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Eric’s Top 5 (+1!) Concerts of 2015
By Eric | December 30, 2015 4:35 pm
2015 was a pretty good year concert-wise, with 17 shows under the belt this year! I always have fun, so its hard to pick shows that are “better” than others, but on the other hand there’s always moments that will stick out above the rest. With that in mind, here’s my top 5 shows (and an extra!) of the year:
5. Powerman 5000 @ Montage Music Hall (July 7th) – For a band I’m not even really a fan of, I had a really really great time. Their set had me grinning from ear to ear the whole time, and I’ve never seen a frontman jump this much. Ever. MUCH FUN. SUCH WOW.
4. Hatebreed with Hate Machine @ Montage Music Hall (May 14th) – Hatebreed headlining in a 300 cap room, plus springing for the VIP meet and greet beforehand? Oh, and did I mention this was part of the band’s 20th anniversary tour, so they played everything off of Under The Knife, and a big chunk of Satisfaction? Good times.
3. Will Hoge @ Buffalo Iron Works (June 5th) – One of the rare shows that Tiffany and I attended together, one of our favorite singer-songwriters in a small place, with a super-long 23 song set, and Will comes out into the crowd to play the last song of the encore. Yes please.
2. Machine Head @ Town Ballroom (February 5th) – “An Evening With” Machine Head was exactly that. No openers, two-plus hours of just MH playing the “hits”, the deep cuts, and a little something off of every album.
1. Slipknot, Lamb Of God, Bullet For My Valentine, Motionless In White @ Darien Lake (July 29th) – This one was a no-brainer for the top spot. Show of the year hands down. Both MIW and Bullet were interesting enough as openers, before we got to the real deal. I had a pit ticket, so being able to go berserk during Lamb of God’s set at a place like Darien was awesome, and then Slipknot put on a hell of a spectacle as always. When you close with a run of (sic), People = Shit, and Surfacing, you’re going out on top. Summer’s Last Stand indeed.
…and because the one set was so good I have to mention it, the plus-one:
Deftones @ Darien Lake (August 2nd) – Part of a dual-headliner with Incubus, but Deftones blew them out of the building, let alone the stage. A great mix of tunes, and then concert moment of the year for me: Going absolutely BONKERS with a couple dudes in the aisle during “Headup”.
Honorable mentions:
The Hip @ CMAC (July 4th) – A fun hang with friends, Fully Completely from start to finish, but small crowd and Gord was a little off early.
Coal Chamber / Fear Factory / Jasta @ Water Street (August 8th) – Meet and greet with Jamey, fun nostalgia trip
The Tea Party / Big Wreck @ Artpark (July 16th) – We got the old gang back together, bands sounded good, but sitting that far back sucks, and Tea was better at the Ballroom the prior November.
Let’s see what 2016 brings!!
Topics: Blog | Tags: 2015, Buffalo, Bullet For My Valentine, Canandaigua, CMAC, concerts, Darien, Deftones, Hate Machine, Hatebreed, Incubus, Lamb of God, Machine Head, Montage Music Hall, Motionless In White, music, Order of the Dead, REPS, rochester, Slipknot, The Tragically Hip, Town Ballroom, Will Hoge | 1 Comment »
December 30th, 2015 at 5:59 pm
Eric’s Top 5 (+1!) Concerts of 2015 https://t.co/o5VblJNmT1