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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: SwedishGoose on August 06, 2018, 04:36:37 AM
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Thought we could start this now...
Got two shows booked for 2019 so far.
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief
How about you?
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Nothing yet as of 2019, but I'll keep checking bandsintown to see if anything comes up that I want to go to
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Hopefully YES featuring ARW will come near my area, with an album release and new music live.
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Nothing yet
but would love for Avenged Sevenfold to do a make up tour for the one they just cancelled, assuming M. Shadows recovers as expected.
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Just saw this announced for next year on facebook (totally was confusing thinking this was actually coming up in 2018) and definitely want to check it out although it's pretty far out:
September 20th - Delain, Amorphis, and Anneke Van Giersbergen @ Irving Plaza, New York City NY
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Just saw this announced for next year on facebook (totally was confusing thinking this was actually coming up in 2018) and definitely want to check it out although it's pretty far out:
September 20th - Delain, Amorphis, and Anneke Van Giersbergen @ Irving Plaza, New York City NY
That is pretty far in advance going into 2019. Looks like a good bill. It shouldn't take that long to sell the 1,200 tickets though.
As for my 2019 concert plans. Nothing yet, but hopefully Tremonti will announce some US shows in the West Coast and I'll go to the Los Angeles show of it.
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Got my tickets and hotel room for Night of the Prog in Germany - no bands announced yet.
:hat
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Avantasia in March 2019 here in Milan
Iron Maiden should they ever play some additional gigs in Europe (most likely Italy, though if all stars align I could be tempted to try with a foreign concert)
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Hearing rumors of a european tour early next year by Neal Morse Band with stops in Sweden..... will definitely go
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I'd definitely be checking out iron maiden and avantasia if either tour the states this year. I think it's possible for both to happen since avantasia played NYC once before, they could do something similar. That was one of the best concerts I've ever been to and the longest performance of a single band I've seen.
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October - Progstock
Nov - Haken
Dec - David Crosby
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Well DT of course. And one or maybe two others (not sure yet)
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October - Progstock
Nov - Haken
Dec - David Crosby
Looking for the 2018 concerts? :biggrin:
Well DT of course. And one or maybe two others (not sure yet)
True, with the new album, I'd hope to be able to see them next year as well.
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New concert for 2019, a special one off Kamelot show in NYC
September 14th - Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, & Battle Beast @ Terminal 5, New York City NY
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Steven Wilson in February
Definitely Avantasia when/if they announce their show there (pretty sure they will)
Maybe Haken somewhere in Europe in February/March
I'd go see DT but they didn't come here for both TA tour or I&W anniversary tour. Not holding my hopes for that.
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Presumably DT, and hopefully Maiden.
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Presumably DT, and hopefully Maiden.
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Yeah, DT if they are playing LA, I don't mind seeing them at the Wiltern Theater (that's where they've been playing in the last few times in LA).
Iron Maiden's bound to do a US leg of the Legacy of the Beast Tour next year and I'm making a wild guess that it is bound to be a Summer Amphitheater tour. Hopefully, they do not play at the Glen Helen Amphitheater for the Southern California show like they did last year, but I'm thinking they are too big for the local Amphitheater show where I'm at (FivePoint Amphitheater in the OC which holds 12,000 people). I will settle at going to The Forum in Inglewood if they do a show there (I'll be in the bleacher seats since I'm a wuss).
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Just found out Toby Driver's playing a show in Alabama a few weeks from now, like an hour away from me. Can't seem to find out anything about tickets but it's not financially crippling I think I'll try to make it.
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Just bought my ticket to see Haken in February. :metal
And I guess there's a strong chance I'm seeing DT sometime next year too. That's all I know so far. :biggrin:
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So far - the Marillion weekend in Leicester. There's a possibility that I may be relocating in the near to middle future, I don't want to buy tickets to gigs when I may not be living here!
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Just bought tickets for Avantasia so this is my 2019 so far...
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief
2019-05-02 Stockholm Fryshuset - Avantasia
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I'll try to attend one of the Ayreon shows,The Pineapple Thief in March and hopefully DT !!
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Just bought tickets for Avantasia so this is my 2019 so far...
waiting for them to come back to nyc...
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Just bought tickets for Neal Morse Band so this is my 2019 so far...
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief
2019-04-01 Stockholm Skandiascenen - The Neal Morse Band
2019-05-02 Stockholm Fryshuset - Avantasia
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Mine so far:
Feb 20 - Steven Wilson - Hamburg, DE
Feb 21 - Haken - Hamburg, DE
Feb 27 - Steven Wilson - Moscow, RU
Mar 09 - Pain of Salvation - Moscow, RU
May 04 - Avantasia - Moscow, RU
Sep 13 - Ayreon - Tilburg, NL
Sep 14 - Ayreon - Tilburg, NL
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OK, I'll start my list with this one...
Mar 24th - Dream Theater, venue TBD...
Oct 8th - Amorphis, Delain, Anneke Van Giersbergen Slim's in San Francisco
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All right, got tickets for my first concert planned in 2019.
Switchfoot - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - April 5th
The first time I really got into Switchfoot was back around, I believe, 2014 during a live stream that Live Nation was hosting. Liked the performance, liked the chilled-out vibe these guys, especially vocalist Jon Foreman, was showing. Looked like a show I would love to be a part of the crowd. Venue is also at the Wiltern Theater. I liked the Wiltern Theater when I saw Alter Bridge played there in 2014. Classy looking venue. The difference between that concert and this concert is that, hopefully, I would not be sick come show day and that I bought a ticket in the floor rather than the nosebleed. Costs me $41.75 overall for GA, which is actually pretty good value, based on how long these guys have been around and how many good songs these guys have.
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Got my ticket for Disturbed so here is 2019 so far, September is already looking really awesome for prog/power music:
February 25h - Disturbed and Three Days Grace @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
September 4-7 - ProgPower USA 20 @ Center Stage, Atlanta GA
September 14th - Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, & Battle Beast @ Terminal 5, New York City NY
September 20th - Delain, Amorphis, & Anneke Van Giersbergen @ Irving Plaza, New York City NY
Now I am looking forward to some tour announcements hopefully from Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, and Avantasia.
Others who have releases and hopefully come to the USA next year: Within Temptation, Amaranthe
Others who regularly tour and hope to see again next year: 311, Sublime with Rome, Less Than Jake
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VIXEN in March/April 2019 (I forget which month). :lol
Wanted to see this band since I was 12 years old. 30 years later, it will finally happen. And the people-watching will be damn good comedy.
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My concerts over the past two years:
Dream Theater, Alice Cooper, Dream Theater, Alice Cooper
My concerts for 2019:
Dream Theater
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I'm looking to get tickets for Mastodon/Kvelertak in Jan them Behemoth in Feb :metal
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Just bought tickets for Areon (Wohoooooo!) so this is my 2019 so far...
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief
2019-04-01 Stockholm Skandiascenen - The Neal Morse Band
2019-05-02 Stockholm Fryshuset - Avantasia
2019-09-15 Tillburg 013 - Areyon
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Updated:
January - Last in Line
March - Fates Warning/Queensryche
March - Fates Warning/Queensryche
April - Vixen/Great White
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Feb - (Amsterdam) - P.O.D.
March - (Tilburg) - Neal Morse Band
March - (Goes) - Focus
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March;
Neal Morse Band in Tilburg
Haken in Zoetermeer
Prognosis Festival in Eindhoven (my hometown). It's a new progfestival and the bands they announced so far are amazing.
Haken, Soen among others were confirmed and this week they added Leprous, Tesseract and The Gathering.
Leprous will play the Congregation entirely.
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Just bought tickets for Avantasia in Milan! :metal
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Some recent announcements from Kiss, Ozzy & Megadeth, and Dream Theater has some things shaping up now:
February 25h - Disturbed and Three Days Grace @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
March 27th - Kiss @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
April 10th - Dream Theater @ Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank NJ
April 12th - Dream Theater @ Beacon Theatre? New York City NY
June 11th - Ozzy and Megadeth @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
September 4-7 - ProgPower USA 20 @ Center Stage, Atlanta GA
September 14th - Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, & Battle Beast @ Terminal 5, New York City NY
September 20th - Delain, Amorphis, & Anneke Van Giersbergen @ Irving Plaza, New York City NY
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Just bought tix for KISS at Madison Square Garden on March 27, 2019.
It's my first time seeing them live since their original Farewell Tour. Once they were done with the original 4, I was done, too. For some reason, I always hoped my daughter (now 11 years old) would get to see them live. But, since she's not big on concerts, she has never wanted to go. Since this is the "End Of The Road", I figured I'd ask her. She said she'd like to go. So, my daughter, wife and I are going to see them. Didn't get raped too badly for Section 202, Row 5 ($95 + $25 in "convenience charges" per ticket). In any given section, the first 2-3 rows cost twice as much as the rest of the section. Total bullshit! I hope I'm not disappointed.
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Just bought tix for KISS at Madison Square Garden on March 27, 2019.
It's my first time seeing them live since their original Farewell Tour. Once they were done with the original 4, I was done, too. For some reason, I always hoped my daughter (now 11 years old) would get to see them live. But, since she's not big on concerts, she has never wanted to go. Since this is the "End Of The Road", I figured I'd ask her. She said she'd like to go. So, my daughter, wife and I are going to see them. Didn't get raped too badly for Section 202, Row 5 ($95 + $25 in "convenience charges" per ticket). In any given section, the first 2-3 rows cost twice as much as the rest of the section. Total bullshit! I hope I'm not disappointed.
I'm annoyed I wasn't available when they went on sale so I paid on stubhub this morning for my ticket, up in the Chase Bridge 300s which I really like to sit up there and feel those tickets are always undervalued personally. I paid $150 after fees which sucks because I could have gotten them for less, but oh well. I've never seen Kiss and I've wanted to check them out for years.
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I'm annoyed I wasn't available when they went on sale so I paid on stubhub this morning for my ticket, up in the Chase Bridge 300s which I really like to sit up there and feel those tickets are always undervalued personally. I paid $150 after fees which sucks because I could have gotten them for less, but oh well. I've never seen Kiss and I've wanted to check them out for years.
I was wondering what the Chase Bridge 300's were. I've never sat there. Is it a decent view? Section 202 should be perfect for when Paul comes out to his little stage for Love Gun. There was all kinds of fuckery going on with the tix. I can't believe they charge an extra $20 for sitting in an aisle seat. Not sure if MSG does that for all shows. But, I know KISS isn't the only show where that's happened.
I think this will be my 10th time seeing them. I'm psyched to see them play 25 songs. I just hope Paul's voice holds out until NYC.
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I'm annoyed I wasn't available when they went on sale so I paid on stubhub this morning for my ticket, up in the Chase Bridge 300s which I really like to sit up there and feel those tickets are always undervalued personally. I paid $150 after fees which sucks because I could have gotten them for less, but oh well. I've never seen Kiss and I've wanted to check them out for years.
I was wondering what the Chase Bridge 300's were. I've never sat there. Is it a decent view? Section 202 should be perfect for when Paul comes out to his little stage for Love Gun. There was all kinds of fuckery going on with the tix. I can't believe they charge an extra $20 for sitting in an aisle seat. Not sure if MSG does that for all shows. But, I know KISS isn't the only show where that's happened.
I think this will be my 10th time seeing them. I'm psyched to see them play 25 songs. I just hope Paul's voice holds out until NYC.
You are up high, that's the problem, you are actually directly above the 200 level (not like behind and above). So your angle is more of a downward one, but you can see everything and won't have people in your way. There's plenty of open space up there and you have more private bars. It's just a nicer experience than dealing with tight rows of people or having people potentially blocking your view. Typically the seat is cheaper or the same price as sitting at the top of the 200s so I find it better in value personally. If you sit up there for a sports game, there's TVs in the seats too which is nice (but I've yet to see the TVs work for a concert). The bridge was added when MSG went under some upgrades a few years ago so it's a relatively new thing for MSG.
I timestamped this one part in one of my videos where you can see how I enjoy having this extra space (and then you can see the view) https://youtu.be/ogO7PgYNmH8?t=817 (https://youtu.be/ogO7PgYNmH8?t=817)
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Just bought tickets for Riverside so this is my 2019 so far...
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief
2019-03-31 Stockholm Kraken - Riverside
2019-04-01 Stockholm Skandiascenen - The Neal Morse Band
2019-05-02 Stockholm Fryshuset - Avantasia
2019-09-15 Tillburg 013 - Ayreon
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Add Muse to my growing list of 2019 shows. March-something (the Mrs. is tracking it and getting tix, not sure of the date).
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Seeing Amorphis + Soilwork in January, hella excited about that one.
Also got tickets to Metalfest Plzen in Plzen, Czech Republic. Lots of good stuff there: Amon Amarth, Powerwolf, HammerFall are the three headliners. That's going to be wild.
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Got tickets to my first 2019 show:
April 22, 2019 - Dream Theater - Charlotte, NC
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I just hope Paul's voice holds out until NYC.
Good luck with that! This is the EXACT reason why I passed. The MSG show is so deep into the dates, Paul will be lucky is he can still sing after the opening song (and I'm being optimistic).
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Add Iron Maiden, Muse, and hell, Weird Al to the mix for me.
Casual fan of the latter two, but have never seen them live, so it should be fun.
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Weird Al could be fun, I used to have a bunch of his albums as a kid, but I do wonder what his live show is like
anyway, here's my updated list to include Iron Maiden and a newly announced show today of Whitesnake.
I'm starting to really like the way my concert year is shaping up. Lots of big names already have my ticket secured for and they haven't even announced the shows for my local shed for the summer yet.
February 25h - Disturbed and Three Days Grace @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
March 27th - Kiss @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
April 10th - Dream Theater @ Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank NJ
April 12th - Dream Theater @ Beacon Theatre, New York City NY
May 7th - Whitesnake @ Starland Ballroom, Sayrevill NJ
June 11th - Ozzy and Megadeth @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
July 26th - Iron Maiden @ Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY
September 4-7 - ProgPower USA 20 @ Center Stage, Atlanta GA
September 14th - Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, & Battle Beast @ Terminal 5, New York City NY
September 20th - Delain, Amorphis, & Anneke Van Giersbergen @ Irving Plaza, New York City NY
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Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
The Monkees Present the Mike and Micky Show
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Fates Warning.Queensryche
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Dream Theater
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Steve Hackett
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
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My shows so far:
March 20 - Dream Theater in San Diego
March 21 - Dream Theater in LA
I'm still debating about purchasing Between the Buried and Me, and Weird Al shows.
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I'm contemplating going to these shows. General Sale for both these shows are happening this Friday and I get paid that day, so I may pull the trigger on these shows and these shows will sell out fast. I may spend up to $200.00 total to get tickets to these.
I Am The Highway - Tribute to Chris Cornell (A special concert where the surviving members of Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden, and Audioslave along with Foo Fighters and Metallica and many others pay tribute to this musician) - The Forum, Inglewood, CA - January 16th, 2019.
As Chris Cornell's death was really the first musician passing away ever that really really hit me hard, where I read the news on Twitter of his passing right when I woke up and uttered a silent and drowsy NOOOOO. If I was at work and I found out the news while at work, I really would have shouted NOOOOOO. I feel like I owe it to myself to try to get tickets to this, but I know this will sell out fast so here's hoping to get lucky.
Iron Maiden with Fozzy and The Raven Age opening - Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - September 14th, 2019
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^^ And I now got the tickets to both shows. Ended spending less than $170.00 total for these (both seats are in the 200 sections though). To recap.
I Am The Highway - Tribute to Chris Cornell - The Forum, Inglewood, CA - January 16th, 2019
Switchfoot - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - April 5th
Iron Maiden with Fozzy and The Raven Age opening - Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - September 14th, 2019
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Ok so my tentative list so far...
Riverside
Dream Theater
Avantasia
Good start to the year for sure.
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Avantasia announced a handful of US dates, I might be traveling to Worcester MA in May to catch that show. Their NYC show a couple years ago was one of my all time favorite concerts so I really don't want to miss them.
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Adam wants to go to 4 Dead & Co shows in California, I might tag along just to get out of dodge. No others scheduled yet. I don't think there is a DT date in AZ yet last I looked.
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Adam wants to go to 4 Dead & Co shows in California, I might tag along just to get out of dodge. No others scheduled yet. I don't think there is a DT date in AZ yet last I looked.
Bay area or LA?
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Adam wants to go to 4 Dead & Co shows in California, I might tag along just to get out of dodge. No others scheduled yet. I don't think there is a DT date in AZ yet last I looked.
Bay area or LA?
Both. So if I'm tagging along, I'll hit you up for a visit :)
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Coolio, keep me posted!!!
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I guess
Steven Wilson
Haken
The Pineapple Thief
Riverside
The Neal Morse Band
Dream Theater
Animals as leaders
Looks really good to me so far :coolio
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Didn't know Animals as Leaders is touring. They were great when opening for Thrice
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Riverside
Thanks for posting this—I had no idea they'd announced a NA tour!
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Just recently found out that O.R.K will be supporting The Pineapple Thief. Did not know them but the band includes Colin Edwin and Pat Mastellotto. So on that evening I will get to see two former Porcupine Tree members in two different bands and two current King Crimson drummers in two different bands nice....
Need to listen a bit to O.R.K
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief / O.R.K
2019-03-31 Stockholm Kraken - Riverside
2019-04-01 Stockholm Skandiascenen - The Neal Morse Band
2019-05-02 Stockholm Fryshuset - Avantasia
2019-09-15 Tillburg 013 - Ayreon
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I Am The Highway - Tribute to Chris Cornell - The Forum, Inglewood, CA - January 16th, 2019
I almost got tickets for this. But after looking at the credit card bill for Maiden, Muse, and Weird Al, together on one cycle, thought better of it. :lol
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^^ I looked at my bank statement for the month of November which included tickets to see that show, Maiden, and Switchfoot and I thought to myself, "I'm an idiot for spending this much money, but concerts are the few things that really makes me enjoy life, so why the hell not?"
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^^ I looked at my bank statement for the month of November which included tickets to see that show, Maiden, and Switchfoot and I thought to myself, "I'm an idiot for spending this much money, but concerts are the few things that really makes me enjoy life, so why the hell not?"
:lol
Thank God Within Temptation tickets go on sale two days after my CC cycle is done. :lol
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:lol adding Within Temptation to my list:
February 22nd - Less Than Jake @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
February 25th - Disturbed and Three Days Grace @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
March 3rd - Within Temptation and In Flames @ Playstation Theater, New York City NY
March 27th - Kiss @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
April 10th - Dream Theater @ Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank NJ
April 12th - Dream Theater @ Beacon Theatre, New York City NY
May 3rd - Winery Dogs @ Sony Hall, New York City NY
May 7th - Whitesnake @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
June 11th - Ozzy and Megadeth @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
July 26th - Iron Maiden @ Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY
September 4-7 - ProgPower USA 20 @ Center Stage, Atlanta GA
September 14th - Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, & Battle Beast @ Terminal 5, New York City NY
September 20th - Delain, Amorphis, & Anneke Van Giersbergen @ Irving Plaza, New York City NY
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I've got 11, so you have me beat so far. :rollin :rollin
My wallet is accepting donations. :tup
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:lol I need every penny in my wallet, especially once they start announcing the summer concerts at my local shed. I haven't even bought all the tickets for my shows yet but I did get the expensive tickets already (Kiss, Iron Maiden, ProgPower, Disturbed, Ozzy, Delain (bought VIP entrance), Kamelot (also bought VIP entrance)) so at least the ones I didn't buy yet won't break the bank.
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The Maiden gig was the back-breaker. I ended up getting four tickets, instead of the three I needed, because otherwise, it wouldn't let me buy them. And since it was front row of the lower bowl, with a clear view to the stage, I couldn't pass that up. But when I told the Mrs. (who is also a fan), her jaw dropped. But she couldn't say much, since she bought three tickets for us to go see Muse...I think a couple days later. LOL.
Oh well, it's just money.
UP THE FUCKING IRONS
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Oh yea, that IM ticket was the most I've paid for a ticket in a long time (Progpower is a bit more expensive but thats two days of 6 bands each!) but IM is worthy especially with that setlist.
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So they announced a new Ariana Grande show at MSG, my gf really wants to go and we looked at tickets last time for the first show they announced but agreed they were too expensive, however with the new show I was able to get a presale and scoop up face value tickets that while not cheap in any way, were much more affordable for the seat, so now I just got to keep this from her until Christmas. So I guess this is added to my list for next year :lol
June 19th - Ariana Grande @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
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Umm...
Happy GF, cram gets laid. I get it. :lol
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Umm...
Happy GF, cram gets laid. I get it. :lol
She got me Alestorm and Gloryhammer tickets for my bday and took that concert like a champ (it was sold out GA sweaty pit type of show), I think I can handle this for her.
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Umm...
Happy GF, cram gets laid. I get it. :lol
She got me Alestorm and Gloryhammer tickets for my bday and took that concert like a champ (it was sold out GA sweaty pit type of show), I think I can handle this for her.
Solid. :metal
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2-15 Saxon-San Antonio
2-17 Saxon-Dallas
2-28 Neil Morse-Dallas
4-27 Yngwie
4-29 Dream Theater-Dallas
5-9 Uli Jon Roth
5-11 Winery Dogs-Dallas
8/27 Aristocrats
8-30 Morsefest
8-31 Morsefest
9/8 Adrian Belew
9-22 Maiden-Dallas
9-29 Maiden-Mexico City
10-19 BOC/UFO
10-29 Tool-Tulsa
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Add another.
Styx w/Night Ranger in July.
>>>Never seen Styx, and I've only seen Night Ranger once. My thought is, this is as close to seeing Damn Yankees as I'm going to get, so why not. Should be fun.
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So it's just been announced that Deafheaven, Baroness & Zeal and Ardor are touring North America next year.
https://www.metalsucks.net/2018/12/11/baroness-and-deafheaven-announce-co-headlining-tour-zeal-ardor-to-open/ (https://www.metalsucks.net/2018/12/11/baroness-and-deafheaven-announce-co-headlining-tour-zeal-ardor-to-open/)
I would be all over this, what a stellar line up! :censored
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Boy, I already got tickets for four concerts for 2019 and 2019 haven't begun yet. I went to five shows in 2018.
At this time, last year, I only got tickets for one show (Big Wreck) and was going to see Myles Kennedy no matter what. Now I got four concerts and that's not factoring in any potential Groupon deals for Amphitheater shows in the Summer and I'm waiting around to see if Tremonti will play a show in Los Angeles before Mark goes back touring with Alter Bridge (which I am amped for as always if they do an LA show in 2020). Here's the updated list.
I Am The Highway - Tribute to Chris Cornell - The Forum, Inglewood, CA - January 16th, 2019
Within Temptation - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - March 19th, 2019
Switchfoot - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - April 5th, 2019
Iron Maiden with Fozzy and The Raven Age opening - Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - September 14th, 2019
It's a shame that the prices for GA for DT for their Wiltern shows is twice the amount of the Within Temptation ticket I just bought. Would have made a fun week with Within Temptation and DT on the same week in the same venue.
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If Tremonti does an LA gig on a weekend, and doesn't play NorCal, I plan on being down there as well. Fingers crossed he plays up here, but will be fun. Gotta see Tremonti solo.
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My gf got us tickets for Sublime with Rome at the Borgata for Christmas so that looks like the first concert of 2019 for me:
January 12th - Sublime with Rome @ Borgata Casino, Atlantic City NJ
February 22nd - Less Than Jake @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
February 25th - Disturbed and Three Days Grace @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
March 3rd - Within Temptation and In Flames @ Playstation Theater, New York City NY
March 27th - Kiss @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
April 10th - Dream Theater @ Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank NJ
April 12th - Dream Theater @ Beacon Theatre, New York City NY
May 3rd - Winery Dogs @ Sony Hall, New York City NY
May 7th - Whitesnake @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
May 24th - Avantasia @ Palladium, Worcester MA
June 11th - Ozzy and Megadeth @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
June 19th - Ariana Grande @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
July 26th - Iron Maiden @ Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY
September 4-7 - ProgPower USA 20 @ Center Stage, Atlanta GA
September 14th - Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, & Battle Beast @ Terminal 5, New York City NY
September 20th - Delain, Amorphis, & Anneke Van Giersbergen @ Irving Plaza, New York City NY
also I'll be in LA the last week of January for work and looks like Elton John is doing two nights at the Staples Center that week. Seriously considering going to one of those. I was interested in his local shows but the cheapest tickets are a few hundred more at any of the many local shows he has/will do (Prudential Center, MSG, Barclarys) than either the of two nights in LA.
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Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
The Monkees Present the Mike and Micky Show
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Fates Warning.Queensryche
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Dream Theater
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Steve Hackett
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
Saving for a House
well here's an update although as my calendar is pretty booked for saving for a house, no certainty I see half of these.
3/7 (Thurs) Jimmy Gnecco at The Entry
3/14 (Thurs) Monkees at Mystic Lake
3/16 (Sat) Fates Warning at Medina Entertainment Center
3/28 (Thurs) Dream Theater at Ordway
4/3 (Wed) Nick Mason at Orpheum
4/13 (Sat) Amanda Palmer at St.Kate's
5/14 (Tues) Imogen Heap at The Vic Theatre in Chicago, IL
5/20 (Mon) Winery Dogs at First Avenue
10/7 (Mon) Steve Hackett
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Welp. Added yet another concert. Didn't get the Groupon deal for this show, but I did note that Ticketmaster had seats in the 200 Sections row 18 and higher for about $40 with fees included. I can't pass up for that one. This makes it the first concert of 2019 for me as well. Five concerts booked in 2019 before the year started. I went to five concerts in 2018 total, this is going to be quite the year for concert going for me. Going to rack up the mileage as well driving to LA and back from Garden Grove. I need some more shows announced in Anaheim. Winery Dogs is the only one that I noted so far, but their tickets are too expensive to what I am willing to pay for a band like them in GA.
Disturbed with Three Days Grace opening - The Forum, Inglewood, CA - January 11th, 2019
I Am The Highway - Tribute to Chris Cornell - The Forum, Inglewood, CA - January 16th, 2019
Within Temptation - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - March 19th, 2019
Switchfoot - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - April 5th, 2019
Iron Maiden with Fozzy and The Raven Age opening - Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - September 14th, 2019
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Bought only one so far
Dream Theater - April 26th St.Pete
Most likely Neal Morse Band, Iron Maiden and Riverside.
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Can't stop, won't stop, buying concert tickets. This one is slightly out of spite since my co-workers was not here today due to either the holidays or being sick. That stated, I am working on the Friday on the day of this show so I decided to get tickets to this show and decide to request an early leave on the day of the show, since it's GA and obviously, I want a good spot (parking and in the crowd). Six concerts now booked before 2019 starts. This is going to be a fun year.
Nothing More with Of Mice and Men opening - Belasco Theater, Los Angeles, CA - February 22nd, 2019.
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Can't stop, won't stop, buying concert tickets.
:metal :metal
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Interested, but don't know yet:
3/23/2019 - Queensryche w/ Fates Warning - El Rey Theatre
3/26/2019 - Dream Theater - Paramount Theatre (the date I'd rather attend)
4/29/2019 - Dream Theater - The Bomb Factory
Two I can't decide between
George Clinton, Funkadelic, Parliament
That 1 Guy
I'm leaning towards George Clinton, only if Bootsy Collins is touring with him.
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So here's the list so far:
March
Muse
Within Temptation
Dream Theater (tentative)
Fates Warning (twice)
April
Vixen/Great White
May
The Tea Party
June
Hootie & The Blowfish
July
Styx/Night Ranger
August
Weird Al
September
IRON MAIDEN
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February
Metallica
Neal Morse Band
April
Dream Theater
August
MorseFest - possibly, depending on the scheduled performances
That's about all I go to anymore - those 3 bands. Other bands that I grew up liking, probably won't make much of an effort seeing them as some of the bands/music hasn't aged well with me. The one exception would be Tool as I haven't seen them live yet. Metallica and Dream Theater were the most influential bands of my musical life growing up in my teens/20s, so I'll always go see them. Neal Morse has worked his way into that group in the last 5-10 years and since all 3 are getting up there in age, who knows when the next tour will be the last, so I make sure I see them whenever they come around.
July
Hootie & the Blowfish/Barenaked Ladies (for the wife)
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Haken have just announced that they are being supported by VOLA (along with Bent Knee) on their upcoming European tour! I'm friggin' pumped for this and I've just requested to have it off work as I'm not missing this!
Also got my first gig of the year lined up:
Thursday 31st Jan: Random Hand :metal
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Rivers of Nihil will be going on a US headline tour with Entheos, Conjurer and Wolf King. The tour starts 3-1 in Pittsburg and ends 4-6 in Brooklyn for total of 32 cities. These venues seem really small and the Nashville tickets are 12.00 plus the normal fees.
If you have not heard Rivers of Nihil, check out ‘Where Owls Know my Name. Awesome metal album with a saxaphone.
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So I've been really loving the Greta Van Fleet album and been thinking how can I see them again and not pay the ridiculous secondary market for the local show this spring. Turns out it's half the price to see them in Queens the week after and the day after the Avantasia concert so I'll already be driving back from MA so I could just do another stop before coming home so thinking of adding this to my list...
May 25th - Greta Van Fleet @ Forest Hills Stadium, Queens NY
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Hey, Cramx. I got a question. I'm seeing Disturbed with Three Days Grace, tomorrow at the Forum. I knew you were at the Forum last December for the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show. How was the parking there? Is it expensive nowadays? Been a while since I've been to The Forum (only time I was there for was for Foo Fighters in 2015 and my sister paid for the parking).
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I took an uber so I wouldn't know, they had an uber drive up area and I got there early so it was super easy. But I saw the construction near by, plus it's LA so I couldn't really help you with how to park there but it didn't seem like it would be easy unless maybe you had a parking pass. There was definitely some parking close but the lot wasn't huge.
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^^ All right, thank you for the insight.
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Can't stop, won't stop, buying concert tickets.
:metal
After a lackluster 2018, I really like how this year is shaping up for me so far in terms of upcoming concerts.
Updated list:
Feb 16th - Delain - Moscow, RU
Feb 20th - Steven Wilson - Hamburg, DE (possibly w/ VIP upgrade as soon as this month's paycheck arrives)
Feb 21th - Haken, VOLA, Bent Knee - Hamburg, DE (w/ VIP upgrade)
Feb 27th - Steven Wilson - Moscow, RU
Mar 9th - Pain of Salvation - Moscow, RU
Mar 15th - Amorphis - Moscow, RU
Mar 23rd - Temperance - Moscow, RU (it's a festival so there'll be a bunch of other bands too I guess)
May 4th - Avantasia - Moscow, RU
Sep 12th - Ayreon - Tilburg, NL (dress rehearsal)
Sep 13th - Ayreon - Tilburg, NL (w/ VIP upgrade)
Sep 14th - Ayreon - Tilburg, NL
Oct 12th - Epica - Moscow, RU
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All right, long concert notes post, just an FYI.
So I saw Disturbed with Three Days Grace, last night, at the Forum. Parking wasn't terrible, just too damn expensive ($30.00). Seemed like a solid crowd. If anyone tells me that there were 10,000 people, I believe them despite three sections in the 200s being curtained off and a couple of empty seats in the 200 sections (honestly, that part is a plus since it gives me more room and I don't feel as cramped).
Three Days Grace was solid, albeit Matt Walst (the current vocalist) seemed like one of your generic metal try-hards frontman (saying f*** a lot, trying to get a circle pit going, when not a lot people are game for it at the start, whatnot), but he sounded all right. The interesting thing is that when Three Days Grace started, they had around 30% of the crowd show up and they were impartial to them. After they finished the set with some of their big hits (I Hate Everything About You, Animal I Have Become, Never Too Late, and Riot), the crowd ended up being doubled and then it felt like an arena show and they got some pits going and people singing along to these songs that a mainstream arena modern rock crowd should know and were chanting Three Days Grace so I say Three Days Grace did a great job as a support going from having a dead and nearly empty crowd to having a more lively and fuller crowd.
As for Disturbed, they were tremendous. I thought that people does not give Disturbed enough credit for having enough solid songs to deliver a 100 minutes set, but not only they did that, they were just great performers. Sure, David Draiman goes crazy with the "Let me see those fists in the air," but in all fairness, that's the part of the charm of a Disturbed show isn't it? Also, they had a video screen in the background with some nice visuals, pyro in a couple of songs, plus a smaller stage where they did a few acoustic-like songs. At least half the crowd in the seats were on their feet the entire time and, virtually, everyone was on their feet for the big songs (especially, of course, Down with the Sickness), plus there were like 3 circle pits that was going throughout the show. I had one couple complementing me on the Alter Bridge shirt I wore so that's a win in my book.
So all of that in mind, around 50-55 minutes of Three Days Grace and around 100-ish minutes of Disturbed and both were solid sets and a solid view of the stage with no dickheads around me. I would say that was certainly worth the $40.00 ticket I nabbed a few weeks back and I had a great night. If I wanted to pay an additional $25.00, I could have nabbed a good view in GA. When I got to my seat, I saw there wasn't that much people in GA, I could have gotten a great view in the first 10 rows of GA.
Next concert is the Chris Cornell tribute show and I'm doubting whether that show can top Disturbed. At first, I would think it is a no-brainer, but if it becomes too much a corporate-like event and celebrities stroking their egos and profiting off one of the best vocalists of our time, and not playing a lot of songs that Cornell had a hand in writing, I wouldn't stand for that. If it turns out to be just the guys in Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden, Audioslave just non-stop playing their songs that defines Chris Cornell as a musician, then it would be that tremendous once of a lifetime event, but I haven't heard anything on how the show is formatted except for the start time so I'm skeptic for now.
With that being said, here's my upcoming concert list after getting a refund from my previous order of the Nothing More show (and then taking advantage of the $25.00 Holiday Hangover Deal that Ticketmaster just launched yesterday, by rebuying a ticket for that show for $25 instead of $40.00) and then adding FRIKEN DREAM THEATER to the mix.
I Am The Highway - Tribute to Chris Cornell - The Forum, Inglewood, CA - January 16th, 2019
Nothing More with Of Mice and Men opening - Belasco Theater, Los Angeles, CA - February 22nd, 2019.
Within Temptation with In Flames opening - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - March 19th, 2019
Dream Theater - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - March 21st, 2019
Switchfoot - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - April 5th, 2019
Iron Maiden with Fozzy and The Raven Age opening - Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - September 14th, 2019
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Nice, seeing Disturbed in a month and looking forward to it. It's crazy though, they are playing MSG and there are tickets galore. Last time they came around there was a huge turnout and this actually looks like it's selling poorly. Oh well, glad you had a good time and the parking wasn't crazy.
My first concert of 2019 is tonight, in AC for Sublime with Rome
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^^ The last time Disturbed came to New York (aside from their iHeartRadio Theater show, which looks to be the album promotional show), it was part of a co-headliner tour with Breaking Benjamin with openers Alter Bridge and Saint Astonia (fronted by former Three Days Grace singer, Adam Gontier). I can imagine a packaged tour in an amphitheater in the summer would be more appealing for attendance than an arena show in the winter with only one support band (albeit one that will have a fair amount of playing time and lots of big hits).
Still got a month to go, maybe Ticketmaster will slash the price of some of the section 200s seats a few weeks before show day. That's why I waited for the right time for my ticket.
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Yea, that was a good package tour and the crowd was already there for Breaking Benjamin. That was fun.
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Not much booked in yet. Sad that Neal Morse Band have only booked 1 UK show for this tour (already got tickets for UFO's 50th and final tour!) but then again as much as I love em I'm not sure I want to go to another double album show. Best part of a show for me is hearing the setlist. Enjoy it half as much when I already know exactly what they're gonna play!
22/2 - Brian Fallon Acoustic Tour (Cambridge Junction)
24/2 - Steve Rothery (Cambridge Junction)
24/3 - UFO
2/11 - Big Big Train (Hackney Empire)
15/11 - Marillion (Cliffs Pavilion, Southend)
Mostly excited for Big Big Train. So great that they're doing a tour.
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First concert of 2019 in the books, Sublime with Rome is a band I've seen so many times before, including twice last year, but I feel like they are so much better than they used to be. They made a new album that's not coming out till the summer but they played the new single that I really like but in general they played three different sets between the three shows I've seen of them within one year and each one was better than the last so I was happy to see them continue to make interesting set lists as the first 5 or so times I saw them it seemed like they had no interest in switching up the songs. Anyway, loved seeing Rome rip into the borgata for not allowing the band to smoke :rollin He asked the crowd to smoke all the weed they could and to blow it at the stage so they could get a contact high and then apologized after the next song for getting so many people in the crowd in trouble with security. Pretty funny, but security was super tight which just doesn't seem right for a Sublime show, but whatever. Fun show regardless and that's what I expected.
Sublime with Rome - Wicked Heart Live @ Borgata Casino, Atlantic City NJ (http://Sublime with Rome - Wicked Heart Live @ Borgata Casino, Atlantic City NJ)
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At my first show of the year.
That 1 Guy at the best intimate venue...The Launchpad. Not many people here, although they are slowly rolling in. Gonna be great. He brought his visual screens.
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Got one finally! Leftover Crack is coming!! YAY
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Leftover Crack... haven't heard that name in a looooong time.
Local venue is doing this sale, I might bite since I already had Whitesnake on my list and would consider going to a couple others, but for this price for all these.... why not.
(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/50261725_10161261200300006_955694845437935616_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=11d2b83b48385c4b23f41c3dc25e53be&oe=5CB67216)
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All right, I had some time to reflect and rest and turn my brain off and now I'm ready to talk about the I Am The Highway - A Tribute to Chris Cornell show at the Forum, last Wednesday. Here are my long thoughts.
Let's get the bad stuff out of the way. The Forum was so disorganized in comparison to the Disturbed show at the same place, last week. It was raining hard that day and there were throngs of people trying to figure out where to go, where to check in, where to find the metal detector. I ponder the thought that if there was anyone that did not buy a ticket for the show, they would have found some way to sneak into the Forum and that sorta concerns me a bit regarding the security (even though they certainly had their hands full when it comes to the rain, the bigger crowd, and luckily, nothing went horribly wrong in that sense). I got in on time and early and was at my seat at 6:00 PM and waiting for the show to start at 7:00PM. Well, I dozed off a bit since the show didn't start at 7:00 PM at the time and the Forum was like around 40% filled which gave me another pause for concern. Thankfully, 7:30 PM and things finally got going. The remaining members of Soundgarden (Kim Thayil, Ben Shephard, and Matt Cameron) came out to the stage and Matt Cameron came out with the speech (and had a teleprompter on the side of the venue just in case he missed something. That teleprompter was there when someone had a big speech to say) and talked all the great points of Chris Cornell, not just a musician, but as a person and a good humanitarianism.
With all that said, they finally get down to introducing the first band, they stated that they couldn't found a better band to start this show off than The Melvins. Now, I must state that the sound for The Melvins was not really that great. They were the only band I had to resort to wearing ear plugs during the four hours I was there. Plus, I didn't know a single song from them so they did their stuff and closed their set off with their version of Soundgarden's Spoonman. The host of the night was late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and he talked about how he started his career in LA in the early 90s working for the big mainstream radio station (KROQ) for rock and bands like Soundgarden at the time and get the crowd hyped for what was coming.
The cool thing about the stage is that there was a setup for one band and once that band's set is done, the stage is able to rotate itself to phase out one band's setup (drums, amps, etc.) and introduce another band's setup which should ideally reduce the waiting time between sets. While people were waiting for the next band, various artists like Alain Johannes (a guy that works a lot with guys like Dave Grohl and Josh Homme) would so up and do one acoustic-ish track from Chris Cornell's solo work. Johnny Cash's son came out and talked about his father and talked about a rendition that Johnny did of a Soundgarden song and introduced the next guy to play that version that Johnny Cash did and it was Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme that did Rusty Cage. Ryan Adams played a song from one of my favorite albums from Chris, Higher Truth. It was a song called Dead Wishes. Didn't think anyone would play something from the Higher Truth album so that was really a nice surprise. He had a small three/four piece strings section to accompany it and he did it in a manner that Chris would have done for his personal solo shows and also played Soundgarden's Fell on Black Days.
There were some pop musicians that did one track, acoustically-like. Adam Levine (of Maroon Five.....) did the song, Seasons, one of Chris' solo songs. Miley Cyrus, of all people, played another Chris solo song, As Hope and Promise Fade. Chris Stapleton (a guy that I think I would get into more if I dig into his stuff) did another Chris solo song, The Seeker, and you know something? It didn't really suck at all. It was more than tolerable enough and maybe due to the nature of this show, they felt they really need to deliver on this night and not play off their supposed image for just this night and I think they did that and the crowd (which was more of a mainstream rock crowd that would dig a lot of the 90s rock and listen to KROQ more frequently than the Active Rock/Modern Alternative Metal crowds that was at the Disturbed show) give them a good amount of appreciation for it.
Speaking of the crowd, the people around me were friendly enough except for one couple that was really really drunk, especially the guy since he was bumping into people and somewhat spilling his drink. Didn't really ruin my enjoyment of the show, but it was an observation that had to be made. Some people came from Seattle and other parts of the world to see this show and I know a couple of people from the Download Festival Forum traveled all the way from England just to see this show (well, one guy from England wanted to take a vacation to San Diego and this show just so happens to be within the time he is in California, so of course, he's going to take the chance to see this).
The next rock band that would come out would be Foo Fighters and everyone was on the feet for this one. They played a deep Soundgarden track, No Attention, off of the Down on the Upside album. They throw in a couple of covers songs (and not the kind of covers that they normally would play in their shows). It was all right, but their set wasn't as great as when I saw them in 2015 (shockingly, that was during the tour where Dave Grohl had to play on his throne since his leg was broken). Everyone else, but Dave, left, and he was going to go all "Dave Grohl's story time" mode, which I will always nourish. He stated how the one guy that would really appreciate this particular show (especially the part where part of the proceeds would go to a charity that Chris really supported) would sadly not be here for this and then closed the Foo Fighers set with Everlong, which of course, everyone sang along to.
Another cool thing the show did in between sets was they would show footage of who Chris Cornell is as a person. His life, his music, his efforts as a humanitarianism, and the people who knew him and the celebrities that knew him. They showed live footage of a Soundgarden song from back in the old days before they really took off with Badmotorfinger and Superunknown where they were in a small club and Cornell was really at the peak of his sex appeal which had his long Jesus hair, his shirtless chisel chest, his voice was in primetime mode, and all of the energy that came with it. Honestly, if you ask me, he really looked a more ampted of version of Robert Plant in the 70s if Robert Plant broke through in the 90s. At some point, the video screen also highlighted some songs for his acoustic shows and the charm that comes with it, including one of my favorite tracks from anything he's done, I Am The Highway.
The next band showed up and Jimmy Kimmel introduced this band as the following. In the times he had bands show up and play on his show, they would do a small set outside of the studio they do the Jimmy Kimmel Show (short plug here. Alter Bridge did one of those sets on Jimmy Kimmel in 2011, at their peak of mainstream rock recognition on the backs of AB III and their biggest single in radio, Isolation. All right, sorry about that, back to the main story). He stated that there were only two cases that there had to be full security coverage during those sets, but you don't know what's going to go down in those sets. One of them was Lionel Richie, because, as Kimmel put it, he's Lionel Richie. The other band was none other than Audioslave which segues nicely to Audioslave doing their set and the crowd was on their feet for this again. Only Tom Morello and Brad Wilk showed up as the original members of Audioslave. Don't know why Tim Commerford didn't show up, but I'm sure he had his reasons. No matter, they had more than a suitable replacement on the bass and none other than Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler and played Cochise (with Jane Addiction's Perry Farrell on vocals), Be Yourself (Juliette Lewis singing this one), Set It Off (with Rise Against's Tim McIlrath), and Like A Stone (with Brandi Carlile). My goodness, Audioslave put out the best set yet and the funk part of it got people going and the best crowd reaction so far was Like A Stone singing along to the closing chorus. You think that would be great to end the Audioslave on a good note like that right? Wrong! They took this to a bigger ending by having Metallica's Robert Trujillo on bass and Dave Grohl singing Show Me How to Live. Holy cow, you try singing along with Dave Grohl on that song and see if you can keep up with his natural aura that Dave Grohl can bring. My voice was really cracked at that point at the end of that one. My goodness, the Audioslave set was going to be really hard to top. I don't envy the next band that had to follow that.
That stated, while we were waiting in between bands, Chris's family members came out and thanked us for being here. His wife came out and talked about the usual great things about him. One of the more bittersweet part of the show, though, was when his daughter, Toni, came out with Ziggy Marley (Bob Marley's son) and they played Bob Marley's Redemption Song which was a track that Chris would play in his solo shows from time to time. You just can't help, but feel in sorrow during that moment and it was a lovely performance.
The next heavy band on the set was introduced by Jack Black. He get the crowd warmed-up by delivering his version of the chorus of Spoonman. He pondered whether or not Chris Cornell actually hit a note that didn't actually exist in the world and if that note can open portals to another world. Then after 5 minutes of buttering up this crowd, the next band was still not ready and Jack Black had that "I didn't prepare enough material for this" look to him and was looking to take requests from the crowd to sing something (No, he wasn't going to do Freebird, he stated). Then, some "random" guitar player in black came out and play the bridge to Metallica's One (the "Darkness imprisoning me. All that I see. Absolute horror." part) and Jack Black sang along to that part. Oh yeah, that guitar player? It was FRIKEN JAMES HETFIELD OF METALLICA!!! Thankfully, for Jack Black, he can finally introduced Metallica to the stage and then they went on to play that bridge to One. Before they got to lyrics part, Jack Black already left and James paused and stated "Where's our lead singer?"
So Metallica went on to do their set and it's not really every day you get to go to a concert and witness Metallica live in person and holy cow, the venue was electrifying for that one. They went on to play two deep cuts from Soundgarden's Ultramega OK. The cool part was they played For Whom the Bell Tolls and MASTER OF PUPPETS!!! I never saw Metallica live and probably will never get to see them live (due to ticket prices being too darn expensive for me to pay), so holy cow, to watch them play Master of Puppets live was an absolute highlight and the crowd, obviously, was so into it. Now I really do want to see them in their own show. I just hope the price would not be too horrifying.
Afterwards, at that point, it was starting to get late around 11:00PM and there were two key bands left for the night. Temple of the Dog and Soundgarden. Temple of the Dog came out and did their set and everyone was on their feet again. Oddly, they stated that they were not going to do Temple of the Dog yet and wanted to do stuff from Euphoria Morning and then everyone sat back down. Another cool highlight was when Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell and William Duvall came out and play Soundgarden's Hunted Down. Then they finally got going to play the Temple of the Dog stuff: Reach Down, All Night Thing. Miley Cyrus came back out to sing "Say Hello 2 Heaven" and quite frankly, it did not suck at all while the Temple of the Dog set closed with the appropriate song for them, Hunger Strike, with Chris Stapleton filling in the Eddie Vedder parts and Brandi Carlile doing Chris' part.
Unfortunately, it was 11:30 PM at that point and I was really tired at that point and had to make the rather tough decision to take off and go home and sadly, miss the Soundgarden set. It was raining really hard, I was really tired, and I knew leaving now would mean less traffic to get out the Forum. I think I made the right call as I got home at 12:30PM (could have gotten home sooner if I didn't get a little lost trying to find the entrance to the 405 freeway and if someone didn't get pulled over by the police at midnight at the 405 which caused a traffic jam). Apparently, the Soundgarden set was solid. People liked The Pretty Reckless' Taylor Momsen on the vocals and Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins helped out as well with singing The Day I Tried to Live.
Overall, looking back at this long post, I had a great night out. I think going into this show, everything worked out as great as it can be. I was there for four hours. Got to hear a lot of great songs that spans Chris Cornell's catalogs from Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden, Audioslave, and solo. The downside was I didn't hear an actual live performance of "I Am The Highway," "You Know My Name," or "Burden in My Hand," but that was a small gripe to this great show. I would easily say it was worth paying the $95.00 for the very nosebleed seat (was in the 200 sections row 24) that I paid, but I wouldn't want to do that again for any event in the near future. I still enjoyed the Disturbed show better though mainly due to better venue organization, better view for the price I paid (paid $40.00 to be in row 18 in the 200s) and the songs and crowd atmosphere was tailoring more to me than the tribute show. Nonetheless, this was a great night for music and I think the people that was a part of that show and organized that show should be proud of what they accomplished.
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Editied to add TYS and AW
March 24th- Dream Theater
May 3rd- Thank You Scientists
May 28th- Alien Weaponry
May 29th- Riverside
This year is getting busy...
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Gutted that I can't get out of work to see Mastodon tonight 😭
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Anguyen, sounds like a crazy show.
Heading to LA now for work, seeing Elton John Wedneaday at Staples Center is so far looking likely to happen.
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Is this going to be your first time seeing Elton John?
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Added Neal Schon's Journey Through Time to the list for 2019.
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February:
Lazuli
Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy
InVertigo and Melanie Mau/Martin Schnella
June:
Midsummer Prog Festival (line-up complete: IQ, Focus, Jolly, Pure Reson Revolution, The Flower Kings, The Intersphere)
July:
XIV Night of the Prog (so far: Nick Mason, IQ, The Steve Hillage Band, Ranest Rane, t, In Continuum, Dilemma, Karcicus, Oak, The Windmill)
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Is this going to be your first time seeing Elton John?
First and likely last
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February:
Lazuli
Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy
InVertigo and Melanie Mau/Martin Schnella
June:
Midsummer Prog Festival (line-up complete: IQ, Focus, Jolly, Pure Reson Revolution, The Flower Kings, The Intersphere)
July:
XIV Night of the Prog (so far: Nick Mason, IQ, The Steve Hillage Band, Ranest Rane, t, In Continuum, Dilemma, Karcicus, Oak, The Windmill)
You get IQ twice in as many months. I've seen them twice in 25 years, and I had to travel 3k miles for one of those shows. I'm in the wrong fucking country man.
(In Continuum kicked ass at Progstock btw)
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:lol
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February: Omnium Gatherum at a local club this Friday
August: Rammstein in Tampere
Still not sure if I'll go to Tuska or not.
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The first set of dates for Devin Townsend's Empath tour was released today. And there's a very high probability I might attend one of the shows on that tour.
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Just bought tickets for A.C.T so this is my 2019 so far...
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief and O.R.k
2019-03-31 Stockholm Kraken - Riverside and Lesoir
2019-04-01 Stockholm Skandiascenen - The Neal Morse Band
2019-05-02 Stockholm Fryshuset - Avantasia
2019-06-01 Stockholm Bryggarsalen - A.C.T
2019-09-15 Tillburg 013 - Ayreon
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Got a suite seat for the sold out Elton John concert at the Staples Center tonight. Tried using the facebook event page to buy a ticket and I got so many scammers after me, which ending up with me trolling them back so the laughs were worth the annoyance in the end (debating about tweeting the conversation with one because it was just too funny but also ended up being disgusting on my own part :lol), but I did get a stubhub ticket for $160 after fees. Not bad. :hat Heading out soon
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Saw BOC in January.
The Neal Morse Band in February.
Queensryche/Fates Warning in March.
DT in April.
Riverside in May.
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Is this going to be your first time seeing Elton John?
First and likely last
You're going to have a hell of a time. He is amazing live. When i saw him it it was like seeing Tom Petty in the sense that you forget how many hits he has.
I just saw my favorite guitar player Michael Kelsey is coming to town in March. I'm surprised because when I went last time I was one of like 3 people there to see him. Ticket prices this time are $3. I don't even know how he makes money.
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I've got tickets to see Marillion 5 times this year - that's excessive, even for me. Nothing else on the radar yet, hope some good shows announced soon coz I need cheering up!
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Is this going to be your first time seeing Elton John?
First and likely last
You're going to have a hell of a time. He is amazing live. When i saw him it it was like seeing Tom Petty in the sense that you forget how many hits he has.
Yea, not only the hits, but wow he played for over 2.5 hours straight essentially. Left stage for a bit before Funeral for Friend (which was probably the highlihgt of the night because he came back with all the smoke around the piano which was really cool looking) and the encore but otherwise just kept playing the piano non stop and singing. Awesome performance and the percussionists added a lot to the live sound. I had an absolute blast. I'll make a full video when I get home (I was such an ass in my mostly empty suite similar to the Ghost concert :lol) But I got a couple of the hits:
Elton John - Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting LIVE @ Staples Center LA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3CuqB5c8H4)
Elton John - Rocket Man LIVE @ Staples Center LA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohV7O6GHsaw)
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Going to see YYNOT on Saturday. REALLY looking forward to it!
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Just bought tickets for IQ so this is my 2019 so far...
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief and O.R.k
2019-03-31 Stockholm Kraken - Riverside and Lesoir
2019-04-01 Stockholm Skandiascenen - The Neal Morse Band
2019-05-02 Stockholm Fryshuset - Avantasia
2019-06-01 Stockholm Bryggarsalen - A.C.T
2019-09-15 Tillburg 013 - Ayreon
2019-09-21 Stockholm Fryshuset Klubben - IQ
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Bought a ticket for Devin Townsend today. So in November I'm going to see him live on the Empath tour. This also marks the first time I'll see him play live, missed the chance the last two times he's been to Norway. Not gonna repeat that a third time. :metal
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Any word on what his live band is going to be for the Empath tour? Or if he is doing a full Devin set or is it just going to be Empath? He's fantastic live, seen him three times now and am waiting for him to announce NA dates.
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Any word on what his live band is going to be for the Empath tour? Or if he is doing a full Devin set or is it just going to be Empath? He's fantastic live, seen him three times now and am waiting for him to announce NA dates.
He said this in an article I found; "I am proud to announce that for the first 'band' tour of the 'Empath' cycle, I am going to stretch my wings in ways I have not had the opportunity to do before and tour with a 'backing band' that can shift and morph as the music dictates instead of adhering to a click track."
And also this; "I have spent considerable effort think about the things I wanted to do for these shows, and one thing I came out of DTP with was the awareness that I wanted to incorporate a more improvisational element to what I do. With the best players I can find, my plan is to interpret my back catalogue, as well as the 'Empath' material, in ways that may change nightly. less computers, and less of a rigid structure. I want to use 'Volume 1' as a way to bring my music to people in a potentially new way. People playing music..."
So yeah, it would seem he's mixing it up a bit each night.
Source by the way, from Prog. https://www.loudersound.com/news/devin-townsend-announces-empath-european-tour-dates (https://www.loudersound.com/news/devin-townsend-announces-empath-european-tour-dates)
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oh wow thats really awesome, definitely would want to check that out and maybe even do multiple dates if he really is changing things up nightly, including the older material :metal
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2019 is going to be the biggest concert year for me in years.
Feb 12th- Elton John
Feb 23rd- Between the Buried and Me
March 1- Neal Morse Band
August 9th- Slash (Probably)
August 25th- Iron Maiden
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Booked my first show in the relative summertime. Also, first show in my local amphitheater for the year and it's the day after my birthday. Coming full circle for this one.
Shinedown with Badflower, Dinosaur Pile-Up, and Broken Hands opening - FivePoint Amphitheater, Irvine, CA - July 21st, 2019.
Shinedown was for a good part of my life, my second favorite band ever, and their show at the LA County Fair in Pomona in 2013 was the first ever concert that I can recall ever going to. Got to see them for free as you only needed admission to the County Fair and my community college was handing out free admission to the County Fair on that particular day. That stated, sure, their last two albums were not as enjoyable to me, but a show of a band I like is still worth going to. Now I get to see them at my local Amphitheater for only $25.00 thanks to a deal on Groupon. This seat is a little further to the far left of the venue than when I saw Lindsey Stirling/Evanescence, last year, but I manage to score a third row ticket in the 300 sections, so it should be a better view than when I saw Shinedown in 2013.
My current list now.
Nothing More with Of Mice and Men opening - Belasco Theater, Los Angeles, CA - February 22nd, 2019.
Within Temptation with In Flames opening - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - March 19th, 2019
Dream Theater - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - March 21st, 2019
Switchfoot - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - April 5th, 2019
Shinedown with Badflower, Dinosaur Pile-Up, and Broken Hands opening - FivePoint Amphitheater, Irvine, CA - July 21st, 2019.
Iron Maiden with Fozzy and The Raven Age opening - Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - September 14th, 2019
I noted that Zac Brown Band has also announced their two shows at the FivePoint Amphitheater in July. I do want to go to that as from I've seen in proshots, they are a great live band and they deliver a variety of solid covers. Tickets for even the worst seats there are too steep though, around $70-90 for the upper rows in the 300s. Hopefully, there will be a Groupon offer of these shows that I can buy.
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Alright, so with the lack of discussion in this thread, I hope you guys don't mind if I post my concert experiences here, similar to how Cram posts his YouTube videos. I could reasonably do it in the band threads, but as I have a lot of concerts for this year (by my standards), I would prefer to keep it in one thread, and creating a new thread just for that certainly seems idiotic. The premise is that I post my thoughts of the experience at the same night I was at the concert, so I still remember lots of details and I'm still high (or low) on the whole gig atmosphere.
If this doesn't belong in this thread, simply delete this post and I'll repost this in Delain thread.
Delain (headliner) with Last Union (support) at Izvestiya Hall, Moscow, Russia - Feb 16th, 2019
The Premise
While all the responsible and irresponsible people made their New Year resolutions, which—and I'm not trying to mock anyone, except myself—are usually include losing weight, hitting the gym, deal with your internal problems, make the relationship with your significant other better, I made one New Year resolution for myself. You see, in 2018 the amount of concerts I went to was ridiculously low, perhaps two or three, and I wanted to fix it this year. Not only that, but since 2016—which is pretty much everyone stopped attending concerts with me, either because I was insufferable (which I don't think I was, and I asked), or because my friends started to settle down, had kids, grew older, their backs are aching, concerts aren't that fun anymore, you know—since 2016, I don't remember a single concert I put any effort in. I always would arrive right before the beginning, settle down near the bar, grab a beer and watch the distant silhouettes of my favourite artists bounce back and forth, left and right on the scene. This year, I decided to change that.
So my stupid New Year resolution was, basically, to attempt to get to the first row at every GA concert I'm attending this year, if the concert day doesn't interfere with work (in which case it's simply not possible). I wasn't even sure if that was doable, but today was my first playtest, so to speak. Today, Delain—whose music I discovered about two years ago and missed their last concert in Moscow—were playing on Saturday in my city, and I wasn't about to miss it. Besides, my vacation to Hamburg is about to begin, and this was a good way to get back into the concert mood, as the last concert I visited was iamthemorning, all seated, in a proper theatre, autumn 2018 if I remember correctly.
As stupid as my resolution sounds, it absolutely worked, because I had a blast today.
The Venue
There are a few venues in Moscow that dare to host metal concerts, and I pretty much visited all of them—except you never know, because they keep being shut down (mostly because of the fire safety issues, which in our country means that you didn't give enough money to the fire safety inspector), and sometimes new venues arise and older ones crumble, but this time, the venue was the one I've never visited, and as I researched it, it mostly hosted some of the very popular artists of non-metal scene. So that was surprising. It was also quite near the center of the town, which made it convenient to get to.
Now, the venue itself wasn't much—and I didn't get the chance to really see it, as I rushed to the first row and after the show I just exhaustedly slumped against the scene for a few minutes; but its tactical position was excellent: there was a McDonalds nearby, so in case you needed to use a toilet—and after four and a half hours on a street in winter you probably need to—it was there, and if you also wanted to have a beer, there was this little shop on the corner which had it (I didn't find it until I left the venue), and if you drank a few beers and needed to pee, hey, there's a McDonalds nearby.
I was, I think, ~10th in line, and I arrived 4,5 hours before the doors were to be opened, and I used the McDonalds trick once, and then the doors were opened and I ran—well, technically, first I went through the security check, and then I got rid of my coat, and then I ran—past the merchandise stand to the scene, where the best places right in front of the mic were already taken. Well, I settled down a few places to the right, directly against the guitar player space.
The Show
First we had Last Union as an opener, a female-fronted progressive metal band from Italy. They played a forty-minutes long set, and the problem is, the sound was horrible. I'm not a sound guy, so I wouldn't know what exactly was wrong, but you couldn't hear the singer at all, and all you could hear were bass, drums and rhythm guitars. Good thing that I brought my earplugs, I thought, but even after I plugged them in, I still struggled to hear the singer in about half of the moments. They seemed tight, and the songs seemed good enough—I'm not exactly familiar with the songs, although I checked out their latest album called Twelve because JLB was on it (more on that later)—so if it wasn't for the sound, it would've been a better opener than we usually get. Mostly, opening bands at Russian gigs suck, but sometimes you strike gold with them. So here are, of course, some godlike quality photos from my phone:
(https://i.imgur.com/StwksMc.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/SN7l45f.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vxVxPnW.jpg)
The crowd received Last Union well, but you could feel they were pumped for Delain. The local fan club also prepared a little thing to surprise the band—they were handing out pieces of red cloth to everyone in the first few rows with instructions to tie them around your wrist and then pull them off and wave them during a certain section of Masters of Destiny, which we successfully did. Delain opened with Go Away, then played Masters of Destiny and from the front row you could tell by the look on the band's faces that they were at least a little bit surprised and honored as we started waving those pieces of red cloth like we were mad. Charlotte mentioned it right after the song, and I love little things like that—they always make for an interesting experience both for the fans and the band.
The setlist was heavily Moonbathers-oriented, with two new songs from Hunter's Moon and some of the older material. The Human Contradiction was featured a bit with two or three songs, and of course there were some setlist staples like We Are the Others. Charlotte dominated the stage, which, for me—as it was my first time seeing Delain live—came as a surprise; she has fantastic stage presence. The sound was improved a lot compared to the Last Union: it wasn't overwhelmingly loud, you could hear Charlotte just fine, and I ended up ditching my earplugs during Go Away, the very first song of the set. As the set was drawing to a close—after a half-assed attempt of an encore, where the band was off stage for like 30 seconds, just enough for Charlotte and Otto to shrug off their jackets—jumping and headbanging to the chorus of We Are the Others, I found myself to be absolutely exhausted and brimming with joy and happiness.
I also should note how the crowd was engaged during the whole show. Was it Charlotte's work, or was it just the fact that Delain is loved in Russia, I don't know, but I can only name a few shows where the crowd was as enthusiastic as they were here, which are probably Sabaton and Powerwolf in Moscow (both bands have a huge fanbase here) and Edguy in Koln, which I was lucky to see during my vacation in 2017 (the crowd knew and sang every fucking song). We were really loud today, and while it has become a routine (and probably always was) for the band to say "hey, you are a brilliant, fantastic audience!", and while it's probably was the same fake thing today, somehow for me it felt that this time we deserved it. Maybe it's just the magic of the whole concert experience returning to me after a really dry year. That doesn't make it less enjoyable, though.
(https://i.imgur.com/zhFSIPn.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/YDxSfz0.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/wl1Mi0S.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/lXx794L.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/lPgw5jt.jpg)
The Aftermath
The band did their final bow, left, and we were left standing there, sweaty, tired and delighted. I wandered over to the bar to grab an overpriced beer as I wanted something to wet my throat with after 100 minutes of screaming and singing, and then we started to slowly leave the venue, as apparently there was another concert there that night, so the security began ushering us towards the exit. That was when I noticed the Last Union guitar player (the one with salt-and-pepper hair, I sadly don't know his name) standing there absolutely alone, which was weird enough, so I approached him for a quick conversation before security could force me out of the building. In the true nature of DTF, I asked him about JLB. :lol Well, first I complimented him on the show and on their last album, and then I asked him about JLB's involvement on the album. This is probably old news for everyone here, and someone probably covered it in some interviews, but hey, there goes. He admitted he didn't speak English too well (so basically he's like me), but he said the whole thing with JLB started with the band e-mailing him, being huge fans of his work in DT, and it went on and on for a year or more (I guess they were messaging back and forth to set the date, or perhaps JLB just took a year to respond? He was a bit unclear on that point and I didn't ask further), and JLB listened to the material Last Union sent him and liked it, so he agreed. I also asked if they were expecting JLB to agree or if they were surprised this actually went through and happened, and he said it was totally the latter. At this point people noticed the guy and ran to take pictures with him, so I wished him and the band all the best and went to grab my coat back.
This was a hell of a way to start my concert year, because, honestly, the sheer energy during Delain's set was incredible. As it was finished, I was utterly exhausted, thirsty and aching in a few places, and even as I type it now, I'm pretty sure tomorrow my throat, my legs and my back are going to feel the ramifications of this night (and I know, I'm only 25, so shut up fogey folks :P). Hopefully I didn't catch a cold standing for 4,5 hours in the wind before the venue entrance. But even as it is, it was worth it. This gig reminded me why I love music so much, and why I loved going to see my favourite bands so much, and as this year goes on, I fondly look at the stack of tickets on my desk, and wonder what kind of magic will those bands pull out of their sleeves on their shows—because they'll have to work hard to top Delain. This was a fantastic experience.
Next up if anyone's interested in these kind of posts: Steven Wilson's show in Hamburg on Feb 20th
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:metal Delain is really fun band, they are on my list for 2019
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March 28th - Muse in Toronto Ontario
April 4th- Dream Theater in Toronto Ontario
September 14th - King Crimson in Toronto Ontario
September 17th- Steve Hackett in Oakville Ontario
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So far for this year (already happened or tickets are already purchased):
February 13th- Neal Morse Band, Jersey City NJ
February 16th- Neal Morse Band, Glenside PA
April 10th- Dream Theater, Red Bank NJ
April 12th- Dream Theater, New York NY
April 13th- Dream Theater, Philadelphia PA
May 3rd- Winery Dogs, New York NY
May 19th- Thank You Scientist, Brooklyn NY
June 8th- Mastodon/Coheed and Cambria, Camden NJ
I'm also considering grabbing tickets for Tony Macalpine in NYC next month and Riverside at a venue near my office in Jersey City for May. Also thinking Morsefest in August is a real possibility considering how great the NMB shows this week were.
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Two of those DT and TWD are on my list as well :yarr
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:metal
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Going to see YYNOT on Saturday. REALLY looking forward to it!
A little late with a follow up. The YYNOT show was absolutely killer!!! They played 6 songs off their self-titled debut album and a shitload of Rush covers. Here's the set list: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/yynot/2019/alvas-showroom-san-pedro-ca-395c17b.html
The venue was killer. It felt like a a rehearsal room in the back of a music store. It sat less than 100 people, and my friend and I sat literally 10 feet in front of the bass player. The band was tight, and they stuck around on stage after the show talking to everyone. They have some shows coming up in Massapequa, NY and Stroudsburg, PA ( https://yynotband.com/shows ). I strongly encourage anyone in the area to check them out.
More recently....last week, I took my 15 year old daughter to see what appears to be her favorite band, Panic at the Disco. There were two opening acts. We missed the first entirely and only caught the last couple of songs by someone called Two Feet. It was basically a guy making noise on his guitar and vaguely singing, while another guy "played" beats on some sort of electronic percussion and did other samples and such. Absolutely awful.
In the interim, before PITD started, they played a bunch of Beatles -- specifically early Beatles. While I prefer later Beatles, I took this as a good sign. Going into this, I had heard only 2-3 PITD songs, and I didn't really remember any of them. I was pleasantly surprised. The base band was guitar, bass, drums and vocals, and they had a trio of string players (violin, viola and cello) and a trio of horn players (sax, trombone and trumpet) who were on and off the stage, depending on the song (the singer also picked up a guitar for 1-2 songs and played piano on a couple others). My understanding is that the singer is the only "official member" of the "band," and his vocals were lights out. What an incredible range this guy had. The energy was there throughout the approximately two hour show, and they played a KILLER cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody." I'm not going to run out and buy a bunch of their stuff, but this band had chops and catchy, upbeat songs, so I really enjoyed myself.
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They are doing a ticket to rock sort of thing where you get a ticket to 3 different shows at your local shed and it lists all the bands but no dates. So I guess you get the discount if you are willing to risk the dates. But some of this stuff has leaked anyway so I *think* I am adding these to my list:
July 6th - Slipknot, Volbeat, Behemoth, Gojira @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
July 31st - Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle, Three Days Grace @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
There's one more touring pair, Korn and Alice in Chains, that I'd like to see but I haven't found the leaked date for it yet. Also at the same venue.
Then it seems very likely I have to travel next week meaning I will miss the Disturbed/Three Days Grace concert at MSG :censored but also opens up seeing Greta Van Fleet next week in Amsterdam :hat We shall see.
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Holy butts. Thanks for the heads up Cramx3. That Breaking Benjamin/Chevelle/ Three Days Grace touring is playing in Irvine on September 16th. Two days after Maiden. That’s an easy ticket buy depending on prices in the 300 sections. Heck Breaking Benjamin was on Groupon for last year’s show. They may show up on Groupon as well. Never seen Chevelle but I hear good thing about them and heard their big songs on radio.
The only thing I hope for is that the Alter Bridge album listening party I am going to does not lie in the same week as Iron Maiden and Breaking Benjamin.
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I'd think the Breaking Benjamin show would be cheap. THey played the same venue over the summer and I would have gone but was on a business trip but knew it didnt sell out and second hand tickets were cheap... and now they are coming back and I'm not sure the support is as popular as last years, maybe the same so I guess I'd expect similar results.
Another reason why I didn't just buy the ticket to rock bundle, other than Slipknot, I think I'll be able to get a better ticket later. The Slipknot show is an impressive line up, really would love to see Gojira but Behemoth and Volbeat are known bands too for support.
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Seeing a Groupon for cheap seats (i.e. far seats of course) for Mastodon and Coheed & Cambria at the Greek Theater in LA. I have heard of them, I've heard good things about them here and elsewhere, but not really dig deeper into these bands. They put a good enough live show?
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Seeing a Groupon for cheap seats (i.e. far seats of course) for Mastodon and Coheed & Cambria at the Greek Theater in LA. I have heard of them, I've heard good things about them here and elsewhere, but not really dig deeper into these bands. They put a good enough live show?
GO. They are doing Crack the Skye in its entirety. Don't miss it. Yes, the show is a good one. Very good live band.
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I’m seeing Steven Wilson tomorrow.
Then Haken on the 15th of March
A festival with Haken, Leprous, Tesseract and more on the 22/23 of March
And then later in the year I’ll see Rammstein, Ayreon and Devin Townsend.
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Seeing a Groupon for cheap seats (i.e. far seats of course) for Mastodon and Coheed & Cambria at the Greek Theater in LA. I have heard of them, I've heard good things about them here and elsewhere, but not really dig deeper into these bands. They put a good enough live show?
GO. They are doing Crack the Skye in its entirety. Don't miss it. Yes, the show is a good one. Very good live band.
I've always thought Mastodon was shit live - no stage presence. Music isn't the issue. Coheed on the other hand is a fantastic show all around.
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I saw Mastadon last year, I went in blind to that concert and was not impressed. They weren't terrible, but definitely didn't make me want to listen to them. I think they had a couple songs that I enjoyed, but felt like as chknptpie said, they had no stage presence so they weren't interesting to watch for someone who wasn't familiar. I thought their sound was poor too, but that could have been the venue. I didn't know any Primus who was the headliner last year but didn't have the sound or boring issue with their set yet I was also blind to their music going in. Just my opinion. That same Mastadon and Coheed tour is coming here but I don't like the venue and I don't plan on going.
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HEY: Question for you all: I have chance to see the Claypool Lennon Delirium (Les Claypool from Primus, and Sean Lennon, son of John). $35 ticket, general admission. 100% going. But... for $179 I can meet Les and Sean. I'm not the hugest M&G guy (though I did meet the Neal Morse Band last tour just because) but what say you? Is it worth that to meet the son of a Beatle? It's about as close as I'll ever come, to be honest, and while I would never be so crass as to mention his dad or say that's why I'm there, it's still cool (plus a huge fan of Les).
I think by typing this I just talked myself into doing it. Yeah!
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I was going to say, from reading it, it sounds like you want to so you know your answer.
Personally, I've never paid for a M&G and find it kind of uninteresting to pay for, but I can imagine there's a scenario where I would
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re: Mastodon - I wouldn't call them shit. THey were solid. Just not exciting. But you don't pass up an opportunity to see Crack the Skye live in its entirety. And Coheed is a blast live, so that'll be good.
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Just grabbed a ticket for Billy Sheehan and Talas at the Iridium in NYC on March 6th.
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I pulled the trigger on the Mastodon and Coheed & Cambria show. Not only were the tickets on Groupon costed $22.00, but Groupon had a 20% off sale on purchases today and this show was qualified for it, so I only had to pay $17.60 for the show. I think these are good seats if the seating chart is correct. This image below is probably where I am seated at right where the crappy circle is at in the South Terrace section.
(https://i.imgur.com/XBIgm2E.png)
I don't know if this is the best ticket I have ever purchased in terms of value for the amount paid and for the view I am getting, but I think this is a pretty good grab for $18.00 if it is true. On a Saturday as well.
Mastodon and Coheed & Cambria - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA - June 29th, 2019
Also, on the topic of VIP Meet & Greets.
On that topic, I paid for a $250.00 pass to go to an album-listening party for Alter Bridge's 6th album in September (which admitting, they haven't created yet, but they will be in the studio next month) in Orlando, Florida. That listening party includes not just hearing the new album before it is in stores, but it includes a meet & greet with the band and probably an hour live set. I mean it would awesome to meet my heroes in person albeit only for a short moment in time and seeing Alter Bridge is always a great thing for me. I wouldn't do this for any band, but since this was the same band where if I had around $2,000-3,000, I would fly out to London to see their shows at the Royal Albert Hall with an orchestra in 2017, so doing this listening party is a no brainer for me. Plus, I haven't traveled out of state in almost 20 years and this is as great as a reason to do so.
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I’m seeing Steven Wilson tomorrow.
Hopefully it'll be good! Saw him yesterday and it was great.
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Picked up Maiden tickets when they first went on sale. Got great seats for my local show. They are playing the next night about 90 minutes away, so I went and got seats in the nosebleeds. Back-to-back Maiden nights from two different vantage points. Probably won't be able to do that again, as the first night was expensive as hell, but this should be cool.
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Speaking of Iron Maiden, they added a second night in Brooklyn to their tour this summer so I am planning on going both nights now. They did back to back nights there two summers ago and that was one of the best weekends so looking forward to doing it again.
Last Friday I went to see Less Than Jake do their first show of the year, almost exactly one year since I last saw them at the same venue. I must say this show was so much better. For one, the crowd was larger and rowdier. Really big and active pit all night. But what I loved so much was a fresh set list, having seen them once a year for the last 4 years, it was nice to get some songs I haven't seen in awhile. Plus they were having a good time, you could tell. Like every other song they got some fan interraction, they allowed one guy to dance on stage when a shoe landed on stage and he claimed it (the first guy tried to claim it to get on stage but had two shows so they kicked him off :lol) one song had like 6 little kids on stage, another song had a couple dancing on stage, the singer gtabbed the phone from someone to call the phone owners boss to tell him he wasn't coming in tomorrow, to ending the set with the Trombone player doing his solo short song Mississippi Mud. It just was all in good fun and it showed, it could wind up being my favorite show of theirs I've seen, and I've seen a lot. I also got fist bumps from the entire band before they hit the stage. Always a plus being able to directly interact with one of your favorite bands.
Less Than Jake LIVE @ Starland Ballroom NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj3GLC2j5pQ)
and here is a my short tweet from the concert, essentially I made this short clip because I found it so funny. Before bringing on the small kids, they said they weren't going to curse, then after the song the singer says if anyone calls that segment lame on social media tomorrow, fuck you while the kids were stil on stage :rollin as the bassist tries to shuffle them off and they try to talk back dropping the f bomb. I was on the floor laughing.
https://twitter.com/Cramx3/status/1099350368234995714 (https://twitter.com/Cramx3/status/1099350368234995714)
and then that leaves me with tonight, Disturbed at MSG. Three Days Grace is opening but aparently go on at 730 which cuts it close for me to get there from work so I might miss some of them, but I don't really know their music. My friend hooked us up with tickets in a suite so this should be a fun one tonight.
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Looks like I'm going to be adding Queensryche and Fates Warning in NYC next month to my list, as well as Tony Macalpine.
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Speaking of queensryche, the same venue I saw Less Than Jake announced Geoff Tates Operation Mindcrime show today. I dont know if I'll go but this is after I see Avantasia and maybe if Tate is good live I'll go check out his show.
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and another concert announcement today to add to my list:
August 7th - Korn and Alice in Chains @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
Not really a Korn fan, saw them once and really never got into their music so I just couldn't get into their live show, but after seeing Alice in Chains last year, I am totally cool checking them out again in my backyard. It's coheadline too so while I'm not sure who goes on last, at least we get full sets and not an opener set (I get the feeling Korn is headlining).
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SKIP. I just don't wanna spend a bunch of cash to see AiC play 70 minutes. This is what things are coming to now. MOre money, less of the artist you really want to see. Ugh. I realize it is all subjective, and I'm sure at some point there will be a double-bill I love that someone else will hate. But I miss the days of a true headliner. I'm thankful Dream Theater can still pull it off.
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SKIP. I just don't wanna spend a bunch of cash to see AiC play 70 minutes. This is what things are coming to now. MOre money, less of the artist you really want to see. Ugh. I realize it is all subjective, and I'm sure at some point there will be a double-bill I love that someone else will hate. But I miss the days of a true headliner. I'm thankful Dream Theater can still pull it off.
I think you can thank Live Nation for that. This seems to be one of their tours where they pair two bands who are big but not big enough to play these venues on their own, so they double bill to get fans to fill the seats. I think it works well for casual fans like myself in this case, but sucks big time for the hardcore fans. The thing that sucks even more though, is they are touring with TWO MORE bands. Like, why do they need 4 bands on the bill? That just waters down everyone's sets even more. Last summer when Def Leppard and Journey coheadlined, they had no opener so both bands played their full set with encores. It probably sucked for whoever opened each night to play their first song in front of a small crowd that was still showing up, but I think that was really cool for the hardcore fans to not get cheated of a full set just because it's coheadline.
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I noted that - four bands on the bill. Oy. I really just wanted to see Alice in Chains, ya know. But you're right, its these big conglomerates, along with SO MANY bands touring (because that's where the money is). The competition is healthy to a degree, but it has really saturated the marketplace. And on one hand, it is cool to see so many shows (I have 13 this year so far, up through September), I know that only a handful of those (this past weekend with Neal Schon, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater) will give me old school size setlists. The rest will likely be shorter and watered down to a degree with additional acts.
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SKIP. I just don't wanna spend a bunch of cash to see AiC play 70 minutes. This is what things are coming to now. MOre money, less of the artist you really want to see. Ugh. I realize it is all subjective, and I'm sure at some point there will be a double-bill I love that someone else will hate. But I miss the days of a true headliner. I'm thankful Dream Theater can still pull it off.
I think you can thank Live Nation for that. This seems to be one of their tours where they pair two bands who are big but not big enough to play these venues on their own, so they double bill to get fans to fill the seats. I think it works well for casual fans like myself in this case, but sucks big time for the hardcore fans. The thing that sucks even more though, is they are touring with TWO MORE bands. Like, why do they need 4 bands on the bill? That just waters down everyone's sets even more. Last summer when Def Leppard and Journey coheadlined, they had no opener so both bands played their full set with encores. It probably sucked for whoever opened each night to play their first song in front of a small crowd that was still showing up, but I think that was really cool for the hardcore fans to not get cheated of a full set just because it's coheadline.
I concur. I honestly don't like 4-band bills when the only band that I want to see plays around 70-80 minutes or so. Like the Nothing More show I went to last Friday. Four bands on the bill. I honestly don't really like (not hate, mind you) three of those bands where I wouldn't want to see them at their own show. The one band I wanted to see, Nothing More, played for around 70-80 minutes or so, but by gosh, they made those minutes count. With that said, I had a good time all around and the crowd was really amped the whole time.
I'm thankful that Alter Bridge isn't big enough do co-headliners in amphitheaters here in the states and that their headliner shows (which includes two opening bands) lasts for around 100 minutes or so. More than adequate for those wanting to see them, but for guys like me, I would rather they have no opening band like DT does for their shows. That stated, they would be the band opening for the co-headliners in the summer like they did in 2016 and only get 35 minutes which is just not adequate, but that's only way they can get exposure in front of bigger crowds in the states. In Europe, it's a different story altogether, but even they had three opening bands in their last UK arena tour and they got only 90 minutes. The year later when they played in London, how long they did get? 2 hours 15 minutes. Honestly, for the core fanbase that Alter Bridge has, what would we prefer? Something similar that DT has which is a longer show, no opening bands, and give them that chance to explore playing deeper cuts.
The Disturbed show with only Three Days Grace opening had more than an adequate enough time for both bands. Three Days Grace got around 50-55 minutes. Disturbed got around 90-100 minutes. May not draw as much as a four band bill in the summertime, but I had a blast the whole way and it's my favorite concert so far out of like 11 I have planned so far in 2019.
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My wife saw Nothing More this weekend. I had seen them twice, once opening for Lacuna Coil, the other on a bill with Periphery. Incredible live band for sure. Total energy. According to the Mrs., same this past weekend. But she was also bored to tears by the openers. I think NM played what you got - about 80 minutes or so. Something like that.
As for AB, I'm waiting for it to happen. The last three tours here in the Bay Area, they played the 1,800 standing room Regency Ballroom on AB III, 2,800 seat Warfield Theater (Fortress), and then stepped back down to the REgency for The Last Hero. My guess is, that's what they'll do again, but I can't shake the feeling that one of those co-headline bills is coming our way. I sincerely hope not, but for them to at least go back up in size to The Warfield, they may need to. Fingers crossed it won't be necessary and they will do do their own headline tour.
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The Disturbed show with only Three Days Grace opening had more than an adequate enough time for both bands. Three Days Grace got around 50-55 minutes. Disturbed got around 90-100 minutes. May not draw as much as a four band bill in the summertime, but I had a blast the whole way and it's my favorite concert so far out of like 11 I have planned so far in 2019.
Speaking of... that's tonight for me, I'm guessing TDG goes on at 730 and disturbed at 9? Was that the case for you? Im actually about to bolt work a bit early to try to make it on time.
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As for AB, I'm waiting for it to happen. The last three tours here in the Bay Area, they played the 1,800 standing room Regency Ballroom on AB III, 2,800 seat Warfield Theater (Fortress), and then stepped back down to the REgency for The Last Hero. My guess is, that's what they'll do again, but I can't shake the feeling that one of those co-headline bills is coming our way. I sincerely hope not, but for them to at least go back up in size to The Warfield, they may need to. Fingers crossed it won't be necessary and they will do do their own headline tour.
I wouldn't mind AB doing a co-headlining tour for bigger crowds and play 75 minutes or so (because this band has worked hard to get to where they are to warrant it), but only if it's a band that would fit well with them. I would be pumped if they do a tour with a band like Skillet, Sixx: A.M., or Sevendust and both bands get equal billing and play around 3,000-5,000 people at a time. Of course, they could do the rational thing and have no opening bands and play 2.5 hour sets and still play to around 1,500 people or so. It's not like the opening bands in their past tours have really moved the needle in terms of crowd size. Sure, Like A Storm, Black Stone Cherry, Adelitas Way, Nonpoint, and All That Remains has way more radio play on Sirus XM Octane and Turbo than AB, but those bands are not really the biggest dealbreaker to see an Alter Bridge headlining show or not.
The Disturbed show with only Three Days Grace opening had more than an adequate enough time for both bands. Three Days Grace got around 50-55 minutes. Disturbed got around 90-100 minutes. May not draw as much as a four band bill in the summertime, but I had a blast the whole way and it's my favorite concert so far out of like 11 I have planned so far in 2019.
Speaking of... that's tonight for me, I'm guessing TDG goes on at 730 and disturbed at 9? Was that the case for you? Im actually about to bolt work a bit early to try to make it on time.
Yeah, those were similar start times. I got to the venue around 5:30 PM and waited around and TDG started at 7:25-7:30. Can't remember what time Disturbed started. I say if you get to your seat around 8:45, it should be fine to get settled before Disturbed starts their set.
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I like Korn and like AIC just the same. They remind me of middle and high school. I just hope Korn pulls some rare stuff from the vaults. Like Alone I Break, Thoughtless, something from Take A Look In The Mirror.
AIC should bust out...What The Hell Have I, Sea of Sorrow, I Stay Away, or Rotten Apple.
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Decided to see John 5 tonight at Launchpad (our local small imitate venue). Opening band isn't my cup of tea at all. They're called Dead Girls Academy, generic pop-metal...think, My Chemical Romance mixed with Linkin Park with some Screamo.
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Decided to see John 5 tonight at Launchpad (our local small imitate venue). Opening band isn't my cup of tea at all. They're called Dead Girls Academy, generic pop-metal...think, My Chemical Romance mixed with Linkin Park with some Screamo.
Oh boy, I see what you mean by that. This is the first image I pulled when I googled the band name. I know its a bit crass to judge band's music based on their band photos, but you look at this photo and tell yourselves, "what do they play?"
(https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/tattoo-media/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/09062252/DGA_AlexStone.jpg)
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Shared this is the Disturbed thread, but also will share here:
Disturbed and Three Days Grace Live @ MSG (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrKnXwQzrTI)
and a first for me, eating lobster tails and crab legs at a metal concert (my IG post, you'll have to swipe to see the foods)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BubrsKCgB0P/ (https://www.instagram.com/p/BubrsKCgB0P/)
next concert up is Saturday for Within Temptation and In Flames in NYC. I'm not in love with the latest Within Temptation, but I had a blast seeing them like 5 years ago or so, and I am really looking forward to seeing them again. The show is almost sold out too apparently. :metal :metal
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wow what a line up just announced for special 25th warped tour anniversary show in Atlantic City this summer. Two day festival, so it's not a traditional warped tour but I am loving this line up of bands. I definitely want to go
(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/53055620_10157184693197147_8499493197905395712_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=a86a754d81f0fcab904aedfa5620c0fd&oe=5CE0BE23)
311, Offspring, Bad Religion, Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Dirty Heads, Blink 182.... so many bands I enjoy.
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Saw Mastodon in February which was a good start of my concert year.
March is going to be pretty busy:
March 15th - Haken with Bent Knee and Vola
March 17th - Alestorm
March 22nd - Prognosis Festival with Haken, Leprous and Soen among others
March 23rd - Prognosis Festival with TesseracT and Devin Townsend among others
March 26th - Neal Morse Band
Juni 15th - Dream Theater
Still have to decide if I'm going to get tickets for The Ocean, Downfall of Gaia and Herod at March 25th
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I'm in Amsterdam for work, but I might be able to pull this off Friday night, its a bit of a drive from here but if I can get out of work at a normal time, I should make it after the opener (and I don't mind the drive, should be scenic for me since this would be exploring somewhere I've never been):
March 8th - Kamelot and Evergrey @ Doornroosje, Nijmegen NL
(I have no idea how to pronounce the venue or town)
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I'm thinking about grabbing a ticket for the Experience Hendrix tribute tour when it hits NJ at the end of the month. Satriani, Eric Johnson, Dave Mustaine, Doug Pinnick, and others all jamming on Hendrix tunes sounds like a pretty great night :hat
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I'm thinking about grabbing a ticket for the Experience Hendrix tribute tour when it hits NJ at the end of the month. Satriani, Eric Johnson, Dave Mustaine, Doug Pinnick, and others all jamming on Hendrix tunes sounds like a pretty great night :hat
I saw ads for this and just thought it was like a cover band show, but seeing all these musicians listed makes it pretty interesting. They are bringing this show to Count Basie in Red Bank, maybe I'd go to that (I'm assuming you are looking at the NJPAC show)
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I'm thinking about grabbing a ticket for the Experience Hendrix tribute tour when it hits NJ at the end of the month. Satriani, Eric Johnson, Dave Mustaine, Doug Pinnick, and others all jamming on Hendrix tunes sounds like a pretty great night :hat
I saw ads for this and just thought it was like a cover band show, but seeing all these musicians listed makes it pretty interesting. They are bringing this show to Count Basie in Red Bank, maybe I'd go to that (I'm assuming you are looking at the NJPAC show)
Yeah, I'd do the NJPAC show since I could just PATH over to Newark after work.
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I'm in Amsterdam for work, but I might be able to pull this off Friday night, its a bit of a drive from here but if I can get out of work at a normal time, I should make it after the opener (and I don't mind the drive, should be scenic for me since this would be exploring somewhere I've never been):
March 8th - Kamelot and Evergrey @ Doornroosje, Nijmegen NL
(I have no idea how to pronounce the venue or town)
Don't expect a scenic drive. I would recommend the train. The Nijmegen train station is next to the venue.
You avoid the traffic jams and will be able to grab a few beers.
The venue is great, one of my favorites in the Netherlands. Enjoy :tup
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My hotel is right next to the Amsterdam arena station, maybe I should look into that. Just figured I never really drove around the country myself that it might be interesting. I'm not sure how bad the traffic really would be compared to NYC and LA that I'm more used to though. I did look at pictures and noticed the station next to it, or under it. Kind of an interesting look.
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So that Kamelot/Evergrey concert was awesome! So glad I managed to make it there and back to Amsterdam to catch my flight home a few hours later.
Some observations, the dutch crowd is interesting. It seemed like everyone had thier own personal space at the concert, there was no dancing or moving around, god forbid you hit elbows with someone (no one was mad, but man did I get a lot of looks just trying to move around the place and weaving around people) but anytime Tommy would say put your hands up, the entire place ahd their hands up and into it. It was kind of cool seeing a larger fanbase and turn out for them compared to the US. Their website said the show sold out, but I bought a ticket at the door an hour before Kamelot hit the stage so I kind of doubt it did sell out, but was likely very close. Another cool thing was a free coat check and relatively decent beer prices for a concert (5 euro for 16 oz).
Sadly though, I took the train and figured getting there at 8 (there was no way I could have gotten there earlier) would be good to catch Evergrey right when they went on but nope they had already started at 7:45 and Kamelot was done by 10:30 so it was a bit of an earlier show.
I must say though, this was the best Kamelot show I had seen. They live debuted a new song, and played Karma. Tommy did a spot before end of Innocence in the crowd. Oh, and there were PYROS! Lots of pyro! Felt like I was witnessing a concert I've seen on youtube from europe that I always would wish to see and there I was! So awesome! Chit chatted with some friendly people and it was a good time the entire night.
also, a shout out to the local who helped me catch my train home. It had changed tracks and I got confused so he was like just follow me to utrecht :lol Those trains have nice bathrooms too
Kamelot and Evergrey LIVE at Doornroosje in Nijmegen Netherlands (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9RGh2YhQBY)
So for future concerts, there was a new tour announced that I am VERY interested in. 311 with Dirty Heads and The Interrupters coming to my hometown amphitheater :yarr
So here is my updated 2019 list:
January 12th - Sublime with Rome @ Borgata Casino, Atlantic City NJ
January 30th - Elton John @ Staples Center. Los Angeles CA
February 22nd - Less Than Jake @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
February 25th - Disturbed and Three Days Grace @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
March 3rd - Within Temptation, In Flames and Smash Into Pieces @ Playstation Theater, New York City NY
March 8th - Kamelot and Evergrey @ Doornroosje, Nijmegen NL
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March 22nd - Warrant @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
March 27th - Kiss @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
April 10th - Dream Theater @ Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank NJ
April 12th - Dream Theater @ Beacon Theatre, New York City NY
May 3rd - Winery Dogs @ Sony Hall, New York City NY
May 4th - Skid Row @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
May 7th - Whitesnake @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
May 18th - Devin Townsend @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ (same day as GF's graduation so might not make this)
May 24th - Avantasia @ Palladium, Worcester MA
May 25th - Greta Van Fleet @ Forest Hills Stadium, Queens NY
June 2nd - Yngwie Malmsteen @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ... or Rancid/Pennywise @ Englishtown NJ
June 11th - Ozzy and Megadeth @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
June 15th - Live and Bush PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
June 19th - Ariana Grande @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
June 29/30th - Warped Tour 25th Anniversary (311, Bad Religion, Blink 182, Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Dirty Heads, Offspring) @ Atlantic City, NJ
July 13th - Third Eye Blind and Jimmy Eat World @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
July 24th - 311, Dirty Heads, and The Interrupters @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
July 26th - Iron Maiden @ Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY
July 27th - Iron Maiden @ Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY
July 31st - Breaking Benjamin & Three Days Grace @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
August 7th - Korn and Alice in Chains @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
August 17th - Alice Cooper and Halestorm @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
August 30th - Slipknot, Volbeat, Gojira, Behemoth @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
September 4-7 - ProgPower USA 20 @ Center Stage, Atlanta GA (Seventh Wonder, Orden Ogan, Demons & Wizards, Evergrey, Galneryus, Caligulas Horse, Pretty Maids)
September 14th - Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, & Battle Beast @ Terminal 5, New York City NY
September 20th - Delain, Amorphis, & Anneke Van Giersbergen @ Irving Plaza, New York City NY
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Just checked out your video Cram, awesome stuff! I've was never into Kamelot but the show looked awesome.
I just got back from seeing Michael Kelsey for a second time. He was the featured performer for the open mic night tonight, $3 tickets. It was awesome. He played a few of my favorite songs but after the set he walked to me and asked if I was at his last show, I was, I was one of two people there for him. He gave me a couple of cd's and signed one for me, said he really appreciated me coming out again.
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Friday night, I decided to go see John 5 at a small club in New Jersey at the last minute.
He had two opening acts. The first band, Dead Girls Academy, has already been discussed. No point beating that dead horse. The second was Jared James Nichols. He was absolute fire! Picture Pride and Glory-era Zakk Wylde. And, no pick either. I hadn't seen someone play like that with just his fingers before. He headed up a 3-piece that was pure energy. His band was worth the price of admission (which was a cheap $20) alone. I picked up a copy of his newest CD at the merch stand on my way out.
And, John 5 was awesome. I'd never seen him live before. Heck, I didn't even own any of his albums. But his band, John 5 and the Creatures, put on a really entertaining show. All 3 guys look to be highly-skilled musicians. John 5 went back and forth between different types of music the whole show - shredding one minute, banjo picking the next. His stage show (2 screens with constantly changing imagery (Scooby Doo cartoons, The Exorcist, Barbarella, etc.), people coming on and off stage in different costumes and his various costume changes) was really fun. If he comes around your area, definitely check him out. He puts on a great show.
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Friday night, I decided to go see John 5 at a small club in New Jersey at the last minute.
He had two opening acts. The first band, Dead Girls Academy, has already been discussed. No point beating that dead horse. The second was Jared James Nichols. He was absolute fire! Picture Pride and Glory-era Zakk Wylde. And, no pick either. I hadn't seen someone play like that with just his fingers before. He headed up a 3-piece that was pure energy. His band was worth the price of admission (which was a cheap $20) alone. I picked up a copy of his newest CD at the merch stand on my way out.
And, John 5 was awesome. I'd never seen him live before. Heck, I didn't even own any of his albums. But his band, John 5 and the Creatures, put on a really entertaining show. All 3 guys look to be highly-skilled musicians. John 5 went back and forth between different types of music the whole show - shredding one minute, banjo picking the next. His stage show (2 screens with constantly changing imagery (Scooby Doo cartoons, The Exorcist, Barbarella, etc.), people coming on and off stage in different costumes and his various costume changes) was really fun. If he comes around your area, definitely check him out. He puts on a great show.
Second....
What you're saying is exactly how I felt. Way worth the price.
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Just what I needed last night, a concert to get an escape. Works been kicking my ass, I've just been feeling super burnt out and unmotivated lately. I got a ticket bundle for a bunch of rock concerts at my local concert venue and it included one for Warrant last night. Figured I'd go cause it was Friday and like I said, I wanted to get away and just enjoy myself for a couple hours. This hit the spot. Sure, it's cheesy glam metal, sure the singer died and this is a replacement who doesn't bring what Jani did, sure the place was fairly empty, but damn I had a good time just rocking out and enjoying the show. Nothing really to highlight about that was interesting other than the singer did appear to be pretty drunk and ramble a bit between songs, at one point you could see the guitarist was visibly frustrated with him, but it was entertaining. After the show I chilled and met the singer who complimented me on my Kamelot shirt which was a real surprise, said "Casey's band" and got a few of the other guys from the band to be like "Oh yea Casey!" :lol I guess they know him which was pretty cool. He's in Queensrych but whatever, they knew that once I said "used to be Caseys band".
Warrant Live @ Starland Ballroom NJ 3/22/19 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLAt3XZAiK4)
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Done:
Feb 16th - Delain - Moscow, RU
Feb 20th - Steven Wilson - Hamburg, DE (possibly w/ VIP upgrade as soon as this month's paycheck arrives)
Feb 21th - Haken, VOLA, Bent Knee - Hamburg, DE (w/ VIP upgrade)
Feb 27th - Steven Wilson - Moscow, RU
Mar 9th - Pain of Salvation - Moscow, RU
Mar 15th - Amorphis - Moscow, RU
Mar 23rd - Temperance - Moscow, RU (it's a festival so there'll be a bunch of other bands too I guess)
Upcoming:
April 28th - iamthemorning - Moscow, RU
April 29th - Myrkur / iamthemorning - Moscow, RU
May 4th - Avantasia - Moscow, RU
June 9th - Оргия праведников - Moscow, RU (a Russian band that opened for Pain of Salvation, they were great so I thought I'll see their headline show)
June 10th - Demons & Wizards - Moscow, RU
June 11th - Dream Theater - Moscow, RU
Sep 12th - Ayreon - Tilburg, NL (dress rehearsal)
Sep 13th - Ayreon - Tilburg, NL (w/ VIP upgrade)
Sep 14th - Ayreon - Tilburg, NL
Oct 12th - Epica - Moscow, RU
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Fates Warning in a couple more hours....oh and Queensryche too.
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All right, an updated list, but first here's my brief thoughts on two concerts I've recently been to last week.
Within Temptation with In Flames opening - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - March 19th, 2019: Holy crap, I did not expect this to be my favorite concert of the year so far, but it was there. In Flames brought a good amount of intensity and Within Temptation delivered a perfect concert experience for me and I had a tremendous view the whole time on the floor. Easily worth the $50.00 ticket.
Dream Theater - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - March 21st, 2019: Band was solid. JLB was solid. Scenes From A Memory set was good. Liked that they played four new songs from Distance Over Time. Now the bad news that dampened my enjoyment. The view was butts for me. Couldn't see JP most of the time. Also, the setlist could have been varied a little more with something from Awake or something from SDOIT or any other MM-era songs before D/T. Still, for $25.00, it was a satisfying show. Now for the shows I have pending. Bolded are the ones that I didn't include in the last list.
Switchfoot - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - April 5th, 2019
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, CA - May 16th, 2019 (Now this is a band in comparison to my list that is way left field, but I've seen a couple of proshots of them before and I like what I see and hear. Wouldn't mind seeing long Allman Brothers-like instrumental jams and the likes).
Mastodon and Coheed & Cambria - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA - June 29th, 2019
Shinedown with Badflower, Dinosaur Pile-Up, and Broken Hands opening - FivePoint Amphitheater, Irvine, CA - July 21st, 2019.
Iron Maiden with Fozzy and The Raven Age opening - Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - September 14th, 2019
Breaking Benjamin with Chevelle and Three Days Grace (with Dorothy and Diamante opening) - FivePoint Amphitheater, Irvine, CA - September 16th, 2019.
Alter Bridge's 6th Album VIP Listening Party with a brief live set - Venue and Date TBA - Scheduled to be somewhere in September in Orlando, FL.
I might add Papa Roach with Bad Wolves and Asking Alexandria at the Hollywood Palladium on August 31st depending on ticket prices. On second thought, $59.00 (fees included) for Papa Roach and I know they are not going to top Within Temptation as my favorite show of the year, so I shall pass for now and hope Ticketmaster will come to their senses or Groupon will have them at lower than $45.00.
My new year's resolution is to attend one concert a month for the whole year and I am on course for it. I just need an August, October, November, and December show and I think I can fulfill it. I'm sure there's still plenty of shows yet to be announced in SoCal in August. I may go see Delain in Anaheim in October. Blizzard Entertainment has their Blizzcon convention in November and it usually contains a name-value live act for their closing ceremonies, so that's something to look forward to if tickets don't sell out quickly. Plus, TSO may do their annual tour in December and may hit Ontario again and I wouldn't mind seeing them again and take my family to see them as well.
Good times, all around.
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nice :metal
Tonight is Kiss at MSG, first time seeing them and maybe the last, pretty excited for this one even having never been a huge fan. I admit, I like the hits and they are playing them so I expect to have a good time.
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Updated list:
February 13th- Neal Morse Band, Jersey City NJ
February 16th- Neal Morse Band, Glenside PA
March 6th- Talas, New York NY
March 29th- Experience Hendrix Tour, Newark NJ
April 10th- Dream Theater, Red Bank NJ
April 12th- Dream Theater, New York NY
April 13th- Dream Theater, Philadelphia PA
May 3rd- Winery Dogs, New York NY
May 19th- Thank You Scientist, Brooklyn NY
May 21st- Animals as Leaders, New York NY
June 8th- Mastodon/Coheed and Cambria, Camden NJ
July 27th- Iron Maiden, Brooklyn NY
August 30th- Flying Colors, Cross Plains TN
August 31st- Neal Morse Band, Cross Plains TN
Also considering adding both Paul Gilbert and Tony MacAlpine to the list, they both have a couple nights booked at the Iridium the week after my Mastodon show. Shaping up to be a pretty good year.
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I have to say, the Experience Hendrix concert was pretty great. So many phenomenal guitar players. I hadn't heard of Jonny Lang beforehand, but he really impressed me. The show closes with a four song set from Joe Satriani, Doug Pinnick, and Kenny Aronoff, and they make for an absolutely monstrous trio.
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nice :metal
Tonight is Kiss at MSG, first time seeing them and maybe the last, pretty excited for this one even having never been a huge fan. I admit, I like the hits and they are playing them so I expect to have a good time.
So, what say you?
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nice :metal
Tonight is Kiss at MSG, first time seeing them and maybe the last, pretty excited for this one even having never been a huge fan. I admit, I like the hits and they are playing them so I expect to have a good time.
So, what say you?
Wrote a full review in the Kiss thread, but here's my video. I had a blast:
Kiss Live @ Sold Out Madison Square Garden NYC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkq4YjyPTNY)
Funny this may be my most trolled video, got tons of trolls out for all my kiss videos. Shitting on my seats and saying it's a waste of money. Whatever, haters gonna hate. It was a really fun night for me, end of story. I'd consider catching them again at Prudential Center in NJ this summer, looks like it's selling really poorly so I'll wait and see.
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I'm thinking about grabbing a ticket for the Experience Hendrix tribute tour when it hits NJ at the end of the month. Satriani, Eric Johnson, Dave Mustaine, Doug Pinnick, and others all jamming on Hendrix tunes sounds like a pretty great night :hat
I saw ads for this and just thought it was like a cover band show, but seeing all these musicians listed makes it pretty interesting. They are bringing this show to Count Basie in Red Bank, maybe I'd go to that (I'm assuming you are looking at the NJPAC show)
Don't know if this is still on your radar, but I'd definitely recommend it if it is.
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I'm thinking about grabbing a ticket for the Experience Hendrix tribute tour when it hits NJ at the end of the month. Satriani, Eric Johnson, Dave Mustaine, Doug Pinnick, and others all jamming on Hendrix tunes sounds like a pretty great night :hat
I saw ads for this and just thought it was like a cover band show, but seeing all these musicians listed makes it pretty interesting. They are bringing this show to Count Basie in Red Bank, maybe I'd go to that (I'm assuming you are looking at the NJPAC show)
Don't know if this is still on your radar, but I'd definitely recommend it if it is.
Got another ad to enter to win tickets which I did, I'm still on the edge for it. It's pretty expensive and hasn't sold well in Red Bank. Maybe I can get a good deal Tuesday and go there after work.
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I'm thinking about grabbing a ticket for the Experience Hendrix tribute tour when it hits NJ at the end of the month. Satriani, Eric Johnson, Dave Mustaine, Doug Pinnick, and others all jamming on Hendrix tunes sounds like a pretty great night :hat
I saw ads for this and just thought it was like a cover band show, but seeing all these musicians listed makes it pretty interesting. They are bringing this show to Count Basie in Red Bank, maybe I'd go to that (I'm assuming you are looking at the NJPAC show)
Don't know if this is still on your radar, but I'd definitely recommend it if it is.
Got another ad to enter to win tickets which I did, I'm still on the edge for it. It's pretty expensive and hasn't sold well in Red Bank. Maybe I can get a good deal Tuesday and go there after work.
Yeah, if it's not selling well I'm sure there'll be deals to had last minute. Surprising though because it seemed like a pretty full crowd at NJPAC (albeit I don't know what the upper levels looked like).
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March 24th- Dream Theater
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May 3rd- Thank You Scientists
May 28th- Alien Weaponry
May 29th- Riverside
June 15th- Gloryhammer
Still unsure if Alien Weaponry is gonna happen, doing two shows in the city with early shifts both the following days is gonna be very rough for this old man.
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I have to say this year I really brought it with the concerts :lol not anything vast in numbers compared to you guys, so far I have four things planned but three are major bucket list items and one is a local surprise.
In May I'll be seeing Conception on Karmøygeddon, with my sister flying in from Serbia! It's three hours by bus so we'll have to overnight, so... expensive. Then I'll be flying to Berlin to see Symphony X with my husband and a great friend of his - we would have had to fly to Oslo anyway and that's expensive so why not fly somewhere where we can enjoy them with good company. Leprous is visiting Bergen in June, so after at least seven years of their concerts I narrowly missed I finally get to see them, and in August the local black metal festival is stepping it up and bringing Candlemass and Arcturus.
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Two nights of Taking Back Sunday this week! :caffeine:
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Wow Conception? Mora that sounds awesome, I'm so upset I never got to see Kahn with Kamelot, he quit right before the tour I had tickets to :(
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Wow Conception? Mora that sounds awesome, I'm so upset I never got to see Kahn with Kamelot, he quit right before the tour I had tickets to :(
Man, that's a bummer! With this reunion I think you might have the opportunity to see him very soon, because everyone is hyped about them and I'm sure they're getting plenty of offers.
Khan is probably in my top 5 singers of all time and I'm so glad he's doing this, it's a dream come true :angel:
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June 19th - Ariana Grande @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
Yeah, I'd have left that one off the list, TBH.
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Tedeschi Trucks Band - Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, CA - May 16th, 2019 (Now this is a band in comparison to my list that is way left field, but I've seen a couple of proshots of them before and I like what I see and hear. Wouldn't mind seeing long Allman Brothers-like instrumental jams and the likes).
One of the best bands you will ever see, especially if they're doing an "evening with" format (2 sets, no support). I caught them back in 2015, and they blew me away - they're playing the UK again at the end of this month, on the one weekend of the year I'm doing something else I can't cancel. I'm so insanely jealous of you and anyone else who's going to see them!
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June 19th - Ariana Grande @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
Yeah, I'd have left that one off the list, TBH.
:lol for my gf, I keep it on the list to see if anyone is actually looking at it.
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June 19th - Ariana Grande @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
Yeah, I'd have left that one off the list, TBH.
:lol for my gf, I keep it on the list to see if anyone is actually looking at it.
I good man keeps a girl happy.
Thankfully, my girl likes Prog. :lol
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All right, got my show in August.
Lindsey Stirling with ZZ Ward - Pacific Amphitheater, Costa Mesa, CA - August 7th, 2019
So I saw Lindsey Stirling with Evanescence back in September, last year in Irvine and I was really impressed with Lindsey Stirling's set. From a visual perspective and from a musical perspective, it was worth the price of the ticket. Evanescence on the other hand, while there was nothing wrong with the set from a visual and musical perspective, I was just plain bored for the set. So with Lindsey Stirling announcing her own headlining tour, this makes this a no brainer of a buy. I think I paid more for this show ($47.50 on Ticketmaster) than I did at the Irvine show ($39.00 on Groupon), but I think I got a good spot. Just far away to justify the price of a more cheaper seat, but not so far away where I should have a clear view of the stage. Plus the rows are slightly more elevated in comparison to the Wiltern Theater's floor seating map, so I should have a clear view of the stage regardless if people are standing or not. Also it's a slightly smaller venue than the place in Irvine. Pacific Amphitheater holds only 8,000 people in comparison to 12,000 people in Fivepoint in Irvine, so it should fix a minor problem I had with Lindsey Stirling set last year (she deserved a more active crowd and I think the smaller venue should remedy that).
Also, I have never been to this Amphitheater before so that's another exciting thing. Parking looks cheap, and it takes place during the OC fair which is next door to the Amphitheater, so that's another potential plus as well.
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My brother saw Lindsey sterling and loved it, sounds like it’ll be a good show.
I just found out Snarky Puppy is playing at brewery close by, I’m a casual fan and tickets are $40 but I think I’m going to go. I heard they are good live.
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So, saw Switchfoot, last Friday at the Wiltern Theater (third show in a row I went to the Wiltern Theater and, oh boy, I'm ready to take a break for going there because parking is expensive and traffic is terrible getting there). I didn't think it would take a little more than two weeks to top Within Temptation as my favorite concert this year, but Switchfoot did just that. Almost every song was a singalong. The band was playing well. The crowd was enjoying every minute of it. Jon Foreman, their singer, was a great frontman and he was doing this thing where he was walking on the rail to interact with the people in front of him. The cool thing about the Wiltern was that there was two sections with rails. One section in front of the stage, and another section behind that 1st section. So Jon went to the section that I was at (I was in the third row behind the rail as oppose to being directly behind the rail during Within Temptation) during Love Alone is Worth the Fight, and this next thought may be delusional, but I think he pointed at me in his direction (I was sporting my usual Alter Bridge t-shirt).
Anyway, they played a fair amount of stuff from their last two albums, their big hits (Dare You to Move and Meant to Live), and some staples (Stars, Hello Hurricane, Where I Belong) and that makes it for a great setlist and lasted for 100 minutes or so. In the encore, they got the opening bands to come out and play their lead single from their latest album, Native Tongue, which was pretty cool. The biggest takeaway from that show was how very welcoming the band and the crowd was and that there was no need to feel awkward or a feeling that you do not belong. The band got the crowd to have their arms around everyone else during I Won't Let You Go and despite Jon giving a warning that this will not get any more awkward in the next five minutes, I don't think everyone minded and it was a good feeling to it. A lot of bands could learn a lot from Switchfoot when it comes to making everyone feel welcomed to be a part of the concert and their community/family/nation/whatever. It can go a long way. So yeah, I don't mind putting this as my concert of the year so far, despite being two rows back from where I wanted to be, but I had a great view the whole time.
Anyway, I already mentioned it in that thread, but man it's good to say it again. I'm seeing Winery Dogs in Anaheim in a venue where I only need to drive on one street for 30 minutes after work and that's all I need to do and I only paid $14.00 on Groupon for the ticket (it's in a GA section that is in the back areas, but a cheap ticket to a good show is something I can't pass on, but I would have liked it if they had an option to pay $10-15 more for the closer sections. I would have taken them up on that).
Winery Dogs - The City National Grove of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA - May 30th, 2019.
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Just bought tickets to two more shows.
Rob Thomas - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA - June 18th, 2019.
Saw this one in Groupon for less than $23.00. It may be the worst seats, but it can't be a bad night out. I like a couple of Matchbox 20 songs and a few of the solo songs I have heard from him. He might have some more solo songs that I have overlooked.
Skillet and Sevendust with Pop Evil and Devour the Day opening - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - September 1st, 2019.
Four show at the Wiltern, this year. Oh baby, when I read the tour announcement on Loudwire, yesterday, I knew I had to get tickets immediately. I was digging around Twitter and Facebook to see if I can find a presale code to get tickets and I found one on Twitter. Nabbed a GA seat for $50.00. I could have paid another $14.00 to get pit tickets, but it's on a Sunday, I probably should get there way earlier to get front of the GA section. It's the same section format like in the Switchfoot show (one GA section and one pit) and I was in the third row GA for that show and got a great view, so I should have better luck for the Skillet/Sevendust show. It's going to be worth it if both bands get an hour each.
I'm pretty pumped for this show and it sets up another perfect concert experience for me. I love Skillet. Sure, I didn't really enjoy their latest album, but even then they still had some decent songs from that album and everything from the Collide album to Rise is great stuff. Sevendust had a solid album with All I See is War and a catalog full of great stuff. Plus, what I have read, they seem like a bunch of nice hard-working dudes and get along with the guys in Alter Bridge really well. All of that makes this a must grab ticket for me and I did just that.
September is a busy month for me. Skillet/Sevendust at the start of the month. Iron Maiden, somewhere in mid-September. Breaking Benjamin/Three Days Grace/Chevelle two days after Iron Maiden. Plus, the Alter Bridge listening party and as long as it is not on the same weekend as Iron Maiden, I should be good to go where I don't need to cancel anything, plus I'm still considering see Papa Roach the day before Skillet/Sevendust if the ticket prices are lowered to my liking. I almost considered wanting to try to get tickets to Metallica's S&M 2 considering that it's only a 7 hour drive north and a big-time show. That stated, since I'm already needing to prioritize my budget to the trip to Orlando for Alter Bridge and the resale tickets alone for Metallica will probably be the price of my trip to Orlando, I opted to pass on it.
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I've got a Devin Townsend acoustic show on Friday. I'll be honest, with my wedding less than a month away I completely forgot about it, so this is a nice surprise!
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I've got a Devin Townsend acoustic show on Friday. I'll be honest, with my wedding less than a month away I completely forgot about it, so this is a nice surprise!
Nice and congrats on the upcoming wedding. DT is doing his acoustic show locally the day of my GF's graduation so I don't think I can make it sadly.
Skillet and Sevendust with Pop Evil and Devour the Day opening - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - September 1st, 2019.
I saw Pop Evil last summer opening for Poison and Cheap Trick. Thought they were pretty good. It's funny cause I actually heard the song Waking Lions on the radio the other day, and was like "wait, I recorded this song and had never heard it or the band, I guess they are getting popular?" Sadly for them, no one was at the venue yet and I was allowed to walk up to the front row for the beginning of their set, and got a high five from the singer later in the set. Pop Evil - Waking Lions Live 2018 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZRei0aQArE)
Last weekend I saw Tesla for the first time. Part of a rock concert ticket bundle I bought at my local ballroom. I was debating about going because I wasn't really familiar with them, but I'm glad I did. They were fun, felt like a good ole fashioned rock concert in a GA venue. I thought they sounded real good too. I read the singer isn't that good anymore, but he sounded good to me. Loved the one guitarist who looked like he was having a blast playing.
Tesla Live @ Starland Ballroom NJ 4/20/19 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI608CkOODg)
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Here's what's left:
Neal Schon's Journey Through Time
Muse
Within Temptation
Dream Theater
Fates Warning (3x - two opening slots, one headline gig)
The Tea Party
Hootie & The Blowfish
Styx
Weird Al
Iron Maiden (2x)
Sammy Hagar & The Circle
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Sammy Hagar & The Circle
They were on Howard Stern recently, I haven't followed this band but after the interview and performance I totally would want to see them.
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Ooo just announced Sabaton and Hammerfall tour :metal
November 2nd - Sabaton and Hammerfall @ Playstation Theater, New York City NY
but coming up are a bunch of concerts:
May 3rd - Winery Dogs @ Sony Hall, New York City NY
May 4th - Skid Row @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
May 7th - Whitesnake @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
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I have just realized I didn't attend any (if not counting smaller local bands) concert this year :o Probably seeing Black Tusk on May 24th and Red Fang on June 22nd. Also, since I love Soen's latest album I might travel to Hungary or Slovenia to see them. Mark Knopfler is touring as well, would like to finally see him.
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National Concert Week Sale on LiveNation
https://ncw.livenation.com/?c=LNMP_Promotions_NCW_LN.com_Carousel&_ga=2.154089471.637474016.1556725834-54645397.1444148880 (https://ncw.livenation.com/?c=LNMP_Promotions_NCW_LN.com_Carousel&_ga=2.154089471.637474016.1556725834-54645397.1444148880)
Check it out, 20 dollars flat for tickets for many concerts. It's lawn seats for my local venue which sucks, but some of the other venues near me this is actually a good deal. Might pick up some for concerts I otherwise wasn't going to attend.
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Always wanted to see Bryan Adams. I may pick up a ticket.
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National Concert Week Sale on LiveNation
https://ncw.livenation.com/?c=LNMP_Promotions_NCW_LN.com_Carousel&_ga=2.154089471.637474016.1556725834-54645397.1444148880 (https://ncw.livenation.com/?c=LNMP_Promotions_NCW_LN.com_Carousel&_ga=2.154089471.637474016.1556725834-54645397.1444148880)
Check it out, 20 dollars flat for tickets for many concerts. It's lawn seats for my local venue which sucks, but some of the other venues near me this is actually a good deal. Might pick up some for concerts I otherwise wasn't going to attend.
I don't mind lawn seats or nosebleed seats if the discount price is way less than face value. I snagged a Zac Brown Band ticket in the 300 sections at FivePoint Amphitheater in Irvine that was selling for around $90.00 plus fees. Those things sold out fast. Granted, there was like 100 tickets when the deal started, but still. Those sold out in like 20 minutes or so. Price tickets at $20.00 and people will buy them in a snap. What a concept. If only promoters keep it like that on a regular basis.
I do see a better seat in the Live Nation deal for Breaking Benjamin than the seat I got at Groupon for $34.00, so hopefully, I can find some way to get the refund from Groupon and snag the better seat for $20.00. Not likely, but it is worth trying.
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just saw Foals last night @ First Avenue (https://allmediareviews.blogspot.com/2019/05/foals-first-avenue-43019.html). Their shows are a can't miss for me at this point.
I also saw the following shows and reviewed them in my blog recently:
Kindo/Thank You Scientist I saw last week
Jon Anderson'
Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets
Fates Warning/Queensryche
Jimmy Gnecco
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I don't mind lawn seats or nosebleed seats if the discount price is way less than face value.
My local amphitheater, PNC Bank Arts Center, the lawn seats pretty much suck. They've added a lot of tiers to the lawn, like now they have cabanas in the back and I heard, although I havent seen, that they are making a VIP lawn section this summer so essentially the only spots on the lawn where you could have a good view still come wiht an extra fee. I did one concert in the lawn last summer and told myself I won't do it again this summer :lol Between the rain, and the mud (even if its not raining, only the first few concerts of the summer have a nice lawn, the rest is just a destroyed mud fest), poor sound, and bad view, the only reason for me to get a lawn ticket is if I was going with friends to see a band I don't care about. (Third Eye Blind for exmaple which my GF want's to go to).
Also, as someone who likes to get video, it's practically impossible from the lawn now unless you get there early enough to get the few decent locations.
But as I look, most of the shows at this venue aren't selling that well. I think I could get a second hand ticket for a seat at better value.
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I don't mind lawn seats or nosebleed seats if the discount price is way less than face value.
My local amphitheater, PNC Bank Arts Center, the lawn seats pretty much suck. They've added a lot of tiers to the lawn, like now they have cabanas in the back and I heard, although I havent seen, that they are making a VIP lawn section this summer so essentially the only spots on the lawn where you could have a good view still come wiht an extra fee. I did one concert in the lawn last summer and told myself I won't do it again this summer :lol Between the rain, and the mud (even if its not raining, only the first few concerts of the summer have a nice lawn, the rest is just a destroyed mud fest), poor sound, and bad view, the only reason for me to get a lawn ticket is if I was going with friends to see a band I don't care about. (Third Eye Blind for exmaple which my GF want's to go to).
Also, as someone who likes to get video, it's practically impossible from the lawn now unless you get there early enough to get the few decent locations.
But as I look, most of the shows at this venue aren't selling that well. I think I could get a second hand ticket for a seat at better value.
Oh, at the bolded. Wow, you think you can get a seat for less than $20 for these shows? Nice.
In all fairness, the amphitheater shows that I have my eye on does not have lawn seats. Fivepoint has all tiered seats plus a GA section, no lawn. Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino does have lawn seats, but even though I never been to the venue, I don't think it's worthwhile in terms of travel time to go there. The only show that I know of there, this summer, is Slipknot, and I'm honestly not a Slipknot fan even though they have Volbeat and Gojira (and both bands is all right with me, just not enough to justify going though).
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Well, I did say better value, not better price. So for example, a seat under the top at say $25 is better value than lawn for 20 IMO. And I do think I could find these seats. I haven't seen so many of these concerts selling this poorly. The line up this summer is not very good for the venue (unless you are a country fan).
Funny enough, the one show I did buy a seat for this summer at this venue was Slipknot because I figured that was one that would sell well and its not even on the list for 20 dollar tickets for here.
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I looked up Heart to see if it was worth the money. I've seen them three or four times, always good shows. In fact, in one of their down periods, they literally played a small farming town's May Fair back in 2005, that I went to. Ticket was like 15 bucks. Incredible to see such a band on a tiny stage with literally a farm behind them. Anyway, my daughter hasn't seen them, and she loves Ann's voice, and I looked at tickets...even the cheap ones are 59.90 before fees and taxes. Easy pass for us. That's crazy.
Stuff is way out of hand. WAY out of hand. I am going to see Maiden twice on the upcoming tour. The first show, I have GREAT tickets, and paid through the nose (100 level, first row, clear view of stage, and not that far away from it). The second one, I have nosebleeds, which cost 100 total for both. That is more about just taking in a second gig in two nights with a close friend, and just the experience of hanging and seeing shows, rather than seeing the actual show. But there's no way I'm paying what I paid for the first show ever again if that's what it takes to see Maiden. I love em, but after you've seen a group a bunch of times, there comes a point where enough is enough.
If promoters had three price levels - 75-50-25 (talking TOTAL here, not pre-charges and fees), and just kept it steady, they'd probably be able to book artists two nights in a row, and make a lot more money. But if people continue to pay, they continue to pay...
Anyway, picked up three tickets to see Bryan Adams. Center section of 200 level of my local amphitheater, 17 rows up, but on the center aisle. Should be good enough. Nice Sunday evening with the fam.
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Hmmm, might jump on a cheap ticket to see Michael Schenker at Irving Plaza next weekend if I don't end up going to the Mets game.
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Stuff is way out of hand. WAY out of hand. I am going to see Maiden twice on the upcoming tour. The first show, I have GREAT tickets, and paid through the nose (100 level, first row, clear view of stage, and not that far away from it). The second one, I have nosebleeds, which cost 100 total for both. That is more about just taking in a second gig in two nights with a close friend, and just the experience of hanging and seeing shows, rather than seeing the actual show. But there's no way I'm paying what I paid for the first show ever again if that's what it takes to see Maiden. I love em, but after you've seen a group a bunch of times, there comes a point where enough is enough.
If promoters had three price levels - 75-50-25 (talking TOTAL here, not pre-charges and fees), and just kept it steady, they'd probably be able to book artists two nights in a row, and make a lot more money. But if people continue to pay, they continue to pay...
I look at this schedule of upcoming concerts that I got here and I'm like, "Am I mad for buying these tickets and think I can make all of these dates," and I say, yes I am, but there are very few things in life that makes me legit happy. Going to concerts, playing World of Warcraft, seeing the Los Angeles Kings win the Stanley Cup again. If I can't go to as many concerts as I can feasibly can (depending on schedule and finances), what's the point of living? Anyway, here's my updated list after buying tickets to two shows for $20.00 in the Live Nation deal and some purchases last week. Bolded are the most recently purchased since last week.
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, CA - May 16th, 2019
Winery Dogs - The City National Grove of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA - May 30th, 2019.
Rob Thomas - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA - June 18th, 2019.
Mastodon and Coheed & Cambria - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA - June 29th, 2019
Shinedown with Badflower, Dinosaur Pile-Up, and Broken Hands opening - FivePoint Amphitheater, Irvine, CA - July 21st, 2019.
Zac Brown Band with Trombone Shorty opening - FivePoint Amphitheater, Irvine, CA - July 25th, 2019.
Lindsey Stirling with ZZ Ward - Pacific Amphitheater, Costa Mesa, CA - August 7th, 2019
Papa Roach with Asking Alexandria and Bad Wolves opening - Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA - August 31st, 2019
Skillet and Sevendust with Pop Evil and Devour the Day opening - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - September 1st, 2019.
Iron Maiden with Fozzy and The Raven Age opening - Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - September 14th, 2019
Breaking Benjamin with Chevelle and Three Days Grace (with Dorothy and Diamante opening) - FivePoint Amphitheater, Irvine, CA - September 16th, 2019.
Alter Bridge's 6th Album VIP Listening Party with a brief live set - Venue TBA - Orlando, FL - September 17th, 2019
Late August and September will be busy. Five concerts in less than a three week stretch and three events in the span of four days. I think I am a mad man for thinking that I can attend both the Breaking Benjamin concert, go to the airport and catch an early flight to Orlando, FL and get to the listening party in one piece with the attention and energy that Alter Bridge deserves, but damn it, it's worth taking that journey. At the very worst, I may just have to pull out of seeing Breaking Benjamin.
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I look at this schedule of upcoming concerts that I got here and I'm like, "Am I mad for buying these tickets and think I can make all of these dates," and I say, yes I am, but there are very few things in life that makes me legit happy. Going to concerts, playing World of Warcraft, seeing the Los Angeles Kings win the Stanley Cup again. If I can't go to as many concerts as I can feasibly can (depending on schedule and finances), what's the point of living?
Swap the LA kings with NY Rangers and WoW with say Apex Legends and BAM that is 100% me. I spend way too much money on concert attending, not just tickets but drinks and travel costs. It's kind of ridiculous to spend so much time and money going to concerts... and yet, I feel like it's the only thing sometimes that makes me truly feel alive. There's something special about concerts for me, the atmosphere, the music, the people, that just makes it so much fun and makes me feel like it's worth it.
After I ended my engagement 5 years ago and felt like I wasted 9 years of my life, I said fuck it, I'm going to spend the time I have doing the things I want to do, the things that make me feel the happiest to leave as little regret as I could because I certainly felt a ton of regret on how I spent the prime years of my life. I still do, but I look back on the last 5 years and feel like I really have been living the best that I can, no regrets and a big part of that is saying "I'm going to go to that concert"
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Just got my Sabaton and Hammerfall tickets, but also scooped up this one for the final date of their tour at the same venue (and seat too!) that I recently saw DT which is local and super convenient for me:
October 19th - Toto @ Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank NJ
and tonight.... Winery Dogs! :metal
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Went to see SOEN in amsterdam fantastic gig !!
I might go to Rival Sons in Cologne but it's on a monday so there's the might
And already in the pocket are DT in Oberhausen
King's X boerderij Zoetermeer
Ayreon 013 Tilburg
And maybe also Riverside boerderij Zoetermeer
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After I ended my engagement 5 years ago and felt like I wasted 9 years of my life, I said fuck it, I'm going to spend the time I have doing the things I want to do, the things that make me feel the happiest to leave as little regret as I could because I certainly felt a ton of regret on how I spent the prime years of my life. I still do, but I look back on the last 5 years and feel like I really have been living the best that I can, no regrets and a big part of that is saying "I'm going to go to that concert"
That is exactly me. We have that in common. It was even part of being remarried: "Listen, family first, and I'll be reasonable about things, but if I have the chance to meet Jon Anderson and see him at a 500 seat theater an hour from my house, I'm GOING."
I have few regrets, thankfully, but the few I have, EVERY ONE is something I DIDN'T do when I had the shot, not the other way around.
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Went to see SOEN in amsterdam fantastic gig !!
I might go to Rival Sons in Cologne but it's on a monday so there's the might
And already in the pocket are DT in Oberhausen
King's X boerderij Zoetermeer
Ayreon 013 Tilburg
And maybe also Riverside boerderij Zoetermeer
Nice list. Still regret not seeing Soen the day before Amsterdam at Prognosis.
In the pocket:
Dream Theater at Oberhausen
Tesseract, Jinjer & The Hirsch Effect at Essen
Periphery, Plini & Astronoid at Doornroosje, Nijmegen
Wil probably add Devin Townsend & Haken at 013 and Riverside at Bosuil, Weert
Maybe also BTBAM in Antwerpen
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Winery Dogs Live @ Sony Music Hall NYC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J66WN0ROtFA)
amazing concert last night, I think it was a lot better than last tour IMO. Every song felt awesome, emotional, energetic, musically interesting. THe jams were great, sounded tight, looked like they were having fun and maybe it was my favorite show from Billy Sheehan.
Tongiht won't come close to that, at least I don't expect it too, staying local for Skid Row... youth gone wild :metal
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I saw Skid Row after the Winery Dogs last weekend and felt like I was watching a band going through the motions except for their newer lead singer who seemed to give 110% with his performance. I didn't realize until after the show, their singer is the original Dragonforce singer. I guess he is the only one who goes out with something to prove. The bass player, Rachel Bolan, looked like the most uninterested musician I have seen perform in a loooong time. I really enjoy seeing the musicians smile and at least pretend they are into the show and whats going on. I didn't get this feeling from half the band. Oh well, I can check them off my list of bands I liked but never saw. I guess seeing them the day after the Winery Dogs didn't do them any favors, it was pretty clear which bands enjoy what they do and which bands are just doing it.
Skid Row Live @ Starland Ballroom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGky34Uc640)
Tongiht is Whitesnake at the same venue :metal Definitely looking forward to this one, I don't expect them to blow me away but I do expect a fun evening.
and I just got a ticket (front row balcony :corn ) for this (thanks to the person who shared the fan club pw on facebook):
October 3rd - Incubus @ Radio City Music Hall, New York City NY
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My wife's a huge BTS fan. We saw them at the Rose Bowl on Sunday. They played Saturday too, so that's around 200K people total. I'm not a big fan of the music, but they had pyro, fireworks, laser lights, even a singer on a zipline over the crowd during a song! Fans can buy lightsticks that flash different colors to the music. It was quite a show. 3 hours too! They've created their own universe with their fans.
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I saw Skid Row after the Winery Dogs last weekend and felt like I was watching a band going through the motions except for their newer lead singer who seemed to give 110% with his performance. I didn't realize until after the show, their singer is the original Dragonforce singer. I guess he is the only one who goes out with something to prove. The bass player, Rachel Bolan, looked like the most uninterested musician I have seen perform in a loooong time. I really enjoy seeing the musicians smile and at least pretend they are into the show and whats going on. I didn't get this feeling from half the band. Oh well, I can check them off my list of bands I liked but never saw. I guess seeing them the day after the Winery Dogs didn't do them any favors, it was pretty clear which bands enjoy what they do and which bands are just doing it.
Skid Row Live @ Starland Ballroom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGky34Uc640)
Tongiht is Whitesnake at the same venue :metal Definitely looking forward to this one, I don't expect them to blow me away but I do expect a fun evening.
and I just got a ticket (front row balcony :corn ) for this (thanks to the person who shared the fan club pw on facebook):
October 3rd - Incubus @ Radio City Music Hall, New York City NY
I can't figure Rachel Bolan out. I don't follow them too closely, but from what I gather, he's the guy that's really calling a lot of the shots, he's the guy that flat out refuses to work with Sebastian Bach in any way, and he's the guy that insists on this "club" version of Skid Row. So why not embrace it? If that's what you want it to be, why be miserable about it?
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Yea, I'm not entirely sure. Could be an off night, or anything really. But it does kind of strike me as odd if you are the man running the show and you aren't 100% into it. Could just have been my point of view, but it was a big turn off to see such little emotion. They even played a more rare song (Forever) and it just seemed like the only one who cared was their new singer who has every reason to care.
Anyway, Whitesnake was awesome last night. I was impressed because I saw them over the summer and though David sounded crappy and I found their set to be fairly uninteresting, just the hits. I'd say their set is still a bit lackluster but the new songs actually came across really well live. But 13 songs for a headliner is a little short IMO, they should have added two more songs. But that's really my only issue with last night. I was surprised how good David was, he was SIGNIFICANTLY better than the show last year. I noticed this from the first verse that he sounded alright. Also, I've seen many shows in this venue and I had never seen one where they implanted spotlights for the stage like this. There were 3 huge spotlights on David. It kind of stands out when the venue isn't that big. But I guess we just had to see how shiny white his teeth are. I was surprised there weren't more people there either, I think Tesla had a bigger showing (although Tesla was on a Saturday and Whitesnake was on a Tuesday). But they had more than skid row the other night for sure. I really thought the whole band sounded tight. Also easily the most females I've seen at a metal show in this venue.
Whitesnake - Hey You (You Make Me Rock) Live @ Starland Ballroom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98WHB5mUXNs)
Whitesnake - Is This Love Live @ Starland Ballroom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6ZwHiBg1Tg)
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Seeing Riverside this Sunday night. Can't wait!
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All right, I'm back from the Tedeschi Trucks band concert at the Orpheum Theater in LA. Let's get the negatives out of the way. One. Screw the guy that was smoking in front of me. I don't care what you do with your body, but you got to realize that you are in LA. Clean air is hard to find as it is here. Don't ruin it for the rest of us around in the confined building. Take it outside if you need to smoke. Two. For people that want to travel to LA, I must reiterate this. Don't drive in the 10 and 110 intersection at night time. I nearly got into an accident with a truck while merging onto the 110. Thankfully, no one crashed or got hurt, but that near call gave me something to reflect on for the rest of the drive.
With that being said, the band was really good. Sure, I didn't know any songs except for like two of them, but they sounded good. Crowd went crazy every time someone was doing a solo, especially when Derek Trucks was doing it. Heck, there were moments in the show where everyone was given a brief moment to shine. The keyboard player did a solo spot, the trumpet and saxophone player had a solo spot, the two drummers had their solos, the bass player did a solo. Susan Tedeschi showed off her guitar skills as well. Heck, the backup vocalists had a moment where they get to sing lead. They played a pretty lengthy set as well. No openers and around 2 hours 15 minutes for the main set. Don't know how long the encore was, but I was too tired to go through with it in the end.
Overall, it was a good show and thankfully, this is the kind of show that can get me ready to see Zac Brown Band since they too incorporate a lot of different musicians playing all kinds of different stuff. Heck, I recall when watching AXS TV and seeing Zac Brown Band had Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks on stage with them at their Southern Grounds festival one year and played the Beatles' I Got A Feeling. Was a nice rendition.
Anyway, while it's nice to shift away from going to a hard rock concert and hear something more southern/blues, I need to go back to a good old hard rock show. I felt like I was too out of place at the Tedeschi Trucks band being decked at all black with my usual Alter Bridge concert-going shirt. Thankfully, I'm seeing Winery Dogs in Anaheim two weeks so that's a good answer to that. Plus, it's only 10 minutes away from my house and it's only a 30 minute drive one street from work, so I should be ok when it comes to travel.
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Went to an awesome concert last weekend locally and it was a very mixed bag of music, but all really cool and interesting. The main attraction was Avatar who I was not familiar with but their circus type of act really felt appropriate for this show.
Let's start with the opener, Dance with the Dead. Imagine metal mixed with techno dance music. It wasn't the coolest thing to see live. Just a guitarist and bassist with one or two of them moving to keyboard/dj, so it hardly felt like live metal music but the music itself was kind of cool. I thought it would be great video game music. I'd be surprised if they haven't or aren't going to work with some video game.
Then came the mid course which was what I wanted to see. One of my favorite musicians around today, Devin Townsend himself doing a solo acoustic set. I really had no idea what to expect. I love his music and personality, but have never been crazy about acoustic music overall. Like sure some songs are cool, but an entire set? Would I get bored? Oh hell no, Devin was sooooo entertaining. You could tell he felt like some internal pressure to make sure everyone was having a good time, which it seemed like they were. He was hilarious inserting jokes not just between songs but in the middle of them or changing lyrics. He engaged with the crowd often too. His performances were really cool, he did Strapping Young Lad's Love? which was really cool to see acousticly. Solar Winds was a highlight as well. I also got his 5th performance of his new song Why Devin Townsend - Why? Acoustic Live (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zd9F3Vx_Vs) and he ended the set with Life which is an awesome and super fun song, especially when he hums the guitar solo :lol His set put a huge smile on my face when I really needed it.
Then came the headliner, Avatar. I had listened to some songs before the show so I knew what kind of music they were, and I knew they had make up, but I had NO IDEA THEY HAD THIS CRAZY SHOW! WOW did they blow me away with their show. I've seen a lot of shows at this venue and I've never seen a stage set up as big as theirs, I've never seen any pyro in this venue, and then add in the Throne the guitarist was on, the bubbles, the light show, and last but most importantly, the band performance. I am sold as a fan of this band. They just blew every band I've seen there recently out of the water.
One thing that made this show really cool, it wasn't packed, in fact the curtain was shut on one end so I'm guessing maybe only 800 people showed up (place can hold like 2k), but it was a friendly concert. Been since the Marilyn Manson concert last year that I saw so many females at a show, and not jsut females, but goth females in their fishnets. But anyway, ended up making a few friends. A brother and sister from PA, and two dudes from NJ. The 5 of us hang out most of the night together and was cool as 3 of us were there for Devin and the other two for Avatar and we all left thinking both were amazing.
However, maybe my favorite part of the entire night were the technical difficulties during Avatar's set. I LOVE when shit goes wrong and you see the performers find a way to entertain the crowd. The best ones do something, whether it be musical or just talk and engage the crowd. THere were some minor issues throughout the show, one of them is in the intro to this song I got Avatar - Let it Burn Live with hiccup during the start (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6yRtGp5T5o) but I got up close near the end of the set and got maybe the funniest and best technical difficulty I've seen in awhile.
Avatar has technical difficulties during song intro and blames it on a ghost named Hubert (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63C32oLENkg) well I think that link title sums it up, but it's kind of hilarious how he comes out behind the stage and is rising and then just.... nothing and all of the sudden bubbles come out from everywhere :rollin you hear some random people yelling in the crowd "Long Live the King!" :lol and the singer comes out and starts coming up with a story to explain whats happening.
Anyway, if you read all that and it sounds like it was fun, relive the whole experience here:
Avatar, Devin Townsend (acoustic), and Dance with the Dead LIVE @ Starland Ballroom NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAmEr3rtlAY)
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I'd be really interested in seeing Devin acoustic live. I heard that Acoustic album he released and really enjoyed it.
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What made the Devin acoustic set so cool and unique was that it wasn't really just about the music with him, in a way. Like he was soo engaging. The way he talked even during songs was just so cool and fun. He had the place cracking up so many times not just from being saying something funny, but he would sing funny at times too. It was really more of "The Devin Townsend show" where he kind of just goofed off while playing some songs. It was so fun and maybe doing it in front of what kind of looked like a circus tent (it was a cover over Avatar's stage set up behing him, but it was circus themed) seemed perfect for that show. Highly recommend for any fan of Devin.
Last night I was in Worcester MA to see Avantasia, got to meet some of the band too, made some new friends and happened to meet up with some old. Wonderful night all around.
I just got to Queens for my next concert, Greta Van Fleet outdoors! It's a beautiful day, I wasn't sure if I'd do this concert after last night, but today is just so nice out YOLO. :metal
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Damn just checked BandsInTown and be he isn’t coming anywhere near me
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Havent felt 100% the last couple days so still on the fence, but since my friend is going and has an extra ticket, I am strongly considering going to The Bash festival tomorrow. Punk rock and craft beer so sounds like a good day although it may be rainy. I think for $30 bucks (there was a ticket dump and the secondary market got flooded with under face value tickets) for just a few hours of beer tasting is a good enough price, nevermind seeing one of my favorite punk bands Rancid who I paid I think 60 bucks to see (with Dropkick Murphys) a year or two ago. Also Pennywise and Suicidal Tendencies? Sounds like the potential for a good time shit show :lol I just got to see how I feel in the morning and what the weather is really looking like
(https://aws.thebashfestival.com/images/2019/admat/header_poster_englishtown_02_xs.jpg)
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Went to that show here a month ago and it was really a good time.
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Went to that show here a month ago and it was really a good time.
:metal heading out now
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Had a blast at the Bash festival, but sadly the weather didn't hold out for us and Rancid only got to play a few songs before they called cancelled it. So here's my review:
Show starts as a 3 hour beer festival. For the price to include a beer fest with maybe 25 or so microbreweries (each with 2-4 different beers to sample) was pretty awesome, but was surprised there was a 10 taste limit. I did not expect that but it turned out to be unneccesary. You could buy more tickets for tastes, but the breweries didn't like this. All but one asked for a ticket, so as I got lower I stopped offering the tickets and just got the beer. They also had a hard stop 4pm. The breweries wanted to empty their kegs and we were definitely willing to help but a staff guy went to all the kegs and cut them off as everyone complained. I guess rules are rules, but it seemed like neither the customers nor the breweries wanted it. Oh well. This was a fun couple hours so those minor complaints didn't ruin a thing for me.
The venue was pretty cool, it's a recently abandoned racetrack for drag racing. I had lots of friends who would go there with their cars to spec them out. Cool if you are into that, I am not so had never been here, but it was interesting since it was clearly old and not used in some time. The had the beer festival outside the stands in the parking lot next to the track and the stage was inside between the two stands and the pit was at the end of the roadway for the drag races. Kind of cool if you ask me. And since it was GA, you could sit in the stands or go in the pit, security was loose here and it was really nice.
Now the show started with Madball. Actually thought they were better than I expected. I didn't think I'd find any of it enjoyable but a couple songs were alright. The sound was terrible but that's kind of expected for an outdoor punk show. Once they ended was when the show started to have weather issues. Literally one dark cloud came over the venue and they called for a delay and told everyone to leave the venue (lots of metal with the stairs and former track so I guess if there is lightning, you wouldn't want to be there). Kind of odd to leave the venue, espeically when they continued to server (now you had to buy) beer. Boought a few with the friends and we went to their car to chill. A solid hour delay and it never rained.
L7 came on while we were still waiting outside, I guess the sound of music was the alert that we could go back in. I actually didn't watch them at all, once inside I was just chilling with my friends for a bit during their set. I really have no comment on them.
Then came Suicidal Tendencies. Like Madball, not totally my music, but I found their set to be fun. The singer is really into it. I've seen them before last year opening for the Misfits. They didn't sound terribly tight with guitars going in and out, but its hardcore and it works for this music. You get the crowd worked up and they did. I'm not going to be buying their albums or going to their shows, but I respect them still doing this for so long. I remember first listening to them as a kid and thinking they were an old school band then :lol
Then came Pennywise. I really enjoyed their set. I watched from the stands to start and felt like I finally wanted to feel the rush. Got right into the pit and felt at home. I haven't listened to them in years but I felt like I knew all the songs (I didn't but I did know more than I expected). Singer sounded great and overall, the band sounded tight. I didn't think I'd enjoy them this much. Here is a timestamped moment, the best moment of this show for me, where the mosh pit gets wild: Pennywise - Society LIVE timestamped for crazy mosh pit moment :metal (https://youtu.be/7kRvt8agpiI?t=237)
And then came the rain as they played their last song. Another short delay as it was light and stopped quickly. At least it actually rained this time. Rancid finally came on as it was now dark out. Sucked sooo hard as they sounded good and were just started when during a song the speakers just started alerting and they had to stop and said there would be another weather delay. This time it downpoured hard though. It did stop after like 20 minutes, but when I emerged back onto the field, security stated the show is over. That sucked big time as that was the one badn I really wanted to see and only got a small taste. It felt like if they just didnt have that first delay then Rancid would have been able to play their set on time. Instead we got lots of delays and a cancellation.
At the end of the day, the concert and day were a ton of fun so hard to bitch about losing 40 minutes of that day, but it is what it is. I wasn't even going to go for sure so making a full fun day out of this was worth it.
On a side note, it totally sucked getting out of there as the place is kind of remote so all us Uber folk got stuck hanging out for awhile so one guy and I hotboxed an old ticket sales booth for the racetrack :rollin maybe the funnest part of the night really and totally random and cool. Security came by after to tell us not to go inside as he went into the same box to lock it and had to of had gotten a contact high :hat
Anyway, here's my full video documenting the entire day: The Bash Beer and Music Festival featuring Rancid, Pennywise, Suicidal Tendencies, and Madball (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Giyo0ykRK2Y)
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10/17 - Flying Colors
Maybe:
9/20 - Sebastian Bach - He's touring on the 30th of Skid Row's debut and is playing it in its entirety. Plus, I just got all of his solo albums and he still has the pipes. He's playing a little rock club in Lombard on a Friday night. Guessing it should be cheap. Hoping to make this.
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Debating about seeing OAR tonight. They are playing at the amphitheater in my backyard and it didn't sell well. For 10 bucks I could be in a VIP seat (for this venue that means a cushioned chair, great view, and waiter service). I never really got into them and seen them a few times before but this is more of a "something to do tonight for cheap" type of thing. I'm debating.
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Debating about seeing OAR tonight. They are playing at the amphitheater in my backyard and it didn't sell well. For 10 bucks I could be in a VIP seat (for this venue that means a cushioned chair, great view, and waiter service). I never really got into them and seen them a few times before but this is more of a "something to do tonight for cheap" type of thing. I'm debating.
They are so great live! I hope you went!
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Debating about seeing OAR tonight. They are playing at the amphitheater in my backyard and it didn't sell well. For 10 bucks I could be in a VIP seat (for this venue that means a cushioned chair, great view, and waiter service). I never really got into them and seen them a few times before but this is more of a "something to do tonight for cheap" type of thing. I'm debating.
They are so great live! I hope you went!
They go on in one hour and I did get a super cheap awesome seat, heading out soon since I just got home from work :yarr
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Havent felt 100% the last couple days so still on the fence, but since my friend is going and has an extra ticket, I am strongly considering going to The Bash festival tomorrow. Punk rock and craft beer so sounds like a good day although it may be rainy. I think for $30 bucks (there was a ticket dump and the secondary market got flooded with under face value tickets) for just a few hours of beer tasting is a good enough price, nevermind seeing one of my favorite punk bands Rancid who I paid I think 60 bucks to see (with Dropkick Murphys) a year or two ago. Also Pennywise and Suicidal Tendencies? Sounds like the potential for a good time shit show :lol I just got to see how I feel in the morning and what the weather is really looking like
(https://aws.thebashfestival.com/images/2019/admat/header_poster_englishtown_02_xs.jpg)
Man, I would be all over that! Rancid are my #2 fave punk band of all time :hefdaddy
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Yea, a couple days before the show I listened to And Out Come the Wolves about 5 times in a row and absolutely loved it, it felt so good still today that album. Sadly, they only played 4 songs before the show got cancelled due to weather, the band I wanted to see the most. I'm just glad I got to really enjoy Pennywise, and the beer festival of course :yarr
Haven't seen you in awhile Luke, hope you are still enjoying the punk/ska/reggae shows this year
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Yea, a couple days before the show I listened to And Out Come the Wolves about 5 times in a row and absolutely loved it, it felt so good still today that album. Sadly, they only played 4 songs before the show got cancelled due to weather, the band I wanted to see the most. I'm just glad I got to really enjoy Pennywise, and the beer festival of course :yarr
Haven't seen you in awhile Luke, hope you are still enjoying the punk/ska/reggae shows this year
Yes I just got married so I've been a bit quiet on here. I've got some more free time now though so I'll be trying to post a bit more. Not had a massive amount of gigs this year but trying to get to see Rammstein in a few weeks. Not got anything punk lined up just yet :-[
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Congrats dude! Thats awesome, Rammstein would be insane to see too
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Well, things a bit quiet for me recently in terms of buying tickets for shows. No reason aside from there isn't any shows that catches my eye and think, "I must buy a ticket now!!!" So I might as well put things in perspective and rate the shows I've seen in 2019 and give my thoughts in the shows I've seen in May.
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Band was very solid. The venue was not as solid. It looks nice and all, but they didn't do a security check at all. Red flag for me. Also, there was a guy that was smoking in front of me and there was a lady next to him asking to take it outside and the guy rudely brushes her off saying it's a rock show, even though all the rock shows I've seen, there wasn't any smoking at all. If only there was a security guard or usher, next to me, I would have asked them to kick him out for not only breaking a rule that states no smoking, but just being rude about it. That's the kind of thing that ruins the mood of an overall concert for me, no matter how great a band has played (i.e. a similar case in the DT show with the guy standing on a chair and blocking our center view of the stage).
The Winery Dogs - Awesome show. I would rate this my 3rd favorite show of this year. I wouldn't say it was a perfect show like in the my two. Maybe if it was a packed house that held 1,500 instead of like 500-1000, and maybe me being more familiar and invested with their stuff beforehand would have helped get there for me, but that's my preferences. In all fairness, they have given me the most bang for my buck given the ticket price I paid ($14.00) so they pretty much exceeded any expectations I had going into it, which wasn't too high.
All right, here's my rankings for the shows I've seen in 2019. I don't think there was a bad show I've seen. All the shows varies from good to f'en awesome.
1. Switchfoot at Wiltern Theater. Los Angeles, CA
2. Within Temptation at Wiltern Theater. Los Angeles, CA
3. Winery Dogs at City National Grove of Anaheim. Anaheim, CA
4. Disturbed with Three Days Grace at the Forum. Inglewood, CA
5. Nothing More with three other support bands I don't care much about at the Belasco Theater. Los Angeles, CA
6. Dream Theater at the Wiltern Theater. Los Angeles, CA. (Yeah, I'm rating this not so high and the band played really well. You think having assigned seats would mean all seats would have a clear view, but nope. Everyone was standing the whole time regardless, and people were standing on their chairs and blocking other people's views. I'm never going to do assigned seating in areas that would typically hold first come, first serve GA sections. I would just stick with the Mezzanine had I known that. Would have costed me like an extra $25.00 and would not see the whole crowd, but at least, I would have gotten a clear view of the stage).
7. Chris Cornell Tribute show at the Forum. Los Angeles, CA. (everyone played great, but the down time brought this one down)
8. Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Orpheum Theatre. Los Angeles, CA.
Here's the shows I've got planned. Added Starset in October. Hopefully, their sound is better at their own shows than it was when I saw them with Halestorm in 2017 (and they were the tipping point that got me into buying the ticket, even though Halestorm was the headliner although they delivered a perfect set as well).
Rob Thomas - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA - June 18th, 2019.
Mastodon and Coheed & Cambria - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA - June 29th, 2019
Shinedown with Badflower, Dinosaur Pile-Up, and Broken Hands opening - FivePoint Amphitheater, Irvine, CA - July 21st, 2019.
Zac Brown Band with Trombone Shorty opening - FivePoint Amphitheater, Irvine, CA - July 25th, 2019.
Lindsey Stirling with ZZ Ward - Pacific Amphitheater, Costa Mesa, CA - August 7th, 2019
Papa Roach with Asking Alexandria and Bad Wolves opening - Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA - August 31st, 2019
Skillet and Sevendust with Pop Evil and Devour the Day opening - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - September 1st, 2019.
Iron Maiden with Fozzy and The Raven Age opening - Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - September 14th, 2019
Breaking Benjamin with Chevelle and Three Days Grace (with Dorothy and Diamante opening) - FivePoint Amphitheater, Irvine, CA - September 16th, 2019.
Alter Bridge's 6th Album VIP Listening Party with a brief live set - Venue TBA - Orlando, FL - September 17th, 2019
Starset - The Regent Theater - Los Angeles, CA. October 2, 2019
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Already got to see BTBAM and Astronoid (Tesseract walked off????? I'm still bitter), and recently saw Avantasia...both were phenomenal. Hoping to see Iron Maiden, Astronoid (again), BTBAM (for the 4th time!), and The Contortionist this summer; and Demons and Wizards, Periphery, and Battle Beast/Kamelot in the fall....."hoping" being the operative word :lol
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Forgot to write up a review of OAR, but I really enjoyed the show. Never was a huge fan of theirs even though I had seen them open for 311 a long long time ago and also saw a headline show a few years ago sicne it was free. Anyway, I don't recall them ever being this good though. The horn section was really entertaining, lots of percussion, and a solid over 2 hour setlist of non stop chill music. I was drinking a beer on my phone scrolling through instagram before the show started and saw my friend posted a picture from the concert, next thing you know I snuck her and her bf into the VIP seats where I was and we enjoyed the whole show together. The group of people next to us were smoking doobies all night and invited us over as well so it was just a friendly environment all around and a good time. The place was pretty empty though, it's a big venue, you can see in my intro to my video with literally crickets chirping (I didn't edit that, that's legit crickets before the show :lol) but whatever, as long as its a good time and I know the band said they had lots of family and friends there so I think they enjoyed it as well. My video came out really well, ~45 minutes of quality sound since it's lighter music in a good spot in the venue, my view and sound were perfect.
O.A.R. Live @ PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI16PzaNou4)
and my non metal concerts continue next with the Alt-umate tour at the same venue this saturday with Live, Bush, and Our Lady Peace
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Forgot to write up a review of OAR, but I really enjoyed the show. Never was a huge fan of theirs even though I had seen them open for 311 a long long time ago and also saw a headline show a few years ago sicne it was free. Anyway, I don't recall them ever being this good though. The horn section was really entertaining, lots of percussion, and a solid over 2 hour setlist of non stop chill music. I was drinking a beer on my phone scrolling through instagram before the show started and saw my friend posted a picture from the concert, next thing you know I snuck her and her bf into the VIP seats where I was and we enjoyed the whole show together. The group of people next to us were smoking doobies all night and invited us over as well so it was just a friendly environment all around and a good time. The place was pretty empty though, it's a big venue, you can see in my intro to my video with literally crickets chirping (I didn't edit that, that's legit crickets before the show :lol) but whatever, as long as its a good time and I know the band said they had lots of family and friends there so I think they enjoyed it as well. My video came out really well, ~45 minutes of quality sound since it's lighter music in a good spot in the venue, my view and sound were perfect.
O.A.R. Live @ PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI16PzaNou4)
and my non metal concerts continue next with the Alt-umate tour at the same venue this saturday with Live, Bush, and Our Lady Peace
I love their horn section. The one trumpet player who looks like he is living his best life has a standing gig on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in Jon Batiste's band.
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Ya know, I thought he looked familiar. But you're right, he was SO into it which just makes the whole thing more fun. The friend I met up with, I had never met her new bf before, I wasn't a fan, and he was making fun of how he was dancing. I just laughed it off, because I loved it. I love seeing the musicians into the music and it makes me more into it. My favorite parts of the night were when one of the trumpet or sax players would come down for a solo and their little battle at the end of the show (which I snuck up to the like 8th row for the encore to see up close :metal)
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Awesome concert weekend (I was off sick yesterday so it feels like a Monday today) so long review post below coming....
Last Saturday was the Alt-imate tour featuring 3 big bands from the 90s alt rock movement, Live, Bush, and our Lady Peace. What a fucking show this was. I saw Live last year and enjoy some of their music still to this day so I knew what to expect, but while I loved Bush as a kid, they really never kept my attention after their initial success, but it was Bush who won the night if you ask me.
Let's start with the opener, Our Lady Peace. The place was EMPTY for them. I think that's got to be the worst part of being the opener for a 3 act national tour in these big venues, it's just very empty for when they start. Kind of weird, feels so personal when there's no one else around and you can see the band's eye's just like looking around. Well, they sounded pretty good and played a new song they have yet to record Stop Making Stupid People Famous (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfihz1rRcMY). They've never been a band of interest for me, I was totally cool with showing up on time to check them out and they didn't win me over, it's just not my music, but I did think they were solid and to come out and play new music, I respect that. Shortly after they finish a couple shows up to the seats next to me and says they are here to see them :facepalm:
Next came Bush. For one, the energy. Gavin (the singer) has a lot of energy. You'd think from watching them that this was a young band looking to prove themselves. I really enjoyed that energy. The crowd was into it. They have so many good hit songs and everyone hit the right spot. I've had a few songs stuck in my head after this one (it's like the sound of winter...) . But maybe the coolest part, and lucky for me, I took a smoke break into the lawn halfway through their set and started chatting with some randoms, really cool talks and fun atmosphere out on the lawn, next thing I know, Gavin leaves the stage and walks up to the lawn. I kind of just stand in my spot, not running over, which was a great call as he turned left and broke through the crowd and came right up to me. It was all so quick, but it's like he was following the smoke smell I had created :hat Anyway, gave him a pat on the back as he sung "It's the little things that kill" walking right by me. Absolutely amazing concert moment and will definitely be in my top 10 this year (and if not, it will be a better concert year than I can ever imagined) Of course, I got it all on video: https://twitter.com/Cramx3/status/1140347010735849472 (https://twitter.com/Cramx3/status/1140347010735849472)
I won't lie, I was maybe on too high of a cloud to come back down for Live. I thought Live was fantastic, but just really couldn't top what came before. Both Bush and Live played 70 minute sets, so it was like a coheadline thing, but Live played some songs I didn't see last year. They sounded tight and the huge crowd was into it all night. I think Dolphins Cry might have been my favorite of the night, but they also did covers of Losing My Religion and Paint it Black that were cool.
The thing about their set though is that the people in front of me started to get on my nerves. Well apparently I was getting on theirs. They clearly didn't like that I was recording a lot of the show. Everytime I pulled my camera out, I could hear them talk to each other, look at me, and laugh. It was a bunch of older couples who were the only people in the section sitting down. Not that I care, they won't bring me down, and I was behind them so clearly not in their way or anything. Anyway, I did do one dick thing which was purposely shine my cell phone light into their eyes during a Live song that called for everyone to turn their phone lights on. It made it into my video and you can see how badly it pisses them off :lol if you want to find it. But the real reason I even post about this was because after the concert had ended, I figured I'd go chill in the lounge at the venue while it clears out so I could call an uber (it's really hectic getting one right after shows end). As I am walking into the lounge, there's the entire crew of peeople making fun of me during Live's set. They see me, they start laughing again. I've had enough, I don't remember what I said exactly, but along the lines of "you get a good laugh at me?" which immediately got them to turn serious. Funny how that works as they kept denying it, but then they said they thought I was a fan of Jerry. Huh? Jerry? Who? Turns out one of the guys with them is a big NYC sports radio guy. Jerry Recco from WFAN's Boomer and Gio in the mornings show! In fact, I used to listen to him a lot. But being radio, I had no idea what he looked like. They thought I was trying to get pictures or video of him and was a super fan stalker type! :rollin then they admit they were making fun of me and Jerry bought me a beer and took a picture to cap off the very fun evening:
(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/64506365_10119485109710834_6266924156122562560_o.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_eui2=AeE8OlBJnxCKGhx7TLjnAIpKatuoZi3y0MiU3c_T-JVmuvmRq-Yvwh1-v8p1UxOwvl_Kr-Tx6s8J2KRIAa_gP3-JHGYqHuXqXwrFHOpdrFVyTQ&_nc_oc=AQk60KkO73Dqqr-dWAOaAeSM3ruL-3muXbD2OPE5G7LF46YcJIc627xChF1LsKHvrL8&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=4db1fc94410a1cc1267baf10717933fb&oe=5DC4D005)
Anyway, concert was a blast, got to see Gavin of Bush up close, got a beer from a sports radio host, things were good for cramx3, here's the full video experience:
Live, Bush, Our Lady Peace LIVE @ PNC Bank Arts Center (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bkvcuccoY0)
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Next came Bush. For one, the energy. Gavin (the singer) has a lot of energy. You'd think from watching them that this was a young band looking to prove themselves. I really enjoyed that energy. The crowd was into it. They have so many good hit songs and everyone hit the right spot. I've had a few songs stuck in my head after this one (it's like the sound of winter...) . But maybe the coolest part, and lucky for me, I took a smoke break into the lawn halfway through their set and started chatting with some randoms, really cool talks and fun atmosphere out on the lawn, next thing I know, Gavin leaves the stage and walks up to the lawn. I kind of just stand in my spot, not running over, which was a great call as he turned left and broke through the crowd and came right up to me. It was all so quick, but it's like he was following the smoke smell I had created :hat Anyway, gave him a pat on the back as he sung "It's the little things that kill" walking right by me. Absolutely amazing concert moment and will definitely be in my top 10 this year (and if not, it will be a better concert year than I can ever imagined) Of course, I got it all on video: https://twitter.com/Cramx3/status/1140347010735849472 (https://twitter.com/Cramx3/status/1140347010735849472)
That part sounds awesome, Cramx. I love it when frontmans tries to get into the crowd and interact with them up close. Someone gets to have that lucky experience that thousands of people in the crowd will not have. I know that when I saw Switchfoot last April and their singer, Jon Foreman, usually walks across the rails of the GA section to interact with the crowd up close and when he was approaching the section I was at, I could have sworn he was pointing at me while they were playing Love Alone is Worth the Fight. Don't know, will never know, if he actually was pointing at me, but it's nice when these guys are interacting with crowds up close. Makes it more them more personable than they already are.
Anywho, I'm most likely going to go these shows.
Big Wreck - Teragram Ballroom - Los Angeles, CA. October 20th, 2019. I hope the sound is better there than when I saw them last year.
Switchfoot - Fox Performing Arts Center - Riverside, CA. November 5th, 2019. Got an email from them today since I signed up on their site for updates. They announced that they are doing two sets, one acoustic and one electric, and will be playing some deep cuts for this next tour. I've already pegged their show in LA last April as my favorite show of the year so far. The fact that they are coming back to SoCal and want to do something beyond the "100 minutes set and play the hits and new album stuff" is an easy no-brainer for me to go to.
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Yea dude, it definitely was not a "coming to me" moment, just felt like it and it's shit like that that makes me feel really connected with a band and music and makes me think "showing up tonight was worth it" when the singer is willing to get out and make an effort to impress people and win over a crowd. Forgot to mention Bush played a new song from the John Wick 3 sountrack, Bullet Holes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih6wP-s047E), and it's really good. I felt like I could still really relate to Bush and their music even though I hadn't listened in like 20 years.
and back to my review of the concert weekend....
I was on the fence of going to this on Sunday since I'm not really into old school prog music, but I didn't have plans and it didn't sell well so tickets were super cheap... and then my father said he thought I should go, so yea, I went to the Royal Affair Tour with Yes, Asia, John Lodge, and Carl Palmer's ELP. This was a very cool show.
To start, it reminded me of ProgStock from last year, big venue hardly filled with lots of older people, everyone sitting for the entire show, and bands just interchanging personal from each other playing some chill prog music. Well, that essentially sums up the show, but if you are curious for more, read on...
Got there in time for the whole show, it started with Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy with Arthur Brown on vocals. This guy had one crazy stage outfit. The music was more psychodelic and not totally my thing, but I thought they were a solid opener. Carl did a drum solo that was nice. I had no idea who any of these guys were btw, I didn't realize Carl Palmer was the Palmer from Emerson, Lake and Palmer. I didn't realize Arthur Brown was a big guy in the 60s with his hit song Fire (which they performed here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-497kOnrAJ0)).
Next up was Jon Lodge of the Moody Blues. Another band and bunch of dudes I didn't know. They were cool, but I think only one of two of the songs were anything that really interested me. They did mostly Moody Blues songs and people seemed to enjoy their set. I liked the cello and thought Jon himself sounded really good vocally.
Then they left, and back came Carl to continue telling stories. At this point, it almost felt like this was his show. He played drums for the entire Asia set (well, he is the drummer, but like I said, I didn't know all this going in). And the singer/guitarist for Asia was none other than one of my newest favorite guitarists, Bumblefoot! I had heard he was the touring guitarist, but had no idea he was also singing. He used his double neck guitar that he used for Sons of Apollo and really only had one shredding moment that I can recall before he handed over guitar duties to Steve Howe for the second half of their set. Bumblefoot kept singing, he was practically the front man for this old school prog super group. Really cool, and I do hope the ones who were there for these bands enjoyed seeing them all play together. They ended the set with Heat of the Moment which of course I knew. It was probably the best moment for me of the concert as it seemed everyone was enjoying that song. They did a couple covers, Video Killed the Radio Star and Luck Man which were both pretty cool.
After their set, they did a signing session which I just happened to walk by and noticed them. Figured might as well get in line. They prioritized the people who purchased anything for the session so people like myself had to wait awhile and eventually when it was our time, Carl stated he was done and had to go. So pretty much only Bumblefoot stayed around which was fine with me, he is the only one I wanted to meet. Finally got my chance, told him I loved his work with Sons of Apollo which he really appreciated and looked like he took everything I said to heart, certainly felt like it when even though we already shook hands, he extended his again with gratitude. And of course we took a picture:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D9Si4uGWwAAF7Er.jpg:large)
By this time Yes had already started their set. I walked over back towards the seating area, but took a pit stop through the lawn where I ran into some older people who started conversation, next thing we know all 6 of them are loving how such a "kid" (im 34 and told them that) would come to this concert alone without really being into it but as a way to respect the music. I love interacting with randoms and sharing music experiences. Brings people closer together. Anyway, Yes was a lot of familiar faces with the keyboardist / bassist / guitarist from Asia all back playing. They reminded me of seeing Deep Purple two summers earlier, lots of jamming parts (or it seemed that way) and they did one really long epic song to end their set. They did a Jon Lennon song, Imagine, which apparently the Yes drummer played on. Really cool, before ending the night with their hit Roundabout (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RUkeA7dMx8).
Really fun show at the end of the day and super glad I went. I feel like I got a history lesson in prog. :metal
Full video of the Royal Affair Tour (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eB_Ro-EDa4)
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All right, I am back from seeing Rob Thomas at the Greek Theater today. This is 2nd month of the four months stretch where I go to a non-hard rock show in addition to going to a hard rock show. First off, let's get the parking out of the way. So you had the option to pay $30.00 to park near the venue or pay $15.00 for a spot about two miles away, but you can take a shuttle to the venue. I took the parking option with the shuttle option and I think it was worth it. I mean I always get to the venue like super early anyway, so I'm not too fussed about time or worrying about missing the first band. Getting out was fine as well. At this point, you had two options. Either you wait 15 minutes near the venue trying to get out if you paid $30 or you wait 10 minutes in a shuttle to get to your spot if you paid $15.00. I know I got the better end of that deal. That's good news for me since I will be heading back there in about two weeks.
Anyway, I think this is actually the first amphitheater show I've been to with all the aesthetics of being outdoors and near parks and trees and everything. I know FivePoint in Irvine does not have those aesthetics. I like it. It brings a nice atmosphere for people to relax and be lively. As for live bands, the opening act was Abby Anderson. She was all right. Had a standard set full of songs that was full of Adult Contemporary stuff that I don't dive too much into. Her live drummer was pretty solid though.
As for Rob Thomas, he was fantastic. Played one hour 50 minutes. Nice lengthy set. His live band was great. There was a moment where his keyboard player that sometimes plays guitar was playing the saxophone and him and the lead guitarist was trading off solos near the end. Also, I think the keyboardist was also using a Continuum Fingerboard that was used for a closing moments of a song. As for the songs, it's a great mixture of a couple songs from his new album, Chip Tooth Smile, that came off well live, a couple of his staples that people that have followed him solo may know well (Her Diamonds, Little Wonders, Pieces, This Is How a Heart Breaks, and of course, the song he did with Santana, Smooth), and of course, some Matchbox 20 songs (If You're Gone, 3 AM, and Unwell) which naturally got the biggest responses. Rob's banter game was solid as well. He really wanted people to feel like this is not just a show where he plays songs and people listen and it's a regular Tuesday. I think the crowd was good enough. Venue holds around 6,000 or so. I think I saw a few sections with empty rows, but I think I can eye it to be around 5,000 people (although when I checked Ticketmaster to see how the show was selling, there was plenty of seats in the section I was at that was being on the resale for $25.00). Many people were on their feet and was having a lively time. I think it is easy for me to say that I got my money's worth paying $22.40 for the ticket and $15.00 for the parking. Now I know if Matchbox 20 was playing in this venue, ticket prices would be at least tripled that.
Anyway, now I know what's it like being the Greek Theater, I can be better prepared for this show in about two weeks.
Mastodon and Coheed & Cambria - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA - June 29th, 2019
I've been listening to Coheed & Cambria for the first time and I am really digging them so far. I'm quite shocked how despite their sound being a bit out there, how catchy their songs can be. I enjoyed the two albums from "Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV." I haven't even listened to Mastodon yet, so that's an additional bonus and value to the $18.00 ticket I paid for this. This is going to be a great night that day.
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If they priced that show here that low I may have considered going, instead our GA Stone Pony Summer Stage venue is so over priced and it's hard to find cheaper tickets for that venue on the secondary market.
It turns out my work trip to Singapore is very unlikely to happen (for me, it seems my boss mismanaged the budget and they can't afford to send the extra man power) so that opens up July to concerts for me, which means I may or may not go to some shows at said venue. It may just price me out for shows I'd otherwise check out.
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Well advertising works. Got an email about presale for The Who tickets at MSG. Checked it out and thought the one section where I usually like to sit for concerts at MSG had tickets available for a reasonable price for The Who... so scooped one up. Figured these will be gone once public sale happens and then I'd be outpriced to see them. Plus I have the entire month of September off so this fits my schedule very nicely, here is how my month off is looking (I included August 30th since that's actually my first day off of all this since it's a Summer Friday before the holiday)
August 30th - Slipknot, Volbeat, Gojira, Behemoth @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
September 1st - The Who @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
September 4-7 - ProgPower USA 20 @ Center Stage, Atlanta GA
September 14th - Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, & Battle Beast @ Playstation Theater, New York City NY
September 15th - Babymetal & Avatar @ Terminal 5, New York City NY
September 20th - Delain, Amorphis, & Anneke Van Giersbergen @ Gramercy Theater, New York City NY
and I think I'll add in another personal trip between the 20th and 30th (no idea where yet, but maybe I'll find somewhere that has some good concerts that week). What is nice is that I have a ticket to all of the above already, quite a hit to my wallet but it'll be worth it.
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10/17 - Flying Colors
Maybe:
9/20 - Sebastian Bach - He's touring on the 30th of Skid Row's debut and is playing it in its entirety. Plus, I just got all of his solo albums and he still has the pipes. He's playing a little rock club in Lombard on a Friday night. Guessing it should be cheap. Hoping to make this.
Pulled the trigger on the Bach tickets. Only $30 total for one ticket. Not too bad. Just need to figure out who's going with me. Actually, I need to figure out who's seeing Flying Colors with me too.
I also noticed that Bobby Jarzombek is Bach's drummer so that's pretty cool.
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Gojira in 2 hours on the amusement park Gröna Lund.
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This one was just announced at my local ballroom
October 2nd - Gwar @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
I think I will go to this one if I can when the date nears, I first saw Gwar in 1999 at the Birch Hill (doesn't exist anymore) with... Lamb of God opening! Who knew they would become such a big band. I then saw Gwar again in 2004 while in college and got myself dosed in the fake blood. I know nothing of them today, other than the singer passed away a few years ago, but since it's local, I'd go check them out again for fun.
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My upcoming gig schedule is still looking rather empty:
3 July - The B-52s
17 July - Eve Selis (work commitments depending)
18 Nov - Marillion
19 Nov - Marillion
01 Feb 2020 - Tedeschi Trucks Band
09 Feb 2020 - Delain
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Gonna have an awesome time during the 2nd weekend in August seeing GY!BE and The Aristocrats on back to back nights!
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99% sure I am going to see Geoff Tate's Operation Mindcrime tonight locally
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Updated list:
February 13th- Neal Morse Band, Jersey City NJ
February 16th- Neal Morse Band, Glenside PA
March 6th- Talas, New York NY
March 29th- Experience Hendrix Tour, Newark NJ
April 10th- Dream Theater, Red Bank NJ
April 12th- Dream Theater, New York NY
April 13th- Dream Theater, Philadelphia PA
May 3rd- Winery Dogs, New York NY
May 21st- Animals as Leaders, New York NY
June 8th- Mastodon/Coheed and Cambria, Camden NJ
June 12th- Paul Gilbert, New York NY
June 17th- Tony Macalpine, New York NY
July 27th- Iron Maiden, Brooklyn NY
August 3rd- The Aristocrats, New York NY
August 30th- Flying Colors, Cross Plains TN
August 31st- Neal Morse Band, Cross Plains TN
October 7th- Flying Colors, New York NY
October 11th-13th- Progstock, Rahway NJ
Also, I haven't pulled the trigger yet but will likely grab a ticket at some point for Kansas's show in NYC in December where they'll be doing all of both Leftoverture and Point of Know Return.
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Last tuesday I went totally unexpected to the Rammstein show in Rotterdam. :tup
I didn't even had a ticket until tuesday 5.30 pm.
I tried to buy them when they went on sale, but I had no luck.
My wife had tickets to the Weezer gig monday 1st July in Utrecht.
But, she has to work the whole weekend so a gig on monday would be a bit too much.
So, she decided to sell her tickets on Twitter.
Tuesday morning she received a PM from a guy who wanted to make a trade.
His Rammstein ticket for that very evening!
So my wife called me at work, "Would you like to go and see Rammstein tonight"? (she hates Rammstein ;D)
wait...WHAT!? Awesome!! :metal
So I went to Rotterdam and met a friend of the trader.
He handed me the ticket, I went inside the stadium, walked out on the field, bought some beer and made some friends along the way.
What an incredible show it was. Amazing. :hefdaddy
It was a wall of sound. Very loud, very deep, but very clear.
In almost every song, something spectaculair happened.
Next year, they will we be back in Holland.
I will definitly try to get those tickets!!
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That's awesome, the ticket trading dutch :lol how random weezer for rammstein, but that must have been an incredible show.
Two nights ago I saw Geoff Tate's Operation Mindcrime locally and had a blast. He sounded pretty good and it was fun seeing the whole album live. The highlight for me is going to my favorite spot on the side of the stage so you can get close to the band when they come on and go off. I defintily got Geoff's attention on the way on :lol but the way off I got high fives from the entire band which also included Felix from Avantasia on the drums
Geoff Tate's Operation Mindcrime Live @ Starland Ballroom NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSUuazGpcWg)
Tonight my local amphitheater is hosting Shinedown who I have no interest but I'd go if I didn't have a weekend full of plans so I need to save my money and energy tonight.
This weekend is... Warped Tour 25th Anniversary on the beach in Atlantic City.
I know this music isn't popular on a prog metal forum, but there's a lot of awesome bands playing this festival. They finally announced which days the bands are playing but I won't know set times until the morning of each day which sucks for tomorrow because I need to make the drive down there early in case one of my bands goes on early.
(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/65193042_10156572326073435_2229203638553673728_o.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=AQkgF69t8n0Si5yva_Bl19S4_RGX9-D6iSNOooBGbnlznlp6uBGVxNIhosFO7ibZya0&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=93feb17540de392311e2cab3339299d0&oe=5DB793D5)
Day 1 Must Sees (in order): 311, Bad Religion, Less Than Jake, Andrew W.K., Travis McCoy
Day 1 Want to check out (in order): Save Ferris, Good Charlotte, CKY, The Aquabats, Glassjaw
Day 2 Must Sees (in order): The Offspring, Reel Big Fish, Dirty Heads, Blink 182
Day 2 Want to check out (in order): The Used, The Menzingers, H20, Taking Back Sunday, The Starting Line, Circa Survive, Atreyu
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How is Anti-Flag not on your list??? Frank Iero is okay to miss, saw him open for another band and wasn't impressed. I would like to see Juliet Simms! Stacked Like Pancakes are super fun Ska.
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How is Anti-Flag not on your list??? Frank Iero is okay to miss, saw him open for another band and wasn't impressed. I would like to see Juliet Simms! Stacked Like Pancakes are super fun Ska.
Seen Anti-flag so many times I can easily miss them including at Warped Tour 2000, but depending on schedule, I'd go check them out again. The rest of those bands I actually don't know at all that you listed, But Stacked Like Pancakes being fun ska, I'll have to see if I can check them out then because I do enjoy fun ska.
Posted this to twitter last night, my ticket stubs from my first and second wapred tour 20 years ago :eek
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D-G8cRWXkAANZ54.jpg:large)
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Updated list
Seen
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief and O.R.k
2019-03-31 Stockholm Kraken - Riverside and Lesoir
2019-04-01 Stockholm Skandiascenen - The Neal Morse Band
2019-05-02 Stockholm Fryshuset - Avantasia
2019-06-01 Stockholm Bryggarsalen - A.C.T
2019-06-25 Stockholm Gröna Lund - Gojira
Upcoming
2019-09-15 Tillburg 013 - Ayreon
2019-09-21 Stockholm Fryshuset Klubben - IQ
2019-12-15 Stockholm Kraken - The Flower Kings and Kayak
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2019-06-25 Stockholm Gröna Lund - Gojira
How were they? Seeing them at the end of August part of Slipknot's big tour.
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10/17 - Flying Colors
Maybe:
9/20 - Sebastian Bach - He's touring on the 30th of Skid Row's debut and is playing it in its entirety. Plus, I just got all of his solo albums and he still has the pipes. He's playing a little rock club in Lombard on a Friday night. Guessing it should be cheap. Hoping to make this.
Pulled the trigger on the Bach tickets. Only $30 total for one ticket. Not too bad. Just need to figure out who's going with me. Actually, I need to figure out who's seeing Flying Colors with me too.
I also noticed that Bobby Jarzombek is Bach's drummer so that's pretty cool.
9/20 - Sebastian Bach - Brauer House Live, Lombard
9/23 - Roger Clyne (Acoustic) - City Winery Chicago
10/17 - Flying Colors - Arcada Theater, St. Charles
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2019-06-25 Stockholm Gröna Lund - Gojira
How were they? Seeing them at the end of August part of Slipknot's big tour.
They rocked that amusement park like no one before them.... moshpit and all.
I was about row 10 when they started playing was thrown like a glove to row 3 by the moshpit beside me.
Tight, heavy and oh soo good.... lightshow enhanced by smokecannons, fire cannons and confetti canons
Great setlist with a good variation of old and new.
Only seen them once before (in March of 2017) but man are they good.....
The band was on fire and so was the audience
Got a few photos and a video on facebook
Spoiler warning, setlist is there.
https://m.facebook.com/martin.sandberg.334/albums/1837236019745791/?ref=bookmarks
(https://s3.amazonaws.com/sndb/uploads/photo/image/259035/large_IMG_3118.jpg)
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Thats awesome and you are right in front center :metal
I don't expect a big stage show, they are the 2nd of a 4 band slate. I think they should be playing after Volbeat personally, but at least Behemoth is before Gojira.
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Thats awesome and you are right in front center :metal
I don't expect a big stage show, they are the 2nd of a 4 band slate. I think they should be playing after Volbeat personally, but at least Behemoth is before Gojira.
Well stage show or not..... they are going to kick some serious ass
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Also its seated huge amphitheater so no mosh pit, but I do agree, I think they will be great and easily my most anticipated of the four bands for that show.
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Also its seated huge amphitheater so no mosh pit, but I do agree, I think they will be great and easily my most anticipated of the four bands for that show.
Seated....... nooooooooooo, that can't be...... get up and rock!!!
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I guarantee I will be up and rocking out, but you just can't mosh in that set up. I expect no one will be sitting for this show, maybe when behemoth hits the stage first and people are still just showing up.
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Whose idea is it to put a Slipknot headlining show in an amphitheater with seats with no chances for mosh pits? It just doesn't make sense.
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All right, tonight's gig.
Mastodon and Coheed & Cambria - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA - June 29th, 2019
I honestly didn't enjoy Mastodon's catalog as I thought I would. I think it came down to vocal preferences not being too much for my liking. That stated, I'm relistening to Crack the Skye right now and it's pretty solid stuff. Coheed & Cambria should be really good and they are playing a good amount of stuff from their latest album, The Unheavenly Creatures, which I liked initially. It should still be a great night and I think the right call was made with Mastodon getting 70 minutes and Coheed & Cambria getting 90 minutes. They do have an opener, Every Time I Die, and I don't think I would care much for their set. A lot of screaming vocals, so I hope their set go by fast for the 40 minutes they are getting.
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Seeing that tomorrow night here in Phx.
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All right, I'm back. I'll spare the much longer details and will say the following about the bands.
Every Time I Die - They sorta remind me of Rise Against if Rise Against was more aggressive in the vocals as they used to be when they were starting out. The band played as well as they can with the style. Crowd was sorta so-so for them, but there were some people in the stands that was going crazy for them, especially a group of people two rows behind me. I think I eyed it where around 1,000-2,000 people were there for their set. I think this is a definitely a band that's a lot more suited indoors at a club where the crowds can really get going with the pits and all. I give them a 6/10
Mastodon - Crowd perked up more for Mastodon. The band played solid. They played Crack the Skye in full as advertised and had some pretty odd visuals, but those visuals worked well for their style. Personally, while I admit the band played solid, I just couldn't enjoy them too much. I couldn't get into the vocals and that's just going to be a huge dealbreaker for me if I get into a band or not. It also didn't help how the row behind me was talking a lot during the set and how I can actually hear them over the loud music. I didn't want to be rude and tell them to quiet down a bit, so I just try to make any subtle gestures to keep it down, but it didn't work. On a positive note, I do like how all four guys had a chance to sing lead at some point, even if it is a small part. Overall, I say Mastodon had a good set. Not the kind of band I would see at their own shows, but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing their set if they paired up with a band I like.
Coheed & Cambria - Wow. I went in totally blind for them when I bought the ticket and my only exposure of them, prior to listening to their albums, was watching a short live stream of them in Rock In Rio Las Vegas and for that song, Ten Speed, that's on Rock Band. They put on a tremendous set. Everything was on point. The band's energy, the crowd singing along to almost anything, the visuals. They went 90 minutes which would be just about the minimum amount of a single headliner set. Their set did compose of stuff from Unheavenly Creatures and a good amount of their staples (at least, I think they were staples judging on how people were singing along to them). You would think judging the way the crowd was singing along that this was their own headlining tour and, quite frankly, I think the right call was made for them to be the last band of the night and have the most amount of time. Their vocalist, Claudio Sanchez, got the crowd to sing Happy Birthday as a recorded message on his phone to send to his Grandpa, who he stated turned 100 today, but he couldn't make it to the celebration because of the tour and this show. Speaking of Claudio, I was quite amazed on how he performed so well with all of that long hair that reminds me of Hagrid from Harry Potter. Anyway, I think they got a new fan out of me and if they announced another tour that includes the LA area (whether it is co-headlining or just by themselves) I will be there and I wouldn't mind paying a reasonable full GA price. I put this set up there with some of my favorites of this year (Switchfoot, Within Temptation, Winery Dogs, Disturbed, Nothing More).
Overall, I had a good night. 200 minutes of live music with a good view for $18.00 on Groupon and $15 of parking. Sounds like a great recipe for a cheap night out and a great night out. Despite what I stated about the price, for anyone that thinks that relatively modern metal/prog has no chance of drawing big crowds nowadays. Based on how I eyed it, it looks like around 4,000-5,000 people showed up at some point. Pretty darn good for two bands that I feel like mainstream rock doesn't give too much massive coverage (well, moreso for Coheed & Cambria than Mastodon).
Next concert will be Shinedown with three other opening bands that I probably won't care about (but will not complain if I do end up getting invested in them) in one of three shows I will be attending at the FivePoint Amphitheater in Irvine. Three weeks from today and the day after my birthday. I can only hope that the alleged miming/backing vocals will not be as prevalent and that it actually looks like Brent Smith is singing all of his vocals.
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Super pumped for Coheed tonight. I really enjoy the latest album. Don't care about Mastadon, saw them once and wasn't impressed. Will definitely need to check out Every Time I Die - I'm a Rise Against super fan, so you're description really piques my interest.
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^^ Regarding Every Time I Die, I didn't follow that hardcore punk style, so I don't even know if they are like Rise Against, but that's the first band that came to my mind about it. There are just a lot of screaming vocals and lyrics that didn't make sense to me at all. There were some people in the crowd that was really really into them.
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Day 1 of Warped Tour was an unbelievable experience... got a bunch of videos up on youtube already, but we had a rain delay that lead to a lot of craziness (it was like a zombie horde climbing the walls :lol to get off the beach). I pretty much just chilled at the main stage all day and saw the sets of:
Less Than Jake
Travie Mccoy (essentially this was Gym Class Heroes)
Glassjaw
Andrew W.K.
Simple Plan
Atmosphere (by far the most uninteresting set)
Good Charlotte
Bad Religion
311
A Day to Remember
311 was soooo dissapointing. The second singer's mic was off the entire time, they clearly had issues before going on as they were delayed, and they ended up only playing 6 songs with the mic off the entire time and they were one of the headliners :facepalm:
About to head back to the beach now :metal
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^^ Regarding Every Time I Die, I didn't follow that hardcore punk style, so I don't even know if they are like Rise Against, but that's the first band that came to my mind about it. There are just a lot of screaming vocals and lyrics that didn't make sense to me at all. There were some people in the crowd that was really really into them.
I could see/hear instances where you could reference Rise Against, but ETID is definitely metal and not punk. I didn't mind them, but didn't draw me in either.
Mastadon was much better than I remember from 18 years ago or so. The 50minute movie for their album was pretty amazing. I may check them out a bit more on Spotify.
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So dead tired and got a flat tire on my way home >:( but unbelievable experience this weekend, unlike anything I may ever see again
Day 2 of Warped Tour I saw the sets of:
Anti-Flag
The Story So Far
Circa Survive
Thrice
Big D and the Kids Table
The Menzingers
The Starting Line
Dirty Heads
The Used
Taking Back Sunday
The Offspring
Blink 182
I definitely enjoyed day 1's bands more, but day 2 had better weather and no issues so we got good consistent sets with better sound and a better overall experience including getting in/out. I'm too tired to write up much, there is wayyyy too much awesomeness that went down (so many moments that could crack my top 10 concert moments of 2019) but for now, I leave you with my night one video (night 2 should be up soonish)
Warped Tour 25th Anniversary Atlantic City NJ Day 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr4u8umtEIU)
This also may have convinced me to see a similar show this weekend for the Disrupt Festival with so many of the same bands.
Also I won two free tickets to Blink 182 and Lil Wayne next week (unrelated to Warped Tour, just happened to win the local lottery which I've won at least one set of tickets every year). Not really excited or interested in that one, but since it's free...
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Coheed & Cambria - Wow. I went in totally blind for them when I bought the ticket and my only exposure of them, prior to listening to their albums, was watching a short live stream of them in Rock In Rio Las Vegas and for that song, Ten Speed, that's on Rock Band. They put on a tremendous set. Everything was on point. The band's energy, the crowd singing along to almost anything, the visuals. They went 90 minutes which would be just about the minimum amount of a single headliner set. Their set did compose of stuff from Unheavenly Creatures and a good amount of their staples (at least, I think they were staples judging on how people were singing along to them). You would think judging the way the crowd was singing along that this was their own headlining tour and, quite frankly, I think the right call was made for them to be the last band of the night and have the most amount of time. Their vocalist, Claudio Sanchez, got the crowd to sing Happy Birthday as a recorded message on his phone to send to his Grandpa, who he stated turned 100 today, but he couldn't make it to the celebration because of the tour and this show. Speaking of Claudio, I was quite amazed on how he performed so well with all of that long hair that reminds me of Hagrid from Harry Potter. Anyway, I think they got a new fan out of me and if they announced another tour that includes the LA area (whether it is co-headlining or just by themselves) I will be there and I wouldn't mind paying a reasonable full GA price. I put this set up there with some of my favorites of this year (Switchfoot, Within Temptation, Winery Dogs, Disturbed, Nothing More).
Coheed fans go hard, every time. As my #1 favourite band I'm biased but they are incredible live and their fans tend to be pretty fanatical. They could likely play a varied set every night and the crowd would still be singing every word. I've been listening to them for 14 years now and I'm still not sick of their music. I can't say that for any other band! Hope you get sucked into their world, it's pretty great!
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Damn, Warped Tour is a few days over now but I'm still getting goosebumps just thinking about all of the awesomeness I was able to experience. The weekend was one of the best of my life.
Let's start with the annoying part. The first day was fairly unorganized. The set's weren't posted until almost noon, which is the same time the doors open and also the same time the first band went on :facepalm: So while I was in AC at noon, I was not in the venue and I did not get until 1:30 right as Less Than Jake had started. Thank god I had VIP (for 100 more, it was sooooo worth it) so I didn't have to wait 2 hours to get in on the GA line. Anyway, the VIP area had a dedicated large tent with bars and food and fans and chairs and a view of the main stage. This made my weekend perfect having this spot to chill. The rest of the event was on the beach so just imagine sand everywhere. The festival area was huge, I didn't even make it to the other side on day 1. Took so long to get to the midway point, that I turned around because I dind't want to miss the next band, but with the sand and so many people, getting around was difficult. Add in the heat and some booze and yea, it was a mess if you didn't have your head on straight.
Anyway, I already listed before all the bands I saw. I'll just talk about the highlights from the weekend:
The singer of Circa Survive at the end of their set said he wanted to go into the ocean (https://youtu.be/YNTFgcpzwUU?t=748), jumped into the crowd and crowd surfed his way there. I lost site as he got close to the beach so I only assumed he made it but someone posted a video from the beach end and how it ended, at the end it was one guy still carrying and they both fell over into the water :lol so awesome! Here's that person's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRIDvb8mI5g (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRIDvb8mI5g)
There was a rain delay for 90 minutes, during this they made everyone leave the beach and it lead to people climbing fences (https://youtu.be/Vr4u8umtEIU?t=1300). It looked like something out of a zombie apocalypse, on our way back into the festival, there were so many people just rushing in, the security guard literally got up and said "im done" and left as anyone and everyone just came in. Clearly letting anyone back in would be a big security threat, oh well, all went well in the end.
After the rain delay there were problems wtih the Mics on the main stage. Good charlotte experienced some issues, but 311 got it the worst as it ruined their set, but it did make it interesting to see a 311 show where the second singer couldn't be heard at all (https://youtu.be/Vr4u8umtEIU?t=2425). Made all those harmonics between the two singers sound different with just one of them. Thank god I am seeing this band again this summer, I'd be so upset if that was my only show for them this year.
A Day to Remember was probably the wildest set of the weekend. Crowd fillled up the main stage area for this band. I didn't know them at all, had no idea they had this big crowd for them. They showed why, definitely the band that won me over the most. THe highlight was them getting people to surf on the crowdsurfers! (https://youtu.be/Vr4u8umtEIU?t=3036) <---The COOLEST thing I've seen at a concert all year
Anti-flag's singer just didn't sing in the crowd for their last song, they moved half of the drummers set into the crowd and he played there as well! (https://youtu.be/YNTFgcpzwUU?t=169) Definitely never saw that before either (although I couldn't really see the drummer) but it took some time to move things down there but that was definitely cool to see.
The Used did a cover (or part of it) of Oasis's Wonderwall and then said Oasis sucks :lol This was just fun and surprising! They also did a song with the singer of Sleeping with Sirens (https://youtu.be/YNTFgcpzwUU?t=2375)
Blink 182 did the song Aliens Exist and out came all these inflatable aliens.... and sex dolls (https://youtu.be/7pPXXfpXAlE?t=96) :rollin to see these just flying around like crazy all song was just hilarious, I couldn't imagine what this show must have been like from the front row.
And lastly here is a pic someone took with a drone (there were plenty of helicopters, planes, and drones all in the air all day)
(https://i.imgur.com/qEOUwbN.jpg)
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So, after much considerations regarding stuff like flight travel, traveling from the Airport to the hotel room to drop off my bag, and then walking to the potential venue and getting in line, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot go to the Breaking Benjamin concert one day and then travel to Orlando to get to the Alter Bridge Walk the Sky album Listening Party in a timely fashion the next day. Therefore, since I really want to go to Orlando to see AB above all else, I'm pulling out of seeing Breaking Benjamin.
It's not a big deal. Breaking Benjamin has been in the OC for four straight years. I'm sure they will be back in these parts next year. Missing out on Chevelle sorta sucks since that's one of those bands to check off on my list. In any case, I don't think I can get a refund for the ticket from Groupon, but I wonder if it is possible to relist a ticket that I got from Groupon and what would be the best site?
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It's not a big deal. Breaking Benjamin has been in the OC for four straight years. I'm sure they will be back in these parts next year. Missing out on Chevelle sorta sucks since that's one of those bands to check off on my list. In any case, I don't think I can get a refund for the ticket from Groupon, but I wonder if it is possible to relist a ticket that I got from Groupon and what would be the best site?
For one, yea Breaking Benjamin comes around a lot, you can miss them plus they hardly change their setlist of lately (watch this summer tour be totally different) but for groupon, I am not sure if you can relist them. The ticket I got once with groupon was not transferable, but maybe you need to contact them and if you can sell it, stubhub is super easy.
I'm definitely going to the Disrupt Festival tomorrow. It's mini warped tour essentially and I am still on a warped high. Looking forward to seeing The Used, The Story So Far, Thrice, and Sleeping with Sirens the most. Debating how early I want to get there though for the opening bands. I don't have much going on so I might go earlier. Also, stubhub has VIP seat tickets for 13 bucks for this :hat
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I want to see Dokken. Don Dokken just announced on the Classic Metal Show that drummer Mick Brown has resigned.
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Whose idea is it to put a Slipknot headlining show in an amphitheater with seats with no chances for mosh pits? It just doesn't make sense.
Sh1t like that makes the baby Jesus cry.
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Whose idea is it to put a Slipknot headlining show in an amphitheater with seats with no chances for mosh pits? It just doesn't make sense.
Sh1t like that makes the baby Jesus cry.
I absolutely love the venue, it's so close to home and personal to me in some ways plus so many good shows play there... but you are sooo right that these type of shows do not fit the venue at all. Technically I was not totally true though, there is a lawn where potentially you can mosh, but well, it's on an incline and the security is pretty lax there overall but if there's a big pit, they will stop it.
Having said that, one band had something to say about the seated venue last weekend (https://youtu.be/BW33foTiWX0?t=1457) when I went back to that spot for the Disrupt Festival :lol another concert that this venue just didn't work for. But also, not totally true. The festival started off the most fun IMO with a side stage in the parking lot. There were a bunch of bands starting at 1pm but I didn't get there until 4ish when Four Year Strong went on. They were cool, never heard them before, but there was a nice big crowd for the side stage for them.
Then came Sleeping with Sirens. I really enjoy this band who I just listened to for the first time a week or so ago. Just super catchy and the guys voice is very, well, girly but I like it, I like how he can sound so versatile. The best part, they sounded fantastic live including him. He actually apologized saying he was having a bad day, if he didn't say it, I wouldn't of known. Since this was in the parking lot, you could mosh and boy was this an epic circle pit that they got to go around the sound booth while I sat there on the rail in the middle of it all :rollin so fucking amazing, I think it's one of the coolest things I've ever captured on film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEjuKxXvVqI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEjuKxXvVqI)
I highly suggest watching that whole video although the music doesnt start until 1:20, but at 1:43 you see a guy in a green shirt fall down and gets up and comes next to me. His girl comes over and chills with him while I continue filming and watching in amazement, next thing I know at 4:00 the guy passes out onto me. Since he was on the rail and then slid onto me, he never hit the floor which was good and I was able to get him back up with his girl really quick. He was exhausted I think, it was super hot and humid. Security came right over after, thanked and took care of him, but that's actually the second time someone's passed out and fell onto me, while filming (the other was last year during Offspring).
After them, the festival moved to the main stage in the amphitheater and to the seats which were mostly empty. Kind of killed that awesome vibe from the parking lot, and even though I didn't mosh, just from being in that heat, I was drenched in sweat. Now I'm sitting next to literally 6 really attractive girls and I'm drenched with my camera. Atreyu came on and were really cool. I liked them a lot, more metal than anyone at the festival and the singer came into the crowd right next to my section. Next was The Story So Far and they sounded good, the sun came out and shined right on them as it was starting to set which made the scenery really cool (and made my video look much more vibrant than any other). Then came Circa Survive who is probably the only band of the day I really had no interest in. I chilled on the lawn for most of their set :hat
Then came Thrice as it got dark out finally and cooler. I'm guessing them and Atreyu would be the only bands of interest to this forum for their more technicality then the others. The singer's got a great voice and I thought they looked/sounded much better than at Warped Tour. And finally on came The Used who most people I spoke to, came to see (all the girls in my section). They had some energy and put on a fun show, I really thought the singer wasn't a very good singer though. His voice sounded so strained, but he had energy and the crowd loved it, I enjoyed it. It was a good time for 15 bucks.
Next concert at the same venue is tonight, I won tickets and I wouldn't be going otherwise, but Blink 182 and Lil Wayne so it's certainly going to be interesting. It sold pretty well too (unlike the last couple shows there) so I expect a huge crowd tonight for this odd pairing.
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Well the rap show of Lil Wayne was a bit different for me. Actually enjoyed it for the most part, I mean, it's not really my music but I think after seeing him live (with a good seat so I had a good view/sound) I respect his work more. He had an hour long set and pretty much didn't stop. He had a full band behind him with a HUGE stage set up, drums, bass, guitar, and a DJ/keyboard/shouter dude. The music side wasn't anything interesting, but I enjoyed the live performance of it all. Lil Wayne's rapping, I had never heard his music before just knew him by name, was solid. He sounded good and kept making it a point about how much the fans mean to him. He said he was shocked when he started his set about how huge the crowd was (it was almost sold out huge amphitheater). Just came off as rather genuine and not unlike a lot of my favorite metal artists in terms of crowd interaction, performance, and purpose. I thought it was refreshing and cool. I won't be buying his albums or going to his solo show, but with the pairing kind of odd, I felt like it was a good show and the crowd seemed into it too. Also he had lots of pyro and I'm a sucker for some burn baby burn. Which thinking about it, the whole venue was a cloud of marijuana smoke, maybe that's why everyone was into it :hat
(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/66374015_10119808406805864_8553095656774828032_o.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_oc=AQle-tuzQ_51grn2JJfn_MygVj71CuqxokrbfwdKcaGiyj9u-Xs9h5T2sGQdXb6KHkI&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=31e50d3a47f4e86b8656888287fb8298&oe=5DB64BF4)
and in case you want to watch a performance of a short song (seems all his songs were short and kind of just flowed into each other, which was really cool) Lil Wayne - A Milli LIVE @ PNC Bank Arts Center (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DKS_E-vHGk)
Then Blink 182 came on, they performed the entire Enema of the State album for its 20th anniversary. What was cool is that they started the show bare bones. Essentially three guys playing, the drums were on the floor up front. I liked this a lot, maybe more so cause I was close enough that the closeness mattered more. Here's how they started Blink 182- Don't Leave Me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfqr0attRhs) with the second song. Just raw old school pop punk. As the album performance went on, the show slowly started getting more elaborate. Using more of the lights, the band members moving to the side steps, adding smoke. It was really cool slowly seeing the progress through the play of the album from being raw to adding the show.
There was a short break after they finished the album, not a full break, just like 5 minutes before the guitarist and bassist re-appeared in the crowd to perform a couple acoustic songs. Knowing this venue well, I found the best spot to be to get a high 5 from the bassist on the way back to the stage. As I waited on the barricade, I happened to end up between two ladies fighting :lol they were bickering so bad at each other while I kept trying to say "stop fighting, enjoy the show the band is about to come right here!" to which they kept just yelling at each other. Whatever, I dind't get the high 5 but I was close. Definitely got a good yell at him :lol
They did another 8 or so songs with Travis' drum kit ontop in the back in his little dome and the full show opened up. We got a new song which was cool and then they finished it with a few hits. So I essentially paid 8 bucks for this ticket (got two free lawn tickets, bought one upgrade for 20, sold the other lawn for 12, so 8 bucks total) and it was well worth it.
Blink 182 and Lil Wayne LIVE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYtkmWPcRdU)
Next concert up is tomorrow night, same venue for Third Eye Blind and Jimmy Eat World. I've seen these bands before and it's not something I totally love, but a few friends are going, it's a saturday night, weather looks good, can't think of a better way to enjoy a summer night than some live music.
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Well the rap show of Lil Wayne was a bit different for me. Actually enjoyed it for the most part, I mean, it's not really my music but I think after seeing him live (with a good seat so I had a good view/sound) I respect his work more. He had an hour long set and pretty much didn't stop. He had a full band behind him with a HUGE stage set up, drums, bass, guitar, and a DJ/keyboard/shouter dude. The music side wasn't anything interesting, but I enjoyed the live performance of it all. Lil Wayne's rapping, I had never heard his music before just knew him by name, was solid. He sounded good and kept making it a point about how much the fans mean to him. He said he was shocked when he started his set about how huge the crowd was (it was almost sold out huge amphitheater). Just came off as rather genuine and not unlike a lot of my favorite metal artists in terms of crowd interaction, performance, and purpose. I thought it was refreshing and cool. I won't be buying his albums or going to his solo show, but with the pairing kind of odd, I felt like it was a good show and the crowd seemed into it too. Also he had lots of pyro and I'm a sucker for some burn baby burn. Which thinking about it, the whole venue was a cloud of marijuana smoke, maybe that's why everyone was into it :hat[/url]
Wow. what you saw is quite the contrast from what I read in this Loudwire link. It could be just a bad day for him on that particular show in that link. Those kinds of personal rough nights can happen to anyone and rock news outlets caught it. He did confirm on Twitter in that link that he isn't quitting the tour.
https://loudwire.com/lil-wayne-hints-last-night-blink-182-tour/
Anyway, still waiting for a week from Sunday to see Shinedown. I've been going over listening their catalog. My goodness, what a huge difference the band sounded from Leave a Whisper and Us and Them to Amaryllis - present. Those guys sounded really raw and authentic in the best way in the first two albums and perhaps they probably polished their sound a little too much, especially in the last two albums. Oh well, it's a $25.00 ticket in the bleachers and free parking at FivePoint. It's a nice night out the day after my birthday. I might as well celebrate it well. I'm probably going to also head over to the Irvine Spectrum Center mall before the show which is close to the amphitheater to relax and all and take a look at the scenery.
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Wow damn, but I don't understand, it's because there was a small crowd? Or because he doesn't like performing live? I wasn't sure what that really meant. I thought he seemed fine at the NJ show a few nights earlier and it looks like setlist.fm doesn't show a full set, but it certainly seemed like he did that night. I'm guessing something happened that didn't vibe well with him, which isn't surprising especially if he's not used to performing live like this. I could see the punk fans treating him real poorly.
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I could see the punk fans treating him real poorly.
Those fans like Blink-182. Not to be cruel (though it will sound like it), but I honestly think that alone should remove them of any right to treat any artists poorly.
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I could see the punk fans treating him real poorly.
Those fans like Blink-182. Not to be cruel (though it will sound like it), but I honestly think that alone should remove them of any right to treat any artists poorly.
I agree, but I can see it from some types of people though. I didn't see any of this at the show I went to. I read some comments on that youtube video and they all seem to say it was raining and traffic so people couldn't get into the venue and their seats in time so it was pretty empty there. Shit happens, you can check out some videos on my channel of bands (known bands too) playing to empty houses. He's probably not used to it, but the show must go on. Poor attitude but I think it's good if he sticks with it, for himself.
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Another awesome weekend at my local amphitheater. Tailgated early with my friend and their friends on the very hot but nice day. First band was Ra Ra Riot who I really didn't care for honestly. I was glad they were over quickly and we got an hour long set from Jimmy Eat World. Never really been a big fan of them, and thought they were fine. The hit songs were fun, gets the crowd all singing and I enjoyed my time during their set. The crowd was huge also, pretty packed house. 3 18 year old girls smoked me up with their blunt sitting on the lawn. That was probably the highlight of my night :lol they were chill, nice and we had good conversation (they thought I was 23 :eek). Then Third Eye Blind came on. I put them in the same boat as Jimmy Eat World, not really a band I love or really am into, but they were good and I had a fun time for their set. Since I sat on the lawn and was mostly with friends, I didn't get as much or nearly as good of a video for this show, but there's quite a few buried hilarious moments in this video just because my friend and I were so trashed from tailgating :lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqdgzdhmaGQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqdgzdhmaGQ)
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It's that time of summer again, 311 coming to the area :hat The best part of not going on the work trip to Singapore was being able to be home the next week. Leaving work early to drive down to Philly for the 3rd time in 4 years to see 311 in the city of brotherly love. I don't know why, but I absolutely love seeing 311 in Philly even though I really was never a fan of the city. Sadly, those past concerts were all outdoors in an awesome venue by the river (Penns Landing, which is now closed :( ) but tonight is in a newly renovated big theater called The Met Philly. Looks beautiful so I am really excited to check out a new venue and I only just now got a ticket for the sold out pit for under face value :biggrin: I don't know how, I just got lucky I guess someone listed it low on ticketmaster yet on stubhub they are double the price. Win for me because this is the show you really enjoy from the pit, not in the balcony.
Also with them are The Dirty Heads and The Interrupters, so this is going to be a real fun night... and I'll do it all again Wednesday when the tour comes to my hometown in NJ.
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Last weekend I was at my local rock festival. Artists you guys might know are Alcest, Perturbator and Shame. Alcest was the one I was expecting the most and they did not disappoint. An amazing, ethereal experience and a killer setlist. Perturbator was cool and I was surprised how metal it actually was, with James regularly banging his head behind the keyboards, but some of the songs were kinda... same-y. I might prefer Carpenter Brut when it comes to synthwave but a good show nevertheless. Shame was a real positive surprise. I had never heard of them before, but they came out of the gates with raw fucking energy. Seriously, one of the most fun shows I've ever seen. They're young (I doubt they're older than me) British post-punk band with 80s flair. It was almost like the year was 1985 and the venue was The Hacienda. Or something. Anyways, I danced for about all the gig. And I very rarely dance in public. :lol I hope these guys make it big, 'cause they do deserve it.
Last Wednesday I saw Ministry. They're still major tour de force, even though I'm not sure exactly how much came from backing tapes. Al Jourgensen is one charismatic motherfucker, even though he's not as animated performer as he used to be. They started with their latest (largely disappointing) AmeriKKKant record, which did sound better live and then moved on to their classic late 80s/early 90s material. And the crowd went fucking wild. Especially with Jesus Built My Hotrod. I certainly didn't expect them to play it, even though it's one of their biggest hits, it's been played quite scarcely. Well, they're one off the bucketlist.
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In a span of a week I'll see 311 & Iron Maiden.
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In a span of a week I'll see 311 & Iron Maiden.
Up the irons :metal :metal such a fun show last night
I'll leave you with a good feeling :hat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssrxj3y2YlA)
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Nice...Dirty Heads are always good.
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At the bar in the casino, waiting for doors to open for Kansas.
Im expecting it to be a good show. Place was pretty much sold out when i bought my ticket (early this morning).
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Anybody familiar at all with Greg Howe's music and/or live show? He's playing at a jazz club in NYC later this week, and with an online promo code the ticket is only $20 after fees. I'm completely unfamiliar with him though, so debating whether I want to make the trek into the city after work.
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Late and quick write up, drove down to Philly last Friday for 311 and Dirty Heads at a newly renovated venue The Met Philly which I thought was really nice, plus an outdoor area. The show was awesome, such chill music performed well surrounded by good people. Highlights were during Dirty Head's Moontower (a song about smoking weed) there was a joint being passed around on the floor and security came by but she was clearly not really trying to stop it, she definitely wanted in :lol so myself and another dude blocked her from wherever the joint was and just kept singing the lyrics "Let's all get high...Look up at the starlit sky" :rollin she just kept laughing and let that joint "burn slow" (dirty heads reference for the no one here who follows them). 311 were great as usual, short set for them without the normal random set list, but 5 new songs which I all enjoyed.
311 and Dirty Heads Live in Philly (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OhOZnb6MVo)
Same show tonight in my home town, just hoping to actually get there in time to catch the Interrupters!
And next up.... Maiden Weekend in Brooklyn™ What a fantastic week of concerts.
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Late and quick write up, drove down to Philly last Friday for 311 and Dirty Heads at a newly renovated venue The Met Philly which I thought was really nice, plus an outdoor area. The show was awesome, such chill music performed well surrounded by good people. Highlights were during Dirty Head's Moontower (a song about smoking weed) there was a joint being passed around on the floor and security came by but she was clearly not really trying to stop it, she definitely wanted in :lol so myself and another dude blocked her from wherever the joint was and just kept singing the lyrics "Let's all get high...Look up at the starlit sky" :rollin she just kept laughing and let that joint "burn slow" (dirty heads reference for the no one here who follows them). 311 were great as usual, short set for them without the normal random set list, but 5 new songs which I all enjoyed.
311 and Dirty Heads Live in Philly (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OhOZnb6MVo)
Same show tonight in my home town, just hoping to actually get there in time to catch the Interrupters!
And next up.... Maiden Weekend in Brooklyn™ What a fantastic week of concerts.
Haha thats amazing. I'd be part of that circle during that song. It's such a chillax song. I bet they did Burn Slow as well. Also....Goonies never say die.
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Of course they played those songs too, dude, that circle blocking off security was one of the coolest thing Ive ever seen from a group a strangers working together during a chill song. Helps that security was totally chill, probably another reason why i enjoyed that venue. We all went outside after their set and smoked another one laughing about that moment, security didn't care about it outside, understandable.
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Shame was a real positive surprise. I had never heard of them before, but they came out of the gates with raw fucking energy. Seriously, one of the most fun shows I've ever seen. They're young (I doubt they're older than me) British post-punk band with 80s flair. It was almost like the year was 1985 and the venue was The Hacienda. Or something. Anyways, I danced for about all the gig. And I very rarely dance in public. :lol I hope these guys make it big, 'cause they do deserve it.
quoting this so I can remember to check them out later.
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It was a beautiful NJ night for 311 and Dirty Heads, round 2, and I was glad to have made it to see the entire Interrupters set, which I really enjoyed. It's a bit odd when there are more people on the lawn than in the seats below though, kind of an odd dynamic that the bands definitely must have noticed making shout outs to the lawn quite often while people sat in the seats. Definitely not one of the better vibes from a 311 show, but this crowd was all young and every single person I talked to was there for Dirty Heads. Literally like 16 year olds covered the lawn :lol Didn't really bother me though, I enjoyed myself and 311 hasn't been rotating songs like they usually do, so only got 3 different songs.
311, Dirty Heads & The Interrupters LIVE PNC Bank Arts Center NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdT_8XFwW-A)
Packing my bags and heading out to Brooklyn in a bit for a weekend with Iron Maiden :metal
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So. I had a fun week this week. Went to two shows at the FivePoint Amphitheater in Irvine, CA. Sure, the venue is basically in the middle of nowhere in warm SoCal summer weather (although it was a five mile drive away from the Irvine Spectrum which has a lot of shops and restaurants and entertainment). At least the parking was free and I was able to get in and get out without having to wait in line. Big value in that one since I spent $25.00 and $20.00 for the tickets for the two shows. Heck, I've spent that kind of money for parking alone in concerts this year. Anywho, I'm going to start my thoughts on the Shinedown show, last Sunday, the day after my birthday.
As mentioned before, there was three opening bands on this bill. The first band was Broken Hands. I can't recall much from them. They stated that they were from the UK and that this was their first time playing in California. I do recall some of the staff of the venue handing out voucher codes to people of the band's latest album. You got to get all the exposure you can take. Second opener was Dinosaur Pile-Up. Much better opener. I didn't know that it was a three piece band. Someone behind me said that this band reminded them of Nirvana, Weezer, and Foo Fighters (that sorta 90s altrock style) and I think their sound description is accurate. Heck, one of their songs they played reminded me of Foo Fighters' White Limo. Also, they stated that they didn't have a backdrop when they started the tour with Shinedown and Shinedown went out of their way to provide them with one with Dinosaur Pile-up's logo. That's pretty cool of Shinedown to do that. Anyway, they closed the set with Backfoot which Octane has been playing on the regular and probably the band's most well-known song for the time being.
Main support was Badflower and I think the atmosphere in the room really picked it up when Badflower came out. One thing, the weather cooled down considerably compared to the first band opening and even Badflower pointed that out. Another thing is that they had great energy and their lead vocalist was crowdsurfing at some point and that lasted way longer than when I saw the guy from Smash Into Pieces do it at the In Flames/Within Temptation show in LA. I think they played well enough to justify being in the main support slot for a Shinedown amphitheater tour. These guys have been making waves on active rock radio. Their songs Heroin and Ghost has been played often. Those guys were pretty busy this year as well when they were opening up for Nothing More (in which the only show they didn't play on that tour was the LA show I was at and now that I had the hindsight of seeing Badflower, I really wished they were a part of it. I would have enjoyed it more than Hyro the Hero although Hyro was good and got the room moving and pushing.) and they are doing this tour with Shinedown. They said that they will come back to their hometown of LA for their own show later this year and I might catch them at some point. I can see this band going far. Not as going as far as filling up Fivepoint, but far enough to stick around for a good while and maybe play bigger rooms like the Wiltern or even maybe Hollywood Palladium in short order.
Now I have to sorta address the sad news. Sadly, I don't think this show sold great. This place can fill up to 12,000 people and I think at its peak when Shinedown came out, I think there was around 7,000-8,000 people (even that could be an overestimate, I don't know). There was a lot of empty seats in the top 20 worst rows in like at least two of 300 sections. Yeah, I was checking Ticketmaster while waiting for the first band to come out and saw that there was a lot of seats left and that Ticketmaster was doing the buy one, get one free deals for all the sections (even the pit section where tickets were going as high as $95+). This all sounds a bit disappointing for a band that has accumulated 14 singles at #1 on the mainstream active rock charts (which I think is the most in history in that radio format. Three Days Grace may have more or the same.) It could very well be due to oversaturation since Shinedown did play in FivePoint Amphitheater last year as a co-headliner with Godsmack. Naturally, with two big named bands on the bill co-headlining, it looks more easier to have a bigger crowd than a single headliner for an amphitheater show.
One day, I wish Ticketmaster/Live Nation cares more about getting as many people in the venue and get the show sold out at a fair value that consumers would pay for bands like Shinedown and the likes rather than suck every ounce of money out of the people that's willing to go and have a nice night out.
Anywho, intermission came and Shinedown decided to curtain up and when 9:15 hit, they played on tape that short intro to Attention Attention (the song) and started with a bang (literally, with pyro coming out) with their lead single of Attention Attention (the album), Devil, they brought some good visuals. This was my view of the stage below and I think this is a pretty good view for $25.00.
(https://i.imgur.com/nxsECg5.png)
After that, they played probably the song that really got me into Shinedown, Diamond Eyes, before Brent Smith decided to start his first speech of the night with the whole "I want you to look at the person on your left and your right" get acquainted speech. Onwards, they played Enemies and then played a few songs off Attention Attention (Black Soul and Monsters) and some songs off Amaryllis (Unity, Bully, and I'll Follow You) and one of their big oldest songs, 45. The crowd may not have been sold out, but they were singing along to virtually everything. Again, not the hardest thing to do when Shinedown has 14 #1 singles on rock radio and 26 singles that hit at least top 10. Also, I think the band had great energy and although people have accused of Brent Smith of either miming or using vocal backing tracks to make up for the notes he couldn't hit nowadays, I didn't spot that in this show. If he did, then I was fooled since it sounded live enough where he sang certain chorus lines that didn't sound like exactly the studio version. More like singing it in a way that doesn't strain the voice.
After they were finish Bully, they opted to take a small five minute break. Why? So that they can split up where one of the band members get their own section to interact with the people in the further sections. Here was my photo of it. Not the best quality.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZH6T1VW.png)
From there, they played Amaryllis, Through the Ghost, How Did You Love, and Second Chance. With Second Chance getting the biggest singalong of the night where I couldn't hear Brent Smith at all or the music for that matter. It was that big crossover into other radio markets of a song for Shinedown. Afterwards, they took another break to find their way back into the main stage and in the meanwhile, they had an audio of a piano version of Linkin Park's Numb played in full which was a decent gesture as the show took place the day after the anniversary of Chester Bennington's passing. Then, an image of Chris Cornell came out on the screen and Brent and guitarist Zach Myers was back on the stage playing the first half of Black Hole Sun which again was a nice gesture as it was the day after what would have been Chris Cornell's birthday (which took on the same day as my birthday). It shows that for these big modern rock bands, the healing of these passings never ends and that the impact that Chester and Chris had on the world and to rock music is massive.
Anyway, onwards, they played their big cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man and their lead single off Threat to Survival, Cut the Cord before Brent Smith went on a speech of the usual positive stuff you would expect (we wouldn't be here without you guys, we don't care where you came from or whatnot, you guys are here now and that no one in the room has a negative energy). Then they played one of the few songs I liked from Attention Attention, Get Up, and I think I saw a couple actually dancing together on the aisle during it. A very sombering song, but one with a bright message telling us to keep going even when we are at our lowest moments in life. To close it off, they played their heaviest track in their catalog, Sound of Madness, before closing it off on a positive and upbeat song in the form of Brilliant.
Overall, I may not like the Attention Attention album that much, but the songs they played from it sounded good. The rest of the set was full of the big recognizable singles that represents Shinedown. The only gripes I had with the set is that they probably played too much from the Amaryllis album. Six songs from an album that's not in support of the tour is too much no matter what band you are. Another gripe I have is that they didn't anything from Us and Them which sucks so much since that's my favorite album from Shinedown. They didn't played anything from it as well in the free show I went to back in 2013 at the LA County Fair. I don't even mind it if they play only one song from it, but with only six albums, and you are not playing anything from a great album, it sucks that it basically tells me that the band treats that album like it never had existed.
Anyway, enough of the negatives. The positives is that their set went from 9:15 - 10:55 and even with the downtime of them transition stages and Brent Smith's speeches, which were surprisingly not that many that I anticipated, they probably went 90+ minutes of playing time with the 18-19 songs they played. That's really excellent as I thought with three opening bands on the bill, Shinedown would cop out and play like 75 minutes. Nope, they give a solid headlining set filled with good visuals and some pyro and obviously, it was worth the $25.00 I paid on Groupon.
Man, this write-up took me over 70 minutes. I had so many things I want to say and it's probably going to take that long to write my thoughts on Zac Brown Band, but I will do that later today.
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Sounds like your show was the combination of two tours that came through locally here. (Which has happened, so it's not odd to see that).
I'll just leave this here from last night's Iron Maiden show at Barclays. SO AMAZING
(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/67282537_10119919784583904_6264972686192017408_o.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=AQkjYbbNzbv5b3XepPbYQ5SnbuQpaY_lDeD5G_a3IulO5ujuLEczMt-EtjdiAcIpmnc&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=e2721f599fdd4cb56b46735fa92086ea&oe=5DB2F725)
Night two begins soon, I got a bunch of video from up close but nothing I posted on youtube yet, so after tonight's show I'll have something more to share tomorrow (or maybe late tonight).
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All right, so as I stated, I have come to the realization that seeing Breaking Benjamin one day, travel to see the Alter Bridge Walk the Sky listening party was just not going to be feasible for me, so I'm opting out of seeing Breaking Benjamin. That stated, fate decided to give me a break for once and give me this show. I bought my plane tickets and hotel stay to Orlando and Raleigh (they were actually pretty solid. Around $600.00. Flying out of Delta for two flights, and AA for the flight home).
Alter Bridge with 10 Years and Dirty Honey opening - The Ritz - Raleigh, NC - September 19th, 2019
I'm pretty excited to see another full-on AB headlining set as the listening party will not give us a full set (they may give us like 60-75 minutes). I've heard great things about 10 Years so far (and they have that big track, Wasteland, which is pretty good). Dirty Honey is one of those newer bands trying to make waves. Their current single, When I'm Gone, has a certain classic rock vibe to it and they found themselves opening for Slash and going to open for the Alter Bridge/Skillet tour later in the fall. Oh yeah, I want all of this. This more than makes up a lot for missing Breaking Benjamin.
Lindsey Stirling with ZZ Ward - Pacific Amphitheater, Costa Mesa, CA - August 7th, 2019
Papa Roach with Asking Alexandria and Bad Wolves opening - Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA - August 31st, 2019
Skillet and Sevendust with Pop Evil and Devour the Day opening - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - September 1st, 2019.
Iron Maiden with Fozzy and The Raven Age opening - Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - September 14th, 2019
Alter Bridge's Walk the Sky Album VIP Listening Party with a brief live set - Venue TBA - Orlando, FL - September 17th, 2019
Alter Bridge with 10 Years and Dirty Honey opening - The Ritz - Raleigh, NC - September 19th, 2019
Starset - The Regent Theater - Los Angeles, CA. October 2, 2019
Switchfoot - Fox Performing Arts Center - Riverside, CA. November 5th, 2019.
I will still give my thoughts on Zac Brown Band at some point today.
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I wrote my huge Maiden review in the IM thread, but in case anyone missed it, here's my full video (which came out really well, I feel like I captured all the highlights in good quality)
Iron Maiden Live in Brooklyn Back to Back Nights 2019 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WhSy52eItM)
Wednesday night I went back to my local amphitheater for what they called "WRATFEST" which essentially seems the local rock radio station tied their name to own of the summer tours but whatever, I managed to catch 3/5 of the bands so it started off with Three Days Grace. I saw them earlier this year open for Disturbed and thought they were pretty good. They played maybe only one different song (and not their latest hit song) but thought they were solid again. For a band hitting the stage at 7PM, there were quite a good amount of people there already which was very different than most of the shows I saw there this summer (check out how empty it was for Our Lady Peace or The Interrupters).
After came Chevelle. I had never heard their music before a few days before the show when I finally started to check them out. I thought the music was good, but nothing special in my prep listening, but I thought they were much better live. Just a three piece band, but the singer/guitarist seemed really talented. Sounded great live and I thought his guitar playing was really good and interesting too. I enjoyed them a lot more than I expected.
Then the headliner was Breaking Benjamin. They are pretty popular here in NJ and played locally just last December and this same venue the last two summers. It's always fun when the crowd sings a long to their big hit songs. They had lots of pyro which I love and an easy way to win me over with a live show. HOwever, they did a few things that really annoyed me. After the second or third song, Ben stopped and started allowing all the kids in the front rows to go on stage. Really cool, but this process took like 10 minutes, that meant 10 minutes of no music and Ben helping kids and parents climb the barrier or guide them. It was quite boring for the rest of the 10k plus in attendance. There was also never a spotlight on Ben, so you could never really see him well when he was singing. Really annoying, it felt like they were hiding the fact that the other guys sing just as much as Ben does. Plus they did their big cover medley again, took another long break between songs again, honestly felt like if they dropped the cover song medley and the downtime between songs they could have done 4 or 5 original songs. Then the last few songs Ben sung in the crowd, that's cool as well as lots of people do that in this venue, but once again, the spotlight wasn't on him so you couldn't even tell where he was so it was like watching a stage without a singer on it. I did enjoy their set, but this was one of the most dissapointing sets for me in awhile. I had a blast, probably the highlight was meeting a friend on the lawn and then seeing the few crazy people going nuts (it's in my video if you can find it). Anyway, Breaking Benjamin were a lot better when I saw them in that small club they sold out back in December.
Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle, Three Days Grace Live NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMW-PvGVkCk)
and I was looking at my wallet and weekend plans (none) and decided fuck it, why not. Going road tripping to Hartford tomorrow. Managed to keep refreshing livenation today and scooping up a single seat for tomorrows Iron Maiden show. My favorite band all time, one more time :metal That show was just sooooo good that it's hard to pass up another opportunity when I have the ability.
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Yeah, I've been looking these setlists for Breaking Benjamin in what they typically played in their amphitheater shows to what they played in the smaller venues acoustically in late 2017 and naturally, those acoustic shows sets were better. For one thing, I never like the covers medley they do. When I saw them in Anaheim in 2017, they did two covers. One song from one of their guitarist, Keith Wallen, and AIC's Down in A Hole. Plus, they played one of my favorites from Dear Agony, Give me A Sign and one of their more deeper cut, Evil Angel off Phobia. I mean I would have loved to hear the songs from the Ember album live, but other than that, I don't think it's a set I'm going to be kicking myself for missing, unlike the upcoming Iron Maiden show in LA which I am hyped for.
So I guess in the end, I feel much better regarding the trade-off for this show just to get ready for my trip to the East Coast and the Alter Bridge show in Raleigh. I've already seen Three Days Grace this year as well with Disturbed and they were all right. It's a bit of a bummer missing Chevelle, but I'm sure they will be back for their own show at some point in a short period of time.
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Just bought a ticket to Lolita Pop.
They were around during the 80ties but disbanded in 1990 or 91.
Earlier it was announced that they would reunite for one show in Örebro.... now a swedish tour has been announced... I am sooo happy
Saw them in 1990 and it was magical
Seen
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief and O.R.k
2019-03-31 Stockholm Kraken - Riverside and Lesoir
2019-04-01 Stockholm Skandiascenen - The Neal Morse Band
2019-05-02 Stockholm Fryshuset - Avantasia
2019-06-01 Stockholm Bryggarsalen - A.C.T
2019-06-25 Stockholm Gröna Lund - Gojira
Upcoming
2019-09-15 Tillburg 013 - Ayreon
2019-09-21 Stockholm Fryshuset Klubben - IQ
2019-11-08 Stockholm Slaktkyrkan - Lolita Pop
2019-12-14 Stockholm Kraken - The Flower Kings and Kayak
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Korn and Alice in Chains tonight!! :metal :metal :metal
...
cancelled due to lots of lightning and huge storms in the area :'(
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I am at the Lindsey Stirling show at the OC fair and really filled up on fair food.
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All right, I am back from the Lindsey Stirling concert, but first I want to talk about being the OC County Fair as people that bought tickets to the show at the Pacific Amphitheater also gets free entry in the OC Country Fair. That's pretty sweet. The last time I was at a county fair was to see Shinedown at the LA County Fair in 2013, for free. The first concert I have ever been to as far as I knew. Parking and traffic control, from what I read online, was very terrible and it did look terrible as I was walking into the fair. Fortunately, I found out that the local church was having parking in their lot right next to the fair. Found a spot easily. Costed me $10.00. Also gave them another $5.00 just for being patient with me as I contacted their office to inquire about parking near the fair on concert day.
Anyway, I mean it's standard fair stuff, you have your rides, your games, all kinds of food that will clog your arteries, etc. I.E. if you really want to have a good time at the fair, you better bring lots of money. Unfortunately, I broke my own personal rule which was to never buy food at the venue since it is way too expensive in comparison to going to a restaurant. I caved and got me a turkey leg tacos combo (which comes with waffle fries and a drink). Set me back $19.00 and filled me up nicely. Unfortunately, I wanted something sugary as well so I caved and got me a caramel sundae and a baker's dozen mini-donuts that costed $14.50. If I'm at the county fair, I might as well live up to its reputation and buy all kinds of foods I wouldn't think twice of eating in one sitting. Holy cow, I regretted that so much I had to throw away the last third of the donuts and the sundae to risk not vomiting. It was all good though. Moral of the story, don't buy food at the county fair. You are going to not want to eat anything at all the next day if you do since you will be so full.
All right, onto the concert. The Pacific Amphitheater looks to be an all right venue. It stated to be slightly larger than the Greek Theater in LA (8,000 at Pacific, about 6,000 at Greek), but I couldn't tell the difference when it comes to size. Anyway, the first opening act was ZZ Ward. She was ok. Her stuff mainly composed of that modern southern rock mixed with adult contemporary that I couldn't get too invested in. She did do a song with Lindsey on Lindsey's Brave Enough album which I will get to in a moment.
Lindsey Stirling came out and I don't think there's really anything different than I stated before when I saw her with Evanescence last year. Her set is a solid mixture and well-designed visuals, solid choreography and backup dancers, a nice blend of violin, drums, and keyboards (and even guitars for a few songs). One of her big songs, Shatter Me, had the vocal track that Lzzy Hale of Halestorm provided when she did the studio version. ZZ Ward came out to sing Hold My Heart and she sounded all right, even if the song wasn't really a favorite to me from the Brave Enough album. Lindsey did talk about some stuff regarding angels and what they represent (like being a guardian for someone even if they are not viable) and that led to a very touching story about her doing a benefit show and decided to play a song on the fly at the last moment during her set. That particular song really touched the organizer of the benefit show and the organizer stated that her son passed away a few months before the benefit show and that particular song that Lindsey played was her son's favorite. Tying back together with the angels theme, that song was Hallelujah and it sounded really nice on an acoustic guitar and a violin. Oddly enough, while she was playing Hallelujah, I instantly thought about Myles Kennedy since that was a song that he would play in a couple of solo shows he did or any short acoustic set and he sings it so good. Sometimes, I can't help it. It feels like when it comes to everything music-related, I somehow make some weird connection that all ties back to Alter Bridge.
Then near the end, Lindsey played three songs from her forthcoming album, Artemis, which is apparently a goddess of the moon so that might be some sort of loose theme for what the moon represents in her album and I liked the three songs she played from it, so that should give me something to be hyped about for her new album (which is good, since I'm not enjoying 2019 albums as much as say 2016 albums. I have a friken JPop album as my favorite album so far. Nothing against Jpop/Jrock. I like the style, but man, everyone else isn't really giving me something to latch onto). Then she closed it with the Beyond the Veil/Phantom of the Opera (the Andrew Lloyd Webber version, not the Iron Maiden version sadly) combo.
Overall, I had a solid night out, but I cannot rate this concert as high as my favorites this year for a few reasons. One, she only played for about 85 minutes. I cannot emphasis this enough. If you are doing your own show and you have the material to create 90-100 minute sets, then do it. Then again, maybe it's hard enough to choreograph the dance sequences for a long period of set time and Lindsey did state that she hasn't really toured in a while (not since the Evanescence tour and her Christmas tour last year and a few one-offs according to setlist.fm). The last four concerts really spoiled me in that sense (Rob Thomas went 110 minutes, Coheed & Cambria went 90 minutes co-headlining with Mastodon, Shinedown went 95 minutes with three other opening bands, and Zac Brown Band went over two hours).
Two, the crowd wasn't really the greatest crowd I've been to (especially compared to the crowds in the last three concerts I listed). For instance, sadly, when Lindsey stated that this was going to be her last song of the night and after the song ended, people actually got up and left and not knowing that there was going to be a brief encore, but I know there was one since her typical closer would be the Beyond the Veil/Phantom of the Opera combo. Most of them looked like they were here for the fair and thought "Hey, a well-named artist is playing here and there are some tickets for it on the cheap, might as well go." There were plenty of tickets on Groupon for this show for $20.00. My ticket was like $50.00 but I had a really good seat right in the middle and center of the amphitheater. Speaking of which, it was sizable crowd. Around 6,000 or so people. Sure, there were some empty seats in the nosebleed sections and the worst spots of the closest sections, but the crowd size is nice and people just wanting to get out and relax and see a great show. Pretty much a suitable venue for a standalone headlining show. I see that she's doing another show in LA at the Roxy, but resale is like around $75.00 and I'm getting sick of driving to LA on a weekday for a concert, so I'm going to pass this one, but I'm going to be certain that the experience at the Roxy is going to be much better for the concert-goers than the amphitheater. Smaller venues do usually lead to more energetic shows I feel.
Overall, I enjoyed being out of the house to see a show and to experience being in a county fair. I don't know if I want to go back to the OC Fair again. I do see that Bush and Live's Altimate tour is in this very venue on Saturday and tickets are on Groupon for $30.00. It's pretty tempting to go, but sadly i only know like five songs from the bands altogether and they are the obvious ones (Glycerine, Machinehead, Lightning Crashes, and I Alone. Plus Our Lady Peace's Whatever, which they won't obviously play sadly for understandable reasons that wrestling fans know which sucks since that's a really great intensive song). I'll probably mull that one over for a few days and probably pass on it to get ready for these two shows. Both GA, baby. I'm probably considering finding a train route for the Papa Roach show since driving to LA and back to the OC for two straight days will take a toll on me and my wallet and gas budget.
Papa Roach with Asking Alexandria and Bad Wolves opening - Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA - August 31st, 2019
Skillet and Sevendust with Pop Evil and Devour the Day opening - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - September 1st, 2019
Edit: Welp, I caved. Bought the tickets to see this concert. I enjoyed the fair enough that I decided to come back to it. Saw the deal on Groupon. Decided to go with the Groupon Select to save another $3.00. Got the tickets for $27.00. Now I got to listen to the two main albums that these guys are celebrating their 25th anniversary on and find ways to save $22.00 (since Groupon Select is a six month membership where they will charge $5.00 for five months) on Groupon deals that won't accept promo codes.
Bush and Live with Our Lady Peace opening - Pacific Amphitheater, Costa Mesa, CA - August 10th, 2019
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Was planning on laying low this weekend, but that concert itch... well at my backyard shed tonight is Bryan Adams and Billy Idol. All seats are sold out but there's lawn tickets for $30. I may bite and just spend my evening down the street tonight.
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I just found out that Mile Marker Zero is playing in Connecticut on the 24th. The start of our vacation. So we are going to get a hotel and go th Fox Farm Brewery the next day.
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BtBaM announced with Chon and Intervals...think I'll be hitting that up since it's at the Fillmore and that'd be a great venue to catch them. Also debating pulling the trigger on Maiden on the 8th, since the 9th is my 50th and I can't think of a better way to ring in 50 than that. Few life things that I need to work through before that commitment since Maiden will be a pricier ticket by my standards (anything over 40 is pricy)
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:metal :metal Maiden is very pricey but so worth it, you'll have an amazing 50th
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell Live NJ 8/10/2019 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev2ZmPsW6K0) :corn
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All right, I'm back from seeing Bush and Live. All in all, for $27 plus a really long wait (like 40 minutes) for the shuttle to get back to the parking lot, I had a good night out.
Most of what Cramx stated in his review was indeed the case. When Our Lady Peace started, the Amphitheater was like 30% full. Not only that, the sunlight was directly affecting my vision when the show started at 6:00PM. Something that was not the case in the other 5 outdoor shows I've been to this summer. That turned out to be a blessing in disguised as I opted to move down four rows and see if I can stay there until someone comes to claim their seat and no one did. Bush was really good. I thought them starting out with Machinehead was a mistake since I would think them putting their big song out first would burn out the crowd, but that was not the case. Everyone was on their feet and the Amphitheater looked to be nearly full (I say it was around 7,000 people or so). Gavin Rossdale did that thing here that he did in Cramx's video where he ran across to the upper sections the amphitheaters during Little Things and that's a great thing to witness seeing their frontman interacting with people from the nosebleed sections. Overall, I liked Bush's set and the crowd was good especially during of course, Glycerine and Comedown.
Live was solid as well. I can't recall anything specific other than the fact that people decided to take off after they play I Alone. Honestly, given how long the waiting lines for the shuttles are and how atrocious parking and traffic can be at the OC Fair, I honestly don't blame them for getting a headstart out of there. Also, I think there was slightly less people for Live than for Bush, but it still looked like a busy amphitheater. One more note was that when Ed Kowalczyk started to play Heaven and stated that he wrote this song for his daughter, he wanted the ladies to make some noise and they gave a decent reaction. Then Ed went on to say, I have a wife and three daughters and they can scream loudly than that and I know you guys can do the same and they did respond in kind. The closer was of course, Lighting Crashes and of course that got the best reaction of Live's set and ended that on a good note.
Overall, I got a good time. Not as lengthy as the other co-headlining amphitheater tour I've been to (Mastodon/Coheed & Cambria) where the opening act got 40 minutes, Mastodon got 70, and Coheed & Cambria got 90. Here, it was Our Lady Peace with 30. Bush with 60 and Live with 70. I wish I can make the statement that with both bands being around as long as they have, they should be able to fit more, but even that there's probably a tight curfew in the OC fair and that people do need to get to shuttles, it's probably for the better to keep it this length.
So, six outdoor shows in the Summer for me. 5 of those 6 shows I've paid under $30.00 for seats and overall, I cannot say that there was one bad show. Honestly, I had more fun in those shows than if I had paid like $150.00 tickets plus probably $30-50 of parking in Dodgers Stadium or Rose Bowl for an act like Metallica or Paul McCartney or Ed Sheeran and I like all of those guys. Just not enough to pay those huge prices when I got much better value for other smaller but still large outdoor shows.
I'm willing make an exception for Iron Maiden next month, but only because I am assured by many of you lovely people here and everywhere else that this tour is them at their finest when it comes to the setlist and the production values and it does all look good from what I see. $70 is on the high end price of the tickets I'm willing to pay (I've paid only two other shows more than that. Chris Cornell Tribute Show ($95.00) and the Alter Bridge Walk the Sky Listening Party ($250.00)), but it's at least a nice center view ideally. I just need to find a good train route to get there without sacrificing too much time.
Well, I got a three week break from concerts which is good news for me since I can dive into three solid active rock bands for their shows (Papa Roach and Sevendust/Skillet).
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Saw Godspeed You! Black Emperor last night in Atlanta.. what a show!
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I'm sad... The same night here has The Wailers 40th anniversary Survival, Guttermouth at a dive bar and Prophets of Rage. What to do, what to do?!
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^^ You just have to pick the one you like the most and hope the other act comes back within a year. I think Prophets of Rage is most likely bound to come back to your parts in the future.
I got a decision to make as well. Badflower is playing in LA at the same time that Delain/Amorphis/Annette Van Giersbergen is playing in Anaheim on October 11th. I'm going with the Delain show. I just haven't bought the tickets yet because I want to see if Groupon can list them for cheaper than $46.50.
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I'm sad... The same night here has The Wailers 40th anniversary Survival, Guttermouth at a dive bar and Prophets of Rage. What to do, what to do?!
The Wailers sound interesting. I've seen Prophets of Rage, they are OK. I don't know much guttermouth but if the bar scene sounds fun then maybe that's the thing to go to. Sucks when shows are on the same day.
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Not me, but I'm texting with a friend of mine who's at Knotfest up in Tinley Park, IL. Didn't even know that was going on. Gojira just played. I would've liked to see them. Damn.
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Not me, but I'm texting with a friend of mine who's at Knotfest up in Tinley Park, IL. Didn't even know that was going on. Gojira just played. I would've liked to see them. Damn.
I want to see Gojira the most of this Knotfest roadshow, that concert is my first day off of my full month off August 30th in my backyard, then off to Progpower :metal :metal
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Not me, but I'm texting with a friend of mine who's at Knotfest up in Tinley Park, IL. Didn't even know that was going on. Gojira just played. I would've liked to see them. Damn.
I want to see Gojira the most of this Knotfest roadshow, that concert is my first day off of my full month off August 30th in my backyard, then off to Progpower :metal :metal
in case you were to upload some of Progpower to Youtube, I'll gladly watch it because I always like the way you make these videos (not necessarily every band you shoot, but that's normal I guess)
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Saw the Aristocrats last night :hefdaddy
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The Wailers sound interesting. I've seen Prophets of Rage, they are OK. I don't know much guttermouth but if the bar scene sounds fun then maybe that's the thing to go to. Sucks when shows are on the same day.
^^ You just have to pick the one you like the most and hope the other act comes back within a year. I think Prophets of Rage is most likely bound to come back to your parts in the future.
I got a decision to make as well. Badflower is playing in LA at the same time that Delain/Amorphis/Annette Van Giersbergen is playing in Anaheim on October 11th. I'm going with the Delain show. I just haven't bought the tickets yet because I want to see if Groupon can list them for cheaper than $46.50.
I lied, it isn't Prophets. Its Tom Morrello Atlas Underground. Not sure what that is, so I'll have to do some research before purchasing.
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Not me, but I'm texting with a friend of mine who's at Knotfest up in Tinley Park, IL. Didn't even know that was going on. Gojira just played. I would've liked to see them. Damn.
I want to see Gojira the most of this Knotfest roadshow, that concert is my first day off of my full month off August 30th in my backyard, then off to Progpower :metal :metal
in case you were to upload some of Progpower to Youtube, I'll gladly watch it because I always like the way you make these videos (not necessarily every band you shoot, but that's normal I guess)
Thanks for checking them out, I plan on catching lots of video at PP, I have plenty from last year. And of course, my musical tastes go beyond metal so I totally understand not all my youtube uploads are for everyone.
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Last Saturday night I made the impromptu decision to attend the pretty much sold out Bryan Adams and Billy Idol concert at my local venue. I hardly know Bryan Adams besides a couple songs, but I always had enjoyed some Billy Idol so I figured let me go there and see what the scalpers had to offer. Surprisingly they had no seats to sell, but did have a lawn ticket for $25 (would have been $38 after fees from the box office) so I accepted that offer and made my way in. Felt pretty good about $25 price but the real problem now was to find a spot for a view, because the lawn SUCKS at this venue. Luckily I claimed a spot for Billy's set. The lawn was packed with chairs so you couldn't walk around at all. I was pretty lucky to claim the small standing spot behind the chairs but in front of the walkway behind me (they were actively enforcing people not to stand in the walkway, so I was safe just barely on the lawn). One thing I noticed for this show, it was A LOT of foreigners. Europeans and mexicans, abound. Not a problem, just an observation which made this show stand out in ways others haven't before and kind of interesting to see this music bringing out people.
I got to say, Billy's set was kind of shit. He didn't play Mony Mony, Catch my Fall, or Cradle of Love. A few of the other songs were fairly boring (which is why I never really got into him besides just enjoying some songs). Performance wise, they were good though. I thought Billy sounded fine, definitely not in his prime, but he sounded mostly good and moved around a lot. The guitarist was really good, although maybe they give him too much solo time. Could have snuck in a song instead, but he was at least entertaining with his solos.
It was a coheadline show, both bands got 75 minutes and no opener. I thought that was kind of odd for no opener and not each band getting 90 minutes then. Oh well. After Billy's set I went to the bathroom and to get a beer and by the time I got back, you couldn't get near that piece of grass I stood on. Ended up just chilling as far back as you can get and just mostly listening and ended up striking up conversation with a 48 year old lady, we chatted and chilled the rest of the night together. So I ended up not recording much of anything from his set and just kind of enjoyed what I could. We both laughed as we watched all the couples around us make out during the soft songs :lol It was a beautiful summer night so all was well.
Anyway, here's my Billy Idol video Billy Idol LIVE in Holmdel NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8zheaFZxSk)
I wasn't going to go to this, but I scooped up a well priced ticket for an all inclusive suite ticket for tonight's Kiss concert in NJ. Actually pretty excited since it's official that I'm going (wasn't on my radar until Monday when I noticed the show not selling well and figured I could find a good deal). Then tomorrow night is Alice Cooper and Halestorm :metal :metal Going to be awesome back to back nights here in NJ.
Sadly, I had to knock a concert off my list that I was really looking forward to. Incubus at Radio City because I had to schedule a work trip to Denver that week >:(
But I also added a concert to my calendar as I am now booked for my vacation in Vegas, so here is how the rest of my year is currently looking:
August 16th - Kiss @ Prudential Center, Newark NJ
August 17th - Alice Cooper and Halestorm @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
August 30th - Slipknot, Volbeat, Gojira, Behemoth @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
September 1st - The Who @ Madison Square Garden, New York City NY
September 4-7 - ProgPower USA 20 @ Center Stage, Atlanta GA
September 8th - UB40 with Shaggy @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
September 14th - Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, & Battle Beast @ Playstation Theater, New York City NY
September 15th - Babymetal & Avatar @ Terminal 5, New York City NY
September 20th - Delain, Amorphis, & Anneke Van Giersbergen @ Gramercy Theater, New York City NY
September 23rd - Aerosmith @ Park Theater, Las Vegas NV
October 11th - Dream Theater @ State Theatre New Jersey, New Brunswick NJ
October 19th - Toto @ Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank NJ
November 2nd - Sabaton and Hammerfall @ Playstation Theater, New York City NY
Looking forward to the 311 fall tour announcement too (at least it's rumored to be happening, seems like a late fall early winter thing maybe!
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All right, I did a live chat with someone from Groupon's Customer Support about the Breaking Benjamin ticket that I will not attend and the person told me that I can relist the G-Pass without any issues on Stubhub. So went to Stubhub, relist it for $40.00, and hope for the best. I will get $34.00 if it sells which is just the amount I paid when I got it on Groupon. That stated, I don't think it will sell for that price. One thing, I've seen that whoever buys it have to pay $50.00 for the ticket which I don't see anyone paying at that price. Also, I've seen some tickets on Stubhub in the center sections of the 300s that is listed cheaper than what I put (and my section is on the far right side of the 300s). I can always lower the price after a few weeks of waiting.
Anywho, I got my eye on this festival in San Bernardino.
Self Help Fest with A Day to Remember headlining featuring I Prevail, Beartooth, Motionless In White, Animal as Leaders, Periphery, and more - October 12th - NOS Events Center - San Bernardino, CA
Tickets are a bit steep for me. $75.00 total fees included if you buy them on their website. Or maybe, that's a fair price for the line-up. I don't know the standard value of a one-day festival is though. That price is just a tad over on what I'm willing to pay. If I can find somewhere that I can get it for $60 or less, I may buy it.
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Anywho, I got my eye on this festival in San Bernardino.
Self Help Fest with A Day to Remember headlining featuring I Prevail, Beartooth, Motionless In White, Animal as Leaders, Periphery, and more - October 12th - NOS Events Center - San Bernardino, CA
That sounds like a cool festival. I never heard A Day to Remember before until I saw them headline Warped Tour Day 1 (Over 311 and Bad Religion (so I was thinking they must be good)) and they were really impressive. Had a massive wild crowd (25k apparently), I was blown away. When I do my top 10 concert moments of 2019, spoiler they may be #1. But that moment isn't what I'm sharing, but my video of their song Sticks and Bricks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwWzKWWQWlI) blew up and is really awesome, captures the atmosphere very well. They will be fun. Motionless in White just opened for Halestorm and Alice Cooper here, but I missed them, their singer did sing in the School Out encore (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R90mdA6gG4) though which was awesome.
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September 15th - Babymetal & Avatar @ Terminal 5, New York City NY
Oh man, that should be good. Avatar are so much fun live, one of the best opening bands I've seen, and Babymetal are just so, well, unique...
Well jell, as they say.
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Avatar is a big reason why I'm going, I saw Devin Townsend open for them back in May and was blown away by Avatar's set. Baby Metal is more for the show and I'm off from work all September so that show just seemed like it would be a fun one. That'll make two Japanese bands in September for me actually :metal (Galneryus at Progpower, the other).
Last week was a good one for my concerts.
Kiss was so much fun. It looked pretty packed, but the reality is it wasn't close to sold out so I was able to score a suite ticket with a buffet for the same price as I paid for a crap nosebleed seat earlier this year. Pretty much knew how this one would go but it was still really fun and my suite was mostly empty so I stood and rocked out the entire time while eating swordfish. :metal
(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/67958806_10120073233595854_4949702147940810752_o.jpg?_nc_cat=108&_nc_oc=AQmXCQWsusgrCJQQTOAc39rnxb5TCQFXe2LtA6A47adPppmIoi7N_Rh_Aj1UcxJL3V0&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=c0ec963349d6aef70569a755c07ea758&oe=5DC8EB74)
Kiss - End of the Road Tour Newark NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klG95eirWiY)
Then the next night was back to my outdoor local venue for Alice Cooper and Halestorm. First time seeing Halestorm and I enjoyed their show. I listened a bit to them beforehand to get an idea and some of their music I enjoyed, some felt a little bland. I think it all came off really well live, Lzzy has an amazing voice and power in her voice live. She also looked really good, hard to keep your eyes off that band.
Then Alice Cooper came on, my first time seeing a headline set from him. Really loved it and seeing lots of songs I didn't know, but really enjoyed. His band is fantastic, they all are true rock star professionals. They look and act the part. I've got some great shots and you can see them smiling, and really enjoying it. It feels real and genuine. The best part of the night though, was the encore. Now I think they did this every show, but I think my show had even more people on stage. It seemed like pretty much the entire Halestorm band, the singer of Motionless in White, and one other guy (Alice Called him a producer for Hollywood Vampires) all came out on stage for School's Out. Like Halestorm were playing bass and guitar, the drummer came out wearing a ridiculous outfit and just danced. Alice Cooper through a sword into the crowd, then grabs a new knife out and gives it to the singer of Motionless in White and they both start popping balloons. Lzzy did a dress change and was rocking out in her huge red high heels (I have no idea how you can walk on those). Alice introduced everyone, including his wife. Like I said, it felt so genuine and it looked like everyone on that stage was having a blast.
Alice Cooper and Halestorm LIVE Holmdel NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJYeqPYaXe4)
(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/69227069_10120084379758854_6102216695806427136_o.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=AQnscEEXHEb-qYEnyckTO7E20CmG0vsDTVQoH-kikZy_AAzGdylJULZYYJpqU4x9mKM&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=57c2bd074d3debb844914c9decdb61a5&oe=5DE4D028)
So I travel a lot, and did a lot fo personal travel on the weekends this summer for concerts, so I need to stay one more night to hit a milestone and earn essentially a free night in reward points. So looks like I'm going to go to Scranton PA Saturday for the Slipknot show, then I'll see it again on the following Friday locally. Time to change my listening gears to Slipknot, Volbeat, Gojira (YES, really want to see them the most), and Behemoth.
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Decided to have a nostalgia night. About to head on out to Mary J Blidge and Has.
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Mary J. Blige was on fire last night. So glad I went. Lots if nostalgia and lots of friends from home. Overall the vibe fantastic.
Best part is, since it didn't sell well, I got to upgrade my seats. For $30 more I went from section 6 good seat behind the mixer to 5 rows from the stage.
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Welp. I find myself in the first big decision to make when it comes to which concerts to go to on the same day (other than missing out on Breaking Benjamin to ensure that I get to Orlando, FL hours before Alter Bridge's listening party).
Black Stone Cherry, one of my favorites, is playing the smaller room at the House of Blues in Anaheim on November 5th. Same day as Switchfoot in Riverside. So many pros and cons to weigh.
Pro for BSC: They are a band that I do want to cross off seeing for the first time ever. It is in Anaheim which is a 10-15 minute drive away from my house.
Cons: I didn't enjoy their latest album, Family Tree, as much as my favorite albums from them (Folklore and Superstition, and Kentucky) and they probably would play like only 80 minutes.
Pros for Switchfoot: They delivered my favorite concert of the year so far and on this tour, they are doing two sets (one electric and acoustic) and will advertise playing some more rarer cuts.
Cons: Riverside is pretty far to drive for me. Like 40 miles far on a Tuesday. The farthest I will drive for a concert this year, unless I go to Ontario for TSO this year and this time, I want to bring my family to see the show with me and it would be my treat if it shows up on Groupon again.
I think I might stick with the Switchfoot ticket I bought months ago and hope to see BSC another time. Other events that I've seen from an email from Ticketmaster. It turns out that Chevelle will be playing in SoCal in October. Bad news, it's in Riverside on a Tuesday. Why must people play in gigs so far away from LA and Anaheim?
On another note, I may at the last minute want to see Adelitas Way, this Friday, in the smaller room of the House of Blues. Tickets are only $16.00. Parking is fair as well. $3.00 an hour with two hour free validation at the venue and parking is capped at $24.00 for the day. I do want to go to the Johnny Rockets next to the HOB after work. On the other hand, I do want to save money for parking next week for my back to back concerts. I may spend up to $50.00 in parking passes. So many decisions to make.
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Last minute is the best. I guess
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You spend so much thought and money on parking to go to concerts in LA, I find that kind of funny :lol
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Yes, I do. For me, getting to the parking lot and getting to venue and getting out of the venue safely is half of what determines if I'm going to have a good night or not. In some of the venues in LA I've been to, I have to rely on 3rd party parking lots that venues do not own and sometimes, I have to be weary if it's going to be a good deal or not and I have to be really weary for parking at the Iron Maiden show since parking at the stadium itself is way too much ($40) and from what I read, has bad traffic control. No worries though. PG, here, have given me some good tips on a couple of lots and how to get the stadium and back and I should be ok.
Anywho. I got the ticket for Adelitas Way. I'm not expecting to be a mindblowing concert. Just something to do on a Friday night after a busy week of work. Decent enough band to me, cheap ticket, cheap parking, a decent (to me anyway) burger restaurant next to the venue and close to home makes this a no brainer.
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That's a big reason why I like NYC more than LA, public transportation. The fact everyone drives everywhere in LA makes it such a hassle. The few concert's I've gone to in LA I just used Uber. It would come out to like 40 bucks round trip so more than parking, but I could drink and be free of the hassle.
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The Knotfest Roadshow in Scranton PA was so much fun last weekend. I love experiencing new venues and this is one, Pavilion at Montage Mountain, was similar to my home base PNC Bank Arts Center and also the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford where I saw Iron Maiden this summer. However, for a packed show (all the seats were pretty much sold, but lawn was huge and had tickets available) it seemed the one road up/down the mountain was not able to handle the traffic so easily, I missed almost all of Behemoth's set because of this. Now granted, I slept late and got to town and did the Coal Mine Tour later than I expected, but still, definitely didn't prepare for the 30 minute extra ride there. Well I caught the last song and they had all sorts of smoke and fire, I'm not into their music, but that song is pretty cool (I saw them last year open for Slayer) and was performed with much more flare this time around. Onto my seat where I have to kick someone out, and next thing I know the girl next to me goes "were you next to me at the Disrupt Festival?" :rollin yup, I remember her very well. Funny to meet people at concerts in a different state. We start talking and the guy who's with her just leaves lol had a nice conversation, she's really cute, if it weren't for the guy I think I would have asked for her number. We talked a bunch at Disrupt a few monthes earlier too and I thought she was cool then, but also didn't ask because she was meeting a dude there too (he only came down to our seats for a breif bit though). Anyway, I think the guy was annoyed, came back and said they were sitting somewhere else.
Gojira came on next, and honestly was glad to just make it in time for their full set. I thought that could be in jeopardy for awhile. They were AWESOME. So heavy, maybe too heavy in terms of loudness to clearly hear the singer, but the guitars and drums are just so heavy in this band. The drummer is amazing too. Sucks they don't get a longer set, I think it was just 40 minutes, but they looked/sounded/performed amazingly. Sadly, they are not a band to see from a seat. Out in the lawn I went for the last couple songs and was pleased to see a mosh pit and at the end of their set, a little kid crowd surfing with everyone chearing.
Volbeat was next, a huge change of pace. I was curious how the crowd would take it. They are new to me, I had listened to their set on youtube for a bit last week leading up to the show. Found I enjoyed some of their music and some I felt wasn't my thing. Live, they sounded great. I think I enjoyed them a bit more. A few songs really come to mind that I enjoyed, The Everlasting for example. Definitely had a good amount of people there for them, no animosity or anything between fans that I could see. Pretty tame show overall from the fans, everyone having a good time as the sunset over the mountains in PA and it got dark as their set came to an end.
Time for Slipknot. They were LOUD. People complain about DT being loud, go see Slipknot to compare. I was hoping my camera would pick up them up better than my ears did (it didn't) but a lot of the insturments sound so muddy together. I mean, it was pretty solid performance overall. It's just when you have all the drums, keyboards, guitars, and Corey screaming all at high decibals, it's lacking that clarity that I do enjoy from time to time. I think this is part of their music and live show though, I wouldn't compare this to seeing DT do their instrumental elegance. I thought they were great on stage overall. Lots of moving around, the keyboardest had the treadmill in front of him which reminded me of Rammstein. The light show on their stage was really cool plus about half way through the set there started being lots of pyro. Their stage show was definitely awesome.
Given the hell getting in, I was a bit worried about getting out. The first time in a long time, I left a concert early. Missed the last 4 songs and I got back to the hotel easily. Kind of question if that was the right call, but I had a really good time that night and I'll be seeing the show again in my backyard Friday night :metal
Knotfest Roadshow Montage Mountain PA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5VRCNB1ldw)
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Slipknot doesn't have a keyboard player. Maybe your talking about Sid the DJ. Or their sample guy haha.
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Slipknot doesn't have a keyboard player. Maybe your talking about Sid the DJ. Or their sample guy haha.
Yea that guy, same thing in my mind. Knew it wasn't keys but he makes the sounds (and you can't see what he's using). Don't know any of their names, nor do I care about the whole masks thing personally.
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Slipknot doesn't have a keyboard player. Maybe your talking about Sid the DJ. Or their sample guy haha.
Yea that guy, same thing in my mind. Knew it wasn't keys but he makes the sounds (and you can't see what he's using). Don't know any of their names, nor do I care about the whole masks thing personally.
Yeah me and my cousin always have made fun of him being there just to headbang and trigger samples. At least sid does DJ stuff.
Slipknot was a fun show. Glad you enjoyed it. I mainly went for Gojira. Didn't care for Volbeat, although they weren't bad.
Tonight is The Aristocrats w/ Travis Larson Band at Launchpad which is perfect as I love that venue. Mainly due to the intimacy of the place.
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Back to back shows this weekend. Both in LA. I mapped out the areas that I want to park in (one of them may be an LA Fitness Gym parking lot) and hope I can spend less than $40.00 total on parking for these shows. Let the fun times keep rolling.
Papa Roach with Asking Alexandria and Bad Wolves opening - Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA - August 31st, 2019
Skillet and Sevendust with Pop Evil and Devour the Day opening - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA - September 1st, 2019.
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Man what an awesome long fun ass concert on a beautiful day in NJ as summer comes to an end. Maybe my favorite show at this venue this summer and having seen it last week too, I kind of didn't expect it to be better, but it was. For one, I had almost the same seat as last week but it was much better view at this venue just because of the shape/set up. However, this venue doesn't have the pit up close for this type of music (it's been discussed here before). I think that kills the vibe a bit, especially for the openers. Behemoth had very little people in the seats up close. Everyone was sitting in our section too, which is pretty lame for this type of music. My friend is like 6'6" and didn't want to be standing and blocking the group behind us, but Negral helped us out by asking everyone to stand and so we did, and everyone did for pretty much the remainder of the night.
Anyway, not much more to say about the show itself that I didn't say before. Behemoth isn't my thing, but I saw their full set and they really do bring it for an opener. Gojira is so damn powerful, so good. Maybe my favorite opener performance of the summer. Volbeat is fun, I really do enjoy their music and clearly they are the oddball of this show, but I really enjoyed them this time around. Surprised my friend did as well. They brought up even more kids this time around, in fact the girl near the singer on stage is Jerry Only's daughter.
I know that because after Volbeats set, the two of them came to their seats to watch the show, which was very close to me. I'm doing a double take to my friend, "is that Jerry? or just someone dressed like him?" since you know, why would he show up in his concert attire, but it was definitely him. I told him I saw them at Prudential last year and he asked "were we good?" and I had to lie and say yes, when in fact I think they were the worst band I had seen in the last few years :rollin anyway, after I got a selfie with him, there was a huge line of people walking to his seat to meet him, guy's a true champ of the fans and that's well known.
I didn't leave early this time (my friend did though) and saw the whole show, damn Slipknot plays a long and non stop set. My head/neck is a bit sore from headbanging so much last night. Such a fun show, packed house too. Not an empty seat by the time Slipknot came on.
Oh yea, before the show I saw on facebook there was a Slipknot Whiskey signing at my local booze shop. How convienent, it was a 2 hour wait in the heat, but for $50 I got a bottle of their Iowa Whiskey and it's signed by 3 of the guys, they also signed my ticket stub from last week. THey took a picture too so hopefully it'll be on their website soo.
Overall, first day on vacation and it was soo much fun. Can't recommend seeing this show enough if you have the chance.
(https://scontent.fewr1-4.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/69272231_10120180296436064_1457785017785647104_o.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_eui2=AeFaPYKNKo8TpztGvBdUS7bw4qebUFmoF8dMOWOkZcMK9CFoHts7O-GBzp5MmbwIbWm8sPUuNhjGrzxVCHS1ChgDqhsnJT-jAzCWNcPKwIssCA&_nc_oc=AQl-4EpSK39DXyBY1LHPzt-McOt-DKUGzOqYsUUr1p2DM3Cc0zaKOvWkviBjaHxQbYk&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-4.fna&oh=cac17c49de89b417a8887b5b4c80e23e&oe=5DCB80DA)
(https://scontent.fewr1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/69337564_10120180295637664_8345122980841390080_o.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_eui2=AeFlyt-v81_69XfgP_qV4xhpelQJvUf9w9lDaGG4xPEougS3MyY9eSBEmDAyf5XpJFBMPk_GFLT9kY-iln_gb2TGmCkexRTugrFzzPZiQBHoMg&_nc_oc=AQn8pMOSqLRdcu2PQP0XTSjzpuv3F4GjtunbfLUgxaLFFfo_Fb_Sx-KDrANq5IrMLDM&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-2.fna&oh=04b47b2fc04d6fc3c8cd3bb68501c312&oe=5DCD8103)
Knotfest Roadshow - Slipknot, Volbeat, Gojira, Behemoth Live @ PNC Bank Arts Center NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj4jURly-k8)
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All right, back from seeing Papa Roach with Asking Alexandria and Bad Wolves at the Hollywood Palladium. First off, I don't know why I'm always so nervous when visiting a venue I've never been to in LA. Aside from seeing Tedeschi Trucks band at the Orpheum Theater (where I got ripped off on parking, there was no metal detectors at the entrance, one guy being a dick when being confronted about smoking in the row in front of me, and I almost got into a car accident), most of the shows has been fine from a parking and traveling perspective. Aside from the traffic, which is always a given in LA, especially on a warm August summer Saturday, I had no issues getting to Hollywood Palladium. I parked at a garage next to a LA Fitness gym. Cost me $15 which is fair. Lower than I thought it would be. Apparently, some people paid $7.00 for a spot across the venue through Spothero, but I don't know if I can trust that site and I don't want to risk it.
Anywho, doors opened at 6:00, I opted to get a spot on the rail in the back of the venue near the soundboard even though I could have gotten a spot in like the first 5-10 rows of the front. The reason I didn't go to the front was mainly because I know that there may be some pits and pushing and honestly, I want to conserve my body so that I can make it to the Skillet/Sevendust show on Sunday. The people near me on the rail was nice. One guy was from Sacramento whose a huge Papa Roach fan that's been following them since 1999 before they broke through with Infest and another guy is actually going to be at the Skillet/Sevendust show tomorrow as well.
The first opening band was Bad Wolves and I got to say that they were a good incentive for me to pull the trigger on buying the ticket. I see them as a much better version of Five Finger Death Punch with a frontman that's not as much as a meathead and their lyrics seems to have more genuine substance than FFDP's. Anywho, a lot of people see them as the heaviest band on the bill and I think they delivered well. Probably the best opening/supporting act I've seen this year (others include Colony House and Badflower). The crowd liked them enough. I think it was like 2/3rds full (capacity is around 4-5000 people) when they came on. They played for 40 minutes (which is on the higher side as the first opening band in a three-band bill). Crowd reacted well with the big Active Rock hits (Remember When, Hear Me Now, and their cover of Zombies) and really was energetic with the heavy stuff (like getting some pits going) especially in Officer Down. Overall, they were really happy to be on this tour and really excited to play a historic venue like Hollywood Palladium, especially since this is a homecoming show for them. I say they are really making the most of the exposure they are getting on radio and getting on tours like Papa Roach and last year's summer amphitheater tour with FFDP and Breaking Benjamin and I say if they keep this up the momentum, they may end up headlining this venue sooner rather than later.
Next band was Asking Alexandria. I hear their entire catalog. I didn't like it for the most part. They had some songs in their last album that I do like, and they focused on that album in their set, but I honestly didn't care much for it. A lot of people were there mainly for Asking Alexandria (they did say it has been three years since they played in LA) and people were energetic for them and the band did brought some smoke to liven the production values. I think there was actually slightly more people for Asking Alexandria than Papa Roach. If anything, I enjoyed the smartass remarks they made throughout the set than anything musical if that makes sense.
Papa Roach came on and they were solid. They focused more on songs from Infest (their breakthrough album) and Who Do You Trust (their latest album) and sprinkled in some of their more well known songs (like Scars, Getting Away with Murder, Forever, To Be Loved, etc.) along with a cover of Blur's Song #2, a drum solo, and band jam. The crowd was still very lively during the set. People were bouncing when needed. There was a fair amount of crowdsurfers and pits. Jacoby Shaddix's voice sounded all right (although I think there were moments where it sounded like he was on helium, though that may be on my hearing or the venue itself rather Jacoby himself. The big singalongs came during Scars and Last Resort, naturally. Overall, a good headlining set from a band that I feel like (like Disturbed earlier this year) they have plenty of big songs that people overlook aside from the giant hits to fill a headlining set.
Now for the issues. First, the sound. I think the venue sound was loud and somewhat clear enough, but it kinda was mixed where it muted the crowd from where I was standing. I mean there's no way the crowd wasn't singing along to the cover of Zombies from Bad Wolves, since that's their big hit that really did well on the charts in 2018 and there's no way the crowd wasn't singing along to stuff like Scars, Getting Away with Murder, and Forever. I think the crowd was singing along when needed, but I didn't hear it in the far back. The best noticeable singalong crowds for me this year was Shinedown, Switchfoot, and Coheed & Cambria and I don't think this crowd beat that and if they did, I didn't hear it.
Second, Papa Roach's setlist. I have seen this issue a fair amount of times from various bands this year. Papa Roach has been releasing albums on a consistent basis for 20 years and they only came up with 80 minutes for their setlist? Not only that, they didn't even play anything from Metamorphosis or The Connection album (my favorite Papa Roach albums, both co-produced by James Michaels of Sixx: A.M., one of my favorite bands and one of my favorite vocalists that I haven't heard anything from for a while now). They didn't play Lifeline, Burn, or Still Swinging which I felt were great tracks and you would think they play Hollywood Whore given that they were in Hollywood, but nope. These issues lowered my enjoyment of the show to a pretty good show, but not that at that level of really great shows or perfect shows that I was seeing this year. Still $20 ticket and $15.00 parking and I got home in one piece. I had a great night.
Last show for the weekend is Skillet/Sevendust and I'm hoping that this show can deliver a perfect show experience for me (the Wiltern Theater has done a great job of that this year in two shows I've seen there).
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Nice, a double concert weekend for me as well, tonight is The Who are Madison Square Garden, pretty must sold out. This one is more for the fun, I hardly know their music but figured I'd go check them out one time before that's no longer possible. A friend is going too so we will meet up for drinks before hand. :corn
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Just bought a ticket to see A.C.T again, second time this year...
Seen
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief and O.R.k
2019-03-31 Stockholm Kraken - Riverside and Lesoir
2019-04-01 Stockholm Skandiascenen - The Neal Morse Band
2019-05-02 Stockholm Fryshuset - Avantasia
2019-06-01 Stockholm Bryggarsalen - A.C.T
2019-06-25 Stockholm Gröna Lund - Gojira
Upcoming
2019-09-15 Tillburg 013 - Ayreon
2019-09-21 Stockholm Fryshuset Klubben - IQ
2019-11-08 Stockholm Slaktkyrkan - Lolita Pop
2019-11-15 Göteborg Musikens Hus - A.C.T and Workshop of the Wolf
2019-12-14 Stockholm Kraken - The Flower Kings and Kayak
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I saw my first rock concert with an orchestra last weekend when The Who performed at Madison Square Garden. For their age, they are still rockin. I guess the orchestra took away from any sort of light or video show, it was pretty much just the band performing two sets with the orchestra and one shorter one just by themselves in the middle. I found however that the sound mostly sucked the entire night. Orchestra was low in the overall mix, could only really hear it well in certain parts. The vocals were so muddy couldn't understand the words at all. Oh well, it was a cool experience, the place was practically sold out. I sat next to an older couple who I ended up having a blast with the entire night, just shootin the shit with them, you can hear them often in my video. For me, that show was to experience something I'll likely never see, I'm not a big Who fan and I don't see myself becoming one, but it was cool to see this show.
The Who Live @ Madison Square Garden NYC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_aE1sFZkHg)
I'm all packed up, heading to atlanta early tomorrow for ProgPower! :metal :metal
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My meager list for the year:
9/20 - Sebastian Bach - Brauer House Live, Lombard
9/23 - Roger Clyne (Acoustic) - City Winery Chicago
10/17 - Flying Colors - Arcada Theater, St. Charles
11/3 - Tool - United Center
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Phil Collins - Atlanta, GA 9-28-19 - The not dead yet tour
I love my wife, so I told her I would go to the concert with her, even though I am not a big fan of Phil Collins
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Well, time to recall my story of seeing Sevendust and Skillet at the Victorious War tour at the Wiltern Theater (fourth show at this venue this year, and all of them have been solid to f'en awesome), last Sunday. Where do I want to begin? Well, I knew I wanted the rail in the second section behind the pit (since Live Nation charges you $15.00 extra for pit tickets, $65.00 total) and I figured I want a rail spot and thought, I might as well get there around 1:00PM and if there is no one in line, I'll just walk around the skirts of Koreatown before finding my way to the Wiltern. Why do I want to go through this length? Well, next to Alter Bridge and Shinedown and Daughtry, Skillet and Sevendust are the two bands that I have heard their music the longest in life for around almost 10 years. I heard first Sevendust's Enemy and Skillet's Hero as they were theme songs for WWE PPV events and since then, I was a relative listener for both bands (moreso for Skillet, but I have a great amount of respect for Sevendust being around as long as they have). Anywho, I found a parking lot about 5-10 minutes away from the Wiltern that's $16.00. Cheaper than the $25.00 if you park next to the venue. I could have saved $27.00 in parking fees had I knew that last Spring......
So I got in line at 1:00 PM and found that there was 7 other people in line that had the same idea as I did, but I figured all right, no worries. My phone is fully charged, I can wait it out for 5 hours before doors open. The people around me were nice as always. Always talking about the various shows that they have seen over the years from a range of bands. There's this one guy that has been to a lot of shows overall, and goes to the yearly Shiprocked cruise every year, and that he always goes with a group for concerts and that guy was in line since 11:30AM. Anyway, at around 4:00 PM, I knew that people that bought the VIP meet-and-greet and early entry was going to arrive, but I had horribly underestimated how many bought those. I think there was like around 50-70 people, I thought, "crap, 50-70 people standing in my way to get a rail spot." I was hoping that most of those got pit tickets because I thought if people spent $100.00 on meet and greet, might as well dish out the extra $15.00 for pit tickets. Turns out that the guy that was handing the wristbands for the pit tickets told me that around 10 or so people out of that meet and greet line had pit tickets. I thought all of that waiting for 5 hours was going to be in flames, but oh well, I made it this far, I'm going to make a dash to get a good spot in the second section. Turns out, I did have a good spot. In the second row behind the person that got the rail. Good view and thankfully, the person wasn't too tall that he would block a good portion of my view of the stage.
Once again, the people around me were nice. There was a couple that's a huge Sevendust fans that stated that they went to three shows in the SouthWest area around the late 90s for them, but haven't gone to a show in a long while since they were taking care of their kid, but thought now's the chance to see Sevendust again and the kid's grandmother to babysit for them to see Sevendust. Also, the music the house speakers playing was solid. You got your standard plays of songs you would normally hear on modern rock radio, but out of the blue, I get to hear Alter Bridge's One Day Remains (that's not even one of their most well known songs) and Big Wreck's Mistake (I don't think anyone in the room, other than me, knew that Big Wreck playing on the house speakers). Also, a great thing of a strong kinship among all of us is that when Linkin Park's Numb or In the End is playing on the speakers in the post-Chester Bennington passing, everyone just stopped talking and sing along to the song. It happened at the Disturbed show, it happened at the Shinedown show, it happened here.
Anywho, on to the bands. The first band of the night was Devour the Day. They only got 20 minutes and what they played was ok, but honestly, them being there for as short as they were on stage in the grand scheme of things is a bit pointless.
The second band was Pop Evil and I thought to me they were overplayed on radio at times and the lead singer wearing a Lakers shirt for that cheap pop didn't help a bit. That stated, they went through their staples of songs that people that listens to rock radio often like Boss's Daughter, Torn to Pieces, Be Legendary, Waking the Lion, etc. and people got into them and I liked their set and people sang along when needed from the frontman. In their last song, Trenches, they got Don Jamieson from That Metal Show to provide backing vocals and the surprising thing about the closing set was that the vocalist from Pop Evil came to the crowd and decided to not crowdsurf, but opted to actually walk on top of everyone as a path. In all fairness, people were supportive to keep him afloat and he didn't stop at the pit section, he came near where I was at and was walking on top of everyone there. He almost took a nasty spill on his back, but people kept him up. If he did fall, I can see the headlines now on Blabbermouth: "Pop Evil frontman took nasty fall on crowd in Sevendust/Skillet show." At the end of the set, he wanted to take some pictures with people in the crowd near where I was so everyone was gathering in that area and I was left feeling a bit crushed with little walking room for a few minutes. Still that sight there of Pop Evil's frontman walking on top of the crowd is probably one of my favorites sights this year.
Sevendust finally came up and started with one of their more well know tracks, Black and everyone expected them to be the heaviest band on the set and I expected Sevendust to want everyone in the crowd to be moving along and getting into it. They were what I thought they would do. I felt that the atmosphere in the room was elevated the moment they came on. They were very heavy and they had great moments of soaring melody playing songs like Denial, Waffle, Trust, etc. Lajon Witherspoon is a great vocalist and this set solidifies him as in my top five favorite rock vocalists. One of the songs I was really looking forward to see was Angel's Son. It may be a short 4 minute or less song but that song packs a huge punch emotionally and Lajon talked about the backstory about creating this song. They were good friends with this band, Snot, and their frontman, Lynn Strait, passed away due to a car accident and they stated that this was the first time they really felt this kind of personal tragedy and when it's time for them to do a song for the tribute album to Lynn Strait, Lajon claimed that he didn't have any lyrics prepared for Angel's Son beforehand. He just heard the guitar playing of Clint Lowery and the lyrics just came to him and created for me, probably the best Sevendust song I have heard. Anyway, their set lasted for an hour and then they closed it off with Thank You.
Skillet was the closing band and they came a blazing with great production with steam and and a great video screen with solid visuals. They went for around 70 minutes. Primarily favoring playing the songs from their two most recent albums, Unleashed and Victorious, along with their usual staples (Monster, Whispers in the Dark, Hero, and Awake and Alive). They had the crowd in the palm of their hands and had some great singalongs in almost every song. One of my favorite moments of the set was during the song, You Ain't Ready, where John Cooper had some custom-made fire extinguishers or coolers or something like that strapped to his arms and he was spraying them to the crowd and on a warm summer's day in LA, that was greatly appreciated. Another solid arrangement was during Awake and Alive, a song where John Cooper and drummer Jen Ledger would trade verses. However, in this live version, they had the first verse played in string arrangements while trading lines (they would have a cello player, and I think in the past they had a violinist as well, play this live, but John said that their cello player was at home getting ready for a newborn baby) before going into the heavy band version and then both guitarists Korey Cooper and Seth Morrison was on rising platforms playing the song. The show closed off with The Resistance, which I thought would be a great closer since it has a great outro which did close off the Unleashed album. It also gives a great platform for lead guitarist, Seth Morrison to show off what he can do and his guitar playing actually reminds me of Alter Bridge's Mark Tremonti which isn't surprising since he's also an Alter Bridge fan from the near start.
Overall, I really enjoyed Skillet's set the most. The crowd was great. The band played great. Production values were as great as it can be in a small theater. I personally wished they played more from the Comatose album (especially the song, Rebirthing, which used to be their closer, but they didn't play it here which makes me sad since that's one of my favorite songs from them) and the Rise album. Even though, I didn't enjoy the Unleashed or Victorious albums as much as Collide, Comatose, Awake, and Rise albums, the songs still came off well live. I enjoyed hearing the title track Victorious (John Cooper stated that he wrote that song for people to find a way to deal with the struggles that people have mentally, especially in light of the post-Chester Bennington passing) and Save Me. The one issue I had was that they could have not have Devour the Day on the bill and instead give Pop Evil another song slot and Sevendust/Skillet another song slot or two. Other than that, this is a great night altogether and for the fourth show I was in at the Wiltern Theater, these shows I was at in this place (Within Temptation, DT, Switchfoot, this show) have been tremendous.
Now then the next shows awaits and probably the greatest week of my life will happen in about a week or so.
Iron Maiden with Fozzy and The Raven Age opening - Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - September 14th, 2019
Alter Bridge's Walk the Sky Album VIP Listening Party with a brief live set - The Beacham - Orlando, FL - September 17th, 2019
Alter Bridge with 10 Years and Dirty Honey opening - The Ritz - Raleigh, NC - September 19th, 2019
Also, I decided to go to the Self-Help festival. I saw a ticket on Stubhub for $60.00 and thought, this is probably going to be as good as a price that I'm going to get for an outdoors festivals. I saved $15.00 than if I bought it on their site. Line-up looks good enough for me. Never been to an outdoors festival before.
Starset - The Regent Theater - Los Angeles, CA. October 2, 2019
Self Help Fest with A Day to Remember headlining featuring I Prevail, Beartooth, Motionless In White, Animal as Leaders, Periphery, and more - October 12th - NOS Events Center - San Bernardino, CA
Switchfoot - Fox Performing Arts Center - Riverside, CA. November 5th, 2019.
I still may consider going to see Big Wreck, but I need to know what shape I am still in after the Self Help Fest. Also, Trans-Siberian Orchestra is doing their annual Christmas tour and coming back to Ontario. Hopefully, there's a Groupon deal on it like last year and if that's the case, I'm planning on taking my parents and my sister/her husband to the show if they want to go to it and tickets are going to be on me, and I don't see why they don't want to go. It's a good Christmas concert with great production values. Bad news is that the show is on November 30th and I still need a show in December to complete the "at least one concert a month" goal I set this year.
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I went to see Tesla last night in Morristown, NJ (2 miles and 5 minutes down the road) last night. What an awesome show! First off, I will say that their singer, Jeff Keith, can certainly have his "off" nights. Luckily, last night was not one of them. He sounded great. A few songs were tuned down a bit but not enough to detract from the songs. And, what a happy guy he is. He was smiles and laughing all night. They started off the show with a song off of their new album, Shock, which I don't own. I've heard the album and don't really like the Def Leppard version of Tesla. Meh song. They followed it up with awesome versions of "Modern Day Cowboy" and "Heaven's Trail (No Way Out)". I'll spare everyone a list of every song they played. But, they included some deeper cuts that haven't been played in a long time ("Call It What You Want", "What You Give" and "Edison's Medicine"). In total, they played 3 songs off the new album. I definitely could've done without them. But, it IS the album they're promoting. And, 3 out of 15 or 16 isn't too much new. The only thing that kinda bummed me out is that they have to finish their show with a cover, "Signs". I get it. Aside from "Love Song", it's probably their most popular song. But, they should get to close it out with a bangin' song of their own.
All in all, it was a super fun night with some great music. If you've ever been a fan of the band and they're coming to a venue near you, I'd definitely recommend going. You won't be disappointed.
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Been pretty busy on vacation but I posted most of my stuff for progpower on that thread, however, the day I got home and the day before I left for Aruba I changed pace and went reggae (I was about to go to the Caribbean). It was the last show this summer at my local amphitheater that I see so many shows at, and it was very empty and actually sadly chilly outside, but it paid off as being a fun show.
Shaggy opened which was way more hip hop than I realized, but he played the hits which were fun and he had a band that sounded good. I think they had the bigger and better crowd too before UB40 hit the stage. They played a long reggae set, which was actually really cool to see at this venue. I recored the entire encore of their two hit songs (Red Red Wine was played during lunch today :yarr) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQuASAZTBB8)
But here's the entire "experience" which I editted that night real quick and so damn tired
UB40 and Shaggy Live Final show at PNC Bank Arts Center this summer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YObN-SaV7Fw)
Also, I saw Tesla home in NJ earlier this year, I didn't know they came back around. But here's Tesla - Call it What You Want Live @ Starland Ballroom 4/20/2019 :hat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbzt0WQ5hRg)
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Back home from Aruba and time for a back to back concert weekend in NYC. Tonight we got Kamelot/Sonata Arctica/Battle Beast at Playstation Theater (my favorite NYC venue) and tomorrow is Babymetal/Avatar at Terminal 5. Looking forward to seeing Avatar again, a band I discovered only 4 months ago when Devin Townsend opened for them and they blew me away.
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WOOT. I've got my tickets for Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Got them on Groupon for $50.00 a piece. Same section and (coincidentally) same row as the ticket I got in last year's show. I'm bringing my family and my sister's husband for this show and the tickets are on me. I feel like this is something we can all do together ever since all of us moved out of my childhood house to Diamond Bar (my parents and me moved to Garden Grove, my sister and her husband moved to San Dimas to live with her in-laws). Also, since we have all different preferences of music, I thought this would be a great middle ground since Christmas concerts can be a great medium to bring families together.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Toyota Arena - Ontario, CA. November 30th, 2019.
I still need a show in December to complete my resolution of going to a concert a month. Hopefully, something can be announced in a few weeks to get me going.
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That's pretty cool and a nice treat for your family... I still need something for December as well. If nothing pops up, I may end up going to see ska band Streetlight Manifesto again
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Had another awesome time with the close to a continuation of ProgPower for the Kamelot/Sonata Arctica/Battle Beast show last night in New York City. Got there early for drinks with my college roommate before we made our way in before Battle Beast started. I had only just got their new album last week, I wasn't totally impressed with the singles (now I wonder WTF I was thinking) so I put the album on the back burner until the show got closer, but man I really love the first 3 songs (and the album as a whole, but it starts so strong) and they performed all those songs, plus one more from the backend of the album (seems not every show they do that, so we got lucky). They were so fun and energetic, Noora was wonderful again on stage, her outfit, dancing, singing, overall stage presence is A++ plus just the look of this short girl amongst these tall Viking guys but she is as powerful as any of them with her voice. Crowd was really into them as well, although the place wasn't nearly full for them.
Sonata Arctica was next, and my friend and I just were not into it. The new songs just felt boring. We both were bored after 15 minutes of their set so we sat in the back. It was pretty cool they opened the seating area up but for GA seating, similar to Progpower where you can sit or stand wherever you want. I LOVE this venue and it's sad they are closing it. Sonata only played on song, Full Moon, that I knew and even then, I just felt like it wasn't what I was into.
Then the main course, Kamelot came on. My friend wanted to sit and watch so we did for about 1/2 of the set, before I said, lets get in the pit. And we did, I moshed the rest of the night, there was a small but active pit in the back of the floor. Lots of rooom to dance and it was so much fun. Kamelot were solid, Tommy sounded amazing, Laura was great, and Noora came out for Sacrimony which was fun. The setlist was fairly standard and it seems they are rotating one song this leg of the tour, and we got Center of the Universe which is a fantastic song.
I left completely drenched in sweat. A sign of an awesome show.
Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, & Battle Beast LIVE at Playstation Theater NYC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTxYf70dZxo)
and back in the city tonight for my next concert, Babymetal and Avatar. I'm not sure what to expect from this one. I was on the edge about seeing Babymetal, I only know a few songs and it's young girls dancing which is just weird, but when they announced Avatar was opening that got me sold since Avatar blew my mind live about 4 months earlier when Devin Townsend opened for them. I think this will be fun, haven't been to this venue in awhile which is a big GA place, and I'm pretty sure I'm not a huge fan of it so we will see.
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Cram, I watched the Battle Beast video earlier today. Holy shit that girl has some..um..lungs! Damn she nailed it.
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Cram, I watched the Battle Beast video earlier today. Holy shit that girl has some..um..lungs! Damn she nailed it.
Noora is soooo awesome live. Part of me wishes I sat back and recorded better video not only of them but also her singing with Tommy in kamelot. Oh well, I've seen these bands a few times each so I wanted to get all sweaty instead.
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Dude...
Center of The Universe is a fantastic song. Glad they finally busted it out.
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Man, my body is really hurting after last night, but it was worth it. What an AWESOME experience all around. The line was HUGE to get into the venue and I'm glad I got there earlier enough to make it in just before Avatar hit the stage. Avatar are a new discovery for me since I saw them headline with Devin Townsend opening 4 months ago. Who knew a band from Sweden would come out of nowhere and make such a big impact on me in such a short time. I enjoy some Babymetal but I wasn't sold on going to the show until I saw they were going to be the opener. I really wanted to see them again, and while it was a shorter set being the opener, they really brought the awesome show again. I think they played one different song from last night, also got to see Johannes pull out the trombone again. I started watching in the back and eventually pushed my way up when I realized there was a mosh pit. I got right in. It was small, but fun. Made a few friends in the pit as we all went and grabbed drinks and chatted together between bands. We all then pushed back in when babymetal came on and started a huge mosh pit. I ended up being dead center up front, and really in the thick of the mosh pit. I had sooooo much fun there. There were non stop crowd surfers and a constant surge pushing you in every direction. It also meant it was impossible to get any solid footage. All the footage I got is just crazy and shows what it was like to be there, but not necessarily the performance of the band. Whatever, I had the time of my life during their set. The three girls dancing, heavy catchy music, rabid fans going wild. AWESOME concert.
After the show, I didn't have anywhere I needed to be, I hung out near the buses behind the building. Perfect timing as Avatar came out. I got to meet all of them and even chat with them. The singer without make up was really cool to see, he was wearing a Devin Townsend shirt which he showed off to me as I told him how I discovered them (via Devin). The best part is, after all was said and done, I kind of just lurked around the bus. Started speaking to a guy who I'm pretty sure was a tour manager (had a walkie, was loading and directing people on loading equipment, organized and watched over the meet and greet) and next thing you know I'm smoking a fatty boom batty with the two guitarist of Avatar. :hat We chilled for awhile outside their tour bus just talking about Sweden and tour life.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EEn_8OKXUAMBpW3?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EEn_3J7XoAI-Aw-?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EEmf-cLXsAg2boY?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
Well, back to the show though and my body hurting today. I think I had a slight dislocating of my pinky in the pit last night. Somehow my finger got stuck on someone or something in the pit and bent my pinky backwards and out (and I wish I was recording a video so you could hear me scream in pain like a kid). It's still quite painful, but overall will be fine. It's super swollen and red right on the knuckle and bruised on my palm side. I'm just happy that's it, oh and my camera is broken :lol The video isn't the greatest, but it captures the energy:
Babymetal and Avatar LIVE New York City (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36OfIP0Em4)
Also, since I actually got to chill with these guys, the King himself sharing a doobie with me, it kept reminding me of how awesome they were the first time seeing them and this is actually up there as a top 5 concert moment for me earlier this year when they had technical difficulties :rollin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63C32oLENkg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63C32oLENkg) at 3:12 when he says to introduce yourself to each other and you hear from someone in the crowd "I love anal" :rollin gets me every time
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Last weekend was my latest concert, it was another continuation of the progpower music with Delain, Amorphis, and Anneke Van Giersbergen at sold out gramercy theatre in New York City. They actually moved the venue to a smaller one when the original venue needed to be closed for renovation, so the smaller venue sold out fairly easily. I had bought a VIP balcony ticket for the original venue (Irving Plaza) since I knew from experience that gets you the best view plus cut the line to get in on time for the first band if you don't get there super early. Well, I wasn't sure how that would translate to the different venue, but it actually worked out well. I cut the line to get in, which was a pretty big line. They let the VIPs in early and just chill in the merch area/bar before anyone else was in which worked out well. Then they had a few rows of seats for people like me who had the balcony tickets and I ended up being right in the first row above the GA standing with an awesome view, even next to the bar as well. Perfect.
Show started with Anneke doing an acoustic solo set. Really fun. She is so charming. She was joking and talking to the crowd often, made fun of herself for not being the greatest guitarist, just full of smiles. Her set was almost all cover songs, starting with Ih-Ah from Devin Townsend (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TccksXnUDjs), she did Kiss, Ayreon, Pink Floyd, and ended it with Iron Maiden's Wasted Years (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1anZG1vPK6c) which was a huge highlight for me. Her voice is so powerful, she doesn't even need a guitar to be entertaining.
Next was Amorphis. I'm not terribly into them, I didn't know them going into last week but youtubed their hits and other than Amongst Stars, nothing really stuck with me. However, they were pretty good live. I definitely enjoyed their live set more than I did when I was doing my homework. I'm not going to buy an album now, but it was definitely an enjoyable set. It also seemed most of the crowd was there for Amorphis. Everyone I talked to said so, I think I was the only one who mainly wanted to see Delain. Well, they also did play Amongst Stars with Anneke (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40l9l_mMafA) and that was easily the highlight of the night and it was nice to see Annie jump up and sing to some heavier music, reminded me of her with Devin Townsend. So awesome.
The place kind of emptied a bit for Delain sadly. It was sold out, yet you could easily move around on the floor now. Oh well, they started off with a brand new song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5si4gilcZbI) which is pretty daring if you ask me to open a show with a song no one has heard before. It was good, I liked it. The set was fairly short for a headlining show, last time they headlined it was a much longer set. I'm not sure why the show started at 8pm either instead of say 7 or 7:30 so they could get a full headline set in. Maybe because of the drummer sitation as this was the second show with the Amorphis drummer filling in. Also, first time for me seeing Delain without Merel :( After watching from my seat, I saw some friends in the pit and joined them. My pinky is still swollen and in pain from last week, so I didn't go hard and it wasn't a big pit either, so I just made the best of it jumping around with some buddies I've come to know from going to so many shows together.
Being I'm on vacation, I had no where to be after the show so I hung outside by the busses with a bunch of other people. I got to meet Otto from Delain, who said he wanted to drink before coming back out so he went into the tour bus and I never saw him again. A bunch of the Amorphis guys were hanging out, but then Anneke came out. The best part of the night, got to meet Anneke. :heart It's funny too, being a youtuber, I notice other people doing the same thing and I actually met another youtuber who goes to a lot of these shows. He actually took these pics of me, and I"m glad he snapped a few extras showing that we were actually conversing too! :yarr
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/70972357_10120329246833274_416032728681545728_o.jpg?_nc_cat=104&_nc_oc=AQlEbxD2hDdUMReuN_zgS_VOeB5LKpxULNgswwmED4ZujuVxNY9wAvTEU1t6LF9eOLg&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=48572c930e764880b83f60eb904b05e9&oe=5E33FCCB)
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/70444050_10120329247032874_288201939173244928_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_oc=AQmR2x1_xqkpfS615LQ39_cHYdduA_cfHhuKAdahAsHdO55ZMe-IbxRUtaCYUFHCWt4&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=ee2c876c1ce82d2ad9536fc69b703244&oe=5E2D299E)
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/71475369_10120329247377184_3665034041947586560_o.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_oc=AQkRlvcyTcaefpfY3joq9I5cfWviFCx53GHBSlYamBlilVTxWB8LKX7_5fLIWeK8egk&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=a725ca5b62f76df2ca46a8d8bb2d477d&oe=5DFDFF13)
Also, funny since I wore my progpower shirt I ended up having good conversation with the two guys sitting next to me. Turns out they've been to 17 progpowers :lol I guess I'll see them again next year.
Delain, Amorphis, Anneke LIVE in New York City (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdUTuSb_ims)
next concert is tonight in Las Vegas for Aerosmith, this is going to be an expensive ticket.
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Last in Line, in January. Awesome show, great small(ish) venue. Vivian Campbell is every bit as rad as I thought he would be, and the rest of the band didn't disappoint.
Plini in March - this was the first time I saw him live, and enjoyed it.
Going to see DT again in the end of October, really looking forward to it.
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On a different note of my usual concert going experience, I went to the Game of Thrones Live concert experience last night and I'm so glad I went. If you're a fan of the music of the show, the concert is a fantastic opportunity to listen to the orchestra play it live. It's an almost 2 1/2 hour concert and honestly, I had goosebumps the entire time.
The first half of the show is centered around the first six seasons with footage being shown from a character perspective and the music scored to that footage with musical pieces that were scored for that character or used their motifs. I'm really glad they did it this way rather than just play the tracks live from the soundtrack, it kept things super interesting. The orchestra played great, they had a lead violinist, cello player and a vocalist who were all just phenomenal. The percussionists were amazing as well.
They played a few tracks straight through and probably the highlight of the night was hearing the tracks Light of the Seven and the Night King. The arrangement on Night King was changed a little bit and it killed with the added choir parts. There's a track on the soundtrack that wasn't used in the show called Not Today and it's essentially a choir version of the Night King.
They ended up with my favorite two tracks of Season 8, The Last of the Starks and Song of Ice and Fire. They did mess up a bit on the last song with the key change but still overall was an all-out amazing show. I really wish I had seen the previous two concerts.
Each piece was intense as they added a lot of practical effects with pyro, snow, smoke and synchronized lights. It really added to the presentation.
I initially was a little disappointed to learn that Ramin Djawadi himself wasn't there to conduct the orchestra, his substitute was quite good too. Turns out Ramin is only playing a few dates this tour.
I also hope they are able to bring some of the episodes to a theater sometime. I know the last season was divisive but they would sound and look amazing on the big screen.
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Aerosmith last night was something else, a bit beyond a concert experience in some ways. I was trying to see if I could get any day of discount tickets, but being Vegas, I wasn't sure how this would all work out. Livenation's cheapest came out to $180 after fees for GA side of the stage. I walked to the box office to see if they had anything better or deals, the one discount day of ticket booth didn't have any for sale which was my first stop on the way to the venue. I then saw a side box office for it on the strip (saving me another 20 minutes of walking probably) and they had tickets for seats, but no sales. Their cheapest was mid level all the way to the side seat for $190 after fees. I pulled out my phone after that conversation and bought the side stage GA ticket. Fuck it, I may not have the best view, but I'll get a cool experience... and wow was it worth it.
These on stage tickets actually came with VIP perks. For one, a different line to get in. Cool, also in/out privileges. I got there early, but ended up coming back out to play some roulette. The only thing that sucked about any of this experience was the $20 drinks. Whatever, when in Rome... well once they let us into the stage area, it became apparent how cool this experience was about to be. There was a bar on stage in the back for one, the keyboards were right next to the railing and there was a good amount of room. Plus seats behind the GA area on the stage. Once you got off the stairs and onto the stage a lady handed you an ipod with headphones and a guy was standing there to explain what this was about. The ipod had just one default app open with two options, band or Steve. The guy explains, being side stage you don't get the best sound. So they give you these, THX headphones ($100 value he said) to keep but return the ipod. You can listen to the band mix, which is the best sound you can get of the live audio feed or you can listen to Steven's in ear sound which was pretty cool. It was more drum heavy, not much guitars very low, and some of him talking to the sound people. What a cool thing!
I was early enough to be right by the rail, not on it though. A section was closed off for some handicapped kids, which was cool. It was still going to be a bit before the show started so I started mingling a bit, the booze was flowing from this bar and everyone in the section seemed really nice from talking to them. I started chatting wtih security about a good spot to stand and this guy just started telling me cool nuggets about the show. The best part and what made the night so different than any other concert. He goes "in about 5 minutes this area is going to fill up with 12 strippers. Steven likes to have wild girls on stage so always brings them for these shows. He said they film every show and always want to make it look crazy with hot girls. Well, right on time, all these babes start strolling in :yarr
The show starts with a 30 minute video at 8pm, couldn't see it from where I was on stage and honestly didn't care and neither did it seem like anyone else. I left the stage with the girls and their guy escort to hit up the bathroom. I chatted with the dude outside the bathroom as he waited for all the girls. Just a fun good time, everyone was so nice. The girls, this guy, security, the bar tender... shit even Steven Tyler seemed like he was awesome.
Time for the show, and it was fun, but sadly a bit short. Only 15 songs for a headliner only band doing a residency? They were doing 17 or 18 for their last residency here. I was a bit dissapointed with that, but the 15 songs they played were so much fun. The girls danced like crazy. They tried to get me to buy them drinks but noo way with those prices :lol Whatever, the band got close to the barrier many times. Steven hugged and kissed people near me. It was a big party in our section. One girl kept showing her nipple :lol
The highlight was the set closer of Love in an Elevator. I was quite typsy and dancing in my little spot, alomst like a mosh pit but instead of moshing its me a few other dudes and 10 girls just dancing. I guess one girl could tell I was into it, I hadn't danced or talked to her at all in the night, she was a tall blond, she just pulled me in and started making out with me, tongue and all. :hat Wow, Love in an Elevator? How about in the GA side stage pit? :lol So random, that was all though and that was it, never interacted with that one again.
I can't wait to get home and review all my video footage from that shit show.
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Aerosmith Live at The Park Las Vegas Residency from the side stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB_zpn1zoCA)
:metal :metal
Highlights:
14:20 dancing with the girls :hat
18:38 stripper staring me down :lol
21:01 spitting out my jello shot at the venetian :yarr
must say, that concert was more of a party at a club than what is a typical rock concert, and the video kind of shows that so it's not the best music or performance footage, but it's a good memory of what went down that night.
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Got the chance to go see Deafheaven on Sunday so I'm pretty sure I'm going to go for that! Been severely lacking on the gig front this year!
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As mentioned in the Delain thread, I got the ticket to their show in two weeks in Anaheim.
Delain & Amorphis with Anneke van Giersbergen - The City National Grove of Anaheim - Anaheim, CA. October 11th, 2019.
I still got a lot I want to talk about regarding my trip last week, but I'm hammering out the details and typing it in Microsoft Word detail by detail and it's probably going to fill like 6 pages and I want to post that in the Alter Bridge forum I go to before posting the cliff notes here.
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Phil Collins - Atlanta, GA 9-28-19 - The not dead yet tour
I love my wife, so I told her I would go to the concert with her, even though I am not a big fan of Phil Collins
Fantastic concert in Duluth Georgia tonite! A full brass section and 4 great backup singers. Also, his 18 year old son and his other drummer on the tour were awesome.
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Just got back from seeing Deafheaven and Touché Amouré. Both bands were great but Deafheaven really stole the show. I'm not a big fan of the lead singers posturing on stage but other than that Deafheaven were one hell of an experience.
Firstly, I'm REALLY glad they played a set that mostly comprised of their latest album, as I love it. Secondly, I realised they are one of those bands I love, because of the contrast in their music. When they play all out black metal (for an entire song), I start to lose interest. However, when they add in the beautifully melodic, post-rock/shoegaze style passages I just drift away (in a good way). When this is complimented by the black metal assault interspersed then it keeps it interesting. I realised tonight, this is what does it for me, with bands such as Deafheaven. I don't think I could ever love a band that plays just black metal.
My night was topped of by getting the long sleeved t-shirt, I've had my eye on for a while, and seeing John Baizley as I was leaving the venue. I'm kicking myself though as I was wearing my 'Purple Record' Baroness t-shirt and I could've got him to sign it or something!
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Well, I've been seeing this show pop up at Groupon from time to time at $50.00 for the worst seats and opted to pass on it. Now I see it today on Groupon for $30.00 ($27.00 for those that has Groupon Select) and I had to pull the trigger on it.
The Who with Liam Gallagher opening - Hollywood Bowl - Los Angeles, CA. October 24th, 2019.
Of course, I don't know too much about these guys, other than the fact that they and Liam Gallager are big name value, but a cheat seat for a band that's been around like The Who has been is something I probably can't pass. Plus, Hollywood Bowl is another well known venue in the LA area that I have never been to that I want to cross off my bingo card of venues in LA to see a show in.
Also, I'm going to pass on seeing Starset on Wednesday. Nothing wrong with Starset. They are a great young band and will have some great spacey visuals, but I'm not in the mood to want to drive to LA on a Wednesday this week. Plus I hear the parking around the venue can be quite shady and unclean (even more shady and unclean than what one would expect parking in Downtown LA).
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Just got back from seeing Deafheaven and Touché Amouré. Both bands were great but Deafheaven really stole the show. I'm not a big fan of the lead singers posturing on stage but other than that Deafheaven were one hell of an experience.
Firstly, I'm REALLY glad they played a set that mostly comprised of their latest album, as I love it. Secondly, I realised they are one of those bands I love, because of the contrast in their music. When they play all out black metal (for an entire song), I start to lose interest. However, when they add in the beautifully melodic, post-rock/shoegaze style passages I just drift away (in a good way). When this is complimented by the black metal assault interspersed then it keeps it interesting. I realised tonight, this is what does it for me, with bands such as Deafheaven. I don't think I could ever love a band that plays just black metal.
My night was topped of by getting the long sleeved t-shirt, I've had my eye on for a while, and seeing John Baizley as I was leaving the venue. I'm kicking myself though as I was wearing my 'Purple Record' Baroness t-shirt and I could've got him to sign it or something!
I really like Deafheaven musically and do not mind bands with harsh vocals, but I cannot see the point of lyrics if they cannot hear any of the lyrics. I looked up a few of the songs and the lyrics are really good.
I did notice a few of the songs on the latest cd have some clean vocals. I wonder if the singer on the clean vocals is the same screamer on the harsh vocals.
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Well, I've been seeing this show pop up at Groupon from time to time at $50.00 for the worst seats and opted to pass on it. Now I see it today on Groupon for $30.00 ($27.00 for those that has Groupon Select) and I had to pull the trigger on it.
The Who with Liam Gallagher opening - Hollywood Bowl - Los Angeles, CA. October 24th, 2019.
Of course, I don't know too much about these guys, other than the fact that they and Liam Gallager are big name value, but a cheat seat for a band that's been around like The Who has been is something I probably can't pass. Plus, Hollywood Bowl is another well known venue in the LA area that I have never been to that I want to cross off my bingo card of venues in LA to see a show in.
Also, I'm going to pass on seeing Starset on Wednesday. Nothing wrong with Starset. They are a great young band and will have some great spacey visuals, but I'm not in the mood to want to drive to LA on a Wednesday this week. Plus I hear the parking around the venue can be quite shady and unclean (even more shady and unclean than what one would expect parking in Downtown LA).
I saw The Who on a whim as well without being a huge fun. It's definitely an entertaining show and they have an entire orchestra which makes it really cool and for me, super unique to see that show. I didn't leave thinking I loved their music anymore though, was never a huge fan, but I did enjoy the show so if you got a deal and into it for the experience, you'll be satisfied.
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I've been on the fence for this one since my flight to Denver is at 730am tomorrow, but I'm kind of leaning towards making this happen and seeing Gwar with Sacred Reich tonight at my local ballroom. I've seen Gwar twice before but not in a very very long time. I've never been a huge fan but have a few old albums and always kind of enjoyed the humor and ridiculous of it while still being able to enjoy the poor metal they play. Either way, it's a show and it's very different type of show. Kind of want to get some video really and just have fun, as I love concerts.
I first saw Gwar back in 2000 with Lamb of God opening at the long closed Birch Hill club in central NJ. I then saw them again in 2004 while in college at Penn State, they played at the long closed Crowbar. The first time I was in high school and needed a ride home, there was no way I was getting close to the stage to set my parents off as why I was coming home drenched in "blood". When I saw them in college, I didn't care, got up close and was sprayed all show long. I have a picture somewhere of me after the show, all blue. Apparently they shot blue liquid over everyone so they didn't leave covered in "blood".
Well anyway, I'm still on the fence but I definitely want to make this and will probbaly decide once I get home and see how I feel.
And in other cramx3 concert news, I sold my ticket for Incubus at Radio City on Thursday (since I'll be in Denver for work) and to make up for it, I'm very likely now (put in PTO for the monday after) to head to DC in a couple weeks for back to back nights of Incubus. I didn't want to miss this show because they are doing the entire Make Yourself album and the "and beyond" part of the set is completely different for back to back nights making doing both really worth it, especially if I make the 4 hour drive down to DC. I'm actually really looking forward to this now :metal So here is how the rest of my year looks. I also knocked out seeing DT for a 3rd time, I could change my mind come concert day, but honestly just not feeling the vibe of their live shows right this moment. I don't want to get yelled at for standing or the ushers annoyed because I pull out my camera. If they had a cheap back seat available I'd consider it, but I'm not paying the $70 before fees to not enjoy a concert the way I like to enjoy concerts.
October 2nd - Gwar & Sacred Reich @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
October 12th - Incubus @ Warner Theatre, Washington DC
October 13th - Incubus @ Warner Theatre, Washington DC
October 19th - Toto @ Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank NJ
October 20th - Battle Beast @ Dingbatz, Clifton NJ
November 2nd - Sabaton and Hammerfall @ Playstation Theater, New York City NY
Depending on my work schedule, there's a few concerts in Denver that may interest me... AJR at Red Rocks, Dropkick Murphys at 1stbank center, or Amon Amarth at the Fillmore. Going to one of those depends on my work schedule, but I'd check out any of those three if I could make it happen.
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And the people-watching will be damn good comedy.
:rollin
There's definitely shows where I go into it with this same mindset
Last Wednesday night I managed to go see Gwar at my local ballroom. Very entertaining show. I haven't seen them in 15 years (wow that makes me feel so old) and I knew the singer had died since then and really hadn't followed their music. So I kind of knew what to expect but also didn't in some ways.
Venue did not sell well at all. Kind of expected but this was a really small crowd overall, especially when you consider the amount of effort that goes into this kind of show. I started the set in my go to location on the side stage near the back door to get onto the stage so I could yell at the band before the went on. It was pretty funny to see the guys in the hallway in their huge outfits, it looked like they barely could fit single file in that hallway :lol
Not much interaction before they hit the stage, so I moved to a better spot for a view. I never got too close in this one, I just didn't want to get shot with blood, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching everyone else get sprayed. Most of the spraying was coming from one of the two cocks from the singer :rollin I've got to say, the band sounded really good. It made me question if they were really playing and going through my video, they still sound really solid. With all the prepared speeches between songs it did kind of make me wonder if anything I was watching was real. But I think it was overall and maybe they are just a well oiled machine. They play metal but nothing technical or difficult to pull off, plus adding in lots of NJ references throughout the night made me feel they were legit, just really solid musically.
They killed Caitlyn Jenner and Trump as the most notable scenes of the night. Ripping off the chests and blood and guts everywhere. It was definitely a site to see. They used a smoke machine for the effect during the kills too, it worked really well from a visual perspective.
I only knew a couple of the older songs, so I wasn't too into the set it was more about the entertainment. I moved back to the side spot as they ended and got fist bumps from all of the band as they came off stage. I stuck around for a bit at the end to just take pics/video of all the blood on the floor. I feel bad for whoever has to clean that up and one guy ran back and did a body slide into it all :lol
The only part that sucked about that night was not getting home until midnight and needing to catch a 730am flight, but I wanted to get my videos up so I stayed up until 2am editing my video. I was in pretty bad shape the next morning but YOLO
Gwar Live @ Starland Ballroom NJ 2019 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP2_VInsQ_Q)
I just got back to my hotel from working in Denver today, I'm going to head out in a bit to see AJR at Red Rocks tonight. Not metal or rock music, more like a pop band in my mind so not terribly excited about the music but looking forward to seeing another concert at the best venue I've ever been to. I actually saw AJR last year play at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas in LA so while not my music, I'm kind of aware of them and know some of their songs now.
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Got some time to share my thoughts on the last show I saw, AJR at the Red Rocks.
I must say, I had a really good time at this show that was more of a family pop show than my typical concert. For one, I absolutely love the venue. It's got to be my favorite I've been to. It's just so beautiful but also the people and vibe in this awesome location really add to the experience. Nothing beats smoking a J leaning on a tree next to the red rocks while watching live music at 7500ft elevation :hat
Now AJR really didn't impress me when I saw their 30 minute set at KROQ last year. They didn't fit the bill that day at all and I remembered only liking one song, Burn the House Down. This show, while I automatically got the same vibe from the band, but the fans responded and it felt like it lifted the show up a bit. There were lots of kids at this show, I'm guessing AJR's audience is much younger than what I am used to, but the parents next to me were really cool and chill. They had wished I showed up earlier as someone lied to them saying they had my seat and then the guy proceeded to puke :lol All before I gt there so I didn't see it or smell it so it didn't bother me, just funny to hear the story from the dad when I got there.
Anyway, Cold War Kids opened the show, I arrived half way through their set. I over heard a bunch of people saying they were there for them, not AJR, but I must say, I found them very uninteresting. I spent the time walking around the venue instead of watching and just enjoying the scenery.
Everyone was standing and dancing for AJR. Their music was sooo catchy. I found myself singing their songs for days after the show, just stuck in my head and its not music I would typically be attracted to at all. I love the trumpet player. Live horns are awesome and this guy was great. Reminded me of the guy from OAR. Just looks like he's having a blast tooting his horn.
The band had a really awesome video show that the singer often interacted with, either by walking while it rained in the back, or touching the screen and making pictures with it, or my favorite part when they discussed how they write a song. They did something similar at KROQ leading into a different song so seeing it again but totally different way of making a song was really cool. That was the lead in for the song Dont Throw Away My Legos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSrt_9d4v94). I'm glad I caught the whole thing, it's really interesting and cool while being pop, it still comes off musically interesting to see.
I think their lyrics also hit me. I didn't know all these songs so I was hearing this stuff for the first time, and felt an emotional attachment right there in the moment. Maybe it was the legal greens, but I felt like they were hitting me in places I haven't been hit musically in awhile. They only played for an 75 minutes which kind of sucked. The show was over at 10pm, I was hoping for a later evening in the venue so I stuck around until everyone left to just enjoy it for as much as possible. I can't wait to go back there for another show, I just hope one day my schedule aligns to be there for a band I really want to see.
AJR Live @ Sold Out Red Rocks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTEyaHsBFho)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGKOw0wUYAAKOO0?format=jpg&name=360x360)
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Another pair of concerts to go to on back to back days starting tomorrow.
Delain & Amorphis with Anneke van Giersbergen opening - The City National Grove of Anaheim - Anaheim, CA. October 11th, 2019.
Self Help Fest with A Day to Remember headlining featuring I Prevail, Underoath, Beartooth, Motionless In White, Animal as Leaders, Periphery, and more - October 12th - NOS Events Center - San Bernardino, CA
It's been three weeks since the last show I've been to (which was in Raleigh, NC). Since then, I was sick. I wasn't feeling wanting to go to LA on a Wednesday last week, but I feel much fresher now. I don't know any of these bands' materials as thoroughly as the last five concerts I've been to, but a fun time is still to be have even going really blind and unprepared.
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Well, being put on the nightshift the last few months shot all my concert plans to hell, including Amorphis et. al., Babymetal, Sabaton, and a few others. Unless something cool pops up, all I got for the remainder of the year is Allegaeon in a headlining slot at a small local club.
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That sucks RJ, those are some good shows.
Anguyen, that Self Help Fest looks interesting, A Day to Remember blew me away at the Warped Tour (I had never heard them before) with their energy and crazy crowd. Let me know if the singer gets people to surf the crowd surfers :lol I think that is so far my #1 concert moment of the year.
I'm also in for b2b nights of Incubus next to Trump's house :lol like almost literally, the Warner Theater is 2 blocks from the White House. Some amazing deal opened up (I'm guessing since someone cancelled) for a full weekend stay including parking. It however is not a walking distance, but the savings plus short uber rides is still way cheaper than one night at one of the closer hotels. Either way, now I just need tickets (which are available) but I'm pretty excited to see Make Yourself twice plus a bunch of other awesome songs.
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Don't Throw Away My Legos
Oh when will you American folks learn - the plural of Lego is Lego. It's "Don't throw away my Lego". I mean, you don't say "Sheeps" or "Polices" or "Offsprings", do you?
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Don't Throw Away My Legos
Oh when will you American folks learn - the plural of Lego is Lego. It's "Don't throw away my Lego". I mean, you don't say "Sheeps" or "Polices" or "Offsprings", do you?
I was wondering that as well and made me think it could be a copyright thing to say legos instead? Or maybe it's just that common mistake. I had to double check as well, the song is called "legos" so oh well. Honestly, it sounds better that way too but I know it's not correct.
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So, I had a fun time watching Anneke van Giersbergen, Amorphis, and Delain in Anaheim. Anneke was solo with an acoustic guitar doing some covers and some of her stuff and the stuff she was a part of. Some fun tidbits on that set. She had a vote from the audience whether to do a KISS cover or a Dolly Parton cover and the majority, whose mainly a metal-oriented crowd, wanted the Dolly Parton cover. Anneke was rooting for the Dolly Parton cover as well, since she didn't remember how to do the KISS cover after trying it for the first few shows and saw that no one really cared, but people liked her cover of Jolene. The bigger mark-out moment for me personally was when she played a nice rendition of Audioslave's Like A Stone and I think Chris Cornell would have been proud if he was around now to hear that cover since his acoustic shows mainly composes of the same format that Anneke did for her set. Only one acoustic guitar with his interpretations of covers, his solo stuff, and the stuff he did with his bands. I know everyone here knows it, but I can personally confirm it. She's got a lovely great voice.
Next band was Amorphis and they brought a pretty heavy sounding set and that's really all I can say and that it sounds pretty nice and their vocalist had a nice balance between going clean and harsh vocals.
Final band was Delain and they were indeed the star of the night. They brought a lot of energy. Charlotte sounded good. I liked the drum/guitar solo section in the middle of the set. Charlotte also acknowledged a little girl in the front of the crowd that also held a sign on the end of the set that says "We Are the Others" and what do you know? That's the closing song of the set so they dedicated the song to her. It's a small thing, but it's a nice gesture to make someone's day on that show.
Also, as a plus to me, the person that was selling the shirts announced that whoever got a presale ticket for Delain with a presale code "Advance" gets a free shirt and what do you know? My ticket says that and I got it on Stubhub, so yay me for getting a free shirt. Helps offset a bit from the $38.00 that I paid for the ticket.
Now the sad news, there was only like 300 people that showed up for the show. In a venue that can hold around 1,700 people, that is really concerning and I think I know why the turnout is small. I've said this before regarding other bands like Big Wreck and Winery Dogs. Bands and promoters shouldn't be booking both a Los Angeles show and a show in Orange County in the same touring month unless they are a major household name. Doing so would lower the attendance of one of these shows and that show would be the OC show. This bill were not big mainstream household names since they are solid bands in a really niche genre and market so they are not able to draw full crowds in both LA and OC shows in the same week. They can still sell out a show if they stick with one show in the SoCal area and that would be the LA show.
Also, the tickets were a bit too steep for this bill. $46.00 with fees included, but I get it. It costs a fair amount of these European bands to travel here to the states in relatively not so large venues compared to Within Temptation and Nightwish that can pack the house in small theaters that holds 2,000 people in SoCal. I kinda wish Delain was on the bill on the Within Temptation tour instead of In Flames last Winter (In Flames is playing in the Observatory in Santa Ana that holds only 500 people this November compared to the 1,800 that they played in LA with Within Temptation). They would have played in front of a bigger crowd, played for an hour, and get a much more larger reaction, but I'm sure this band, as much as they love touring with bands like Within Temptation and Kamelot, they want to standout as a headlining draw since they do have the ability to deliver a standalone headlining set.
One could make an argument of this bill playing in smaller room to look like a more fuller crowd, but the most suitable venue in the OC for this bill was the Observatory in Santa Ana and Dragonforce was already playing there on the same day. Part of me wished that I would have gone to Dragonforce instead since their tickets were much cheaper (around $28.00 fees included compared to the $46.00 that AXS was asking for the Delain show), but I opted to commit the whole way for Delain. Regardless of crowd size, people were really into the show and Delain really appreciated that and still played their butts off. You got to love bands for playing with everything they got regardless if they are playing in front of 200, 2,000, or 20,000 people.
Still, I had a fun time and got a free shirt and talked to some interesting people and heard great music. Can't argue with that. Now to rest for like 9 hours before heading to drive for an hour to San Bernardino for the Self Help Fest. I may need to get a lawn chair since my feet is sore after standing for 6 hours straight today. Don't think I can make it for 10+ hours of standing outdoors tomorrow, but it's worth trying.
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Saw iamthemorning (yes, again) yesterday (see the band's thread), now I'm about to head out to the Epica's Design Your Universe 10th anniversary show. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to the front row. They've got two support bands so that's going to suck probably. Glad the concert season is in full swing again though, I missed that.
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Nice, I'm looking forward to that Epica show in January :metal
Also, sucks Delain didn't draw more people but 300-500 might be normal for them. The venue in NYC sold out but its only 500 capacity and I think Amorphis sold at least half the tickets as it emptied out before Delain hit the stage.
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Hell, I'm tired. Two warmup bands isn't something I'm usually in favour of, even though they both have been fine, I could've done without them, especially since I was at the venue at 16:30 and Epica started at 21:00. Epica was amazing as expected, didn't make it to the front row because of all the M&G participants, but happily stood in the second row. I definitely needed this to just vent off some steam after three difficult weeks at work, I enjoyed every minute of this show, man, this was great.
Cram, you definitely have something to look forward to.
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Anguyen, that Self Help Fest looks interesting, A Day to Remember blew me away at the Warped Tour (I had never heard them before) with their energy and crazy crowd. Let me know if the singer gets people to surf the crowd surfers :lol I think that is so far my #1 concert moment of the year.
Yes, he did. He did get people to surf on the crowdsurfers before Better Off This Way. It's something they always try to do in every show they play in around the world, the singer stated.
Anywho, I had a good time at the Self Help Fest. Long drive though to San Bernardino. The setup wasn't too complex in comparison to the meccas of big rock/metal festivals like Download or Wacken or even the Danny Wimmer Presents festivals in the states. Just one outdoor stage, one indoor stage, and a lot of concessions for merch, food, drinks, etc. There's a lot of room to move around and there were plenty of spots on lawns to relax and sit and still get a good view of the stage. I think like around 15k-20k people showed up at the festival at one point. It's hard to tell when people are coming and going.
I did think it did took a while for me to really enjoy the festival. I didn't enjoy the first two bands on the main stage. One of the bands had a vocalist with such a squeaky voice for me to take seriously when he says "I want to see you guys moving and getting pits going." The other band looks to be a old-school punk band and that's not really my thing. That stated, from This Wild Life onward, I started to really enjoy the festival. This Wild Life had a mellow vibe and the vocalist did a thing where he wanted the most toughest looking guy in the crowd to dance with the woman he is with the whole way during one of their songs. They also did a cover of Wonderwall to top it off.
Periphery were good from what I can catch, but I feel asleep on a lawn spot in-between them setting up their stage and like 10 minutes of their set. I can't help it. My brain sometimes get so bored to an extend where I just doze off out of nowhere and this applies in any setting whether it is at my computer at home, in the break room at work, etc. I think Periphery might have played like four songs in their 30 minute set. Unfortunately, the festival found itself overrunning and behind on schedule they set, so I didn't catch Motionless in White as a curio on the other stage, because I was too invested in Animals As Leaders. Sure, I didn't know the songs they played, but it sounded really good all instrumentally. In fact, I think the guitarist might have forgotten for a brief moment on what song they were supposed to play. I think the crowd appreciated them even though it's hard to really get pits and crowdsurfers going for an all instrumental band and they started coming in more masses as the sun sets and the more named bands for the (Beartooth, I Prevail, Underoath, and of course, A Day To Remember) is coming next.
I was disappointed in Beartooth's set though. I liked various songs from their Disease album and the vocalist's live vocals were way different than what I heard in the studio version which was leaning more towards his screaming voice than his melodic voice. My hypothesis gathers that he may have suffered minor damage in his voice due to screaming a lot. It also didn't help that I felt he was trying too hard getting people into them. I did really enjoy I Prevail's set the most so far in the festival. They had a good blend of one guy doing the harsh vocals and the other guy doing the more melodic vocals. I wished they played more from their Lifelines album (which I liked) instead of focusing heavily on their latest album Trauma (which I didn't like as much). In hindsight, I do regret not seeing them at their show in Anaheim had I know I was going to like their set. Live Nation had a deal where they were offering $25.00 tickets for that show. Oh well, next time.
Underoath was good as well and they came in relatively at the last minute (a week before the festival) as the request from A Day to Remember (since ADTR were the ones that organized the whole thing) and they were on a break at the time from touring long throughout the year. As a result, the lead singer told a story of how he needed to get to a flight from home in Tampa, to Southern California at the last minute and they told him that a direct flight would be on Sunday which is no bueno since the show is on Saturday. So he had to take three different flights to get to LAX and then took the trip to San Bernardino just to make it to the festival. I presume there were no ways to get to the airport in Ontario since that's the closest airport to San Bernardino, because f' taking a two hour trip from LAX to San Bernardino.
Anywho, A Day to Remember put on a very solid set albeit a short headlining set (around 80 minutes). They had it all. The energy. The songs people can singalong to. Lots of pits and crowdsurfers. A video screen for custom visuals and shots of the band and the crowd. Steam and pyro. They had some beach balls for people to pass around shown in the picture below.
(https://i.imgur.com/J0MyL9Z.png)
The one thing I wished would have been better was during the encore when they played "If It Means A Lot To You" where the crowd should have reached their peak of singalongs for this song, since it's a song where the lyrics are literally "Now everybody is singing La. La La La. La La La," but it didn't here. Oh well. I still like the performance.
I wouldn't mind coming back to this festival, next year, depending on the line-up. The one thing I should have done was wait just a bit longer for tickets to get to a certain point. The website had it regularly for $75.00. I bought my ticket on Stubhub for $60.00 about three weeks before the festival and then I saw that the festival was doing a discount for $44.00 the week before and even like two days before the festival, Stubhub was having tickets go for $40.00 fees included. That's was just my bad and I will be patient and wait until tickets get to that price range now that I know it can be a thing.
Three more shows left in the year for right now for me. I still need a show in December. I do see that Thrice is playing at the local House of Blues in Anaheim, but it looks like it's their only remaining show in the states for the year, and it is sold out and the resale ticket is too expensive for me right now. I also do note that Sublime with Rome is also at the HOB and tickets look reasonable at $48.00 for all GA. Do I want to go? Maybe. One more band I note at the HOB playing in December is Falling in Reverse, but I read that their frontman is a dick that has been incarcerated in the past before and their music is already polarizing enough. I only know of them because the producer for their last few albums was produced by the same guy that produces all but one (the first one) Alter Bridge albums. Anywho, I'll find something. I would think KROQ would announced their Almost Acoustic Christmas at the Forum as of now, but that's not the case yet. If worst comes to worst, that will be my December show if there is an announcement about it and the tickets are not sold out instantly which they probably will.
The Who with Liam Gallagher opening - Hollywood Bowl - Los Angeles, CA. October 24th, 2019.
Switchfoot - Fox Performing Arts Center - Riverside, CA. November 5th, 2019.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Toyota Arena - Ontario, CA. November 30th, 2019.
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Seen:
Neal Morse Band at The Space in Westbury LI
DT at the Beacon in NYC
Iron Maiden at Barclays in Brooklyn
Will see:
DT at LIU (3rd row seats!)
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Looks like Ludwig and I were at a couple of the same shows (DT in NYC and Maiden in Brooklyn)
Last night's Incubus show was awesome. Love seeing them play Make Yourself in full, their break through album and maybe their best. It was also cool seeing them in a venue that is almost the same as Beacon Theater, beautiful nice theater. Also small, about the same as what DT would play, but small for Incubus who I've only seen at big venues before. So it was nice and intimate. Going back for night two soon so I'll have a good video tomorrow of my two nights mixed. I know the and beyond songs from last night so that leaves only so many for tonight so I'm hopeful for Vitamin or Love Hurts.
Anyway, this song is SO good from Make Yourself and wasn't a hit so this is why I wanted to see this show.
Incubus - Clean LIVE in DC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVLn16YimNU)
and here's a more popular song that's part of the "and beyond" rotation, love how loud the crowd sings along
Incubus - Are You In? LIVE in DC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iYwiMP2yaI)
Looking to catch another Make Yourself song and a "and beyond" song tonight
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I'm so pumped for seeing them in a few months. Who opened for them cram?
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I'm so pumped for seeing them in a few months. Who opened for them cram?
No one, Wild Belle was supposed to but they had to drop off the tour for some reason. I think they announced a new opener but they haven't joined the tour yet.
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My concerts for 2019.. well my memory sucks and it's early, so this will probably be edited but most recently I've been to ProgStock this past weekend and Morsefest before that. Also saw Neal Morse Band earlier in the year in Philly. Drawing a blank aside from those for now, but I'm blaming Michael Sadler's caramelic voice for flowing in my earholes and clogging my brain, and I'm fine with that. <3
oh I guess I also saw Winery Dogs sort of (it was very crowded and I am very short lol). I preferred Flying Colors to Winery Dogs once I had seen them both though.
There was an attempt to see Queensryche but that ended with me wholly unconscious and needing medical attention etc (unproven drink drugging situation, or possibly cardiac / arrhythmia based issue compounded by alcohol intake. either way im' on meds for that now).
And I guess if that was in 2019 then so was/were some DT shows... but that seems more like 2018 to me. I lose track. Definitely saw Haken, Leprous, and Bent Knee last year in NYC, Philly ,Boston, and Chicago as well but that doesn't count.
eh, whatever I haven't posted in so long, I guess it's ok to go back a little further than just 2019. :D
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I was planning to cut back on concerts this year but that didn't happen. Lol.
My shows so far this year:
March 16 - Break of Reality
March 20 - DT
March 21 - DT
April 18 - Mudd Fest (this was probably the worse concert for me this year)
April 19 - Parkway Drive and Killswitch Engage
May 4 - Rise Against
May 25 - Lovelytheband
June 7 - The Ataris
August 3 - Jimmy Eat World and Third Eye Blind
August 4 - Weird Al
September 14 - Cake and Ben Folds
September 16 - Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle and Three Days Grace
October 8 - Angels and Airwaves
October 12 - Self Help Fest
Future Shows:
October 21 - Tool, I'm so excited for this one, I got 7th row center on the floor for the show
October 28 - DT
November 5 - Switchfoot
November 7 - Between the Buried and Me, and CHON
November 22 - Simple Plan
November 25 - Thank You Scientist
It's also awesome that I'm getting my 6 year old into live music. I've brought my kid to 2 concerts so far this year and I'm bringing the kid to 3 more this year. :metal
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Still to come:
The Aristocrats
Devin Townsend
Haken
Jinjer
+ couple of smaller jazz gigs
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Booked my tickets to see Devin Townsend and Haken last night. Also might go to see The Wildhearts tomorrow :metal
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I was planning to cut back on concerts this year but that didn't happen. Lol.
My shows so far this year:
March 16 - Break of Reality
March 20 - DT
March 21 - DT
April 18 - Mudd Fest (this was probably the worse concert for me this year)
April 19 - Parkway Drive and Killswitch Engage
May 4 - Rise Against
May 25 - Lovelytheband
June 7 - The Ataris
August 3 - Jimmy Eat World and Third Eye Blind
August 4 - Weird Al
September 14 - Cake and Ben Folds
September 16 - Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle and Three Days Grace
October 8 - Angels and Airwaves
October 12 - Self Help Fest
Future Shows:
October 21 - Tool, I'm so excited for this one, I got 7th row center on the floor for the show
October 28 - DT
November 5 - Switchfoot
November 7 - Between the Buried and Me, and CHON
November 22 - Simple Plan
November 25 - Thank You Scientist
It's also awesome that I'm getting my 6 year old into live music. I've brought my kid to 2 concerts so far this year and I'm bringing the kid to 3 more this year. :metal
How was AVA?
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My shows so far this year:
March 16 - Break of Reality
March 20 - DT
March 21 - DT
April 18 - Mudd Fest (this was probably the worse concert for me this year)
April 19 - Parkway Drive and Killswitch Engage
May 4 - Rise Against
May 25 - Lovelytheband
June 7 - The Ataris
August 3 - Jimmy Eat World and Third Eye Blind
August 4 - Weird Al
September 14 - Cake and Ben Folds
September 16 - Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle and Three Days Grace
October 8 - Angels and Airwaves
October 12 - Self Help Fest
Future Shows:
October 21 - Tool, I'm so excited for this one, I got 7th row center on the floor for the show
October 28 - DT
November 5 - Switchfoot
November 7 - Between the Buried and Me, and CHON
November 22 - Simple Plan
November 25 - Thank You Scientist
It's also awesome that I'm getting my 6 year old into live music. I've brought my kid to 2 concerts so far this year and I'm bringing the kid to 3 more this year. :metal
Wow. I've been to those particular shows in the bolded. I guess we may see each other at the Switchfoot show in Riverside then. Also, I contemplated wanting to go to Muddfest and I think I got an email from the House of Blues to reserve complimentary tickets, but I passed since I opted to go to church instead on that day. Honestly, while I didn't mind reliving those early 00s rock bands and see how washed up they are nowadays, I think I've made the right call not going. I also wanted to see Breaking Benjamin in Irvine, but as people may have read throughout this thread, I passed, resold my ticket, in lieu of wanting a more stress-free flight to the East Coast to see Alter Bridge twice.
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Back to back nights of Incubus in Washington DC was a lot of fun. First though, I started with a pre-game small show in DC. I had googled events for the weekend and found that the DC Punk Archives at a Georgetown Library was celebrating 5 years of existence. There was a display and performance, so I got there just in time to check out the new band CORIKY which is fronted by Ian Mackaye who is known in the punk world for the man behind Minor Threat and Fugazi. Coriky sounded like Fugazi to me, but I haven't listened to them in so long. It was a nice small ourdoor free show and Ian asked for no video to be taken so I did not take any (although you can hear maybe 2 seconds in my Incubus video intro). It was cool to catch something unique, underground, and different in a really nice spot. Georgetown University was beautiful on that fall Saturday. Also there was a homecoming football game with lots of drunk college girls running around. I could have just chilled there all day if I didn't have to go to a concert.
Two nights of Incubus at Warner Theatre, which is a really nice about 2k venue two blocks from the White House. First night was practically sold out, second night was half sold. I was pretty much in the same seat for both nights although night 2 I bought a much cheaper one on stubhub and just sat in the better seat since it wasn't taken and I think security knew me from the first night and didn't care that I just walked down.
I think night 1 was better in every way. Better "and beyond" part of the set, better crowd, and better energy from the band. It was the smallest venue I've seen them play and it was the closest I had gotten to them. I think that made it really cool, felt intimate. I absolutely love when Brandon plays his bongo, I think those were my favorite parts of the set (Clean and Vitamin). THey added some cool breaks into some of the songs too like Drive and Are You In.
I got a ton of high quality video footage and mixed both nights into one long video plus added my DC shenanigans to amke a 80 minute video :lol
Incubus - 20 Years of Make Yourself Live in DC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEiU04cHKr8)
This Saturday night is Toto :yarr and next week I'll be in Denver for work but if possible, I'm going to try and catch the Sabaton show there which is sold out and I'm seeing the show in NYC, but if I could, I'd totally see it again in Denver.
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went to Amorphis tonight! Brought my 10 and 8 year old along for their first metal concert. They got to meet Anneke and take pictures with her. They were super excited and seemed to really enjoy it. They LOVE the latest Amorphis album.
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What about Delain? That's awesome, Anneke was soo nice and awesome in NYC, glad your kids had an awesome time
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Greta Van Fleet had to postpone their back to back nights in Philly this week due to illness, rescheduled for the end of December... when I will be home and off from work so just scooped a ticket up for GA floor for them at face value (these were sold out before, I'm guessing refunds made them available for the new date).
December 30th - Greta Van Fleet @ The Met Philly, Philadelphia PA
also after some discussions last weekend at progfest with DTF folks and others, I am thinking of trying to catch Thank You Scientist at either the NJ or NYC show, so this is tentatively on my list:
December 14th - Thank You Scientist and Bent Knee @ Mercury Lounge, New York City NY
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Going to see The New York Brass Band in Brixton tomorrow with my wife and brother! They are so good live, we were going to get them to play our wedding as they brought the house down when we saw them at Shambala Festival!
Just stumbled across the gig and it's a 5 minute walk from where we're staying.
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What about Delain? That's awesome, Anneke was soo nice and awesome in NYC, glad your kids had an awesome time
Not much to say since we only stayed for the first couple of Delain songs. We were mostly there for Anneke/Amorphis and it was a school night . . . :lol Not sure if that makes us bad parents or parents of the year!
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:lol its all good, I noticed a lot of people left after Amorphis at the NYC show. Everyone I talked to said they were there for Amorphis.... except me. They are really fun live, hope you enjoyed what you saw.
I am also tentatively adding this local yearly ska show to my schedule:
November 30th - Skanksgiving (Goldfinger, Suicide Machines, Big D and the Kids Table) @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
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Aaaaaaaaand Allegaeon is a wash...fucking work man... their album this year is getting more play time from me than anything else including IQ, so fucking pissed I won't be seeing it's tour. Fortunately they tour a lot, but damn am I over this shit.
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Dream Theater on the 24th in Mesa, AZ. The only show I have planned at the moment.
I'm thinking of checking out some local bands tonight. They have a thing called "Night of The Living Cover Bands", where Local bands perform as a band of their choosing. This is night 3 of 6. I missed the Spice Girls one, which I wanted to go. Sounds like fun.
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Dream Theater on the 24th in Mesa, AZ. The only show I have planned at the moment.
I'm thinking of checking out some local bands tonight. They have a thing called "Night of The Living Cover Bands", where Local bands perform as a band of their choosing. This is night 3 of 6. I missed the Spice Girls one, which I wanted to go. Sounds like fun.
Will be there for DT!
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I was planning to cut back on concerts this year but that didn't happen. Lol.
My shows so far this year:
March 16 - Break of Reality
March 20 - DT
March 21 - DT
April 18 - Mudd Fest (this was probably the worse concert for me this year)
April 19 - Parkway Drive and Killswitch Engage
May 4 - Rise Against
May 25 - Lovelytheband
June 7 - The Ataris
August 3 - Jimmy Eat World and Third Eye Blind
August 4 - Weird Al
September 14 - Cake and Ben Folds
September 16 - Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle and Three Days Grace
October 8 - Angels and Airwaves
October 12 - Self Help Fest
Future Shows:
October 21 - Tool, I'm so excited for this one, I got 7th row center on the floor for the show
October 28 - DT
November 5 - Switchfoot
November 7 - Between the Buried and Me, and CHON
November 22 - Simple Plan
November 25 - Thank You Scientist
It's also awesome that I'm getting my 6 year old into live music. I've brought my kid to 2 concerts so far this year and I'm bringing the kid to 3 more this year. :metal
How was AVA?
AVA was great until DeLonge started talking too much.
Wow. I've been to those particular shows in the bolded. I guess we may see each other at the Switchfoot show in Riverside then. Also, I contemplated wanting to go to Muddfest and I think I got an email from the House of Blues to reserve complimentary tickets, but I passed since I opted to go to church instead on that day. Honestly, while I didn't mind reliving those early 00s rock bands and see how washed up they are nowadays, I think I've made the right call not going. I also wanted to see Breaking Benjamin in Irvine, but as people may have read throughout this thread, I passed, resold my ticket, in lieu of wanting a more stress-free flight to the East Coast to see Alter Bridge twice.
Muddfest wasn't worth it. I think the only group I enjoyed was Saving Abel. Breaking Benjamin was great but I really don't like the OC crowd. A couple was being obnoxious behind me and pushing me and pumping their fists and hitting me occasionally and so I just went towards the back of the pit.
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Toto was awesome, my first and last time seeing them :metal I wrote more of a review in their dedicated thread but here's the vids:
Toto Live @ Count Basie Theatre NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIc5P5h4ias)
Toto Hold The Line Live (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBPQUQB_4co)
Toto Africa Live (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU1QLpwHq8M)
and I got ahead of myself at work today in Denver, shaping up very nicely to be able to see the following:
October 23rd - Sabaton and Hammerfall @ Ogden Theatre, Denver CO
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Pulled some strings, a timely sick call, wheeled and dealed with the boss, and I'm at Allegaeon.
Fuck. Yes. :metal
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Have fun, Allegaeon kicks ass live
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Holy fucking shit they were amazing. I haven't rocked out that hard in ages. Flawless performance, and 100% in your face. Got pics to post later, so close I could untie the bands shoelaces.
No zoom...
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/72970848_2344615438969883_1685614375500513280_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_eui2=AeHjgTAN34vOLPRibRwqYI4hSNkeFse7Nmy6t1HjkMldPRuUaEunMpmtNO2iuuf7U_xgJXsn_EzTt9sHhPE-vDmT00gRnN2MOdKqUcM5FyURZg&_nc_oc=AQm6YmhNI4B7MIUmAW-PZ_KmlFVEZNWIsEp_fAI1-nymvbg80fMuayNzKS-P8knXPWM&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=38349f2ad93685f9ec8c8dad38dadaaf&oe=5E5D4AF9)
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Kayak had to cancel due to Ton Schepenzeels health and are replaced with Rickard Sjöblom and iamthemorning
Seen
2019-02-23 Stockholm Waterfront - Steven Wilson
2019-03-05 Stockholm Nalen - Pineapple Thief and O.R.k
2019-03-31 Stockholm Kraken - Riverside and Lesoir
2019-04-01 Stockholm Skandiascenen - The Neal Morse Band
2019-05-02 Stockholm Fryshuset - Avantasia
2019-06-01 Stockholm Bryggarsalen - A.C.T
2019-06-25 Stockholm Gröna Lund - Gojira
2019-09-15 Tillburg 013 - Ayreon
2019-09-21 Stockholm Fryshuset Klubben - IQ
Upcoming
2019-11-08 Stockholm Slaktkyrkan - Lolita Pop
2019-11-15 Göteborg Musikens Hus - A.C.T and Workshop of the Wolf
2019-12-14 Stockholm Kraken - The Flower Kings, Rickard Sjöblom and iamthemorning
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So far this year has been:
The Neal Morse Band
iron Maiden
Queensryche
Rick Wakeman
The Who
All were great shows! :tup
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Since I'm heading to AZ and dont know what to do when I arrive, Tenacious D is playing and am thinking of checking it out.
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Holy fucking shit they were amazing. I haven't rocked out that hard in ages. Flawless performance, and 100% in your face. Got pics to post later, so close I could untie the bands shoelaces.
No zoom...
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/72970848_2344615438969883_1685614375500513280_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_eui2=AeHjgTAN34vOLPRibRwqYI4hSNkeFse7Nmy6t1HjkMldPRuUaEunMpmtNO2iuuf7U_xgJXsn_EzTt9sHhPE-vDmT00gRnN2MOdKqUcM5FyURZg&_nc_oc=AQm6YmhNI4B7MIUmAW-PZ_KmlFVEZNWIsEp_fAI1-nymvbg80fMuayNzKS-P8knXPWM&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=38349f2ad93685f9ec8c8dad38dadaaf&oe=5E5D4AF9)
Ever since you introduced them in the album thread, I have listened to Proponent for Sentience and Apoptosis regularly. Hope to see them sometime soon. Their label mates Rivers of Nihil, came to Nashville this past spring, but I missed them. That would be great to see both these bands together.
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So I decided to go to Tenacious D. Will try and take pics.
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Going to see The Who today with Liam Gallagher opening at the Hollywood Bowl. Never been to the Hollywood Bowl before, but it's a historic venue for concerts in the LA area, so that's something new for me to explore. I heard the parking there is terrible though where the lot is stacked parking meaning that it may take you around an hour to get out of the place, guarantee, since you have to wait for all the cars in front of you to leave first.
Thankfully, I'm going to be taking a shuttle at a mall about 20 minutes away from my office at work. Cost me $12.00 for the roundtrip, but the parking at the mall is free. Let's hope LA traffic isn't at its very worst today.
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This year has been a busy one, concert-wise. I don't see 2020 repeating that, as I have some other travel-related plans.
Here were/are the 2019 shows:
Neal Schon's Journey Through Time
Muse
Within Temptation/In Flames
Dream Theater
Fates Warning (3x)
The Tea Party
Hootie & The Blowfish/Barenaked Ladies
Styx
Living Colour (2 different sets, 45 and 63 minutes, same day)
Weird Al
Iron Maiden/Raven Age (2x)
Sammy Hagar and the Circle
Upcoming:
Dirty Honey
>>>>So that'll be 16 shows if I end up seeing Dirty Honey. Nothing on the calendar after mid-November. I haven't been to that many shows since before my daughter was born. I had been going to about seven or eight a year. And I doubled that this year. Next year, the fam and I will all hit up Alter Bridge, probably twice (local, and one fly out). I'll also probably take in Geoff Tate's Empire/Rage for Order anniversary shows. But nothing else is really announced yet that I'd be going to. If Fates Warning tours, sure. But really, that's about it. I suspect my concerts for 2020, will be back in the single digits.
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On my way via bus to Hollywood Bowl. I’ve parked at The Forum, La Live, Downtown LA, Hollywood, etc. This is actually the worst traffic I have ever experience going to a show in LA.
It took 35 minutes to travel 6 miles on the 101. I think I saw from far a brush fire on the way.
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Nice footage Cam.
I'm looking forward to seeing the Incubus show in a couple of weeks followed by Tool a couple of weeks after that.
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Nice footage Cam.
I'm looking forward to seeing the Incubus show in a couple of weeks followed by Tool a couple of weeks after that.
My incubus footage came out great, too bad no ones watching :lol
Saw Sabaton/Hammerfall in Denver last week. It was snowing so that was fun. But it wasn't much, just made for some nice scenery outside after the show. It was sold out, I got there on time before Hammerfall began but the place was packed. Its not one big GA floor either at the Ogden Theater, it's layered GA pits which makes it really hard to get around if you don't have a spot already. I chilled on the sides and back for Hammerfall. Started talking to some dude that was also there by himself. I told him, we will make it up front. He said he'd buy me a drink if we did. He bought me a drink and I told him to follow me, next thing you know we are in the closest pit to the stage. Essentially, people find there spots and don't squeeze in. There's plenty of room in these small GA pits, if someone just made their way to them.... after Hammerfall's set I told the guy lets go back to the bar and I'd buy him a round now, he said he wasn't leaving that spot :lol Anyway, I made it back no problem for Sabaton. Boy what a work out. I got little to no video of the night because I spent it all jumping and moshing. When Sabaton started, it seemed everyone was very stilff in the front.... so I started pushing people and just like that a mosh pit erupted and didn't stop the rest of the show :metal Sabaton were awesome to see so close. Looking at Joekim, as he watched us moshing, was really cool. Nothing crazy about their set to make this show stand out other than the amount of sweat lost. After the show ended and as I was nearing the exit to leave, someone stopped me and shook my hand, thanking me for starting the pit :lol It was a good feeling having someone so happy and thankful for making the first push.
Anyway, I did put together the small amount of clips I had to make this video: Sabaton/Hammerfall LIVE in Sold Out Denver (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYebEH-dHYI)
Next up is the same show in NYC on Saturday at my favorite concert venue in the city, and sadly my last one there before it closes at the end of the year. I'm looking forward to seeing the show again and hopefully getting some good footage.
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The Incubus footage was good but I didn't want to ruin the upcoming show watching it. I do wonder when Mike E decided to switch sides on the stage.
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If the stars align for it, I may try to sneak in the BtBaM/Chon/Intervals show on the 9th, but a lot depends on me getting healthy enough from my surgery on the 1st.
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If the stars align for it, I may try to sneak in the BtBaM/Chon/Intervals show on the 9th, but a lot depends on me getting healthy enough from my surgery on the 1st.
I've been trying to see Intervals for so long and always miss their show. Thank you, did not know they were on tour. They will be in NY on Nov. 30th so will try to make that show. I've seen Chon and BtBaM before with Animals as Leaders. Pretty good show.
So, for the rest of the year I have
Pineapple Thief: Nov. 23rd
Intervals: Nov 30th (possibly)
In Flames: Dec. 8th
Plus, not a concert but seeing Star Talk live on December 16th.
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Hmm, that same tour is coming to Starland, my local ballroom, and while I'm not familiar with Chon or Intervals and have seen but never really got into BtBaM, is that a good prog metal show to check out regardless? It's a Friday night after Thanksgiving, not sure I could go, but if nothing else were going on maybe worth checking out? Just realized I can't go to the Skanksgiving show at the same venue the next night since my family is making plans.
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I say so. Chon is a great Chill instrumental band.
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Just noticed they are also playing in LA next week when I will be in town. Funny how this show is where I will be twice. Anguyen92 you going to any shows in LA next week? If I can, I'm thinking of going to one of the three Billy Corgan shows up closer to Pasadena where I will be staying. Not totally against going to the Wiltern for the BtBaM/Chon show on Thursday if it's possible as well.
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I'm done going to LA shows for the year. Only got two shows left for the year planned in November and those shows lean more towards east than west of where I am, Switchfoot (in Riverside) and Trans-Siberian Orchestra (in Ontario).
There's actually a Groupon deal for that Chon & Between the Buried and Me show. $14.00 for GA. Ridiculously cheap tickets at the Wiltern in comparison to the $40-50 GA tickets I was paying for the shows I was in the Wiltern this year. Really good venue though, I feel. One of my top two favorite venues I've been to (the other being the Anaheim House of Blues)
https://www.groupon.com/deals/gl-lnc-chon-la-2019
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I'm done going to LA shows for the year. Only got two shows left for the year planned in November and those shows lean more towards east than west of where I am, Switchfoot (in Riverside) and Trans-Siberian Orchestra (in Ontario).
There's actually a Groupon deal for that Chon & Between the Buried and Me show. $14.00 for GA. Ridiculously cheap tickets at the Wiltern in comparison to the $40-50 GA tickets I was paying for the shows I was in the Wiltern this year. Really good venue though, I feel. One of my top two favorite venues I've been to (the other being the Anaheim House of Blues)
https://www.groupon.com/deals/gl-lnc-chon-la-2019
Nice find, thanks. But you can't resell these right? Not that I am looking to, but for a business trip I usually don't know if I am even able to make it until the day of. That's a great deal and would convince me to go just based on price, but I'm not sure I want to pay it if I can't 100% attend yet (without being able to offload it, even though at $14 it's so cheap like fuck it just buy it). That's also the last night I'm in LA so really hard to call though. I might just buy it and try to attend as best I can and give me something to look forward to at the end of my trip.
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I think you can resell them. I resold my Breaking Benjamin tickets that I bought on Groupon and broke even without any issues, but I think it's always best to ask their support online just to make sure and to make sure that you have the PDF file ready to upload if you do feel the need to resell it.
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Oh interesting, I bought groupon tickets once before and I was pretty sure it couldn't be resold and was strictly through the groupon app. That was some years ago though (I didn't resell, I went to see Third Eye Blind :lol). Like I said, I don't want to resell if I buy, just can't confirm if I can even go at this point, but that price is too hard to beat for ANY concert.
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Whistles.... My Chemical Romance is announcing their comeback show. Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in December 20th, 2019. Thought, why not? Can fill my December show. Then I realize that tickets will fly fast (this place only holds 6,300) and My Chemical Romance is big on KROQ so I imagine this will be a quick sellout. Also, I've check Axs for tickets. The price is $149.50...... Easy pass for me.
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Off from work in LA, scooped up an under face value ticket to the sold out Evening with Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins show. About to head over there. If he does what he did in Euroland it looks like two sets, one of his solo stuff and one of smashing pumpkins songs. All acoustic it seems. Should be interesting in a small venue. Made me think of how I saw Smashing Pumpkins 11 months ago out here in LA https://youtu.be/T-GxijZGQZ8?t=3050 (https://youtu.be/T-GxijZGQZ8?t=3050)
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Oh that reminds me to search for the lineup for this year's KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas. At the Honda Center in Anaheim? Shoot, I may just go to night one because it's so darn close. $91.00 for the worst seats though....... Blarghhhh. I'll check to see other outlets from time to time to see if I can find something along the lines of less than $60.00 total for a ticket. I find it funny that 21 Pilots is coming back to Anaheim so soon after playing a big show there last Saturday.
(https://radioimg.s3.amazonaws.com/kroqfm/styles/delta__775x515/s3/775x515%20Logo%2BAllBands.png)
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Ugh I was hoping for something interesting like last year to maybe make me come back, but no to that line up. Actually saw 3 of those bands this year.
Billy Corgan was really awesome, I'll have more to share later but that was a very different concert than I am used to. 5 songs should be up on my youtube tomorrow, 3 smashing pumpkins and 2 new solo songs
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Been way too busy at work to write much on my last couple shows but Billy was so cool and unique the other night that I wanted to go back since he was doing 3 nights. I followed resell tickets since all nights were sold out and the cheapest ticket got to around 95 before fees that I saw
I debated since I've been getting to work at 7am, I've been able to keep the nights free, but decided not to go.
I checked this morning and turns out James Iha, guitarist of smashing pumpkins and a perfect circle, made an appearance for 3 songs and the setlist was very different.
I tracked tickets today for night 3 and when I finally confirmed I'd be clear tonight to not have to work, there was 1 ticket left for $350 :rollin
Doors opened at 7 and at 6:50 the guy finally lowered it to $90 and I scooped it up. In an uber to the venue now.
Here's one song, my favorite pumpkins song, from Monday and the best part is the end where he sings the last chorus funny because a girl sang before him :lol
Billy Corgan - Tonight, Tonight LIVE solo LA 2019 (https://youtu.be/GuzFLSjU3uM)
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You know. I may take a shot at seeing this Mongolian band called The Hu at The Observatory in Santa Ana on December 5th. I only heard one song from them on Octane, but it's a close by venue on a Thursday after work. Tickets are less than $30.00 and parking is cheap. Might as well go out of my way to see a small band that looks pretty darn unique in comparison to the stuff I listen to.
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I want to hear more about that Corgan show; I'm iffy on his voice, but that man can play guitar.
My friend and I are going to see Last In Line (Dio's band on the first solo record, without Ron and with Phil Sousson in place of the late Jimmy Bain) and it looks like the room is REALLY small (there are two rooms at the place; one 75 people and one 175). The show is tomorrow and wasn't sold out as of yesterday, so this is either going to be AWESOME or "Spinal Tap".
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Seeing Styx this Saturday night. One of only a handful of shows where they are playing "The Mission" in full.
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Leaving work early today to drive up to Asheville to see Incubus. I'm really looking forward to it, wonder what the merch is gonna be like.
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I'll see Hiromi Uehara in Hamburg next week. Should be good.
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Leaving work early today to drive up to Asheville to see Incubus. I'm really looking forward to it, wonder what the merch is gonna be like.
Nice, enjoy the show. I didn't really check out the merch but I don't believe they've done any event specific shirts or anything.
I want to hear more about that Corgan show; I'm iffy on his voice, but that man can play guitar.
HIs voice was fine. He was clearly a bit sick though, specifically Monday night. He said the air in LA was not good for his lungs and was coughing a lot between songs, but honestly thought his singing didn't seem much effected. He seemed to be much better last night. He was using some spray a lot on his throat.
Well, might as well write a full review while it's quiet here. Essentially these shows were super unique. His solo tour is fairly small overall (he is doing three nights in NYC in a couple weeks, but otherwise it's just a few scattered dates in the midwest). He did three sold out shows at this very beautiful concert hall, Lodge Room, which well, was just one small room. It was GA seated, so first come first seated. I arrived just before show started each time and was relegated to standing in the back. Which was good for me, I didn't want to sit and I wanted to get video, so standing while everyone sat in front of me lead to a clear view.
He played about 28 songs each night with only a handful of them being repeats. Split it into two sets, the first set was dominated by new songs from his upcoming solo album and the second set was dominated by Smashing Pumpkins songs, but that wasn't a strict rule, he sprinkled in other cover songs and some storytelling between songs. I think the storytelling was some of the coolest parts of the show too. Being a smaller venue and him just sitting there talking was really interesting to me. Here's him telling a story about Rick Rubin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF3bBp3eM-k).
He had a girl playing violin for two songs on the first night, but she ended up playing for almost half the set last night. And while I missed special guest James Iha from the second show, he had the other Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder come out and do a few songs together (and with the violin girl) in both sets. I thought his noodling was really cool and added a lot to the songs. Seems they also jammed together and extended the songs (I don't even know these songs, it just seemed like they went off and jammed a bit).
The first night felt a little stiffer than last night, crowd was a bit more alive the 3rd night. I think Billy was as well. There was a bit more communication back and forth between people in the crowd and Billy. It seemed like pretty much anyone could just say something and he would respond. Just a very laid back atmosphere. I don't think I've ever enjoyed an acoustic show as much as I did here. Very entertaining and musically pretty interesting. His songs are lyrically and musically interesting to me.
Last night he said he wasn't doing an encore, but did one song. I saw the set list that someone got and it looked like he had one more song he didn't do (he did it Monday so it wasn't that big of a bummer) but I would have enjoyed that last song. Not sure if there was a reason why he didn't do it, but maybe because he did a lot of storytelling and some longer songs, he ran out of time, I don't know.
I hung outside after the show. Met all the diehard fans. Seemed a group of his biggest fans from around the US all came out to the show. Turns out a couple was standing next to me and chatting wtih me Monday night so it was like I kind of just snuck my way into their little click. Very nice people and reminded me of like the progpower people in terms of just devoted music fans who share their love of it together. Also met a Chilean guy who was super excited and nice, before and after the show. Jeff Schroeder came out and took a picture with all of us.
Billy eventually came out. Turns out he drives himself to and from the show in a decked out all black SUV. It was parked outside the front of the venue the entire time, but I didn't think that was actually his own ride. He came out and quickly packed his trunk and fled. He didn't stop to talk or take pictures, but I did give him a pat on the back and "good show" which he turned around smiled and pointed at me. I think that was the only interaction he had with us, but it was still awesome to see him pack up and drive off.
I put up like 10 songs on my youtube channel between the two shows. Check them out if you are interested, here's one more:
Billy Corgan - Glass and the Ghost Children with Jeff Schroeder (Smashing Pumpkins song) LIVE @ Sold Out Lodge Room Los Angeles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGlEEewx3SE)
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Are you sure the finger point wasn't a death threat or something? :) I'm absolutely kidding.
I like the guy, personally. He has a sort of rep as a dick, but I think it's because he's one of those people that is who he is, and that either rubs you the right way or the wrong way. Certainly he's prolific, in a good way. 28 songs with little repetition, in a solo setting with basically no safety net? Amazing, and contrast that with acts that tour the same 20 songs over and over (and no, I'm not talking about the big "shows" like Kiss and Maiden, where it's actually pretty hard to swap out songs with any frequency).
I might try to get to one of those NYC shows, even though I probably won't know half the set. I'd just like to see that kind of intimate performance.
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Let me know if you do, maybe I'd go. Right now, I'm not since I spent enough money on these two shows (LA is like 3 times as expensive as NYC, Billy himself commented on his surprise of the huge response in LA compared to the sales in NYC on instagram today), but it was a really good show and such a cool setting (however Gramercy Theater is not a nice venue like Lodge Room was). He said he plans on having different guests at shows too, so while it's no guarantee, I'd guess someone will make an appearance at one or multiple NYC shows.
Also, about him being a dick, he's definitely got a bad reputation, but if you ever listen to an interview, he always comes off as very genuine. I think the whole death of the keyboardist thing really haunts his reputation for not stopping the tour. He told a story about a journalist asking about why he's a tyrant :lol
Honestly, everything I experienced from him this week, makes me feel he's a good guy at heart but maybe too sincere and a bit awkward. Including the point and smile at me last night. I think he just recognized me as being "the camera man" from two nights. Like I said, small venue, intimate, he could easily see and talk to me in the back of the room if he had wanted to.
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Well, thanks to Groupon once again, I found myself going to yet another Christmas concert. This time it will be in the form of a Lindsey Stirling show in her Warmer In The Winter Christmas Tour. Cost me $35.00 in a good spot in the 100s section. I've saw her show in Costa Mesa and whilst it was a good show, it was a bit on the shorter side with it lasting only 75 minutes and I don't think her Christmas show will be any longer. Still, seeing her deliver some Christmas songs in her own twists along with the choreography and visuals in a Christmas setting should make it unique enough for me to make the drive to 90+ minute drive in weekday evening traffic to Ontario.
Lindsey Stirling's Warmer In The Winter Christmas show - Toyota Arena - Ontario, CA. November 21st, 2019.
So, that makes it two Christmas shows for me in the Toyota Arena in Ontario in a 9 day span. Fun holiday cheer will be have in non-snowing California.
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Well, thanks to Groupon once again, I found myself going to yet another Christmas concert. This time it will be in the form of a Lindsey Stirling show in her Warmer In The Winter Christmas Tour. Cost me $35.00 in a good spot in the 100s section. I've saw her show in Costa Mesa and whilst it was a good show, it was a bit on the shorter side with it lasting only 75 minutes and I don't think her Christmas show will be any longer. Still, seeing her deliver some Christmas songs in her own twists along with the choreography and visuals in a Christmas setting should make it unique enough for me to make the drive to 90+ minute drive in weekday evening traffic to Ontario.
Lindsey Stirling's Warmer In The Winter Christmas show - Toyota Arena - Ontario, CA. November 21st, 2019.
So, that makes it two Christmas shows for me in the Toyota Arena in Ontario in a 9 day span. Fun holiday cheer will be have in non-snowing California.
Hopefully the fixed the sound in that Ontario venue. I've had a couple of bad experiences with that venue.
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Back from Incubus from Asheville. They were on fire last night, amazing set list and Brandon and Co sounded great. What was strange was the theater was only 60% full. There were people scattered all around so it looked more full than it really is but I was in the Orchestra section and my row had me and two other people in it. The three rows in front of me were completly empty. I ended up moved from 18th row to 11th throughout the concert.
I'm now looking for tickets for the December show in Charlotte.
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Sadly had to sell my Tool tickets for the DC date, plans changed and I was no longer going to be in the area during the concert time. Pretty bummed missed my first chance to see Tool and the tickets were right up the stage too.
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That's a real bummer :(
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Yea, that's unfortunate.
Reap, that sucks about the attendance. For the two DC shows, the second was like that, might have actually been closer to or under 50% (although the night before was practically sold out). They are definitely a band on a huge decline. I think they sold Radio City in NYC fairly well, they've always had strong support in the area, but even then, that's a downgrade from playing MSG. I wouldn't be surprised if their next album is a dud, that the next time they come through its in an even smaller venue. Those DC shows were the closest I've ever been able to sit for an Incubus show.
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I agree about them being on the decline, 8 wasn't that great of an album.
What's weird is that last year (or maybe the year before) they came through Charlotte and almost sold out the outdoor arena which holds about 15k but this time they are playing to a club that holds at most a few thousand.
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Yea, same, it's a big drop off. My one friend who went to the NYC show said he was a bit dissapointed with the setlist and thinks them not touring for a new album is why attendance was low. I don't know, Make Yourself is such a good album, I find it hard to believe people aren't showing because they are playing it. I just think it's because they haven't had a hit single in a long time now. PLus their new song they are playing this tour... isn't that good. It still hasn't hit 1 million views.
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No it isn't, I think they sort of last their way. That trust fall EP was probably the last thing I would call solid. I'm sure if they tour 20 years of Morning View that will be a huge tour, that album was hit after hit.
As far as new music is concerned I wonder if it's mainly Mike E still writing? If so he should maybe ask Ben Kenney to pitch in a bit more. If you haven't checked out Ben Kenney's solo stuff it's pretty good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjsTK25awtw
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Not a bad song, and something a bit more interesting musically than what Incubus have been doing. I don't really follow them that closely to know more about their writing process. I'm glad my Incubus video has started to catch on, slightly, but hitting 1k views makes me happy because it took a really long time to edit that together.
Also, just realized I've gone to over 50 concerts this year and yet, I only have one more on my schedule for the rest of the year. I had a few more I wanted to go to but had to book a work trip and also have a family party which means I can't do any of those. I've got some vacation time to burn still this year, so I've got to look at something to do, but if nothing changes I've done 52 concerts in the first 10 months and one in the last two? :lol
December 30th - Greta Van Fleet @ The Met Philly, Philadelphia PA
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hmmm my recent love of Billy Corgan has noticed he's playing in good ole Stroudsburg PA this Saturday. Looks like I'm 5k points away from keeping my IHG spire status and got lots of extra cash from all my OT in Denver and LA recently. I'm thinking of checking that out. Another reason to go, I have like 20GB of concert footage from him that I haven't even uploaded yet. I think I can combine all three nights for one crazy long and intensive Billy Corgan video. Shit, I'm considering going to a NYC show next week to make it 4 shows in one video. We will see, but I've got no plans this weekend and this looks fun, well I know it will be, but another town to visit that I've never been to before as well.
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So, I'm back from Hiromi's concert in Hamburg (which took place yesterday) and I experienced the purest form of happiness possible (musically speaking that is, I'm never referring to anything but that). That's all I'll say for now.
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I was supposed to be seeing KISS next week with my son for his first KISS concert and they've just announced the whole tour (incl 3 sold out shows in Melbourne) has been cancelled due to Paul Stanley being sick.
That's some sort of build up and letdown - tickets were bought 13 months ago :lol
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Dammit that is the worst. I'm so sorry. It's your son that has the big letdown.
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Yeah.............it was a big thing for him - had make up ready to go etc............so he's going to be really upset. :-[
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oof no rescheduled dates? That sucks so bad, I feel sorry for you and your son.
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Not at this stage cram and it's hard to see how they'd reschedule unless they postpone other dates. They have a huge schedule in front of them and I guess this was to be expected at some point at their age.
If they're going to make a big effort to reschedule anywhere it would probably be Australia - we're a big market for them and I think the only country outside of US/Canada that they did the conventions for in the mid 90's. And especially in Melbourne where they had to put on 3 shows for this tour (around 12k people each with no support bands of note).
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Brent, that sucks, man.
Come to Boston!! :metal
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wow, thats soooo terrible for the fans there if they never come back. I have to think he probably really was sick, but they should really try to come back. It's not the end of the road if they dont play there. So many sold out shows.
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Going to see Ghost tonight :metal
I have no idea what to expect actually but I've really been looking forward to this. Setlist they have been playing recently looks pretty banging and I hope there is a theatrical element to it. Bring it.
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Yea, there's some theatrics involved with their show. You'll have a good time :metal
Saw Billy Corgan last night in PA, another awesome show with a totally different setlist than the first two times I saw him. A fight broke out in the crowd as well, really odd for an acoustic show. End of the fight and Purr Snickety by Billy Corgan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_XtjCc6UUU)
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Ghost were so good tonight! They played for about 2 hours and I never lost interest at any point. The whole show was theatrical, the set was pretty much perfect and it was a 'show' in every sense of the word. I now appreciate songs such as He Is and Square Hammer way more.
Next time they play near me I want to try an experiment and take along a friend, who has zero interest in this sort of music, and see what they think! Can't imagine anyone not finding something to enjoy :tup
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At this point, I'm 100% into getting a ticket for the sold out last of the tour Billy Corgan show in NYC this Wednesday. He starts three nights there tonight, but having seen 3 shows, I'm just going to try to make one of these and preferably the last as the last show of tours almost always is the most interesting. Would be a nice mid week treat as well so as long as work doesn't change my plans for me, this seems likely:
November 20th - Billy Corgan @ Gramercy Theater, New York City NY
should also note that the NYC shows are cheaper than LA (by far) and even PA. Kind of surprising as NYC prices for concerts are almost always the highest you see, but I think he has a bigger LA fan base.
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So, yesterday at work, I won a contest. The prize was 4 seats in our company's suite, plus VIP parking, for last night's Trans-Siberian Orchestra show at PNC Arena in Raleigh.
That shit was fucking SWEET.
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So, yesterday at work, I won a contest. The prize was 4 seats in our company's suite, plus VIP parking, for last night's Trans-Siberian Orchestra show at PNC Arena in Raleigh.
That shit was fucking SWEET.
Awesome to hear that. Seeing them a week from Saturday in Ontario, California and bringing my family as well.
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That's pretty awesome :metal
so last nights final acoustic Billy Corgan show.... does a 25 song set and then does a 30 minute trivia game show with the crowd at the end with the winner getting to keep his guitar... I'm thinking this was a real bomb although I absolutely loved the ridiculousness of it all. Before intermission he said he was going to do this and to get picked to be on stage, you could come up to the stage and get a raffle ticket during intermission and if your number was called BIlly would bring you on stage and ask you a question about himself. Now the questions were TOUGH. No one was getting them right at all. He kept going through more numbers as people just kept getting the questions wrong and eventually people were getting pissed and leaving :rollin
I think that was one of the most ridiculous endings to a tour I've ever seen. And I recorded the whole thing. Sadly my camera can't do more than 20 minute videos and the whole thing lasted close to 30 minutes. So I uploaded the main chunk of it and I'll have to edit all the rest when I get a chance (including someone finally winning, a lady Pam who I had met at the shows in LA and she is probably the biggest fan of his and Billy sung happy birthday to her in LA). Really awesome for her to win that guitar. He also mentioned he was going to be fined a lot for going so long after the show should have ended (reminded me of MPs short set comment from Live SFAM)
Anyway, Billy Corgan Trivia Game Show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADd1RdBw0c0)
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So, yesterday at work, I won a contest. The prize was 4 seats in our company's suite, plus VIP parking, for last night's Trans-Siberian Orchestra show at PNC Arena in Raleigh.
That shit was fucking SWEET.
Awesome to hear that. Seeing them a week from Saturday in Ontario, California and bringing my family as well.
It was some of the best visual effects (lasers/pyro/etc) I have ever seen at a concert. Such a good time.
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All right, I'm back from the Lindsey Stirling Warmer in the Winter Christmas show. This might have been the best show I've seen in the three times I've saw her. I just realize that she actually tied Alter Bridge for the acts I've seen the most in concert at three so far. I had a great view from the 100 sections of the arena. Easily worth the $35.00 I spent on Groupon. It lasted around 90 minutes. She and her band played a variety of some Christmas classics, some Christmas tunes from her Christmas album, and a few of her non-Christmas songs. Of course, her and her dancers' choreography, various dress attires, hats, and video visuals was top notch. Lindsey also took it upon herself to sing vocals for a few songs and I think she sounded ok. Even her drummer and keyboard player dressed up nicely for this kind of show. I saw various people wear suits for this show and I felt a bit out of place wearing my usual Alter Bridge t-shirt that I have been wearing for like 25 straight concerts.
Lindsey had some pretty touching stories about the personal battles of life and some struggles with dealing with it, especially during her stint with Dancing with the Stars (which with the way she described it, was a lot more rigorous than one would think with a lot of rehearsals and very little hours of sleep). I also liked how it wasn't just keyboards, drums, violins, and other backing tracks that suits the song all the time. She did Hallelujah with just the violin and her keyboardist playing the guitar and she and her backup band also did a medley of Christmas tunes with instruments that would not be out of place with the Hello Kitty instruments that you see musicians playing on Loudwire videos at times. They still sounded as well as they can be.
Now, the sadder news. Even with the 200 sections of the arena curtain off and tickets being listed on Groupon for around $25-40, I think there was around 2,500-3,000 people in attendance, which is not great given that with these sections curtained off, the venue could have held around 5,000. I put the blame on Live Nation as usual. I don't think people would want to pay around $50.00 for a far back seat in the back section of the 100 sections and the crowd I was in looks to be a more casual concertgoers. I do think if they format it to allow some 200 sections to be available for tickets and price it at $20.00 (fees included), a lot more people would have come. It was a pretty solid show with a lot of good visuals, spectacles, some heart-wrenching speeches, and some humor that would be worth a good night out. I hope if she does a proper tour for her new album, I can catch another show.
Next show will be another great Christmas show. Trans-Siberian Orchestra in the same venue and I'm taking my family to this show. This one I know it would be packed, even with the tickets being on Groupon at the first week of sale at $55.00 and even if the tickets are expensive now.
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Sadly had to sell my Tool tickets for the DC date, plans changed and I was no longer going to be in the area during the concert time. Pretty bummed missed my first chance to see Tool and the tickets were right up the stage too.
Off topic but I like your avatar.
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So, yesterday at work, I won a contest. The prize was 4 seats in our company's suite, plus VIP parking, for last night's Trans-Siberian Orchestra show at PNC Arena in Raleigh.
That shit was fucking SWEET.
Awesome to hear that. Seeing them a week from Saturday in Ontario, California and bringing my family as well.
It was some of the best visual effects (lasers/pyro/etc) I have ever seen at a concert. Such a good time.
That is awesome! My wife and I wanted to see them this year but tickets sold out quick.
Heading up to Raleigh today for the Tool concert, I'm pretty damn excited. Hef, any good food recommendations around the PNC Arena?
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I just shared this to the Smashing Pumpkins thread, but figured I should share here as I've done a lot of talk about the Billy Corgan concerts here as well.
Billy Corgan - Cotillions Solo Acoustic Tour of the US from LA to NYC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzmBcf_kDHY)
My full 4 hour video of editting 4 concerts together. Includes like 40 or so songs from two LA shows, one PA show, and one NYC show. Also includes the full trivia game show Billy held after the NYC show to give away his guitars he used.
As of now, my next concert confirmed is Greta Van Fleet at the end of the year, but a few I am interested in and will see if I can make:
November 29th - Chon, Between The Buried and Me, Intervals @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ - With my parents and friends home for the holidays, this may not be possible but if nothing is going on, I may check this out.
December 10/11 - Slackers @ Bluebird Theater, Denver CO - Going to be in Denver this week and this looks like the only show I may have interest in if possible to make it with my work schedule.
December 14th - Thank You Scientist @ Mercury Loung, New York City NY - I come home from Denver this afternoon, if I get in on time and feel up to it, I'd love to check them out as I just got their latest album and really enjoy it. Just may not be possible to make this due to a flight that day.
December 20th - Streetlight Manifesto @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ - I saw them last year and they were awesome, but I know little of their original music (that show they did the entire Catch 22 Keasbey Nights album) which is the only thing holding me back, but if I am home without plans this night, I will definitely go check this out.
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As of now, my next concert confirmed is Greta Van Fleet at the end of the year, but a few I am interested in and will see if I can make:
November 29th - Chon, Between The Buried and Me, Intervals @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ - With my parents and friends home for the holidays, this may not be possible but if nothing is going on, I may check this out.
December 14th - Thank You Scientist @ Mercury Loung, New York City NY - I come home from Denver this afternoon, if I get in on time and feel up to it, I'd love to check them out as I just got their latest album and really enjoy it. Just may not be possible to make this due to a flight that day.
Between The Buried and Me played a great show, I just wish they were the headliner so they could play more songs. I just didn't like CHON so I left early.
Thank You Scientist was amazing. I brought my 6 year old so we had to leave maybe a little past the halfway point of the setlist but it was so worth it. I left the show thinking Anchor was the best live song for me this year. the opening band Teat Time was also decent. I didn't care for Bent Knee.
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All right, I'm back from the Lindsey Stirling Warmer in the Winter Christmas show. This might have been the best show I've seen in the three times I've saw her. I just realize that she actually tied Alter Bridge for the acts I've seen the most in concert at three so far. I had a great view from the 100 sections of the arena. Easily worth the $35.00 I spent on Groupon. It lasted around 90 minutes. She and her band played a variety of some Christmas classics, some Christmas tunes from her Christmas album, and a few of her non-Christmas songs. Of course, her and her dancers' choreography, various dress attires, hats, and video visuals was top notch. Lindsey also took it upon herself to sing vocals for a few songs and I think she sounded ok. Even her drummer and keyboard player dressed up nicely for this kind of show. I saw various people wear suits for this show and I felt a bit out of place wearing my usual Alter Bridge t-shirt that I have been wearing for like 25 straight concerts.
Lindsey had some pretty touching stories about the personal battles of life and some struggles with dealing with it, especially during her stint with Dancing with the Stars (which with the way she described it, was a lot more rigorous than one would think with a lot of rehearsals and very little hours of sleep). I also liked how it wasn't just keyboards, drums, violins, and other backing tracks that suits the song all the time. She did Hallelujah with just the violin and her keyboardist playing the guitar and she and her backup band also did a medley of Christmas tunes with instruments that would not be out of place with the Hello Kitty instruments that you see musicians playing on Loudwire videos at times. They still sounded as well as they can be.
Now, the sadder news. Even with the 200 sections of the arena curtain off and tickets being listed on Groupon for around $25-40, I think there was around 2,500-3,000 people in attendance, which is not great given that with these sections curtained off, the venue could have held around 5,000. I put the blame on Live Nation as usual. I don't think people would want to pay around $50.00 for a far back seat in the back section of the 100 sections and the crowd I was in looks to be a more casual concertgoers. I do think if they format it to allow some 200 sections to be available for tickets and price it at $20.00 (fees included), a lot more people would have come. It was a pretty solid show with a lot of good visuals, spectacles, some heart-wrenching speeches, and some humor that would be worth a good night out. I hope if she does a proper tour for her new album, I can catch another show.
Next show will be another great Christmas show. Trans-Siberian Orchestra in the same venue and I'm taking my family to this show. This one I know it would be packed, even with the tickets being on Groupon at the first week of sale at $55.00 and even if the tickets are expensive now.
I think I was behind you in line for Switchfoot in Riverside. Lol.
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^^ Were you the one wearing the DT Scenes from A Memory t-shirt, because I spotted someone in line wearing that shirt at that show?
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As of now, my next concert confirmed is Greta Van Fleet at the end of the year, but a few I am interested in and will see if I can make:
November 29th - Chon, Between The Buried and Me, Intervals @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ - With my parents and friends home for the holidays, this may not be possible but if nothing is going on, I may check this out.
December 14th - Thank You Scientist @ Mercury Loung, New York City NY - I come home from Denver this afternoon, if I get in on time and feel up to it, I'd love to check them out as I just got their latest album and really enjoy it. Just may not be possible to make this due to a flight that day.
Between The Buried and Me played a great show, I just wish they were the headliner so they could play more songs. I just didn't like CHON so I left early.
Thank You Scientist was amazing. I brought my 6 year old so we had to leave maybe a little past the halfway point of the setlist but it was so worth it. I left the show thinking Anchor was the best live song for me this year. the opening band Teat Time was also decent. I didn't care for Bent Knee.
I would've went just to see CHON and Bent Knee.
I wish these tours would've came here.
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^^ Were you the one wearing the DT Scenes from A Memory t-shirt, because I spotted someone in line wearing that shirt at that show?
Yup, that was me. When I saw your shirt I was tempted to ask if you were on the DTforums.
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Seeing Beyond the Black tomorrow for my final concert of this year and not going to lie, I'm excited! Been listening to their three albums for these past two weeks. Hopefully I manage to get to the first row.
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Nice, I recommended Beast in Black to my friend and somehow he ended up listening to Beyond the black and really liked it, recommended it right back at me but I have yet to listen.
My local concert venue is doing their black friday two for one ticket sales today. Scooped up Streetlight Manifesto for Decmber 20th, and while these are 2019, I also got Queensryche with John 5 and Sleeping with Sirens. I can sell my extra ticket for face value and essentially just got myself a cheap ticket for each of those shows.
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I really want to see The Squirrel Nut Zippers this December for their Christmas show but It's a mighty busy time to do so.
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Already in Jersey for Intervals, Chon and BTBAM tonight :metal
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Already in Jersey for Intervals, Chon and BTBAM tonight :metal
Nice, my grade school friend who lives in San Fran is in town tonight so a bunch of us are chilling and I'm not going to go to this show.
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Nice, I recommended Beast in Black to my friend and somehow he ended up listening to Beyond the black and really liked it, recommended it right back at me but I have yet to listen.
They're like... very stock symphonic metal with great melody hooks. I can give you a few great tracks if you'd like to.
Honestly I've been pretty jaded with all the prog all the time, this should be amazing.
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Sure, it sounds up my alley and my friend has similar music tastes so a recommendation from him seems legit. I just don't recall seeing them talked about here and have never really heard of them before.
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Hell, man. Talk about wrapping up the year with a damn flourish. Beyond the Black were awesome, beyond belief really. Damn! I haven't enjoyed a concert this much in a while. Just fantastic all around.
Photos, PM to cram and in-depth thoughts are coming up when I crash home, currently typing this at a bus stop
edit: okay maybe tomorrow, I loved the gig though, it was awesome but I'm tired as hell
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Well, managed to get to see some shows in December, thanks to some below face value tickets on Stubhub. Under $25.00 for the show at the Observatory and under $33.00 for a nosebleed far back and center seat at the Honda Center.
The Hu - The Observatory - Santa Ana, CA. December 5th, 2019.
KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas featuring Cage the Elephant, Beck, Jimmy Eat World, Angels and Airwaves, and more - Honda Center - Anaheim, CA. December 7th, 2019.
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Nice, I was just thinking the other day about the KROW show last year. It actually featured 3 bands of 3 brothers each. How crazy is that? Greta Van Fleet, AJR, and The Interrupters. I ended up seeing all of those bands this year and that KROQ show was my first time seeing those three. I guess you can say that festival had some lasting music impressions on me. I really don't know anything about the bands playing this year, (although Ive seen Jimmy Eat World a couple times and not really a fan) but I'm sure you will have fun. Non stop music for 6+ hours is a fun time.
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Just got back from seeing one of my favorite bands of the last 30 years, The Nixons at a small venue called The Stanhope House. They're touring for the first time in 20 years (all 4 original members). Unfortunately, the drummer missed the show tonight. He's also the drummer in Seether who had a show, too. So, his son filled in for him. Apparently, he's also a pretty competent drummer. They put on a great show which included 2 of the 3 new songs they've put out in 2019.
It's a short tour they're doing with Sponge. But, if they're in your area, I'd definitely recommend checking them out. The tix are pretty cheap, too.
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Been to Opeth and Rival Sons last month and tonight this years last concert by Marillion and friends
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So I saw The Hu along with Crown Lands in Santa Ana, yesterday. I had a good night.
Crown Lands was an interesting opener to me. They looked like guys that is part of the group of young bands that looks to emulate classic rock bands (see Greta Van Fleet and Dirty Honey). However, the band they choose to wear their influences on looked to be Rush, particularly 70s Rush. They are from Ontario, Canada and they choose Closer to the Heart as their intro tape music. There was only two guys, a guitarist and a drummer and the drummer is the vocalist. The vocalist sounded and made gestures like Robert Plant as well in one particular song and I thought to myself, "Did I somehow magically go back in time 45 years ago? Because, I know I'm not in 2019 with this certain lighting of the stage and all." Oddly enough, for some reason, the drum sound was shockingly on the low end of the volume during a song and the roadie acted fast to make sure that gets fixed and the band didn't break stride at all. They kept playing as well as they could have in that spot and the crowd cheered when the drum volume was fixed and the crowd liked their set. I liked it a good amount as well. Nice to see a more younger band pick Rush as one of their influence.
The Hu was honestly pretty good. This show was part of I believe their first tour ever in the states and the Observatory was packed. It had around 500 people. There was 8 guys on stage. Two guitarist (although one guitarist had quite a unique shape for his guitar. Don't know if it is a customarily crafted guitar that suited the Mongolian culture), a drummer, another drummer that has some interesting looking drums, two guys with stringed instruments, a bassist, and the vocalist that played the flute in some parts. They had like seven mics on stage and they were harmonizing well with their throat singing style. I don't know how the heck you can throat sing in an 80 or so minute set and not kill your voice. If you are able to do that for many years, you can go far with that style.
The band played great. They looked genuinely happy to be in Southern California in a city that's not really a high populated city like LA or Anaheim. The crowd was really into them. The crowd looked to be more leaning towards the side of the heavier metal fans. I stayed back thankfully, because the show had a big pit going at times in the center of the rail and despite not knowing any lyrics since it was all in Mongolian, people were really into them. It also helps that The Hu had an easy "HU! HU! HU!" chant with the fists up to get people into it. I was standing next to an older women that saw them in San Diego and is already thinking about traveling to Mongolia to see them in the future. The band also had a lot of mileage of a setlist. Going for like 80 minutes on like one album and a few other songs and they played their big track that's been on Octane from time to time "Yuve Yuve Yu" twice. Figs man, they actually did a better job having a longer setlist with not that many songs than I've seen bands (that's billed as a single headliner) with like 5 albums and they only give us 70 minutes of a headlining set.
I'm glad I've spent the $25.00 on Stubhub to see them. Nice to see an emerging promising band when they are starting out on their first tour in the states. For me, their uniqueness in sound, look, and the instruments they used that goes with their Mongolian culture sets them apart from the drivel of new bands that I hear on Octane. I can see them going far and it's would be nice to say that if they do make it big, I can say that I was there when they were playing in a enthusiastic room that held 500 people on their first US tour ever.
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The Hu remind me of my friends band while he was in college, it was instrumental prog metal with an erhu.
Anyway, I'm in Denver and apparently it's a two night "Slackfest" for the ska band The Slackers. Each night doing a by request set. I hardly know them at all, they are a bit old school ska closer to reggae. However, a 2 day pass was 35 and a one day was 30. I bought a 2 day, give myself some options here, but it seems I'm definitely going tonight.
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Might as well go back, I had fun last night. I'd say there was no more than 200 people there, but they played for about 2 hours just taking requests from the crowd too which was cool. I guess it wasn't a predetermined set and they just went with the flow. Either way, felt like old times with the skanking going on and the local show vibe it had. Hung outside with a bunch of people who all smoked together, including the opening band. Just a cool hang out if nothing else, but the music while not metal or even rock, it was really enjoyable.
The Slackers - Rude and Reckless (by request) Live @ Bluebird Theater Denver (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn920rQBdo4)
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Going to see...
The Tea Club, Bent Knee, and Thank You Scientist tonight. Last show of 2019 for me.
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Going to see...
The Tea Club, Bent Knee, and Thank You Scientist tonight. Last show of 2019 for me.
I'm hoping to make the show Saturday. Flight lands at 4:20pm and I need to go home which is out of the way first, so if flight is on time and I feel up to it (work is kicking my ass this week and tomorrow will be the busiest of the week) I may actually be able to make it. Listening to TYS right now and that show is the last of the tour so it will probably be really fun.
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Going to see...
The Tea Club, Bent Knee, and Thank You Scientist tonight. Last show of 2019 for me.
I'm hoping to make the show Saturday. Flight lands at 4:20pm and I need to go home which is out of the way first, so if flight is on time and I feel up to it (work is kicking my ass this week and tomorrow will be the busiest of the week) I may actually be able to make it. Listening to TYS right now and that show is the last of the tour so it will probably be really fun.
I saw Bent Knee and Thank You Scientist is June and it was a lot of fun. Tonight's show is in a seated 230 seat venue and its a great little venue.
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Solid flight home today even with this crap weather here in NJ, regardless, on the train heading into NYC for Thank You Scientist and Bent Knee. Will miss Tea Party but should see most of Bent Knee. From the horns of the Slackers in Denver to the horns of TYS in NYC :yarr and next week I'll see the horns of Streetlight Manifesto. Great week for brass instruments.
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Posted this in the iamthemorning thread but thought I should put it here too.
If you are in Japan, The Flower Kings will do two shows there early next year.... they are on fire so I recommend that you go
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Had a fantastic time at the last show of the The Flower Kings, iamthemorning and Rickard Sjöblom tour on saturday.
Fantastic night out in Stockholm, first a meet up with 15 other progressive music lovers talking over a dinner at O'Leary's and then a concert with three fantastic acts.
First Rickard Sjöblom with Marjana Semkinas guitar playing some Beardfish and Gungfly songs. Then he is joined by Jonas Reingold for a Big Big Train song. And then Roine Stolt, Zack Kamins and Mirkko de Maio join in for Björn Json Linds Brusa högre lilla å..... beautiful
Then comes iamthemorning, the Russian duo Marjana Semkina and Gleb Kolyadin who on this tour were accompanied by the amazing Evan Carson and a Cello player that I did not get the name of. Utterly spellbinding show, though too short. Hope they come back in the near future.
I think they got a better reception than they had expected, the cheers did not want to end.
And The Flower Kings.... probably the best concert I have seen with them so far. Stardust We are..... so great!!!
Also great to see Hasse Bruniusson guesting on The Truth Will Set You Free.
And as a closer everyone comes up on stage and does The Beatles song Long and Winding Road.
Wow..... marvellous concert
I have plugged Evan Carsons album Ocipinski on FB tagging him.
He recognised me at the front of the audience and came up to me after the iamthemorning gig, took my hand and thanked me for all the support.
After the show I got Ocipinski signed by both Evan and Gleb and got a very nice chat with them both covering lot's of ground, espescially interresting to hear some of their plans for the future.
I also talked a bit to Marjana.
Photos and videos:
https://m.facebook.com/martin.sandberg.334/albums/2004888839647174/?ref=bookmarks
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Been on a live horn kick lately, last week saw old school ska band The Slackers in Denver, then Saturday I saw Thank You Scientist in NYC and this Friday is a newer ska band Streetlight Manifesto locally in NJ for another yearly home town show. They are doing two nights, one of older songs and one night of new songs. I am currently only going to the older songs (friday) show but I may go Thursday as well since I'm off from work. This music is always so fun live, plus being a hometown show, it's going to have lots of energy.
Fun fact, I was chatting with the Viernes 13 singer (they opened for The Slackers, ska band from southern Cali) and asked him who is favorite band is. He said Streetlight Manifesto and had never seen them before. Makes me feel fortunate to have such good local NJ music (Thank You Scientist is also local) and that I am privileged to be able to see all these bands.
And last show of the year will be a road trip to Philly, so here's how 2019 is ending :metal:
December 20th - Streetlight Manifesto @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ
December 30th - Greta Van Fleet @ The Met Philly, Philadelphia PA
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Went to the show last night. SO much fun. They bring one of the most energetic shows I can think of. Being a hometown gig helps, I was surprised how many young people were there. I may have been the oldest. Heard some talk waiting to get in about people's first time seeing a concert. My first concert was a ska band, Less Than Jake, at the same venue (It is now called Starland Ballroom, used to be called Hunka Bunka Ballroom back in 1998) so I know the feeling of these younger folks.
Ever since I dropped some weight, I've really enjoyed going into the mosh pits. It's been a fun way to exercise, have fun, and really get into the show with people. I was in the pit for about 4 or 5 songs and was absolutely drenched in sweat (my shirt from last night is still wet) and exhausted. It was so much fun and so wild. Very friendly pit for ska music, but very energetic for this band.
Looking forward to night 2, they played lots of rarer stuff last night from the "old stuff" and tonight is supposed to be "new stuff". I hope we see a new song, we'll see. Another cool thing, on the way out, they handed out a free 3 song live CD titled "Dear New Jersey, Thank You" a nice gesture from the bands to their local and loyal fans. :yarr
Streetlight Manifesto - That'll Be The Day (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjzE-W5EFWI)
In other news, I had a Thank You Scientist video of Terraformer and the band themselves took it down with a copy right claim and strike on my youtube channel (WTF, the first time this has happened after over 500 concert videos). What a bummer, video was awesome, they sounded great, but apparently the band doesn't want people sharing their music. Specifically saying "we feel like it’s a poor representation." when I reached out to the band to reconsider. >:( I think the video got a few compliments before it's takedown. I think it would have helped them get exposure as I shared it a bunch of places (DTF Discord, Reddit, Facebook). Oh well, kind of sours me on the band and I definitely won't be traveling 2 hours each way to see them again.
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My body is not happy with me, besides two good workouts the last two days, two nights in the huge pit and I've got some aches and pains today :lol I'm getting old, but it was so worth it. SO MUCH FUN. I can't say much more about how amazing these two nights were with Streetlight Manifesto. Spent my morning combining footage from both nights into one long video:
Streetlight Manifesto Live Back 2 Back Nights @ Starland Ballroom NJ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihxeLEblImU)
Such a wild crowd for this band.
one more show to close out 2019 with Greta Van Fleet! Their rescheduling of this show from earlier this fall has worked out nicely for me! I'll be on the floor :metal
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Ugh so upset, I've been sick the last couple days and still not feeling good today. Had to sell my Greta Van Fleet ticket, that wasn't a local concert and would take way too much effort and risk me being sick for even longer. Sad way to end what was otherwise an AMAZING 2019 concert year for me. I plan on making a Top 10 Concert Moments of 2019 video soon, but I think my count sits at 59 concerts now :'(
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I just got back from seeing Greta Van Fleet at the Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia. First off, the opener, Aaron Lee Tasjan, was a pleasant surprise. He fronted a traditional 3-piece (singer/guitarist, bassist, drummer). He had a Tom Petty vibe going. He played about 7-8 songs. Next was GVF. I have to admit, I've loved their musicianship. Haven't been the biggest fan of the vocalist. A little (or a lot) too much of a Robert Plant rip-off. I mean, how many times can a 23-year-old vocalist throw the word "mama" into a song?!? Anyway, back to GVF. They were fantastic! Josh's pipes were in fine form all night long. They played a 12-song set, complete with some extended jams and a solo section for each instrumentalist. My wife really wanted to see them and got the tix. I'm glad she did because it was a great show.