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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: Samsara on November 26, 2019, 12:53:08 PM
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With Thanksgiving upon us in the U.S., I thought it would be cool for a thread to name your musical experiences (concerts, albums, meetings, etc.) you were most thankful for in 2019.
Iron Maiden (twice) - I got to see Iron Maiden twice this year. Back-to-back nights. The first night was with my family and one of my best friends, who flew out from the East Coast to take it in with us. My daughter got to see Iron Maiden for the first time, and was blown away at the spectacle. The second night, he and I drove 90 minutes for the second show, got a free upgrade, and took in another (even more stellar) Maiden performance. Great memories with the family, and with my friend, and celebrating Bruce being back to full form.
Fates Warning (road trip) - I saw Fates Warning three times this year. Twice as an opening act, and then a full-on headline show. The first opening set, I was smack dead center front row. Great energy. The next night, my family was with me, so my wife went down front, and my daughter and I hung at the back and watched. The third night was a headline show that I drove a couple of hours for. Literally saw Fates Warning do a full show, like they were playing a big theater, in a bar the size of a three-car garage. Incredible. And I made some great new friends, as a couple of guys drove from Utah to take in all three shows. It was a blast.
Dream Theater: Distance Over Time and tour - I swore I was done seeing DT after the I&W 25th tour in Oakland. I hadn't liked the band's new music in years, and I&W was my favorite record, and it just wasn't a great night vocally for JLB. I was done. And then...Distance Over Time came out, and it blew me away. And the show was great, and thanks to a friend, I got to meet some of DT. John Petrucci was sick as a dog, but his tech came out, and was gracious enough to take my LP, and John signed it for me backstage. A great show, a great record, and faith restored in my hometown Long Island-based band.
The Tea Party - Been a fan of these guys for 20 years. The only problem? They rarely played shows in the United States. They're from Canada. Every so often, a show in Buffalo, N.Y. would pop up (I think it was an eight-hour drive from where I grew up on Long Island), or Seattle (a flight from where I live now). But lucky for me, they played a club in the Bay Area, and I got to see them perform an incredible set with maybe 100 other people. They didn't disappoint. Just crushed it.
Hootie & The Blowfish - I am a fan of Hootie, and have been since Cracked Rear View in 1994. I have a thing for a couple of bands in that era, Hootie, DMB, Blues Traveler, etc. Well, I never got the opportunity to see Hootie, and always wanted to. I still love Cracked Rear View, and it was the 25th anniversary of the album this year. I got a killer seat at our local amphitheater, and they put on a great gig. It was nice to check a band off the list. Don't think I'll see them again, as I got to hear what I wanted, and I'm not an uber fan any longer. But I was really thankful I finally got to see them. Darius Rucker just has this quality in his voice that resonates with me.
Alter Bridge: Walk the Sky - My favorite band puts out a new record, and I love it, and totally sink my ears into the nuances of what they were trying to achieve musically, and thematically. I never thought after the original lineup of Queensryche disbanded, that I'd ever quite hear another band like them again...one that resonated. And AB does, in every way, and I am so stoked to have another record by them (can't wait for the show next year).
The Rue - Who, you ask? :lol This is an acoustic duo. A father and daughter duo. You may recognize their last name - DeGarmo. Yes, Chris DeGarmo, and his daughter Rylie, have been making music together for many years, on the side, as something between the two of them. They release songs periodically. Being a father of a girl myself, and realizing the importance of finding a connection, the fact that Chris and Rylie have connected with music as their thing just pulls on the heartstrings. What I am thankful for isn't a new album or anything. But they did perform this year, unannounced, as a special opening act for Alice in Chains at the WaMu Theater in Seattle, on Sep. 20. I haven't seen their full performance, but this surfaced on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lE82kUiFvik
Chris DeGarmo is my favorite guitarist/songwriter of all time, and you hear his distinct style and phrasings all over this, just like you do on all of The Rue's music. Some of it sounds like Promised Land/HITNF acoustic material, just to a female vocal. It may seem simple, and I wasn't there personally, unfortunately, but just watching my favorite musician perform live again, with his daughter, just made my heart full.
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I've got a lot to be thankful for....
A job that sends me on solo work travel where I can sometimes work my way into sneaking off and see cool concerts in different locations, some examples from 2019:
Elton John at Staples Center LA
Kamelot and Evergrey in Nijmegan Netherlands
AJR at Red Rocks in Colorado
Billy Corgan at a beautiful small venue in LA
Avantasia making another album and coming back, although briefly, to the US. Being they were never supposed to be a band and tour, it's amazing that it happened again. The new album is pretty good and the show was once again one of the best I've seen. Not only that, but I stayed at the same hotel as some of the band so got to ride the elevator with Miro and Herbie but also got to say hi to a few others including Tobie although super brief.
I got to see my two favorite bands both twice, Dream Theater and Iron Maiden (actually saw them three times). Nothing more to say here that I haven't said countless times in other threads here about the awesomeness of these shows.
Warped Tour doing a one off (well it was two offs, one on each coast but the East coast was better IMO) 20th anniversary show on the beach in AC. This was one of the best weekends of my life. I discovered lots of new music, relived music of my past in an environment of my past, and also enjoyed lots of current bands with a new vibe and actually having a VIP pass for this festival which was totally worth it. Plus a rare concert experience where I actually got laid after :lol
And of course that ProgPower continues to be a thing. It's apparently ending at 25 so being at 20 and having a blast with fellow DTFers and seeing/meeting some of my favorite bands makes this a must see event every year it seems, and I hope I can continue that until it ends which will be a very sad day.
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Top of the list must be Ayreon - Electric Castle and Other Stories in Tillburg.... fantastic show. So thankful that I got tickets and that I was able to fly down to see this. Also that my friend who sufferers from severe freight both of heights and of flying managed to fly down to meet me there. Awesome weekend.
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Iron Maiden
Meeting Jon Anderson, the primary force behind my favorite album of all time (and we acknowledged that).
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Seeing Frost* with Nick D'Virgilio filling in on drums at a dive bar in Fort Wayne, IN. They did their Cruise to the Edge set and it was sweet. Nick sounded like he's been playing with them for forever, and he did a great job on the lead vocals for Experiments in Mass Appeal. Also, seeing DT do SFAM live in full was awesome as well.
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Iron Maiden
Meeting Jon Anderson, the primary force behind my favorite album of all time (and we acknowledged that).
I met Jon Anderson a few years ago when he was doing a solo tour in Seattle. Very nice guy!
So what is your favorite album of all time??
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- My friend marrying the lead songwriter and founder of one of my most favorite bands ever, Twilight Force -- and then meeting him at ProgPower, and getting invited to their wedding in Sweden next year. Can't go to Sweden sadly but it's awesome to be considered a friend who's more 'in the circle' than your average TF fan :2metal:
- witnessing power metal history as Galneryus played their first ever USA concert during ProgPower, then meeting them and getting them to sign one of my tickets and my Gold Badge
- ProgPower in general tbh, hanging with cram and jingle was a total blast
- seeing Avantasia for the first time ever, in May
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I guess mine is simply all the bands and artists that have produced the albums I've bought, both those released during this year and in years past.
Rikard Sjöblom's Gungfly (x6), The Flower Kings (x5), Kyros/Synaesthesia, Dilemma, Dream Theater, Mystery, IQ (x3), Mostly Autumn, Spock's Beard, Magic Pie, Mansun, Big Big Train, Ayreon (x4), Lonely Robot (x2), Fish, Opeth, The Sea Within, and Flying Colors.
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- ProgPower in general tbh, hanging with cram and jingle was a total blast
:metal :metal
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This album:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/fullres/s/ec9970cc5bd672718de2acca6941de3a/7460525)
Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising
One of the best and most beautiful albums I’ve ever heard. I’ve listened to it over 20 times (I know that’s not a lot for some, but for me it is since I listen to so much music) and I’m not even remotely close to getting tired of listening to it. Every time I listen to it I feel so much joy. I’m obsessed with this album. I couldn’t be more thankful to have it in my life.
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Live show wise it was a pretty thin year, but the ass whooping allegaeon laid on me made the lack of shows worthwhile.
Album wise.... Double album by IQ, nuff said.
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Iron Maiden
Meeting Jon Anderson, the primary force behind my favorite album of all time (and we acknowledged that).
I met Jon Anderson a few years ago when he was doing a solo tour in Seattle. Very nice guy!
So what is your favorite album of all time??
Going For The One. Could be billshot, but he claimed to have listened to the orchestral parts of Awaken "just the other day".
(https://i.imgur.com/PM3wmLU.jpg)
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Which one are you, Stadler? ;D
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Saw Within Temptation and Ghost live. Thought both shows were tremendous, hard to say which I was most thankful for.
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Getting to see NMB live in Cleveland. What a fantastic show/night!!!
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Tim's roulette.
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which one, this is his second one this year :P
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Which one are you, Stadler? ;D
He's the fogey :biggrin:
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which one, this is his second one this year :P
True, the first one, at the moment. ;D
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1: Seeing Flying Colors live.
2: Seeing DT perform Scenes live.
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Sadly, I haven't seen any shows for almost two years, so my list is based around releases and happenings in music.
Helloween - United Alive
I was always a casual Helloween fan, preferring Gamma Ray to them. But when they announced the reunion, I thought it was a killer idea. The tour was one of many that I did not attend, so I'm thrilled to have an amazing live album and blu ray from the band, showcasing how badass they are. Kiske is on fire, and the release actually got me to go back and explore a lot of the albums with Andi Deris, which I had always dismissed as being inferior. So over the last few months, I've become a giant fan of all eras of the band.
Demons & Wizards
Iced Earth is my all time favorite band, with Blind Guardian right up there. I've always been in love with this pairing since their debut album came out 19 years ago. The second album was alright, and I've waited for 14 years for any activity from them. I'm so happy that Jon and Hansi blocked out a full year to tour, write and record a third album. They're signed for 2 studio discs and a live album, so we haven't heard the last from them. Thankfully they recorded the Wacken show, so we'll get a live release sometime, since I once again had to skip their tour when it came around, despite being a once in a lifetime thing.
Slayer
They're calling it quits this weekend - I've been a fan for the last 25 years, recalling exactly how I got into the band on a recommendation from a long-haired thrasher that shared a class with me when I was a freshman in high school. Sad to see them say goodbye, but I'm happy to have seen the original lineup in 2010 on the American Carnage tour, playing the Seasons in the Abyss album in full (my first album that I had ever heard from them).
Dream Theater
Distance over Time is the album that i've been wanting from them since Train of Thought. So I'm happy that they're back to being the Dream Theater that I love. The albums in between are cool and have their moments, but none have left me feeling like they belonged to the Dream Theater of old until this one came out.
Primal Fear
Again, I was a casual fan for a long time, but went deep down the rabbit hole this year and absolutely fell in love with them, amassing the remainder of their records and spending months upon months listening to them.
King Diamond / Mercyful Fate
I love the live blu-ray that King put out earlier this year and can't wait for his new album. Next year's Mercyful Fate reunion should be incredibly cool as well.
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That DT bounced back with a great album after IMHO their weakest albums ever (I'd rank it dead last). They still have some greatness in them.
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Oh yeah seeing Demons & Wizards headline PPUSA after I thought I'd never ever see them live was pretty incredible.
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Gig wise it has to be the Marillion weekend in Leicester. a truly life-affirming experience. Other than that, Big Big Train were excellent, and the B52s put on a great party.
DT aren't bringing their d/t tour over here until February, and as for Tea Party - well, I saw them supporting Queensryche in the early 90s, and I don't think they've been back to Europe since. Shame, coz I love their stuff, and I'm eagerly awaiting the new album...
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Iron Maiden
Meeting Jon Anderson, the primary force behind my favorite album of all time (and we acknowledged that).
I met Jon Anderson a few years ago when he was doing a solo tour in Seattle. Very nice guy!
So what is your favorite album of all time??
Going For The One. Could be billshot, but he claimed to have listened to the orchestral parts of Awaken "just the other day".
(https://i.imgur.com/PM3wmLU.jpg)
Stadler, that is awesome! Great album too. :tup
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Iron Maiden
Meeting Jon Anderson, the primary force behind my favorite album of all time (and we acknowledged that).
which according to my logic is Tales From Topographic Oceans
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Going to cap it at three in no particular order:
Seeing Steven Wilson the day after my birthday live in Hamburg and Haken (for the first time ever) the day after that, and also doing a M&G with Haken, best M&G experience by far for me. Both shows were fantastic.
Traveling to Netherlands to witness three Ayreon - Into the Electric Castle shows. Had a fantastic time.
Seeing iamthemorning perform two times from the front/center in an awesome small venue. Love these guys.
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Seeing Scenes from a Memory live :) I never saw it the first time and it was really a joy to see multiple shows this year. Adding At Wit's End for the second leg made it even better.
Seeing Threshold live - no full album, but they were awesome and I'm so happy to have seen them
Katatonia announcing that their hiatus was over (a joyous occasion) and then seeing Night is the New Day live in it's entirety. :)
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Which one are you, Stadler? ;D
The old guy.
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That DT bounced back with a great album after IMHO their weakest albums ever (I'd rank it dead last). They still have some greatness in them.
It's funny how different we hear music. To me The Astonishing was their pinnacle.... Distance Over Time is to me way down on the list of DT releases.
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Seeing iamthemorning perform two times from the front/center in an awesome small venue. Love these guys.
Keep your eyes and ears open tomorrow...
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That DT bounced back with a great album after IMHO their weakest albums ever (I'd rank it dead last). They still have some greatness in them.
It's funny how different we hear music. To me The Astonishing was their pinnacle.... Distance Over Time is to me way down on the list of DT releases.
I don't agree about TA being their pinnacle (although the point could be made that, in a way, it actually was, concerning the sheer scope of that particular undertaking), but I agree about everything else you mentioned. Back to topic: I'm grateful for finally being able to see Hiromi live. (I wanted to see her live ever since she came onto the scene in 2003, never could though for various reasons) She was amazing. Lots of notes, lots of smiles (on her part mostly, although I smiled a lot too during the concert) One of the best concerts I've attended and I attended quite a lot and I'm very hard to please.
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King Diamond - Seeing them live in Brooklyn was the highlight of the year, a total blast. I got into Mercyful Fate in 1985 with the release of Don't Break the Oath and was absolutely crushed when they broke up shortly after that album. I shouldn't have worried, since the output by both KD/MF ever since has more than made up for it. And he's got a new album coming out in 2020.
Iron Maiden - Live in Brooklyn, they were in top form.
Dream Theater - 3rd row seats at LIU Post, a college auditorium on Long Island.
Tanglewood - Every summer, my wife and I try to make the trek up to Western Mass to catch the Boston Symphony Orchestra do their thing. This year we attended 3 concerts in 3 days. Wife loves Beethoven Violin Concerto, but Brahms Symphony #1 and Dvorak Symphony #7 were my highlights of the trip. Nothing beats getting loaded up on Foie Gras and Pinot Noir in the open air while listening to the all-time greats.
Jim Matheos - Missed the last Fates tour, but while sitting in my backyard one day with a stogie and six-pack of IPA, I decided to play through Theories of Flight, Darkness in a Different Light and Sympathetic Resonance (hadn't picked up Winter Ethereal yet). It was just a reminder to me of just how good this stuff is, every bit the equal of Matheos' output of decades past, and in some ways even better. If anything, the metal got even heavier!
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I'm most thankful for LudwigVan posting again on DTF.
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seeing Fates Warning, Kindo (2x), Nick Mason and Steve Hackett among other concerts.
The Dirt Poor Robins EPs and their online presence.
Vonavi's album Reflection and even just the Short Film for the tune "Regrow." (https://allmediareviews.blogspot.com/2019/11/vonavi-regrow-short-film.html)
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I'm thankful for having the luxury of going to around 25 or so concerts this year. Most of them were pretty good and some of them were the best shows I have seen ever, but I like to point out a certain week in September that I've deemed the greatest week of my life.
September 14th - Saw Iron Maiden at the sold-out Banc of California Stadium in LA where they delivered a tremendous show in front of 23,000 fans.
September 16th - Went on a plane for the first time in 18 years for the Alter Bridge Walk The Sky album listening party.
September 17th - Landed in Orlando and saw said event with 500 of the most passionate Alter Bridge fans ever. Met the band up close, got a picture with them, heard their newest album (which to me is, of course, my favorite album of the year) a month before it was officially out, and saw them play their first live set in almost two years.
September 18th - Incidentally ran into Myles Kennedy at the airport in Orlando and was in the same plane with him as we were flying from Orlando to Raleigh for Alter Bridge's first official show of their new tour and got a picture with him at the airport in Raleigh.
(https://i.imgur.com/9fXqQiM.png)
September 19th - Saw Alter Bridge in Raleigh and I landed a rail spot to see them up close.
Hard to see me top that week, but we'll see next year as I will see them in four shows in four different cities in the West Coast.
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:metal :metal
Love how this has turned into the picture thread :yarr
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Mine is a little bit different...my band dissolved in 2014 as the bass player relocated to Pittsburgh and things fizzled out. I went from playing my drums at least one night a week to playing once a year when my bass player would come back for Thanksgiving. In 2017 I got hit with a cancer diagnosis and the radiation and chemo kicked my ass. As I was going through it I just kept doing what I had to do but as I look back now, I was pretty sick with stage 3 cancer. I had a lot of residual physical problems with my neck and arm, extreme fatigue and muscle and weight loss and thought I would never play again. Music was so far away. Every so often I would go down in the basement studio, turn on the light and just shake my head at all my gear, get really sad, turn off the light and come back upstairs. My musical mojo was gone forever. I didn't even listen to much music, let alone write lyrics or play my drums. I was happy to be alive but one of my favorite passions was gone.
Fast forward to last fall. Haken was touring Vector and I decided to reach out and reconnect with my guitarist and invited him to join me and and our keyboardist for the show. We hadn't seen each other for 4 or 5 years. That simple act started things in motion. He was really appreciative of me reaching out as he had gone through some health issues as well. Looking death in the face has a way of changing perspective. Since we had fun reconnecting at the show i asked him if he was interested in a jam on Black Friday when bass player was back in town. He enthusiastically accepted and we had a great time. In a twist of fate, Tom , the bass player ended up relocating back to the area and we have gotten the band back together and written some great music this past year. While that is a big thing, it's also just great to get together, jam ,talk and have the fellas back in my life. My musical mojo, that I thought was gone forever is back better than ever!
That is what I am musically most thankful for.
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That's fantastic Froggy!
Congrats on your battle and stay healthy.
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Anguyen92: You met Kevin Bacon? :P
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Anguyen92: You met Kevin Bacon? :P
One degree!
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Thanks Brother TAC!
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Anguyen92: You met Kevin Bacon? :P
Har Har Har.
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I guess I’ll mention my top 5 in no particular order:
Coheed and Cambria with Mastodon: 2 of my favorite bands sharing the stage!
Dream Theater playing SFAM
Attending NAMM for the first time was a great experience.
Seeing Pineapple Thief for the first time
Seeing Enrique Bunbury for the first time. Been trying to see him live since 2007 and never had a chance to.
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I'm most thankful for LudwigVan posting again on DTF.
Thanks TAC!
I’ll also add that I’m thankful for the last Alter Bridge album Walk the Sky. While I liked Fortress and Last Hero, I didn’t love them the way I love Blackbird and ABIII. Walk the Sky is meeting the old AB standard for me.
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I still struggle with them.
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I know you do. And I’m not quite sure why.
But then again, I struggle with Tesla and Alice Cooper.
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I share TACs struggles. I really like Walk The Sky, but so much of their material is underwhelming to me, and I should LOVE them.
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Seeing Uli Jon Roth a few nights ago. Absolutely incredible night. What a musician.
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King Crimson
Flying Colors
Dream Theater
Carl Palmer Band
Tempest
Neal Morse Band
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Tim's roulette.
Both of them now. :metal
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My roulette, it was a hoot to host, I was sent lots of interesting new music and I just enjoyed bantering with you lot. :) Thanks again for everyone involved.
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- ProgPower in general tbh, hanging with cram and jingle was a total blast
:metal :metal
:2metal: + meeting Lethean
Despite the 3.5 hour drive (each way) in the only snowstorm we've had this season so far, seeing SFAM - and James being 'on' for the entirety of it - was my next highlight. Relative to other years, this was a fairly weak one quantity-wise.
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Seeing Uli Roth a few weeks ag. Masterclass of guitar.
Chatting with Joe Stump after the Alcatrazz gig.
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Last year, I went through my concert videos/memory and put my top 10 concert moments (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCutPwVfSzw) in a video where I was also testing my green screen set up. I kind of enjoyed putting that together and reminiscing to myself about those moments.
This year I started keeping a document of potential top moments as I experienced them. Being the end of the year and only one more concert on the slate (which will mark #60 of the year), it's time I start working on my top 10 concert moments of 2019 video. It's pretty much strictly things I recorded so it's not about "progpower with Jingle and Kat" which I wrote about here and is obviously a top experience of the year, but something like building a head banging wall during Demons and Wizards set at Progpower would potentially be on the list (sadly, it won't be although I think it would land in my top 5 moments but I have no video of it as I was in the dead center and started the whole thing). I won't list what'll be on it or what my top moment was, except this one, I absolutely loved this moment https://twitter.com/Cramx3/status/1140347010735849472 (https://twitter.com/Cramx3/status/1140347010735849472) and it will for sure make my list. I''m looking forward to working on this next week while I'm home from work.
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Well, I finished my top concert moments of 2019 video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THqF_w_UynQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THqF_w_UynQ)
It's 30 minutes long, not a short one, but I think it came out fairly well and I definitely caught some really cool moments.
The description has timestamps to jump forward to each moment and I included 5 honorable mentions
I'm not bothering adding the hyperlinks, just copy pasta what is in the youtube description with actual links, but so if anyone is remotely interested, here's the top 10 and honorable mentions:
00:00 Top 10 Concert Moments Intro
00:35 #10. The Rules of the Pit - https://youtu.be/IrKnXwQzrTI
01:58 #9. If Any of You Say We Were Lame - https://youtu.be/oj3GLC2j5pQ
03:52 #8. Jerry Only Enjoys a Concert - https://youtu.be/Oj4jURly-k8
05:01 #7. Lzzy and Nita - https://youtu.be/FJYeqPYaXe4
06:45 #6. Rain Delays - https://youtu.be/Vr4u8umtEIU & https://youtu.be/Giyo0ykRK2Y
08:47 #5. Billy Corgan Giving the Look - https://youtu.be/fzmBcf_kDHY
11:46 #4. Passing Out in the Circle Pit - https://youtu.be/BW33foTiWX0
15:14 #3. Gavin Rossdale Back Pat - https://youtu.be/0bkvcuccoY0
16:54 #2. Surfing the Crowd Surfers - https://youtu.be/Vr4u8umtEIU
**** Honorable Mentions ****
18:27 - Galneryus - https://youtu.be/LZj0u6JiFYU
19:30 - Seafood - https://youtu.be/IrKnXwQzrTI
20:04 - Aerosmith - https://youtu.be/LB_zpn1zoCA
20:55 - Kamelot - https://youtu.be/H9RGh2YhQBY
21:35 - Babymetal - https://youtu.be/d36OfIP0Em4
22:43 #1. Hubert the Ghost - https://youtu.be/bAmEr3rtlAY
I don't know if this is my favorite part of this video, but as much as this hurt, I'm kind of glad I captured my scream of pain as my pinky got bent backwards from the crowdsurfers during babymetal. I crack up just listening to this scream of pain :rollin https://youtu.be/THqF_w_UynQ?t=1324 (https://youtu.be/THqF_w_UynQ?t=1324) "the pit was fire"