Concerts for 2023

[cramx3]

Back at work after 6 concerts in 7 days last week or two.... I wrote about Progpower in it's thread, I won't right more here about it, but there's some catching up for me to do...

After I got back from ProgPower, my gf and I did 3 nights in a row in NYC for concerts (two of which were ProgPower follow up tours).  I'll start with the first one today.

Last Monday, Beast in Black sold out Gramercy Theater in NYC (they said it sold out, but it must have either during the show or it was close enough that they just said it). Either way, solid turn out for their first headline show in NYC and second ever. 

The opener was Dance with the Dead.  I'm not too into them, they are synth wave instrumental music.  I actually have seen them before.  They, however, were a good choice to open because Beast in Black use a lot of synth wave style music in their version of power metal.  The crowd was really into them, jumping and fist pumping through their set.  However, like a lot of instrumental music, my enjoyment starts to dwindle as time goes on.  It also doesn't help when the on stage guitarist isn't doing the leads, just rhythm live.  After 20 or 30 minutes, I went outside for a smoke and didn't come back.



Beast in Black killed it though.  One thing right off the bat was that they had a light show that they didn't use at ProgPower.  So that made the show feel different.  Also, the crowd was much more wild than at ProgPower.  Mosh pits down on the floor for most of the show. They did the exact same set list and most if not all of the on stage banter was the same as ProgPower including the poor joke about the the drummer lying about not drinking on tour.  It just fell flat to me.  But then again, their entire live show seems a bit "fake".  They rely wayyy too much on backing tracks and have so many choreographed guitar dance moves that their set feels more like a show than a live concert performance.  Yannis is awesome though and I'm fairly sure he's 100% live so he delivered the goods and the show is still pretty fun.  I'd probably change a few songs though from the set that relied a bit too much on the first album IMO.  For the encore, I went right up into the pit to enjoy the party (my gf sat in the seats in the back, she wasn't going in).

Not the best picture, but you get the idea, I got up front



Beast in Black & Dance with the Dead LIVE @ SOLD OUT Gramercy Theater New York City NY 9/11/2023

I should also add that a huge storm had just passed as we were heading to NYC and it lead to a huge rainbow right over the Freedom Tower, on 9/11.  Thought that was pretty special.

[cramx3]

Night 2 of the 3 night NYC stand..... Greta Van Fleet 

Let me start by saying, GVF were better than any band I saw at ProgPower.  And I hate saying that because I love the Progpower festival and I love that genre of music more, but GVF put on such an amazing and fully live show. 



So they definitely didn't sell out Madison Square Garden.  It wasn't close to being sold out actually, so no idea why the sign says that 

I had never heard of the opening band so we missed them.  Got to our seats at 8:30 for the 8:40 start time for GVF.  Our section was fairly empty so once the band hit the stage, it was limited amount of people standing, so we moved over to the open area where we could stand and not block the people sitting behind us. 

Interesting way to start the show too, just walk out behind the stage and greet the audiance, followed by a bang of fireworks as the first song then started once they made their way to their instruments.  They went right into the new music.

We had seen them not even a year ago at the end of their last tour.  It was incredible to see such a huge change in stage show, clothing, theme, and song choices from then until the new show.  Felt incredibly fresh for seeing them in less than a year.  They played 8 of the 10 songs from the new album.  In fact, they only actually played 14 songs total, but the entire concert was over 2 hours long.

Almost every song felt like it had an extended instrumental section or into/outro.  I know they did a few covers as part of the intro (like doing a Beatles song briefly before starting the full Meeting the Master song) and I can't tell if any of it was jams or constructed instrumentals.  Maybe a bit of both.  But it was incredible display of musicianship.  They did the extended 20 minute verson of Lover, Leaver (Taker, Believer).  It was incredible.  It felt like watching Dream Theater do the Budokan version of Beyond this Life.  The part where Josh harmonized his voice to the guitar was soooo good before coming back into the song to finish it.

They did a 3 song acoustic set on the back of the floor which was really cool.  And you could tell they were live by all the little things they would do, like the singer banging on the keyboard or the doodling of the guitar.  I loved the acoustic part of the show.



I definitely think it takes a lot of balls to end the back half of the show with 4/5 songs being new ones including the final song.  Confidence in their music.  I don't even love the new album, but all these songs were incredible live and made me really enjoy the new album much more than I had going in.  This was a top set for 2023 for me and the best GVF show I have seen so far.  Also, I can't go without mentioning the singer's incredible vocals.  Think Anneke Van Giersbergen or Floor Jansen where the vocals are felt in your chest when listening live.  Just incredible talent.

Greta Van Fleet LIVE @ Madison Square Garden New York City NY 9/12/2023

[cramx3]

Night 3 of 3 of my NYC stand from last week goes back to another ProgPower tour.

Delain and Visions of Atlantis at Gramercy Theater (same venue as Beast in Black two nights earlier)

Similar to the Beast in Black show, my gf and best friend also attended wtih me.  Back at ProgPower the week earlier, I had met the guitarist and drummer of Delain outside the venue.  We chatted for at least 20 minutes and were super friendly.  I had told him, I'm coming to NYC on Wednesday and I'm fairly sure he remembered me!

So we get to the venue early and it's not very packed.  My friend sees the side elevated section has no one in it so he asks how you get those tickets (since they don't see them on livenation) and we found out thta it's actually a first come first served $20 upgrade.  My friend paid the 60 bucks for the three of us to get the upgrade and we were now elevated and right in front.  Very nice gesture from my friend who also bought us drinks so I think he basically spent $100 before the show even started on my gf and I. 

Visions of Atlantis were fun.  They were new to me at ProgPower and I enjoyed their set then. I had told my gf I think she'd like them too.  Symphonic power metal that features a male and female vocalist.  It's not too heavy, but very dramatized on stage between the two singers.  Good show once again.  They did two less songs than ProgPower which sucks, but makes sense.  It was also awesome to rock out so close to them.  I still wasn't too familiar with their songs to maybe enjoy this to the max, but it was a very fun set regardless.



Delain was who we were there for.  New band basically too. Only the keyboardist remains from the band that last toured the US in 2019.  So a very different group of people on stage, but they killed it.  I think they do the old songs justice and the new album is great.  I guess if I had a complaint, it's that they didn't do more from the new album.  Kind of shocked they didn't just do more considering the personel.  They did I think one or two extra songs than progpower and they swapped out a song, so we actually, I think, got the first time performance of Get The Devil out Of Me with this new version of the band.  This was probably a better set and show than ProgPower just due to being with my close people and being close to the band.  Crowd wasn't terribly crazy overall. 

Back to the guitarist and drummer.  The guitarist kept coming over to us and rocking out.  I could even hear him singing aloud to some of the songs.  He gave both my friend and my gf a guitar pic.  The drummer also threw me a drum stick.  I think they remembered me!



We hung out after the show hoping to get to talk to Ronald again, but he never came out.  however, we met everyone else from Delain and Visions of Atlantis.  Everyone was so nice.  My girlfriend got pics with everyone, I let her have them and just took the pics since I got to meet them all the week before.  However, i did get a pic with both VOA singers since I didn't previously. (they aren't the greatest pictures sadly, you can find them on my twitter if you care).

Delain & Visions of Atlantis LIVE @ Gramercy Theater New York City NY 9/13/2023

Up next, two more concerts this week!

September 20th - 50 Cent & Busta Rhymes @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
September 22nd - Lita Ford & Last in Line @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville NJ

[DTwwbwMP]

Greta Van Fleet 

Let me start by saying, GVF were better than any band I saw at ProgPower.  And I hate saying that because I love the Progpower festival and I love that genre of music more, but GVF put on such an amazing and fully live show. 



So they definitely didn't sell out Madison Square Garden.  It wasn't close to being sold out actually, so no idea why the sign says that 

I had never heard of the opening band so we missed them.  Got to our seats at 8:30 for the 8:40 start time for GVF.  Our section was fairly empty so once the band hit the stage, it was limited amount of people standing, so we moved over to the open area where we could stand and not block the people sitting behind us. 

Interesting way to start the show too, just walk out behind the stage and greet the audiance, followed by a bang of fireworks as the first song then started once they made their way to their instruments.  They went right into the new music.

We had seen them not even a year ago at the end of their last tour.  It was incredible to see such a huge change in stage show, clothing, theme, and song choices from then until the new show.  Felt incredibly fresh for seeing them in less than a year.  They played 8 of the 10 songs from the new album.  In fact, they only actually played 14 songs total, but the entire concert was over 2 hours long.

Almost every song felt like it had an extended instrumental section or into/outro.  I know they did a few covers as part of the intro (like doing a Beatles song briefly before starting the full Meeting the Master song) and I can't tell if any of it was jams or constructed instrumentals.  Maybe a bit of both.  But it was incredible display of musicianship.  They did the extended 20 minute verson of Lover, Leaver (Taker, Believer).  It was incredible.  It felt like watching Dream Theater do the Budokan version of Beyond this Life.  The part where Josh harmonized his voice to the guitar was soooo good before coming back into the song to finish it.

They did a 3 song acoustic set on the back of the floor which was really cool.  And you could tell they were live by all the little things they would do, like the singer banging on the keyboard or the doodling of the guitar.  I loved the acoustic part of the show.



I definitely think it takes a lot of balls to end the back half of the show with 4/5 songs being new ones including the final song.  Confidence in their music.  I don't even love the new album, but all these songs were incredible live and made me really enjoy the new album much more than I had going in.  This was a top set for 2023 for me and the best GVF show I have seen so far.  Also, I can't go without mentioning the singer's incredible vocals.  Think Anneke Van Giersbergen or Floor Jansen where the vocals are felt in your chest when listening live.  Just incredible talent.

Greta Van Fleet LIVE @ Madison Square Garden New York City NY 9/12/2023

Gotta agree with Marc here. Greta stepped up their show for this tour, as it was the best of the 4 times, I've seen them since 2018! The whole show REALLY had a real '70's concert vibe to it which I loved. Could have done without the screaming meamies, but whatever, Still will never understand people being stupid and standing in the upper sections! WHY???

[Awaken]

Love the reviews Marc, your enthusiasm for live music is amazing - it comes through in the video and reviews you post.

I just added Shinedown as my last show for 2023, December 29 @ Foxwoods Premier Theater in CT.  Absolutely love this venue and hope to see many more shows here.  As of now there is no opener listed, really hoping they continue w Papa Roach and Spiritbox who I would absolutely love to see live. 

[King Postwhore]

Progstock in October
Tool in November
Mr. Big & Lotusland (Rush tribute band) in February
Haken in March

[cramx3]

Gotta agree with Marc here. Greta stepped up their show for this tour, as it was the best of the 4 times, I've seen them since 2018! The whole show REALLY had a real '70's concert vibe to it which I loved. Could have done without the screaming meamies, but whatever, Still will never understand people being stupid and standing in the upper sections! WHY???

Was wondering if you were there and your thoughts.  I was thinking, it just cant be me (and my gf) who thought this was a big step up from the last tour? As for your last part, that is totally me and I don't care.  I just like to stand and be able to sway and feel into the show rather than sit back and relax.  The music is just too good to sit, although if no one stood, then I wouldn't have.  The people in front of me did but the people behind me did not, so we moved.  I often just get last row seats to guarantee I can stand and not block anyone, but the seats I usually get at MSG were already sold.

Love the reviews Marc, your enthusiasm for live music is amazing - it comes through in the video and reviews you post.

  thank you

Mr. Big & Lotusland (Rush tribute band) in February

Is that the opener for the tour or just your show?  I didn't see an opener listed for the NJ show.

[King Postwhore]

No Marc, two separate shows in February.

[cramx3]

No Marc, two separate shows in February.

Ah my bad

[Anguyen92]

I just added Shinedown as my last show for 2023, December 29 @ Foxwoods Premier Theater in CT.  Absolutely love this venue and hope to see many more shows here.  As of now there is no opener listed, really hoping they continue w Papa Roach and Spiritbox who I would absolutely love to see live.

I think this run this month and next month is going to be it for now when it comes to them touring with Papa Roach and Spiritbox.  I'll be there for the Irvine show in October.  There's no better timing to wear that Shinedown hockey jersey I bought last year than this show.

[cramx3]

Went to my 2nd big rap concert on Wednesday night... 50 Cent with Busta Rhymes and Jeremih

I'm not much of a rap fan and have little experience at rap shows, but I had my summer pass, the concerts local, the weather was awesome, and my gf wanted to go so why not?

I have no idea who Jeremih is.  We got there near the end of his set.  Can't comment much, but we will come back to him.

Busta Rhymes was someone I was interested in seeing.  He's got so many grammy nominations and well respected.  I thought he mostly sucked.  I dont know if this is normal for him or other rappers.  He had about a 45 minute set and maybe 20-25 minutes was music.  He did like 12 songs, but each one of those were only like a minute long.  Like just one verse from the song or something.  He had his hype many on stage with him who did about equal amounts rapping as Busta.  Busta sounded like shit, he tried singing at one point and my gf and I just laughed at how off key he was.  I did think he got better in the second half of his set.  He also had like a 5 minute moment of silence, for what? no idea.  It was stupid. Very dissapointed with his set.

Then 50 Cent blew the roof off the place.  I only know a couple songs, but the performance and the crowd were light years better.  It was mentioned on stage that 20k people were there.  I could believe it, every seat was sold and the lawn was completely packed. He had an awesome laser light show, maybe 15 dancers on stage, tons of pyro, 2 hype men, and for the back half of his set, a live band on stage (well, I question if they were actualy live, but they were there).  Felt like he was playing full songs as well so it was easier to enjoy for me.  He brought out a guest for a bunch of songs, Jadakiss (no idea who that is, but still very cool IMO).  He also brought out the opener, Jeremih who did his hit song Birthday Sex solo (as in, no 50 Cent, just him shining in the spotlight).  My gf made me record this song. She's lucky my camera is still busted and I can't zoom in, otehrwise I would have been all zoomed in on that stripper dance    After he did his hit song, In Da Club, the encore was a bunch of songs I never heard.  It seemed like he was never going to end.  According to setlist.fm, he did 10 more songs  we didn't stay until the end, we were both too tired so we left during that encore, but damn! Honestly enjoyed his set.



50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, & Jeremih LIVE @ PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel NJ 9/20/2023

Tongiht is my birthday concert, Lita Ford with Last in Line opening 

EDIT:

To add, I got myself a birthday gift of a new camera.  I expect my concert videos to be back up to par for next week (it wont be here for tonights concert)

[countoftuscany42]

finally seeing a show at the legendary LA Troubadour with VOLA tonight! 

[Anguyen92]

Arghhh, I want to see Ed Sheeran either today or tomorrow.  He's doing something unique that I like where he's doing two shows in a city where one show is him in a smaller theater (for him anyway) playing his latest album - (spelled Subtract) in full and then playing some hits and some unreleased stuff for an upcoming album and then the next day, he's playing in a football stadium that has a mixed bag of hits in his career.

For the LA shows, he's doing Shrine Auditorium today and SoFi Stadium tomorrow.  The Shrine Auditorium show is really expensive, but not outrageous.  $115.00 for the worst seat in the venue.  SoFi Stadium is priced around $80+ for the worst seats.  I mean if there are any good seats under $70.00 I would go.  The real deal-breaker is parking.  The parking spot I normally would go to for shows in Inglewood is sold out and would have costed $30.00 instead of the $16.00 I paid back in April.  The cheapest parking lot is around $17.00, right next to the 405 freeway, and is about two miles away from the venue.  I mean I don't mind having to take an Uber/Lyft from the stadium back to the parking lot after the show is over, but that ticket to get in the show needs to be under $70.00 for me to consider it.  Budgeting to go to stadium shows just sucks.

That being said, I love what Ed Sheeran is doing for this tour.  One small venue where he can play his new stuff in full and then the stadium show to play hits for the majority of the set.  If only most acts can do such a tour like that.

[axeman90210]

Better late than never, but Kamelot/Battle Beast two weeks ago was an absolute blast. I missed the first band and got there early into Battle Beast's set, but they were gloriously. Unapologetically bombastic and cheesy, the songs were fun and the band was on point. It was the last night of the tour and I think it's one that everyone involved enjoyed because there were a lot of shenanigans throughout the night. Then it was time for Kamelot. This is a band that I've been a fan of since 2006 or2007, I was obsessed with The Black Halo for a stretch (still far and away my favorite of their albums that I've heard), but it had never worked out for me to see them live until this show. Tommy absolutely Labrie'd a note right out of the gate (they hadn't even gotten to the lyrics for the first song yet), but other than that the band was on point. I did spend some time with the new album in the days leading up to the show and the material from that came off strong. I got two songs from The Black Halo, which realistically I can't ask for more considering it's nearly 20 years old, though given that they had a touring female vocalist I would have loved if The Haunting was one of those two songs. Speaking of, Melissa Bonny was an excellent addition to the show for the songs she performed on. All in all a very good show.


Some of the aforementioned shenanigans, a bunch of people from the back came out on stage during King for a Day. You can't see it in the photo but they had paper crowns


Aside from that one opening flub, Tommy sounded great


Another cool Tommy shot.


So some guys have a thing for pretty women who are really strong/muscular, I think I might be developing one for pretty women who can belt out beastly harsh vocals


More shenanigans, a beer pong game broke out on stage during Kamelot's encore

[cramx3]

oh that's great  I love the final show of tour shenanigans

[ReaperKK]

Arghhh, I want to see Ed Sheeran either today or tomorrow.  He's doing something unique that I like where he's doing two shows in a city where one show is him in a smaller theater (for him anyway) playing his latest album - (spelled Subtract) in full and then playing some hits and some unreleased stuff for an upcoming album and then the next day, he's playing in a football stadium that has a mixed bag of hits in his career.

For the LA shows, he's doing Shrine Auditorium today and SoFi Stadium tomorrow.  The Shrine Auditorium show is really expensive, but not outrageous.  $115.00 for the worst seat in the venue.  SoFi Stadium is priced around $80+ for the worst seats.  I mean if there are any good seats under $70.00 I would go.  The real deal-breaker is parking.  The parking spot I normally would go to for shows in Inglewood is sold out and would have costed $30.00 instead of the $16.00 I paid back in April.  The cheapest parking lot is around $17.00, right next to the 405 freeway, and is about two miles away from the venue.  I mean I don't mind having to take an Uber/Lyft from the stadium back to the parking lot after the show is over, but that ticket to get in the show needs to be under $70.00 for me to consider it.  Budgeting to go to stadium shows just sucks.

That being said, I love what Ed Sheeran is doing for this tour.  One small venue where he can play his new stuff in full and then the stadium show to play hits for the majority of the set.  If only most acts can do such a tour like that.

My wife and I tried to see him this year in the theater/stadium format but tickets were near impossible to get. I've seen Ed Sheeran 3x and he is an incredible performer.

[Anguyen92]

So for those that want to go to see the Rams or Chargers or see a big stadium concert at SoFi Stadium.  Book parking early.  I was able to get a ticket for Ed Sheeran $57.00.  Turns out when I got the parking location that I bought a reservation for on SpotHero, the lot, near the 405, was full.  The security lady, rudely I may mention, said don't even bother.  I said I got a reservation, I'm aware the lot is full, what are my alternatives?  She did not give me an answer.  Thankfully, I was able to report this on SpotHero and they gave me the other option to take what I paid for the spot and they gave me a refund as credit to use for future parking reservations, which is fine for future shows. 

Parked at a nearby Home Depot to figure out if I can find a good last minute spot, but some of them are valet restricted (which I'm not entrusting my keys to anyone in the hellhole that is Inglewood) and some of them requires complicated ways to get in (since those were lots used for LAX parking).  At that point, my options were not good, requires a lot of traveling from the spot to the stadium and back, and quite frankly, I decided it's just not worth it.  So I decided to just drown my sorrows at a sushi buffet, got a specialized tea drink at that place I always go to after concerts (since it's opened until 1 AM and looks way too chic for a guy like me) and went home.

Had I known in hindsight that this was going to be my parking story.  I would have just paid the $30+ (earlier in the week before it was sold out) at the normal lot I go to for Inglewood shows (which is normally $16.00, but you know how it is when you get a big draw like Ed Sheeran, T. Swift, Coldplay, BTS, etc. in town.  People will raise the prices on everything.  Everything.....).

Next concert will be Incubus in Hollywood Bowl. This time around, I'm well-prepared parking-wise.  I booked my reservation to take a bus somewhere in Lakeview mall to go from there to the Bowl.  I've done it before.  It was fine.  I may contemplate seeing A7X in the San Diego area, the day after Incubus, but gas is hella expensive (moreso than usual) and I'm not sure I want to drive down there and back.  I'll mull it over for the next few days.

[NoFred]

Megadeth last night… got We’ll Be Back and Soldier On from the latest, plus the usuals. The temp guitarist was fine. Dave is Dave, always good to hear him play.

[Glasser]

Megadeth last night… got We’ll Be Back and Soldier On from the latest, plus the usuals. The temp guitarist was fine. Dave is Dave, always good to hear him play.

Kiko is the man. He's out for personal reasons.

[Lonk]

Saw Mars Volta over the weekend. Really fun show, but I was so tired that I found myself spacing out at times.

[cramx3]

So last Friday my girlfriend took me out (OK, I had bought the tickets, a 2 for 1 deal, but she drove me and bought me drinks all night) to our local ballroom for the rock n roll concert, Lita Ford with Last in Line opening.  I guess these two had been doing their own tours but came together for some shows as a pair in the area.  I was very happy to see the venue not packed at all. Starland can really suck when it's packed.  But they had the side curtain down and it was still fairly empty, so made for the perfect intimate concert experience. 

Last In Line came on at 8pm.  For those who aren't aware, it's effectively Dio minus Dio.  Getting to see Vivian Campbell (who's been in Def Leppard for 30 years now) in a small venue after seeing him in a stadium last year was the best part of it all.  They did maybe 8 songs, half Dio songs and half original songs.  While the original songs got basically no reaction from the crowd, I thought they were solid rock songs.  The Dio songs obviously got the reactions.  I had never really gotten into Dio, so I can't judge how this band performs compared to the past or to compare to Dio himself.  The singer was pretty damn good though.  I thoroughly enjoyed their set and specifically seeing Vivian up close.  When they got off stage, I was able to get a fist bump from Vivian as well.  I told my gf right then and there, if the night ended right then that I'd be incredibly happy with this show just from that fist bump alone.



Lita Ford was next.  I was a bit less interested in seeing her than Last in Line, but still, rock royalty that I've never seen so I just chilled in the back and enjoyed the set with no one really around my gf and I.  It was defintiely a lot of fun.  She sounded fairly terrible at times though. Her backing band seemed solid.  I didn't know most of the songs.  She did do a bunch of covers though.  Definitely a few songs I enjoyed but overall, not really a set that got me wild.  While she was playing though, we went out for a quick smoke and the guys from Last in Line (minus Vivian) were hanging by their merch.  I ended up chatting with the bassist, Phil Soussan.  I mentioned feeling like the youngest person there (well my gf was, but it was quite clear) and I think he took offense to that so I had to clear up what I was meaning that I wish more young people liked rock and then he was totally agreeing and super nice.  My gf mentioned it was my birthday and hes like that's great, so he grabbed the other guys and we took a picture together!  Funny part is, once we took one, all these people tried to get one and the band wanted nothing to do with it! They only let me  So after that fist bump from earlier, and now that, I was on cloud 9.  I went back and bought merch, felt a bit obligated but also completely motivated to do so.  Got a signed drum head from the entire band and also guitar pics from Vivian for $60.



Lita Ford & Last in Line LIVE @ Starland Ballroom Sayreville NJ 9/22/2023

Next up:

Code Orange album release show Thursday in NYC 

[Glasser]

Nice Cram! Happy birthday!! So basically what you're saying is no Myrath cd? 

[cramx3]

Nice Cram! Happy birthday!! So basically what you're saying is no Myrath cd? 

  thanks, and funny enough, the Myrath CD I did buy is still wrapped, unsigned, and never listened too 

[Glasser]

Nice Cram! Happy birthday!! So basically what you're saying is no Myrath cd? 

  thanks, and funny enough, the Myrath CD I did buy is still wrapped, unsigned, and never listened too 

Really? I wonder if there's any music on it?  Seriously, I'll pay you for it. I only wanted the new one but I know you only bought any of their CDs because of me?

[cramx3]

Nice Cram! Happy birthday!! So basically what you're saying is no Myrath cd? 

  thanks, and funny enough, the Myrath CD I did buy is still wrapped, unsigned, and never listened too 

Really? I wonder if there's any music on it?  Seriously, I'll pay you for it. I only wanted the new one but I know you only bought any of their CDs because of me?

Well I bought it thinking if you didn't want it, I'd keep it and get it signed, but screwed that up and then just kind of forgot about it.  It was only $10.  I'll only sell it if you really want it (I'm not interested in selling it otherwise).  No pressure.  I actually planned on ripping the CD so I could listen on my phone, but like I said, forgot about it.  Otherwise, I don't actually have any of their albums digitally either.

[Glasser]

Nice Cram! Happy birthday!! So basically what you're saying is no Myrath cd? 

  thanks, and funny enough, the Myrath CD I did buy is still wrapped, unsigned, and never listened too 

Really? I wonder if there's any music on it?  Seriously, I'll pay you for it. I only wanted the new one but I know you only bought any of their CDs because of me?

Well I bought it thinking if you didn't want it, I'd keep it and get it signed, but screwed that up and then just kind of forgot about it.  It was only $10.  I'll only sell it if you really want it (I'm not interested in selling it otherwise).  No pressure.  I actually planned on ripping the CD so I could listen on my phone, but like I said, forgot about it.  Otherwise, I don't actually have any of their albums digitally either.

Not really, I have everything but Karma. They're a great band. The first album "Hope" had their keyboard player Elyes on vocals, very Symphony X sounding. They used to be a Sym X tribute band.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

saw Death Cab For Cutie, The Postal Service, and Warpaint in Denver last night. the two headliners played albums in full for their 20th anniversaries (Transatlanticism and Give Up). both those records were staples of my adolescence so it was a nice nostalgia trip for me

[ReaperKK]

Wow, Transatlanticism, I haven't heard that album in what feels like forever. I loved it.

The show looks great!

[lonestar]

Monuments might have taken the lead for Show of the Year. That's the most insane energy I've ever felt at a venue. More later... I'm fucking whooped 


https://youtu.be/LxtXjEYUS5k?si=jw19ePVZ0inDSwY6

[lonestar]

Ok got a few moments to expand...


Arrive at the venue after a brutal 3 hour drive from SF to Sac in the worst time of the week, a Friday afternoon. First time at this venue and a dude in line tells us it's fucking tiny, that you can literally smell what the lead singer had for lunch. I get inside, and he's not kidding. Capacity is 120 people. The main area is maybe 40'x40', with a 15x15 'stage' that is elevated about 6 inches. There's no room on it for the opener's mic stands...





I position myself on the non-existent rail knowing good and well that when the eventual pit kicks in, if it gets rowdy, we're all fucked lol. Opening band Vrsty kicked things off with a very good blend of hard melodic metal and a really solid lead singer. I'm very impressed by how good the sound is for how fucking tiny the place is. Second band For The Fallen Dreams is much harder, and has some of the most brutal drops of the night. Very energetic, very intense, they really get the crowd pumping.

Monuments though...holy fuck... After opening with Cardinal Red and letting the crowd know shit was going to be really fucking insane, Andy asks for the riser, and places it in front of the stage to add another 6 square feet. They sound great, and are going 110% throughout every song, making full use of the tiny stage, and also making full use of the brutally intimate setting, constant interaction with the fans, high fives, fist bumps, those moments where the guitarist is literally 3 inches from your face ripping off a blistering solo as you both rock the fuck out in that sheer nirvana that can only exist in this type of show. I guess Andy got tired of not having a pit, so he literally jumps into the crowd and starts on. After that, the rest of the show is at 11, the tiny room is a boiling pot of humanity going all out. I usually don't engage, but got lost in the moment and got lost in it all. Proper pit etiquette was observed at all times, falling people were immediately tended to, with Andy even picking up one girl who got knocked onto the stage, while screaming out a crescendo in her face. Just fucking epic. I filmed one and a half songs, and had another but it accidentally got turned off right after I started. Unfortunately that was the one where Andy took my phone and sang half the fucking song into it with the crowd in the background....ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Set lasted a little over an hour, and we were a sweating mess of humanity by the end of it. Headed over to the merch tables where all three bands were doing impromptu meet and greets, and got to meet most members of the three bands while I scooped up a few shirts and a signed CD. Almost all band members recognized my bro and I, and commended us on how hard we were rocking out, always good when the band gives ya props, I'm glad my energy was felt by them in equal portions to what they gave us.

As we walked out of the venue and towards the car, a few kids commended my bro and I, and said "man I hope I'm going that hard when I'm as old as you guys are"... me too kid....me too...



Seriously an epic evening all around, and this is the very beginning of their tour, so I highly, highly advise anyone to catch it. Tix were 20 bucks, and I feel like I robbed the bands at that price (but made up for it with the 150 in merch and tips later).

[cramx3]

Last Thursday was Code Orange's album release show for "The Above" at Gramercy Theater in New York City.  I had seen them live a couple years ago as the opener for the Slipknot Roadshow tour and thought they were pretty cool.  It was until a week after that show that the band revealed their masked drummer was none other than Max Portnoy on their tour and that he had then become an official member of the band.  Pretty cool!  They are like modern hardcore band fusing some metal and techno into their music.  Very energetic.  I had noticed there was a 2 for 1 ticket sale so I scooped that up thinking I could recoup most of the ticket cost by selling the extra.  No one bought it at an extreme discount on stubhub  but right before I walked into the venue someone was chilling there asking for extras.  He gave me $14 for it.  No complaints for me.  Show ended up being super cheat when you subtract that and the guy seemed really grateful.

Sadly I thought this show had a shit line up.  Ticket said 7, I thought that was when the show started since there were 4 "bands" but no, show started at 7:45 with a DJ set.  This DJ's music was somewhat interesting, at least it all felt original and I could actually see the girl using her hands and making the music live.  But after 5 minutes I had enough.  She got about 25 minutes.  Then ANOTHER DJ set.  This time with someone using some sort of mascot like mask with a huge head screeching terrible vocals.  I don't know what I was watching, but it was absolutely horrible.

Finally at 9:15 we got live hardcore music.  Ya know, the type of music you expect to see at such a show.  I was quite annoyed with how I spent the previous 2 hours of my time and was happy to see what I thought I had come here for.  Vein.fm played for 30 minutes.  It was a brutal hardcore set.  I didn't love the music, but there were a lot of really cool things they were doing that I haven't personally seen.  Probably because I don't listen to much hardcore music at all, but the guitar work was definitely interesting from them.  The mosh pit was also wild.  People were doing cart wheels and jump kicks! I honestly had more fun watching the pit than the band.  It was exciting. 

Between bands I stepped outside to have a smoke (the smoking section is next to the box office and entrance) and look who showed up, the entire Portnoy family!  Mike was right there next to me with his wife and daughter as well as Max who was getting them their tickets to enter.  I then creepily watched MP get pat down by security to enter  Funny enough, it seemed like no one knew who MP was.  Not surprsing, it was a very young crowd.  So young that my 39 year old ass really stood out. I actually got made fun of in the smokers section for wearing my new balances as everyone else was decked out in hardcore gear.  It was all in good fun as this group of people, myself included, had been chatting all night between sets outside.

Then around 10:10pm, Code Orange came on. They they were generally really good.  I don't love all their music. Their older stuff is more straight forward hardcore that just doesn't get my interest, but they newer stuff that has added in a lot of the guitarist's vocals and electronic elements has made for some really interesting music for me.  The mosh pit was wild for them as well, although it was a big bigger and therefore less cartwheels than Vein.fm  Given the new album they were celebrating, I kind of expected more than 5 songs from it being performed. But they ended up only doing 14 songs overall and playing for about 50 or so minutes so I guess 5 of out 14 isn't too surprising at the end of the day.  The new songs mostly kicked ass.  I didn't know a few of them, but they seemed good on first listen. The highlight had to of been them ending the set with the title track and the first time they've played it.  It felt pretty epic as it had a soft intro that built up.  But certainly not a hardcore song (as a few of the new ones stray far from what the band has done previously).  The singer didn't leave when the rest of the band did and took pictures with people.  I didn't get a picture, but I did shake his hand and give thanks.  Also, it was fun to be able to see MP watch his son play.  I was like 6 rows behind him so I could see him take videos.  My video link is timestamped for me creeping on him again 

Code Orange & Vein.fm *The Above Album Release Show* @ Gramercy Theater New York City NY 9/28/2023

Looks like I have a break from concerts until Friday the 13th.

[ProfessorPeart]

As mentioned earlier, I have D97's album release show on 10/20.

Just added another show:

12/29 - Umphrey's McGee (with some guy named Mike Portnoy sitting in on drums) - Riviera Theatre Chicago

[countoftuscany42]

Power Trip begins tomorrow 

Friday: Iron Maiden (8th time) + GnR (2nd time)
Saturday: Judas Priest (4th time, 5th if you count their RnRHoF induction) + AC/DC (2nd time)
Sunday: Tool (1st time!!) + Metallica (8th time, 9th including performance at Jimmy Kimmel, 3rd this year after two Sofi shows  )

Desert Trip in 2016 was one of the best concert experiences I've been to, so this should be a great weekend 

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

this is where i'd put a picture of steely dan live in denver.... IF I HAD ONE

[lonestar]

Posting from I5 on my way to Los Angeles to see Hanabie at the Whisky A Go Go tonight!!