Concert Review - Face-Melting Friday feat. Odin's Court, Aries, Flag of the White Rose, Channel Volatile, Sin 4 Sin - 12/13/13 at Sidebar, Baltimore, MD

So this should have been on 2013 - but again I was spending December stressing myself out, and then spent the holiday season de-stressing and hanging with family, and so it didn't get done. But luckily I made detailed notes, so even nearly a month later I can give you a pretty complete run-down of the first three bands!

 I wanted to get out to support the local bands, but not being able to get babysitting so close to another show, I decided to bring my kid. Actually, that's a lie - babysitting or no, I wanted to bring my kid. Inspired by my friend R, who brought her six-year-old daughter to the Finntroll show at Empire, and by the countless other metal parents I've seen everywhere ranging from this summer's Wintersun show to Tuska Fest in Helsinki, I thought it a great opportunity to continue my daughter's metal education. (I tried to take her to the first Face-Melting Friday in August, but we didn't have the proper ear guards and so she was put off by the rather loud and aggressive thrash band Death Penalty.)

This time, we arrived equipped with noise-cancelling headphones. Since the show had been pushed back to 9:00, we were well in time for the first band, Sin 4 Sin. At that point, Iz was still entranced by her Leapster [a kids game device] and didn't respond much to my attempts to move to the music. Sin 4 Sin was very catchy, and their singer had great voice - he could really soar! They were totally party metal, with choruses like "I quit drinking," "My girlfriend always gets arrested," "I want to stay with you through the night." There were a few unusual moments - a punky intro to one song, some black metal cymbal crashes at another point - but they were pretty much rocking hair metal. The guitarist looked kinda of like my friend D (the musical theater actor) right down to his silly facial expressions. I had such a fun time during their set. Iz did draw a picture of the singer on her Leapster; I'll have to see if we can find it.

Next up was Channel Volatile. I had never heard of them, but I felt optimistic - I mean they had a keyboard! How many local bands have that? The singer had awesome extremely spiky shoes, tights with skeletons on them and a rather short black dress. The guitarist looked pretty metal in boots and a military-ish top. But their sound didn't do it for me. In the first song, I couldn't hear much of the guitar or other instruments; they seemed like just background for the vocals. In the second song, the guitar was much louder, overpowering everything else, so that even the vocals sank into the background. But the guitar didn't do much, just some simple melodies or bland background-music-y riffs. There was a cool part in the second or third song where they suddenly went full out with charging heavy metal riffs and enthusiastic, interesting drumming, the vocalist providing heartfelt "Whoooaaa"s over top. There were a few other moments throughout the set where she belted out the vocals a bit more strongly, but in general her vocals were rather lackluster, and too soft. I only really noticed the keyboard in one or two parts. The sound mixing definitely seemed to be an issue with the guitar being too loud, but I found the music rather lacking overall. Iz seemed to like it, though; after her Leapster ran out of batteries, she spent the rest of the set dancing.

By then it was past ten, and I was tired and thinking about leaving - but with Flag of the White Rose up next, I couldn't tear myself away. I planned to stay for a couple songs, but ended up staying for the whole set. They delivered a much more energetic experience then Channel Volatile, and sounded even better than last time I saw them, with headbang-inspiring heavy metal riffs topped off with Kerri's Halford-like vocals. Once again they covered Priest's "Heading Out to the Highway." As soon as they launched into that song, you could hear that while they're trying to emulate that sound, original Priest is a whole other level - tighter, more intense, not a shred of wasted energy or sound. But Flag sounded awesome playing it, which is a feat in itself. They have the image to back up their music - Kerri with her tall red mohawk and metal stud-encrusted leather outfit, the bassist with his police cap and handcuff belt, and the guitarist also sporting some studded accessories on his black denim outfit. (Nick, the drummer, just needs to add some leather or metal studs to his get-up ;) ) Bobbie, the show's organizer, took my daughter up to the front row and showed her how to rock out, and she was jumping around and waving her fist - so I'd say as far as metal education, the night was a success!

After that it was time to go, but we heard Aries start up while we were in the bathroom, and my first impression was that they sounded a bit like A Sound Of Thunder - the thundering heavy metal riffs, the powerful clean vocals. I'll have to catch them another time, since they sounded promising.

When I asked Iz her opinion of the show, she said, "It was really, really, really, really good!" I was inclined to agree; I really enjoyed two of three bands, and even better, I was so happy that Iz enjoyed the show and started on the path to being a metalhead.

Next show: There are a couple of local shows I hope to see this month - gonna try to see Feritas on Friday, hoping to see Demiz later this month, and I think there's a show with Flag of the White Rose even later on. Next big show is Amon Amarth, Enslaved and Skeletonwitch at the end of the month!

Edit: I mistakenly implied that Aries had a female singer. I should have known they were just channeling Priest. A night of 80's influenced music, FTW.

Concert Review - M3 Rock Festival 2013 (Day 2) - 5/4/13 at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

So, this year I actually paid enough attention at M3 Fest to write a real review :P Last year it was a spur of the moment thing, something fun to do on a day off. This year I actually planned to go on the second day, and made S. make me a CD of all the bands so that I could be at least a little familiar with them XD I still went largely because S. was going, and since M3 Fest is near our anniversary, it's kinda become part of our anniversary celebrations..but I was definitely much more into it this year.

We got there a little before Steelheart came on. S. was very excited about seeing them; I couldn't really remember any of their songs. They were loud, especially the guitars - maybe even too loud; there was some feedback which made the guitars indistinct. The singer had a strong voice and was jumping around, and the bassist (an old bald guy) was also spinning around and doing other antics. They sounded great for a band near the bottom of the bill - good vocals and heavy guitars with strong metal riffs.

There was a little break, with no one on the "Festival" stage, and then Trixter came on the main stage. They had clearer guitars than Steelheart, but did not sound as metal. The backing vocals, done by band members, were horrible (I'm not exaggerating - they were off key and unpolished), and the singer himself was just all right. Their hit "One in a Million" sounded pretty good (minus terrible backing vocals), but otherwise I found them unremarkable.

The next band on the Festival stage, Tuff, was a little better. They had some metal guitar parts (heavy, riffy) such as on "Good Guys Wear Black" and "American Haircore" - I mean, "American Hair Band" - but most of the guitars were bland. The backing vocals were much better than Trixter's (not a difficult feat of course) - maybe because they consisted more of punk-like shouting than singing. I thought the vocals were strong overall. Aside from "American Hair Band," though, the songs were not very interesting.

After that was JSRG (formed by members of Vixen) on the main stage. They were excellent, with great guitar work and strong vocals. I especially liked the vocals, which were a little bit deep and rough, and very powerful. For some reason I was not very familiar with Vixen songs, so I don't recall any specifics about their songs, but I enjoyed their set.

Great White was next on the festival stage. They were good technically - I can't fault their musicianship or vocalist - but they weren't very interesting to me. Their sound leaned more toward the rock end of the hair band spectrum - slow and mellow, not very heavy - which is not really my thing. I dig heavy guitars.

The band I was probably looking forward to most was Japanese metal band Loudness, who played on the main stage. They were (of course) ten times heavier than any of the other bands at M3 Fest. They had great heavy guitars, but like Steelheart, the guitars were a little too loud again. They drowned out the vocals sometimes, or made the vocals and guitars sound mismatched. Still, I enjoyed their performance.

After Loudness, we took a dinner break while King's X played, since S. was not interested in them. I could see why - the bits we heard were pretty generic, fine for background music, not worth not sitting on the lawn though.

Our dinner break ended when hair metal parody band Steel Panther came on the main stage. As I hoped, they were hilarious, and also sounded great. Their ridiculous talk (mostly making fun of each other or making statements like "the heaviest singer at this festival on this stage in this time slot") and over-the-top songs were very entertaining. And if one looked (listened?) past their ludicrous lyrics about getting some in all kinds of comically exaggerated ways, their guitar work and vocals were very good. S.'s friend T. commented that it was a shame they were so far higher on the bill than "the bands they're making fun of," but I thought it was with good reason - they gave one of the most polished, entertaining and technically spot on performances of the day. Unfortunately, we missed their last two songs ("17 Girls in a Row" and "Death to All but Metal") because Firehouse started on the festival stage.

Coming straight from Steel Panther's bombastic performance, Firehouse seemed a little plain at first, but they sounded good. They played a lot of songs from their first album, which I was most familiar with - "All She Wrote," "Overnight Sensation," "Love of a Lifetime," "Don't Treat Me Bad." Besides that, they only played one or two other songs (I know "When I Look Into Your Eyes" was one of them) - it seemed like a rather short set, at least for so far along in the day. Still, I was stoked to have heard "Love of a Lifetime," my favorite song of theirs. T wanted to pick S up on his shoulders during "Don't Treat Me Bad," but S. refused, so I got him to pick me up instead \m/

Me making T hate his life during Firehouse's set

After that was Twisted Sister on the main stage - the last band at M3 Fest that I was actually looking forward to seeing. I'm not a huge fan of them, but they're one of those iconic bands that I wouldn't want to miss given the chance to see them. Hearing them play "We're Not Gonna Take It" was one of those experiences every metalhead needs to have at least once in a lifetime. I was pretty pleased with their performance overall - Dee Snider's voice still sounds good, his hair looks about the same as in the 80's, and he was running all over the stage. The rest of the band sounded good, too, but it was Dee's energy and presence that carried it. He talked too much, though, going on about shows in other countries and how America has to sing "I Wanna Rock" the loudest, which made the set drag at points.

After Twisted Sister, it was back to the festival stage to see Jackyl. S. and T. were pumped, but I couldn't wait for their set to be over. I find the singer's voice annoying, and his songs and talk crude and not funny. They killed the energy for me; I was ready to leave when they finished.

S. and T. wanted to stay and hear a bit of Bret Michaels, though - even though T. in particular had spent most of the day dissing him. Bret sounded good, but he played too many covers of non-metal songs (such as "Sweet Home Alabama") instead of Poison songs. By that time, it was very cold, and in my opinion, even Poison is not worth standing out in the cold. In addition, he also talked too much, which made it even more boring. I dragged S. and T. away about 3/4 through the set, just before he played "Every Rose Has Its Thorns" (we heard it as we were walking out of Merriweather).

I enjoyed M3 Fest a lot more this year than last year - maybe it was the line-up, the fact that I got familiar with the bands ahead of time, or that I was able to stay the whole day. Whatever the reason, I'm pretty sure I'll go again next year, as long as S. and T. don't mind me tagging along.

S. wrote a review of Day 1 of M3 Fest as well as Day 2, and posted some photos.

Next concert: Mago de Oz, 5/22

M3 Fest (Day 2) - May 12, 2012 at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

Wait, what happened? I went to M3 Fest, a big hair band festival, because S. was going. It was actually pretty fun. I didn't really know any of the bands well, and some not at all. The two bands that I wanted to see most were the ones that were least - perhaps not at all - hair band-like: Loudness and Queensryche. It might have been more fun if I knew the bands better, but I would also have gotten more hot and tired from jumping around if that were the case. For a relaxed day off when I didn't want to do much, it was a good choice.

When we got there, L.A. Guns were on. They were all right; they didn't especially stand out in my mind. After they finished we commenced a constant running back and forth between the main stage and the second stage, since the bands went on one right after the other, even overlapping sometimes. Bang Tango, on the second stage, was a little more energetic, loud and heavy enough to get me bobbing my head. Then it was back to the main stage for Dokken. The songs sounded decent but the singer was not into it at all. After that, Loudness was great - loud, fast and heavy. I didn't know any of the songs but they were heavy enough that I took my hair down to headbang. Warrant, back on the main stage, sounded really good too. In sharp contrast to Dokken, the singer was very into it, delivering the lyrics emphatically and waving the mic stand around. He wasn't the original singer of the band, though, as apparently that guy is no longer with us. During their set, S's pal T. kept telling me to sing along, but I didn't know the words. S. did manage to teach me the chorus to "Heaven." Last band I heard before having to leave to do work was Lynch Mob who were also pretty good. I can't remember if it was their singer who jumped down into the crowd or if that was Bang Tango. 

After I left, I later heard a bit of Queensryche and Skid Row while making copies at a place across the street. thought to myself, dangit they must be having so much fun. Indeed they were - when I picked up S and T later, S was completely hoarse from singing along to Skid Row.

Next concert - Sabaton and A Sound of Thunder!!! 5/21/12

S. wrote a more detailed review and setlists.

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 :(