Concert Review Thread

hey guys,

everyone who comes in here is obviously a music fan in one way or another.

well, if you're such a devoted music fan that you go to see your favorite band live, then this is your place to post a review of their performance.

post when it was, where it was, who was playing, and give a little review of the performances and what you thought. then, if you want, you can add your post-performance activities as well.

i am going to see Coheed & Cambria with guests Underoath this Wednesday, the 13th. i will post a review in here afterwards. i'm also going to 3 or 4 other shows in the next month.

whether you're a hardcore show-goer like me, or just go to one choice show a year, review away! we want to hear what you thought.

oh yeah, and comment on someone elses review if you'd like. but DO NOT flame. if your comment is criticism, then at least be constructive or it will be deleted.

keep posts in here ON TOPIC. any others will be removed without notice.

ok, so i went to Coheed and Cambria with Underoath last night. AMAZING concert!

originally, a band called 3 was supposed to be on before Underoath. but for some reason, only one of the band members and his equipment made it across the border. so what did he do? he put on an absolutely amazing show...BY HIMSELF! he is probably the best guitarist i have ever seen live, maybe even ever heard...i don't even remember his name. Jeremy something. but the things he did with that guitar left us all in shock and awe! and he didn't stop there. he was a one man band! he played amazing guitar, had an awesome voice, and he even did percussion. yeah you heard me right. while he was playing, he would thump his strumming hand against the body of the guitar to create a sort of bass-drum affect. it was absolutely amazing! it sounds absolutely paltry and pitiful when i try to describe it over a message board, you really did have to see it in person for it to be amazing, but take my word for it.

Underoath came on next. i'd heard of these guys before, but never seen them live. they are absolutely insane! the lead singer did stage dives and sang from on top of the crowd, the keyboardist went absolutely nuts the entire time...they were just an amazing act. their CD was recently picked up by a Canadian label and comes out here on November 16th, i'll have to pick it up.

next was Coheed and Cambria, and their performance further justified why they're my favorite band. Claudio's voice sounds exactly the same live as it does on the CD, and they put on an amazing show. i belted out every song along with him, and moshed my ass off. i am sore as hell today. at one point i had my arm up in the air in between songs, and Cladio noticed my tattoo, and said into the mic "we have a REALLY devoted fan right down here, and that makes me happy". then they launched into a song. i thought i could've got backstage after or something, but no such luck. :(

oh well. still an awesome night, and i've got 3 or 4 more concerts to go this month. maybe more, if i suddenly come across some money.

^sounds good

I will be attending Pharcyde and Rock it(Jet, Hilltop Hoods, etc) soon so I will update

Sevendust at the webster theatre in Hartford CT. SUCH a great concert. If a band called Gargantua Soul is ever in your area GO SEE THEM!

Here's a small example of a Gargantua Soul concert.

The whole room turns dark. Soft music begins to play. The lead singer Kris Keyes enters the room from the rear. He is standing on a platform in full body paint. the platform is being carried by 4 or 6 people. This platform makes it's way to the stage. Kris Gets off the platform and stands like this
http://www.geocities.com/somehoser/2.jpg

http://www.eastcoastromper.com/gsoul.jpg
This band is the most energetic band I have ever seen. Please go here and download the free MP3's
http://www.gsoul.com/mp3s.html

the music speaks for itself, PLEASE just try it... hell it's free

Went to Throwdown, Children of Bodom, Fear Factory and Lamb of God a few days ago. Of course it was totally kick ass. I never heard of Throwdown until this concert. They reminded me of Unearth a little. Children of Bodom was totally awesome of course although I wish they could have played more than 7 songs. Fear Factory was AMAZING. They played so well live and sounded GREAT. Definately gotta see them again. Sadly I didn't stay for Lamb of God. I was tired, thirsty, hungry and battered up ;). My neck was killing me, my head was throbbing and my body ached. That's the price I payed for losing my mind during COB. :D

Went to Throwdown, Children of Bodom, Fear Factory and Lamb of God a few days ago. Of course it was totally kick ass. I never heard of Throwdown until this concert. They reminded me of Unearth a little. Children of Bodom was totally awesome of course although I wish they could have played more than 7 songs. Fear Factory was AMAZING. They played so well live and sounded GREAT. Definately gotta see them again. Sadly I didn't stay for Lamb of God. I was tired, thirsty, hungry and battered up ;). My neck was killing me, my head was throbbing and my body ached. That's the price I payed for losing my mind during COB. :D

Oh oh ohoh, I am going to the FF Lamb of God show here in Tampa on Wed, I am sooooo excited, I've been wanting to see FF for a long long while now! I'm real glad they got an "Amazing" rating. I'll have to put in my 2 when I get back from the show.

Chevelle concert at the Canopy club, god knows my friend Dusty and i will be the first ones there and right up by the stage, i'll come back and have a full report after Nov. 2

tonight i saw The Used with guests The Bronx and The Bled.

The Bronx was up first. since it was halloween, all of them came out in sailor outfits, with the lead singer dressed as the captain. he was drunk off his ass and chugged beers in between songs, but their set was absolutely awesome and i think i'm going to have to invest in their CD sometime soon.

next up was The Bled. i bought their CD a couple of weeks ago and have been in love with it since. all of them came out in different costumes. the lead singer and bass guitarist wore full-body foam Jack Daniel's bottles, while the drummer wore a full-body foam banana suit. the one guitarist wore a beer bottle and the other guitarist wore what looked to be seaweed or feathers or something...either way, they put on an absolutely amazing set.

then The Used came on. most people rag on me for liking these guys. i personally don't give a fuck. they are still absolutely amazing in my books despite what everyone says. i was right dead center in front of Bert, and he grabbed my hand at one point while he was singing Blue and Yellow. i lost my shoe at one point when the crowd shifted, but i shoved everyone the fuck out of my way and actually managed to find it. and i've learned that when your 6'5, being dead center SUCKS, because you get crushed from behind by crowd surfers every 2 minutes. Bert showed everyone his ass, and then at the end of the encore, Quinn Allman (guitarist) stripped fully naked and walked off of the stage, wang-out and all. it was hilarious.


next up is Taking Back Sunday with guests Atreyu (I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM) and Funeral For A Friend, on November 13th. it'll be my 5th time seeing TBS live. :D

That was probably one of the better concerts i've been to in a while, aside from Lucky Boys Confusion. Me and two of my friends got there an hour and a half early to be first in line(ended up 14th, and i provided good entertainment for the people while we were waiting) and we ended up right at the stage in the middle, couldn't ask for a better spot. The two opening bands were Vendetta Red and Dredge, they weren't to bad, but their sets seemed to drag on forever. I also managed to score me a chicky got her digits but didn't go home with her because i didn't want to ditch my friends. When Chevelle came on stage all hell broke loose, i was fighting most of the night just to keep my spot, and lost it several times but i still managed to stay up right at the stage. I can't name all the songs they played but they played about 12 i believe(including The Red, Vitamin R, and send the pain below. Going to this concert made me like Chevelle even more cause they really know how to put on a show.

Going to this concert made me like Chevelle even more cause they really know how to put on a show.

Man, I saw Chevelle last year, when they opened for foo fighters, and I thought I was going to blow chunks. IMO, they sucked really bad, and we were right up front. But then again, not many bands can stand up to foo in concert.

^Dude, Chevlle live freakin; rocks! I sw them at the Norva, Va Bch, Orlando, and Jax.

And New Foo Fighters album = new tour!!! Can't wait. I'll follow them over the whole freakin country!

Saw Motorhead 3 nights ago. My second time seeing them play.

Damn 13, 3 Inches of Blood, and Corrosion of Conformity were the supporting bands. Damn 13 didn't do too much for me, not bad I guess but it could have been better. 3 Inches of Blood kicked ass. I heard about them before but now I'm just totally interested in them. Corrosion of Conformity shouldn't have been there. Just not the right show for them or something.

Motorhead was everything I expected. When I saw them in June 2000 it was the loudest thing I ever heard, and I made sure to wear earplugs this time. My ears are still ringing loud.

OmfG!!!!!!!!
Slipknot is kick ass live!!!!1
It was slipknot, lamb of god, and shadows fall

I just saw Mae, The Academy Is, Jamison Parker and Days Away in Lawrence, Kansas on May 15th and it was awesome. Mae sounds just as good if not better live than on their cds. I went to the taste of chaos tour in des moines in march and that was awesome too.

I also saw Slipknot, Lamb Of God and Shadows Fall. Damn Skipknot can perform! Lamb of God was badass as well. Shadows Fall and The Bled were okay.

-Chris

uh.........i saw KISS last summer that was fucking the best show ever!!!!!
22 rows from the stage and when the flames shot up i could feel the heat all the way back there!

Saw Beck 2 nights ago, pretty rockin. They had 2 sets going the whole time, so the percussion sounded like thunder, definitely added another dimension to their sound. Played a mix of hits and deep tracks, overall I'd say 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I just saw Blackalicious on monday night.. I have to say this is the second best show I've ever attended. For those who don't know, Blackalicious does old school hip hop (with such hits as Alphabet Aerobics and Chemical Calesthinics) the man is a lyrical tornado and can rap circles around Twista. He's definitely got a way with the crowd too. It was worth just getting 3 hours of sleep to see him.

October's going up and I know theres a lot of local hardcore shows.. and im going to 2 MSI shows and a local fest.. expect a weekend review..

Blackalicious is the shit! Where did you see him? I wonder if he's touring nationwide.

I saw blackalicious in Nashville, TN. I don't know if he's touring nationwide..

but we did park next to their bus :D

i saw judas priest in toronto back in june, let me say for my first metal concert they were awesome! i knew nearly every song and they were excellent performers! im going to see them again this october when they hit london

I saw Queensrÿche on September 23rd in Winnipeg. What a show. They played maybe 6 or 7 of their more well-known songs, had an intermission, and then did the ENTIRE Operation: Mindcrime set from start to finish. Tickets were 42 bucks, but as far as that went, they could have been 100 and I wouldn't have felt ripped off. Just awesome. Geoff Tate can SING. No joke.

i just saw judas priest in london again last night, anthrax opened for them, the show was awesome again, but JP pretty much played the same songs as last time, and neglected to play anything off Defenders of the Faith/Point of Entry, all in all it was an excellent performance, and anthrax was awesome too!

Saw U2 last night. Fantastic show. They encore included "Bad" and "Wild Horses," songs which I had not previously seen live.

I went and saw Every Time I Die, It Dies Today and Haste the Day in Louisville on the 22nd..

I didnt really watch the show as much as I just slamdanced..

So heres an injury count:

Several bonks on the head.. one from an overly big guy who only danced at the very freakin edge of the pit.
Black eye from a guy who accidentally backfisted me. He came up to me after the show to look at it, pretty nice guy.
a nice whomp on the femur from some guy.. right after I got my black eye.

Saw Anthrax and Judas Priest on October 18th in Winnipeg. Tickets were a few cents away from 60 bucks. Could have been 160 and I would have paid it. Best concert I've ever seen before.

Anthrax was on the ball but the sound wasn't that good for them. Scott's guitar was about twice as loud as Danny's. Played good even though the sound was under par. Was wicked to see Anthrax, I had waited so long to see them play.

Judas Priest put on such a good show I still can't believe it. I figured they would open with The Hellion/Electric Eye, and I was right. I had heard stories of Halford coming out on his motorcycle at the end of the show, and he did that too. Right when you think the show is over and you begin to get up and start to leave, you hear the bike start and you know it's not over yet. I don't remember ever seeing anything cooler than what I saw them do that night. It meant a lot to me, I love Judas Priest. That will always be the best 60 bucks I ever spent.

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4331/img0159lq.th.jpg (http://img70.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0159lq.jpg)

That's right, The Club Suites at the Madison Square Garden! It was my first time up there in those suites (not boxes like other places, SUITES!! WOO!) waiters come with awsome food like HUGE burgers, shrimp, and... oooohh yeah, Makers Mark Whiskey:naughty:... yep, that'll about do it. whiskey anytime = a good time. ofcourse they had wine and vodka, too, for the chicks, and oh yes, Yuenglings n Coronas.

Well, aside from satisfying my alcohol fix, The real thrill was the performance: opening with 30 Seconds to Mars (missed most of their performance cuz nypd and metro closed some subway stops so we had to walk a bit), and Seether. Personally, i've heard seether on the radio, and i'm not a big fan, but their performance was definitely energetic. They made a killer tribute to Dimebag Darrell covering some Pantera songs before going offstage. and then, yes, the reason i came: AUDIOSLAVE!!:ylsuper::ylsuper::ylsuper:

They opened with the ferocity of a legend. For the next 2 and a half hours, I was begining to wish that I was in the front row of the mosh down there. As good as these suites were with their expensive burgers and expensive alcohol and couches and whatnot, its no place for a full taste of a rock show, and definitely not with the magnitude of energy Audiolave was putting out. Oh, and when those Soundgarden and Rage songs came on, fogeddabout it. I'm sure there are several moshers wanted on several counts of manslaughter as i may have seen bodyparts take flight.:dogpile:
The Encore was AMAZING, to say the least. Chris Cornell (frontman) came out alone with his acoustic and started playing the mellows :smokin:. all up to one of my favorite songs, 'Show me the Highway', wehre he was re-joined by the rest of he band midway through the song. Finishing off with hard hitters like 'Show Me How To Live'.

All in all, a GREAT show, and what a way to kick off a night of haloween parties!!

EDIT: I forgot to mention, They also played a Brand New Song, we were the first ears to take it in! He didn't even name it, and still had the lyrics printed out on some paper on the floor as he pointed out. It was a very good song, in keeping with audioslave's particular way of being heavy, yet mellow in a sense of state of mind...? heh, i don't think that even makes sense to me, but w/e. think of a desert highway doing 90 in an old dusty worn out Charger... yeah, the perfect song for that moment when you are on that highway.

Saw Slipknot<-----------F*CKIN AWESOME best show ive seen in awhile, As I Lay Dying< Ok and Unearth<Awesome.............and hopefully the 18th ill be in Desmoines seeing MuDvAyNe (seen them once, totally unforgetable) 10 Years (been beging to see) and SEVENDUST (heard good things begging to see)....so if i go ill be sure to brag and let you all know if they are any good....i know mudayne will be awesome, never ever doubt that

If we ever have this concert in Tampa agian I'll let ya'll know. Its called livestock some of the most killer music for 2 days but nothing but partys for 3days. Example of one year I went we had Sevendust, Mudvayne, Staind, Linkin Park, H.E.D. Pe, Offspring. that was all on sat. the year after that we had Puddle of Mudd, Rob Zombie, Kid Rock, Trapt. there is usually 18-25 bands per year for $60. I was just to blasted to remember the rest of them. We even had Def Leppard. All of the bands exceded my xpectations.

I have seen 3 doors down this last august and 2 years ago. I think they are great in concert. The first time they played they had trapt, seether, and 3 days grace open for them. This last august they had breaking benjamin, no address, and staind open for them. Both were absolutely phenomenal concerts. I don't have a great deal of time, but if you have the chance to see them in concert (any of them) it is well worth it.

I lived in Ms. when 3 doors down got their record deal. They got it right before they played in a 3 day concert kind of like the one thats here in fla. Thought they did good considering they just got signed like 3 hrs before. The only issue i had was that I heard Kryptonit 5 times in a hour from them, then it was played non-stop for a few months after but hey Ms. supports them boys

Going to see the Deftones in like a week with the taste of chaos tour. Pretty f'n excited.

Kreator, Napalm Death, A Perfect Murder and Undying in Rochester, NY on Feb. 25, 2006.

Well...we got there 45 minutes after doors, but still managed to get right up front in the center. Smallish club (The Penny Arcade for those of you from Rochester), pretty nice, barricade was right up against the stage so it was cool.

Undying went on around 9. Decent talent, female vocalist. She was semi-hot but the vocals sucked and she was preaching about veganism a lot so the crowd wasn't too into that. Band wasn't bad, but they didn't stand out from your typical hardcore band. I give them about a 3.5/10.

A Perfect Murder was up next. Exact ripoff of Pantera, but these guys were great. Their guitarist could rip some pretty good solos, they were pretty energetic all together and they broke out a To Live is to Die/Call of Ktulu (MetallicA) medley during the set and that was absolutely amazing. They nailed it too. Had some catchy songs and pretty solid riffs. I'm gonna have to check these guys out some more. 7/10

Napalm Death was up in direct support of Kreator. These guys have been around forever, but they're still the angriest band ever. It's great. At one point, Barney (vocalist) said, "This one goes out to George (Bush), he's a good friend of mine." For having several songs under two minutes, these guys were great. Tons of energy and skill. 9/10
Here's their setlist (as pulled from the stage by me):
Instinct of Survival
Unchallenged Hate
Instrument of Persuasion
Continuing War on Stupidity
Narcoleptic
Taste the Poison
Next on the List
Vegetative State
Suffer the Children
Breed to Breathe
The Code is Red... Long Live the Code
Lowlife (CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER cover)
The Silence is Deafening
Right You Are
Diplomatic Immunity
The World Keeps Turning
The Great and the Good
Scum
Life
The Kill
Deciever
You Suffer
Nazi Punks Fuck Off (DEAD KENNEDYS cover)
Siege of Power

Finally the night finished off with Kreator. FUCKING AMAZING. They've been doing it for a while and they're masters at their genre. The whole band nailed every song and had the crowd going the entire time. Mille was his stereotypical metal self talking in his epic metalhead voice. It was great. Easy 10/10.
Setlist:

Enemy of God
Impossible Brutality
Extreme Aggression
People of the Lie
Voices of the Dead
Awakening of the Gods
Coma of Souls
Violent Revolution
Suicide Terrorist
Pleasure to Kill
Phobia
Terrible Certainty
Betrayer
---
Servant of Heaven / King In Hell
Love Us Hate Us
Flag of Hate
Tormentor

And now for the fun part...PICTURES!!! Snapped these with a disposable camera, so the quality on the Kreator pics sucks because of the lighting, but here ya go:
NAPALM DEATH:
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/1511/barney0db.jpg
Barney
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/6177/barney27sl.jpg
More Barney
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/1982/ssatanface9sz.jpg
Barney's Satan face
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/7643/danny5ws.jpg
Danny (The man is a fucking machine)
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/8496/danny27mg.jpg
More Danny
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/4116/mitchandbarney5jf.jpg
Mitch and Barney (getting his shoes duct taped so he didn't slide around as much on the stage)
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/9358/shane8fl.jpg
Shane
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/9556/shane23fa.jpg
More Mitch

KREATOR:
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/1200/christianandsami9ic.jpg
Christian and Sami
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/3361/christianandsami24na.jpg
More Christian and Sami
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/4349/mille29fp.jpg
Mille
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/6117/milleandchristian5pg.jpg
Christian and Mille
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/9641/milleclose0sz.jpg
Mille about to hit me in the face with his guitar
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/5359/milleclosebestshot1rj.jpg
Another close up of Mille (my favorite shot of the night)
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/8919/millew00t7bf.jpg
Mille between songs
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/1775/sami5le.jpg
Sami

Sunday night here was the Taste of Chaos tour starring the Deftones. Overall the show was pretty loud and awesome. They constantly had a band going. as one was playing, they set up the stage for the next band so it was a constant rockfest. The only band there that I could of done without was Street drum Corp. They just didn't fit in. The Deftones put on an awesome show. It seems like they played a shorter show than normal and they ended it on a real quick note. If Taste of Chaos comes to your area, check it out. Definetly worth the time and money. Plus on the way out, Rockstar energy Drinks were handing out a ton of free cans of Rockstar. It really helped when I didn't get home from the concert till 1 and had to work at 7.

Holy Fucking Hell!!

I drove 8 hours to Pittsburgh to see this show, and it was absolutely worth it. Bauhaus and Nine Inch Nails gave such an energetic performance, i'm still sore. They opened with heavier songs like "You Know What You Are?" and moved to oldschool songs like "Terrible Lie", "March of the Pigs", "Burn", and ofcourse, "Closer" and "Hurt". All in all, the stage effects were phenominal, great list of songs (only songs that didn't play that i wish they had were "Hapiness in Slavery" and "Starfuckers Inc."), the energy was there, and i got to go with an old high school friend of mine... great fucking show. For the encore, Trent Reznor was joined by Peter Murphey (lead for Bauhaus) to play "The Hand That Feeds" and an extended "Head Like a Hole". if they're comin to your town, and u can still find tix, GO SEE THEM!!

:smokin:

Social Distortion, Tiger Army, Supersuckers, and Nine Black Alps at Red Rocks last saturday.

Unbelievable. If you ever get a chance to see Social D live, DO IT.

i saw slipknot live last year.. they fucking owned my face. Ozzfest is usually a good bet. I saw In Flames live at the Palladium. that shit was fucking amazing. I love them. Killswitch engage fucking rocks too. waiting for that perfect tour....

Lollapalooza 2006 was fucking amazing. First day saw Iron & Wine and Sleater-Kinney, both amazing sets and I was able to get up to about 30 feet from the stage. Second day, my sister's friend gave me her over 21 wristband (I'm only 18) so I was able to get pretty decently drunk (on top of being high). The second day's highlight was defiently The Flaming Lips, they put on such a crazy beautiful set. But Wolfmother and Kanye West really turned it out, with Twista being a surprise guest with Kanye.

The final day was by far the best, with a water bottle full of vodka and a hitter box full of weed, I was able to see Sparta, 30 Seconds to Mars and Matisyahu. It all came together when Queens of the Stone Age came on, and they fucking rocked it out. They've got so much power and energy it's unreal. I was maybe 30 or 40 yards out from them because I got their right as their set started, but afterwards a lot of people left. Lucky for my friends and I, the Chili Peppers were on this same stage, so for the next hour we were just pushing forward. We got up to maybe 25 yards from the stage, but once Flea came out with his bass solo, and they jammed into Can't Stop, everyone pushed forward and we got up maybe 15 rows from the railing. I thought that was pretty fucking good, considering there were 70,000 people in attendance and the Peppers were the only band in that time slot. They sounded so good, even songs like By The Way and The Zephyr Song (which I don't really like) sounded amazing.

It was such a great festival and everyone I knew and met there had a great fucking time. I love Chicago.

Circa Survive

Saw Circa in Philly yesterday night, pretty small venue. there were 5 opening bands, of which 4 of them i didn't enjoy. very un-melodic, very emo, very gay. one of them was trying to be a mix of Mars Volta and Incubus, but somehow came off as very indie/emo. either say, they sucked, imo. the last opening band was decent, a lot heavier, but unfortunately, by the time they came on, i was almost passed out on the couch upstairs in the venue from being bored to death by the earlier 4 emo lead's epileptic "dancing", and the basist's random bouts of bulbous ass-shaking that completely turned me off from my search of appreciation for their music.

K, finally, Circa's on. I've never heard circa before, i don't really listen to indie music much. I like Dredge, however, and they're close to Circa's style, xcept the lead has a much higher-pitched voice, and the riffs are closer to emo/punk than melodic rock. Still, i enjoyed the show, they weren't bad. No energy, though, but the real fans up front were crowd surfing and jumping and all that, which i just couldn't feel through their music. sounded more like music you sit down and appreciate rather than jump and go wild to. whatever, well worth my 20 bux. btw, Philly is a dirty, dirty city. i don't like it. lol

Just back from Roger Waters at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, MA. What an awesome show. The ENTIRE Dark Side of the Moon? Hell yeah. There was so much energy there, and not only was Waters excellent, but his band was phenomenal. We all pretty much agreed that the woman who's doing "The Great Gig in the Sky" just absolutely NAILED it on the head. It was incredible. The show is still playing over and over through my mind. :ylsuper:

I saw Nights Like These, As Blood Runs Black and Ion Dissonance last week. Holy hell this was a brutal show. As Blood Runs Black stole the show they are damn skilled at their instruments and the oldest member is only 22. If they come through your town I would go check them out.

Saw the Sacrament 2007 tour last night in Winnipeg. Gojira, Machine Head, Trivium, and Lamb of God.

Got there early, stood in line for nearly an hour and a half, but got in when I wanted to. There were 2 merch lines, and everyone went to the LOG/Trivium merch line. I was the first one to the MH line and I got my shirts before anyone else. Sat down just in time for Gojira to start playing. Mind you this is in a small theater with all seats, everywhere. Even on the floor. Kids were trying to mosh all night in the five feet between the first row and the stage. Vicious sound in this place.

Gojira - Good band, the site says they've been together for 10 years or something but it was the first I'd ever heard of them. Played some good tunes, catchy riffs, definitely check them out. Lots of energy.

Machine Head - The band I came to see, it was their first show ever in Winnipeg, and my first time seeing them. Had waited for years for this. They did five songs: Clenching the Fists of Dissent, Imperium, Aesthetics of Hate, Old, and closed with Davidian. I told my buddies before we went in that they would open with Clenching the Fists of Dissent, and close with Davidian and I was right. When the intro to Clenching started playing, I could have cried it was so beautiful. Must not be many MH fans around my part of the country because nobody but me was singing along, and nobody knew the lyrics to either of the 2 new songs they played. I just felt alienated. I think I was the only one in the whole place going MACHINE FUCKIN HEAD. If you're a Machine Head fan in Manitoba get ahold of me. Come on.

I went downstairs and got something to drink after screaming for more than a half hour with the Head, and came back up when Trivium was starting. Meh. I dozed off and woke up during Lamb of God's soundcheck. No joke.

Lamb of God KILLED it. What can I say. They're fuckin wicked. For a ticket costing $36.50 I can tell you right now that what I did last night was better than buying a case of beer, or going to a movie, or blowing it on slot machines. The people you meet and the things you see at a metal show is what it's all about.

Take action tour w/ a few small bands (emery, the red jumsuit apparatus, etc.) Those emo kids know how to mosh.

Dimmu Borgir with Kataklysm, DevilDriver, and Unearth. May 5th, 2007 in Winnipeg.

I was up against the stage all night. Security was letting people through to the small floor area, and I figured we wouldn't get in there anyway so I didn't even bother moving. My sister stood up, and security pointed at her and told her and us to come through, we were the last three people into the floor. I managed to get up against the stage and I stayed there all night long.

Kataklysm started off, such an awesome band. Definitely had the best guitar tone all night, I can't remember hearing something like that at a show before, just killer. The PA was right beside my head to my left, and it was SO loud. If you don't know who these guys are, they're from Montreal and they're worth checking out.

Kataklysm finished and next was DevilDriver. One of the bands I came to see. Opened with End of the Line just like I figured they would, and I sang along with them the entire time they were up there. Dez is probably my favorite singer out of any band, next to Jasta and Halford. I went nuts seeing these guys, had waited a long time for them. Jon Miller walked past me so I called out to him and he came over to me, reached down and shook my hand. At that point I knew everything was gonna be okay.

Unearth was next, another band I came to see. Right now I can't remember which song they opened with, my hearing was pretty much shot at this point as well. Sang along the entire time with them too, such a great band. Evidently this would be I guess the third or second last show with Mike Justian? I heard he left a few days later. During the show Buz kept going offstage, he walked right over me once and sat down in one of the empty seats on the floor, playing his guitar, was too cool. Me and a couple other guys are smashing our heads on the stage awhile later and I feel something touch my side, and I look up and I see the headstock of a guitar go past my head, and Buz climbs onstage in between me and another guy. We didn't even notice him leave the stage, but he must have went out the back, came around through the lobby and down through into the theater. Never noticed. They put on a deadly show. Once they were done, we left our place at the stage and went to the lobby to buy some more shirts. I'm buying my Unearth shirts off the merch guy and Buz walks in behind him, and I look around and it's as if nobody cares that he's RIGHT there. I pay for my shirts and stick out my hand, and he shakes it and tells me he's happy I'm buying shirts and stuff, it was pretty cool. I turn around and look for the people I came with, and I see Ken Susi sitting on a table behind me, nobody paying any attention to him, so I went and shook his hand too. It was a great night. We didn't stay for Dimmu Borgir, was never really into them. I'm an Icelander, but I could never get into that spooky or whatever it is kind of metal. I couldn't hear anything anyway, my ears just quit ringing the other day and I saw the show more than 2 weeks ago.

Bump back to life:

April 12th, 2008 a friend and I drove from Pittsburgh to see Into Eternity, Epica and Symphony X in concert in Cleveland, OH.

Into Eternity opened at 8pm. They had some feedback issues, and they aren't quite my style, but overall had an okay set.

Epica came on second around 915pm. Uh-MAZING!!!! Simone (usual lead singer) is sick so their backup singer, Amanda, was fronting. Let me tell you - Epica is one of my all time favorite bands {think Nightwish if you haven't heard of them} and Amanda always has done a great job as back up, but SHE ROCKED THE HOUSE! There were a ton of people around me going "Who is Epica?" and the one guy left with BOTH discs they brought along because they are just AWESOME! Amanda brought down the house. She just did an amazing job. She was kinda upset because their 45min set got cut short (into eternity couldn't get their shit off stage :banghead: ) but I think they really rocked out anyway. I think they only missed 2 songs in their playlist.

Symphony X finally took the stage (not sure of time). What a drum set (my friend that went with me would kill me if I didn't put that in)!!!! They did a great job, but I was really there for Epica, so I was kinda in shock and awe from them, so I kinda ignored some of Symphony X. The lead singer in Symphony X is a FUNNAY MAN!!!! He was hysterical - and I was DD, so I was sober and it was still great!

Overall AMAZING SHOW!!! I got Amanda's autograph - and I fully intend on checking out her single-artist stuff now that I've heard her live.