I went to this show with somewhat low expectations. This is a band I like, but do not love. What I expected was a decent performance and an okay time. What I got far exceeded my expectations. The performance was incredibly tight, enthusiastic, and great in just about every way you could possibly expect a concert performance to be. This was the best time I've had at a concert in quite some time.
Recap:
Myself and another forum member who will remain anonymous unless he chooses to chime in arrived in Reno/Sparks a little after 4:00 p.m. After driving a bit to scope out the venue and get our bearings, we retired to In N Out Burger for a light pre-concert meal. We got back to the venue about 5:30 and saw some of the bandmembers hanging around outside. Chriz was on a cell phone by the front door, and Andrea, Maki, and Chris were over on the side of the venue by the tour bus. No sign of Christina or Maus. We talked to the band for a few minutes and took a few pics.
Into the venue when the doors opened at 7:00. The club was a bit of a dive, but was pretty good sized and had a pretty good stage setup. Opening acts were Dommin, Seventh Void (a band put together by the guitarist and drummer from Type O Negative), and Kill Hanna. Seventh Void were decent. They reminded me of sort of a screamier version of Soundgarden, and I mean that in a positive way. They put on a good show. The other two bands were basically generic emo bands. Dommin did nothing for me whatsoever, but I applaud them for putting on a high energy show. I hated absolutely everything about Kill Hanna. Well, their drummer was entertaining to watch. But otherwise, even though I will almost always stretch to try to find something positive to say, I found nothing redeeming about these guys whatsoever. And their whole attitude and persona were so offputting that, along with the music being so bad, I just can't find anything good to say. Worst live music I have ever witnessed in my life in any genre, and that includes amateur acts and rap music. I feel that I owe my ears an apology for making them witness this act. Anyhow, on to the headliner.
First off, I can't imagine being in a better spot. Personally, I like getting as close to the stage as possible at a lot of shows. Sometimes I don't if there is going to be a super wild pit because, while I like to get into the show and jump around a bit, I also want to actually be able to see and enjoy the show. The crowd in this place, honestly, was great. They were super into the show without getting nuts. This enabled us to get right in the very front. We were right up against the stage, slightly to the right of center (which ended up being directly in front of Andrea and about 3-5 feet to the right of Christina for most of the set). The set list was directly in front of me:
Good set list. I don't know that I could have picked a much better one if I got to hand pick every song myself.
As I mentioned above, the performance was really tight, the band was energetic, and they all really seemed to be having a great time. There was a lot of handslapping with Andrea, and the other band members moved around the stage quite a bit and gave us some attention as well. Maus was the only one who didn't really move. He stayed over at stage right the entire night, so we didn't have any interaction with him at all.
Again, it was super cool being right up front. Not only were the views great, but we just felt so much like part of the show. At one point, Make was standing right over me, one foot propped up on the monitors in front of us, chugging away on the bass. I mouthed the word "pick" and made a picking motion with my hand, obviously asking whether I could have a bass pick. He winked and nodded, and then kept playing. I figured he was going to finish the song, and possibly give me the pick he had. Toward the end of the song, he went back to his side of the stage, and then came back over to my side with a handful of picks after the song ended. He walked over to me and put one right in my hand before tossing the rest out to the crowd.
There was another cool moment later in the show where Christina was thanking the audience for supporting them and for coming out and seeing them. After the cheering from the audience died down, I screamed as loud as I could, "Thank you for coming to America!" I wasn't sure my voice would carry loud enough for them to hear, but apparently, I did it at just the right moment and was louder than I thought, because she looked right at me, said "you're very welcome," and then came over and gave me a big high five after introducing and beginning the next song.
Lots of other cool moments as well, but I'll only mention on other one. I really wanted to get one of Criz's drum sticks. I was hoping to have caught him outside the venue with the others before the show, and I was going to just ask him for one (or a pair). Unfortunately, after we were done talking to Andrea, Maki, and Chris, he had apparently finished his phone call and went back inside. But at the end of the show, he began walking from the left side of the stage to our side, tossing out sticks. His second to last one went way over my head, and there was no way I could grab it. He was walking past, going to throw the last one over to the right side of the stage when I screamed his name as loud as I could and waved for him to toss it my way. He stopped, looked at me and smiled, and then tossed it high in the air directly over me. All kinds of hands went up, and I jumped like Kobe going for a rebound, and managed to snag it.
Topic: Lacuna Coil 7/25/09 (Read 7633 times)
