to not follow them throughout their career or get familiar with newer stuff.They still put on a kick ass show with Bruce running all over and engaging the crowd in banter and getting them pumped as usual. The rest of the band sounded great as usual.
One interesting side note and a touch of irony is that it looked like there were more people there this time then the last tour. And the last tour is where all of the classics were played. In fact Bruce pointed out more then once how many people were there so you know it was something if he noticed it out of all the places they've been too.
Here is my lame phones attempt to record some of the show.I swear this phone is the biggest piece of shit when it comes to picture taking or video making. It's my work phone also but still.
So we stayed until Eddie popped up during the last song and had to bail before the encore but if my wife who has never really listened to Iron Maiden can make comments like" I don't know why I've never listened to these guys before" and "How old is he?" in reference to Dickinson running all over the place then it has to be a good show.
Thanks again to Draeden for coming through with the tickets and thanks to Martin for bailing me out with better pics then what I came up with.
So I must have pissed off the metal gods somehow this year because I can't seem to make a concert yet. Febuarary 17th was no exception as I had tickets for the show but thanks to the flu bug I couldn't make it. Well luckily for all of you my friend Draeden did make it and was kind enough to do a review on the show. With pictorial evidence of course.Enjoy.
On February 17th I attended the Epica concert with Blackguard and Threat Signal as openers at Slim’s in San Francisco.
Through the course of the evening I got to partake in a lot of random events. Members of Epica came to and from the bus to the doors and stopped and signed and took pictures. The first was new guitarist Isaac Delahaye, then Arien Van Weesenbeck, Mark Janson, Yves Huts and finally Simone Simmons. Oliver Palotai, covering for Coen (who they had said was taking time to get married) also made the rounds. They were all really humble and thankful that so many people were hanging out front for HOURS before the show. They talked it up, thanked everyone, told us about the bus crash and it sounded like Simone even spent time in a Canadian jail, though I can’t be sure of what that was about, and I didn’t ask.
I’ve been here at Slims before, I’ve seen quite a few shows here (Epica being one of them) but nothing is like being one of the first people in and making it to the front of the stage. Normally, people get squished together as people try to force their way to the front, but this crowd was really respectful of each other’s space, and no one was pushing too hard (for the majority of the show).
First up was Blackguard, and I’ve been listening to their cd, Profugus Mortis, quite a bit for the month before the show actually arrived and I’ve been loving the Celtic sounds and beer guzzling romps pounding against my eardrums.. Their set was great, but WAY too short. I could see from the setlist taped to one of the speakers there would only be five songs, NOT long enough. Here they are:
1. The Sword 2. Scarlet to Snow 3. Farewell 4. Allegiance 5. This Round
All I can say is that they’ve found a new fan. Their cd, which I’ve been cranking often lately is amazing, their show was full of energy and they definitely know how to rock and entertain the crowd. I can’t wait to see them when they come back in September in support of Kamelot.
Threat Signal was up next. I’ve never heard of them and I didn’t know anything about them. They took the stage, riding the wave of Blackguard’s energy, but they soon lost it. From what I could see, the lead singer didn’t have anywhere near the crowd-commanding chops that Paul Ablaze has. They performed a couple more songs than the opening act and did a decent job of trying to entertain the crowd, but I didn’t get as musically aroused as I did before. Here’s their set list:
1. Afterlife 2. Through My Eyes 3. A New Beginning 4. Beginning of the End 5. Counterbalance 6. Severed 7. Rational Eyes
Finally, Epica is back in the Bay. I’ve seen them before with Amanda Sommerville performing lead vocals due to Simone being ill, and was anxious to see Epica with Simone more than anything. Coen Janssen was not there, covered by Kamelot’s Oliver Palotai, due to his planning his upcoming wedding. I was also anxious to see new guitarist Isaac Delahaye, who replaced Ad Sluijter.
The stage was full of their power, and nothing looked like it was missing or out of place. They sounded amazing. The show was incredible and there were so many aspects of a great show involved. Lots of chatting with the crowd, throwing of picks, sweat raining all over the front of the stage.
The Set List was a mixture of songs from the Divine Conspiracy, sprinkled with a couple oldies and, of course, the new one; Design Your Universe. I think my favorite performance of the evening was Tides of Time; an incredibly beautiful song highlighting Oliver’s amazing ability to play ANYTHING along with his beautiful consort, Simone. It was a sweet moment between them on stage that we were all lucky enough to watch.
Here’s the setlist:
1. Samadhi 2. Resign to Surrender 3. Sensorium 4. Unleashed 5. Martyr 6. Fools of Damnation 7. Sancta Terra 8. Imperial March 9. Piano Solo 10. Tides of Time 11. Seif al Din 12. The Obsessive Devotion 13. Design Your Universe 14. Cry For the Moon (encore) 15. *** (encore) 16. Consign to Oblivion (encore)
Some interesting notes on their set list. My favorite, as I mentioned, was Tides of Time but by a close second was Star Wars’ “Imperial March”. That was so fucking bad-ass, words cannot describe how hyped up the crowd got when they heard that, because, for lack of a better term, Star Wars is universal. I really loved hearing Cry for the Moon too... There’s nothing like hearing Simone singing that song. I, unfortunately, can’t remember the second song from the encore, but I’ll look around for it.
Well, that’s it. It was one of my favourite shows with the only real downside being the addition of Threat Signal to the bill, and that Rob couldn’t make it as well. He would have enjoyed it.
So there you have it. A firsthand account of Epica's appearance in San Francisco. Some notables on this is that Threat Signal was not the originally intended band to be second bill. They were added last minute for the tour as Daath had to pull out. I'm not sure if Draeden would have enjoyed them anymore then Threat Signal but there you go. Thanks to Draeden for being my man on the street and providing this for us.
