Your concerts for 2019

[cramx3]

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



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).

[Anguyen92]

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.

[cramx3]

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

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

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    That show was just sooooo good that it's hard to pass up another opportunity when I have the ability.

[Anguyen92]

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.

[SwedishGoose]

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

[cramx3]

Korn and Alice in Chains tonight!! 

...


cancelled due to lots of lightning and huge storms in the area 

[Anguyen92]

I am at the Lindsey Stirling show at the OC fair and really filled up on fair food.

[Anguyen92]

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

[cramx3]

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.

[King Postwhore]

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.

[lonestar]

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)

[cramx3]

  Maiden is very pricey but so worth it, you'll have an amazing 50th

Billy Idol - Rebel Yell Live NJ 8/10/2019 

[Anguyen92]

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).

[FlyingBIZKIT]

Saw Godspeed You! Black Emperor last night in Atlanta.. what a show!

[chknptpie]

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?!

[Anguyen92]

^^ 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.

[cramx3]

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.

[The Walrus]

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.

[cramx3]

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 

[Max Kuehnau]

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 

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)

[FlyingBIZKIT]

Saw the Aristocrats last night 

[chknptpie]

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. 

[cramx3]

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 

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. 

[cramx3]

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    It was a beautiful summer night so all was well. 

Anyway, here's my Billy Idol video Billy Idol LIVE in Holmdel NJ

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  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!

[Anguyen92]

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.

[cramx3]

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 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 though which was awesome.

[The Curious Orange]

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.

[cramx3]

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  (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. 



Kiss - End of the Road Tour Newark NJ

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



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.

[Ben_Jamin]

Decided to have a nostalgia night. About to head on out to Mary J Blidge and Has.

[Ben_Jamin]

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.

[Anguyen92]

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.

[Ben_Jamin]

Last minute is the best.  I guess

[cramx3]

You spend so much thought and money on parking to go to concerts in LA, I find that kind of funny 

[Anguyen92]

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.

[cramx3]

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.