Concert Recap

I'm going to post a review of Machine Head et al pretty soon (I know, my first review in what, five months? So exciting!). First though I thought I should recap what I've been doing since September. It's not that I took time off concerts, just that I was too tired/stressed/busy/lacking-in-internets, etc. to post reviews. Since my next concert is early March, we'll see if the renewed vigor lasts.

So here's what I've been doing since September:

Sabaton, A Sound of Thunder, Oct. 2011, Jaxx: Sabaton = awesome, so Sabaton live = overpowering amounts of awesome. Jumping, headbanging, shouting and singing along. Sabaton is a power metal band that focuses on historical and heroic themes, so they manage to create some seriously inspiring songs. "Uprising" was definitely the highlight of the night. Even more excellently, the amazing local band Sound of Thunder opened for them and got to play an extra long set (for a local band) so we got to hear a lot of their new music.

Anthrax, Testament, Death Angel, Nov. 2011, Ram's Head Live (Baltimore): It was great to see a legendary act like Anthrax in such a small venue. We were behind the pit but it still felt like up close and personal with metal history. Great show and massive pit. Was not a big fan of Testament before but I appreciate them more after seeing them live. We missed most of Death Angel but the song and a half that we did hear sounded good as well. (Thank goodness we didn't hear "Truce," it's an ok song but horribly overplayed on a certain xm radio station.)

Five Finger Death Punch, Hatebreed, All That Remains, Nov. 2011, Ram's Head Live (Baltimore): Hatebreed was the highlight of this show and restored my faith in metal (well, hardcore, so, um, music in general I guess) at a kind of low time in my life. Their music is so in-your-face yet also has a positive spin, I can't help but feel inspired by it (I mean, even their most famously brutal song, "Destroy Everything" goes, "Destroy everything...so a new life can begin"). Five Finger Death Punch and All that Remains were probably better than all right, but I wasn't feeling too great and don't really have a clear memory of how they sounded. Except I think this was the show where one of the singers said, "Let me hear all the ladies," and I went ROARRR and several people turned to look at me in surprise.

Korpiklaani, Arkona, Polkadot Cadaver, Dec. 15, 2011, Jaxx: I couldn't remember who the third band on this line-up was and when I googled it I realized why. I don't really care for Polkadot Cadaver at all, I think their music just sounds bad. No epic riffs, powerful vocals, or stellar guitars. We sat out their set. Arkona and Korpiklaani were great, though, of course. I spent most of Arkona's set in the pit, and most of Korpiklaani watching two bigheaded guys ruining the pit for everyone else (by the time it occurred to me to just get in their way and mess up their turning the pit into their personal duel, the set was winding down). And I got S injured in the pit when I dragged him in - oops :( Anyway, it was fun times but not quite as good as Alestorm or Blackguard, I think.