Concert Recap

So, life was pretty crazy over the summer - I changed jobs and moved suddenly, and then spent two months on a boat sailing off New England. Somehow, I squeezed some concerts in there too, and when I looked over S's list, I realized there were a couple shows in the spring that I somehow didn't review either. So here are some summaries of shows I've been to.

Iron Cross Band, Aug. 11, 2012, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, UMD: The "IC Band" is Burma's biggest rock band, and now they're finally free from the fetters of government censorship. They played for over 3 hours, and would have played more but were stopped because the audience was so rowdy. The Clarice Smith Center was an odd choice of venue for such a heavy act - about half their songs were heavy enough for headbanging, and the audience was pretty excited. People were going to the front, standing up and jumping around. The police were called in and took someone away for not going back to their seat. The band featured four singers and guest vocalist D Lun. Lay Phyu was definitely the best of the vocalists; the whole band sounded worlds better when he was on stage. They played a variety of songs - heavy metal, pop, even country, with a fair number of covers redone with Burmese lyrics, including an Yngwie Malmsteen song. Their lead guitarist, Chit San Maung, is probably one of the best in the world; he played a ten minute solo which included playing the guitar on someone's head. There were a few other solos including a keytar solo that sounded like a guitar solo. It was a neat experience but for someone not familiar with IC's music, it went on far too long.

My Enemy Complete, July 21, 2012, Zero (The Meeting Place): My friend's band played at a weekly goth/industrial club that I like to attend. They sounded louder and heavier than I've ever heard them. I love the instrumental segments of their songs - they're heavy and headbangable, or industrial and danceable. The songs seem to lose momentum during the vocals, though; I wish they would keep up the heaviness. Still, they sounded good and had a nice crowd.

Scorpions, Night Ranger, Jul. 12, 2012, Merriweather Post Pavilion: Scorpions are one of S's favorite bands. They were good, and I had fun at the show. "Winds of Change," the only Scorpions song I know, sounded just like the recording. It's amazing that they sound so good after all this time.

Marduk, 1349, Withered, Weapon, A Strong Intention(?), Jun. 2, 2012, Sonar

Corpse paint for free drinks. And also just cause it's fun.

We actually got there just as Weapon finished. A lady at the merch area scolded us for missing their set :(
Withered was good. They sounded loud and heavy - until I heard the other bands. They had some fast segments, and some slow trance-inducing atmospheric segments. Thanks to the quickly downed free drink, I was rather tipsy and couldn't go in the pit.1349 was faster and riffier than Withered. Marduk was even more intense, with a solid, heavy sound. Their old songs had a distinctly thrashy or rock-and-roll sound. We left before the end of the set, around 1am, cause we were just too tired - I had probably worked overnight the night before or something.

Sabaton, A Sound of Thunder, Amphibious Apes, May 21, 2012, Empire (formerly Jaxx): I was looking forward enormously to this show; Sabaton and A Sound of Thunder are two of my favorite bands, so putting the two of them together promised to be a night of awesome. Not only that, but in the second slot A Sound of Thunder was able to play much longer than a local opener typically would. We did hear a bit of Amphibious Apes on our way in, but didn't listen too closely (sorry, guys, just not a fan of the experimental stuff). A Sound of Thunder played for nearly an hour, almost entirely songs from their new album, except one from their EP. I tried a couple times to start pit, especially for "Fight Till the End," but could not get anyone else to participate. Sabaton was awesome; they were pumped (even with 3 new band members) and so was the audience. The songs sounded perfect even with the new recruits. They played most of the favorites, as well as new song "Carolus Rex," plus some more obscure songs, like "Swedish Pagans" (which I've always heard other people demand at shows but am not too familiar with myself). I never thought I'd mosh for Sabaton (I did spend about a third of the time jumping up and down and shouting along) but I did this time; I even started a pit when I didn't know lyrics (that was "Into the Fire"). Some silly stuff happened like a stuffed animal being tossed around, and a guy with a sombrero wandering onto the stage. S. got a shout out from Joakim (vocalist) for his Rainbow shirt.

Rammstein, Apr. 25, 2012, 1st Mariner Arena: I had just gotten off a sail on Pride of Baltimore II, and was kind of tired. Before the show, Joe Letz from Combichrist was DJ'ing, and I was amused by the stuffed unicorns on his table. Rammstein put on a great show. There were lots of pyrotechnics and other stunts - roasting the keyboardist in a giant pot, crossing a catwalk (most of the band on all fours with leashes on held on to by the drummer) to a small stage in the middle of the crowd, the keyboardist crowd-surfing in an inflatable raft. We could feel the heat from the pyro even way up on the second level; it must have been roasting on the floor.

Iced Earth, Warbringer Mar. 13, 2012, 930 Club: Crowd was rather small for this show. Warbringer was pretty good for a thrash band. Even after the singer called for a pit, only a few people took part; I wanted to help out but I was wearing a skirt :( Iced Earth gave a solid performance, and Stu, their new singer, sounded good. He pulled out a mask for "V" which was kind of fun.

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.

Dio Disciples, Disciples of Sabbath, A Sound of Thunder, Bloodlines - 9/24/11 at Jaxx

Although I love Dio, to be honest I went to this concert because A Sound of Thunder was opening. Otherwise it would not really have caught my interest. But A Sound of Thunder is an awesome local band that I hadn't seen for some time, so mainly for their sake (and because S. wanted to) I went.

We got there in the middle of Bloodlines's set and listened to a few songs. I don't have much impression of them. (Sorry, my brain is not completely functional these days. Blame the meds.) S. posted a setlist albeit a very short one for Bloodlines.

Fortunately A Sound of Thunder was second, so we got to hear their whole set. They veer more toward a classic metal sound, although Nina does throw in some harsher vocals every now and then. What I like most about them is that when they get going, they shake the house with their thunderous sound. This time I thought they started out a little quiet. They started with "Walls" which is a pretty catchy song but didn't quite get me moving. But then near the end of second song, "Murderous Horde," came this amazing barrage of sound! I love it when this band lives up to their name! They played some new songs as well as their "classics." Apparently people get mad if they don't play "Blood Vomit" and I'm glad this caused to them to play cause it's one of my favorite songs from their latest CD. They ended with their "theme song," "A Sound of Thunder" which is my all time favorite song by them. I can't wait till their new album comes out but seeing them live is even better. Nina has a powerful voice and I love the way they shake the walls. Oh yeah and at one point Nina used a whip to induce awesome, virtuoso soloing from the guitarist. I just felt bad the guy didn't get any applause cause they went right into a song. I'm sure the whole room would have thundered with applause. ha, ha.


One of their new songs. It's not my video, and I'm not in it either..I'm afraid my hair would get tangled in someone's guitar if I went right up to the front O.o

After that was Disciples of Sabbath, an Ozzy era Sabbath cover band. I'm not a huge Ozzy fan so I was not terribly interested in them. The singer looked a bit like a chubby(er), blond Ozzy, complete with make-up, and they did decent renditions of the songs I recognized (could not for the life of me tell you the song titles though..um..see S's setlist.)

Last, of course, was Dio Disciples, which was Dio's band with Ripper Owens (Charred Walls of the Damned, Beyond Fear, Judas Priest, Iced Earth) and Toby Jepson (Little Angels, Gun) doing vocals. It was amazing to hear these songs live and performed by such talented people (not just the vocalists but the band as well). As a metal n00b I figured I'd never get to hear them anywhere close to original quality (I was just getting into metal when Dio died) but obviously, this was something quite other than an opening act cover band! The songs I knew well enough to judge were all sung by Ripper and I think he did his best on the lower parts, his high notes didn't quite match the sound of Dio. (But then, the guy's not Dio, and he did do a really good job anyway I thought.) My favorite was "Holy Diver" (too predictable?) I was literally falling asleep on my feet by the end and didn't enjoy the two encores ("Rainbow in the Dark" and "We Rock") as much as I should have. Damnable job interviews at 7 in the morning!

I thought that this was a one tour wonder but apparently Dio Disciples is an actual band. If so, I hope they come around again sometime. RIP Ronnie James Dio. Your music will live forever!

Next review: Would you like me to review Chinese opera?? That's what I'll be seeing tonight XD If it's metal you desire, then the next show on my calendar is Sabaton on Oct. 17 - with A Sound of Thunder opening!! can't wait!!

Kix (Jaxx, 9/17/11) and Corrections

I bet you are wondering if I'm refering to the band you think I'm refering to because Kix definitely is not a folk, power, death, epic or pagan metal band, right? Yeah, that was S's doing, he's a big Kix fan, so I went with him to see a show. They were good. Louder and heavier than I expected. I was tired and felt like crap so I just kind of stood there and listened, and I wasn't familiar with their songs cause I'd spent the week listening to Enslaved and Alcest (for a concert I wound up not going to >.<). But it was fun. The singer was so energetic and crazy - he kept talking about rock and roll hard-ons and jumping around the stage and throwing things like confetti and giant balloons into the audience. Huge crowd too, it took forever to get anything at the bar and the floor was packed.

Here is an example of Steve's craziness. He's telling some story about a woman who threw up all over the floor or something. I couldn't really follow it even when I was there XD

In other news, I have a few corrections to make. For some reason I was under the impression that Enslaved was a Swedish death metal band, when in fact they are a Norwegian black metal band O.o (I could have sworn they said they were from Sweden at Tuska! But maybe they were just messing with us because they also said that in interviews they like to say they are from Finland. assholes! XD) And apparently everything is death metal me.

Also, I'm going to go back and change the post titles so that the bands are listed from the headliner down, as is the convention. I hope this does not cause url's to change in case anyone (probably only me >.<) has linked to the posts. If it does..sorry :(

The Agonist, Blackguard, Alestorm, Kamelot - 8/27/11 at Jaxx, Springfield, VA

We braved Hurricane Irene to go see this show and I'm glad we did. Actually the hurricane wasn't that bad - we were so far inland that all we got was a lot of rain, a little wind, a few downed branches and a lot of flying leaves.

We got there near the end of The Agonist's set, in time to hear "Thank You Pain" and one other song. The Agonist is a death metal band, which sounds like you take Arch Enemy style vocals over really fast, thrashy guitars. Their vocalist is pretty amazing, but they lack something in the guitars - more melodies or epic riffs. But they sounded better live - really heavy, and Alissa's clean singing voice (which I don't like as much as her growls) seemed deeper and more fitting with the music. I would probably have enjoyed the set although I don't know if I would have gone on the floor.

Blackguard, a self-described "epic metal" band from Montreal, was next. (This is the first time I've heard a band refer to themselves as "epic metal." I guess it's a new genre for those bands that just sound EPIC without really fitting into death, power, symphonic or folk metal?) I was pretty pumped from their headlining show three days before, although S. and I were a little worried that they would play the same exact set. (They almost did. They didn't play "Fear of All Flesh" this time, that was the only difference.) They did play "Sarissas" again and this time the pit was awesome. The crowd was a little lax though - for the first few songs, they didn't start to mosh until Paul (vocalist) gave the signal. S.said they sounded better at the headline show; I didn't notice any difference. I think I was too busy moshing, and thinking about folk pits, to critique their sound - perhaps not something I should admit on a music review blog! But I am honest to a fault :D

Then came Alestorm, which topped Amon Amarth as the best concert experience I've ever had. Alestorm is what I would call a "pirate metal" band from Scotland. They use a lot of jig-like melodies but are also VERY heavy. To my glee, the singer looked just like he does in the video for "Keelhauled" - frizzly black hair and a ragged white shirt, the image of a pirate. Their performance was excellent - they didn't suffer from the problem a lot of folk and melodic metal bands have, which is that the heaviness drowns out the melodies. Their melodies came out loud and clear, even in the heaviest segments. But the best part of the experience was the crowd. Wild crazy pits for nearly every song. Jigging and headbanging together in a line for "Nancy the Tavern Wench" and "Captain Morgan's Revenge." I even almost got S. into the pit for "Wenches and Mead" and saw (and participated in) a fair bit of jigging in the pit. My watch broke and I got thrown face first onto the floor (by someone that was trying to help me up from a fall just before that no less XD) but it was worth it. Until I go to Wacken or see someone like Megadeth up close, this holds the title of BEST SHOW EVER.

(Side note: Sometime during this concert, I figured out how to mosh with minimal pain from my epic long hair. Luckily, it tends to get stuck between people rather than on people - so when it gets stuck, what I have to do is stop, wait a moment for the people to move apart again and then I can continue. mwahaha.)


"Rum" video. It's not very clear but only one I can find from this show :( I was somewhere in the middle for this song but you can't really make anything out. It's funny how mosh pits look so slow on video, when they feel so crazy at the time XD

I was pretty wiped out after Alestorm, but somehow I stayed standing during Kamelot. They were great, even with Fabio Leone from Rhapsody of Fire as the singer (their singer Roy Khan left the band earlier this year). Anyone who is wondering whether seeing the show is worth it without Roy, I would say YES! Definitely go. You will not be disappointed. Fabio has an amazing voice. (Caveat, though: I haven't followed Kamelot that closely, so the difference wasn't as noticeable to me as perhaps a more diehard fan.) But S., who has listened to Kamelot a lot more, also approved of Fabio. They also had a few special guests including Simone Simons of Epica and the singer from Amaranth.

All right. This is about a week later and I'm finally recovered from the this concert (although a little sore from industrial club dancing two nights ago). Next concert coming up will also be killerrrrr because it is Arch Enemy, DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch and CHTHONIC this Thursday at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore. CHTHONICCCCCC!!!!!

There should also be a book review soon because I have finished reading Tuomas Karhumieli...But when will I have time to type it up???