RT @JordanETID: Honestly, Gwar isn’t for everyone.
By Eric | October 22, 2011 11:04 pm
RT @JordanETID: Honestly, Gwar isn’t for everyone… just really really awesome people who fucking love insanely cool shit
Topics: Blog | Comments Off on RT @JordanETID: Honestly, Gwar isn’t for everyone.
Tags: music, twitter
No more Woodstock, but now ya got Mix-A-Lot…
By Eric | October 3, 2011 9:37 am
No more Woodstock, but now ya got Mix-A-Lot…
Topics: Blog | Comments Off on No more Woodstock, but now ya got Mix-A-Lot…
Tags: music, twitter
Just downloaded the acoustic version of Will Hoge’
By Eric | September 29, 2011 6:37 pm
Just downloaded the acoustic version of Will Hoge’s new single “When I Get My Wings” for free! Check it out here – http://t.co/LEMQj4qb
Topics: Blog | Comments Off on Just downloaded the acoustic version of Will Hoge’
Tags: music, twitter
09/16/2011 Rock Allegiance / Rock The Cans: Papa Roach, Buckcherry, Puddle of Mudd, P.O.D., Red, Crossfade (Rochester, NY @ Genesee Brewery)
By Eric | September 20, 2011 4:04 pm
[Drive A was the first band on the bill, but I didn’t get there in time to see them.]
Genesee Brewery’s annual Rock The Cans show brought the Rock Allegiance Tour to town with a pretty decent bill. I got in, found Aimee and Dave and found a beer. I also found out that I missed Drive A and got there just as Crossfade was starting. They sounded better than I remember them being six years ago at the State Fair with Nickelback, but the older songs are still the better ones. Thus Colors, So Far Away, and Cold obviously drew bigger reactions. And they were LOUD. Ended up being louder than any of the other bands, and for no good reason. Crossfade Setlist: Drown You Out, Colors, Lay Me Down, Dead Memories, So Far Away, Killing Me Inside, Cold.
Cold
Around this time I met up with Kiersten, Pete and their crew, said hi, and compared notes on Uproar the weekend before. Red was up next, and they didn’t sound too much different from when I saw them in ’07. A standard radio rock band with some Christian influences, and they didn’t sound half-bad. Not much to say about them. Red Setlist: Feed the Machine, The Outside, Let Go, Lie to Me (Denial), Death of Me, Breathe Into Me.
Since this show was at the brewery, I got to chat with the one person I know that works for North American and got a bit of a hook up! Also, work Pete showed up and we moved on up towards the front. P.O.D. was up next, and it was nu-metal mayhem. Hello 2000! Every P.O.D. song you know, they played, and they sounded pretty damn good at it. The crowd sure was into it, and I forgot that Alive was probably a bigger hit than Southtown and Youth of the Nation were, at least judging from the reactions. Interesting! P.O.D. Setlist: Boom, Set It Off, Roots In Stereo, Youth of the Nation, Southtown, On Fire, Alive, What I Got
(Sublime cover).
Youth Of The Nation
Puddle of Mudd. Again. In all honesty, they sounded pretty decent this time around, but they still lull in the middle of the set. This time they played two off of their new covers album in the middle, Neil Young’s Old Man, and the Stones’ Gimme Shelter. The other radio hits were sufficiently energetic to get the crowd moving. Puddle of Mudd Setlist: Stoned, Psycho, Away from Me, Control, Gimme Shelter, Old Man, Blurry, She Hates Me.
Up next was a band I *gasp* actually have never seen up until now. Buckcherry! I’ve heard some good things about their live show, and I heard correctly. Lots of energy, Josh Todd’s voice sounded fine, and the band rocked it hard. It helps that they have a lot of uptempo songs, mostly about partying, and they made use of them. By this point the crowd was feeling pretty good, so that only added to the party-like atmosphere. We’d camped out right in front of the soundboard by this point, so we had a pretty good vantage point for both the show and the crowd in front. It started getting cold out also around this point, so how Josh was parading around with no shirt on I don’t know. Dude must have been freezing! Buckcherry setlist: Dead,
Rescue Me, All Night Long, Dead Again, Everything, It’s A Party, Next 2 You, Lit Up, Sorry, Crazy Bitch.
Crazy Bitch
Last band on… Papa Roach! Started with a bang, with Getting Away With Murder, and ran through a bunch of hits, including to Be Loved, Angels and Insects, and Kick In The Teeth. The band had a ton of energy, the crowd had a ton of energy, the set was getting to just about the midway point, and just after The Enemy… lead singer Jacoby Shaddix announces that due to a mis-communication about what time curfew was, they had one more song and that was it. “Fuck the promoter” was the phrase used, and why curfew was 10:30pm and not 11pm I’ll never know. In any event, they played a ferocious take on Last Resort and quickly exited the stage. (Looking at other setlists, we got jacked out of Lifeline, One Track Mind, Scars and Hollywood Whore.) While it was an abbreviated set, P Roach put on a great show for the nine songs we did get.
P. Roach setlist: Getting Away With Murder, To Be Loved, Burn, Between Angels and Insects, Forever, No Matter What, Kick in the Teeth, The Enemy, Last Resort.
Getting Away With Murder
Like everyone else, I too was bummed with the early end to the night, but it didn’t put that much of a damper on the show as a whole. Good times with good friends and good bands!
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 09/16/2011 Rock Allegiance / Rock The Cans: Papa Roach, Buckcherry, Puddle of Mudd, P.O.D., Red, Crossfade (Rochester, NY @ Genesee Brewery)
Tags: 2011, Buckcherry, Crossfade, Genesee Brewery, P.O.D., Papa Roach, Puddle of Mudd, Red, rochester, Rock Allegiance, Rock The Cans
09/10/2011 Rockstar Uproar Tour: Avenged Sevenfold, Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Escape The Fate, Sevendust, Art Of Dying (Darien, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)
By Eric | September 20, 2011 2:41 pm
[Black Tide, Hell or Highwater, and Cry To The Blind were also on the bill, but we didn’t see them.]
Year two of Uproar for Darien Lake, and also for us! Pete and Jerry met up at my place, and away we went. Tailgated at the place across the street again, which was far emptier than it had been last year. Not sure quite why, but hey, more room for us. We wandered in right as Art of Dying’s set started on the side stage, and for not knowing a ton about them, they sounded pretty good. I recognized a couple of the tunes, and what I didn’t came across well. The crowd seemed to enjoy them too. Art of Dying setlist: Straight Across My Mind, Get Thru This, Best I Can, Whole World’s Crazy, Die Trying.
Whole World’s Crazy (clip)
Die Trying
Next up was easily and obviously one of my highlights of the day: Sevendust! I meandered my way up to the front, and proceeded to jump and mosh with everyone else for the next half-hour straight. MUCH better crowd than the fools in Rochester at Music As A Weapon. No contest. These people were here for 7D, and we let the band know it. They started with Splinter, and that set everyone off. Praise and Forever were next, then it was what’s becoming my all-time favorite live 7D song, Pieces. That song just oozes energy and screaming. The End Is Coming was next, and the always-too-short set was capped off by the usual mosh-worthy Face To Face. Another 7D show, and another ridiculously fun time had by all.
Praise
After extricating myself from the side-stage crowd, I found Kiersten and Pete to say hi, then headed under the tent to our seats for Escape the Fate. They were decent, generic metalcore if you ask me, not exactly main stage material. After their set I took off and while I didn’t have a wristband for it, at the tail-end of Sevendust’s autograph tent time, they made time for a handful of us off to the side. I got to briefly say hi to Clint and John, and grab a quick autograph. Always such cool guys to the fans, never fails. Back under the big tent, and Bullet For My Valentine was better than I had expected. I’d heard a little bit of their stuff, but never really checked it out in depth. I still may not, but they certainly commanded the stage and kept everyone’s attention.
Seether was up next, and while this may sound like a slam, it’s not: It was a usual Seether festival set. They opened with Gasoline into Fine Again, and went from there. It was their typical solid set, heavy on the hits, loud (save for Broken), and had everyone bouncing and singing along. They were the perfect band for the middle main stage slot. Seether setlist: Gasoline, Fine Again, Broken, Tonight, Country Song, Rise Above This, Fake It, Remedy.
Fine Again
Country Song
Rise Above This (clip)
Fake It
Next up: Three Days Grace. Now, I’ve been down on these guys the last couple times I’ve seen them, mainly because I’ve never thought singer Adam Gontier’s voice was strong enough live. I’m happy to report that he proved me completely wrong this time around. He and the rest of the band sounded fantastic, and this was easily the best I’ve ever seen them. Their set was a sprint through hitsville, but they did it well. Adding a little cover of Eminem’s Lose Yourself tacked onto the end of Home was a fun ad-lib that the crowd ate up. During the closer, Animal I Have Become, some of the band members’ kids came out on stage with little instruments and were rocking out alongside their dads! Totally cute! I came away very impressed with the band this time around. 3DG setlist: The Good Life, Break, Pain, I Hate Everything About You, Home/Lose Yourself, Never Too Late, Riot, Animal I Have Become.
Home (clip)
Riot (clip)
Animal I Have Become
With the kids!
And finally, the night’s headliners, and Uproar alums from last year, Avenged Sevenfold. I think they sounded better than they did last year (and they were great last year). Anyway, A7X apparently were asking fans on their website which deep cuts they wanted to hear on this tour, and as such they’d been mixing up the setlists a bit from night to night with some older stuff. I’m no A7X expert, but I do know we saw some older tunes that don’t normally get played (Won’t See You Tonight Part 1, Not Ready To Die, Little Piece of Heaven, etc.), and Bat Country made it’s reappearance (didn’t get that at either show I saw last year). The stage setup was even cooler than last year, and again, the band sounded fantastic. These guys know how to bring it live. A7X Setlist: Nightmare, Critical Acclaim, Beast and the Harlot, Welcome to the Family, I Won’t See You Tonight Part 1, Afterlife, Not Ready to Die, Scream, A Little Piece of Heaven, Bat Country, Unholy Confessions.
Nightmare
Critical Acclaim
I Won’t See You Tonight
Afterlife
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 09/10/2011 Rockstar Uproar Tour: Avenged Sevenfold, Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Escape The Fate, Sevendust, Art Of Dying (Darien, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)
Tags: 2011, Art Of Dying, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine, Darien, Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, Escape The Fate, Rockstar Uproar Tour, Seether, Sevendust, Three Days Grace
09/09/2011 Carnival of Madness: Theory of a Deadman, Alter Bridge (Big Flats, NY @ Tag’s Summer Stage)
By Eric | September 20, 2011 1:55 pm
Due to the flooding in Binghamton and points north and east, Emphatic, Adelita’s Way, and Black Stone Cherry never made it to Big Flats. I’m betting a good chunk of the crowd didn’t make it either. Thus, it was a bit of a strange night at Tag’s. Essentially, you could turn your ticket in for a refund, or stick around for longer sets from the two headlining bands that did make it. I’d say 95% of the people hung around, and for good reason: They got two longer than usual sets from the two headliners! I came down after work and met up with Tiff’s cousin Michelle, Bob, Stef and Stef’s friend (whose name I can’t remember). We got in nice and close to the stage, and once Alter Bridge came on, we were in for a show. They opened with Slip To The Void, and once that song kicked in, so did the crowd. Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Tremonti put on a guitar clinic throughout the whole set, including a great back-and-forth soloing bit towards the end of the set. They played a mainly high-energy set, only slowing it down for Ghost of Days Gone By, and then Myles did an acoustic solo take on Watch Over You. The band sounded great, the crowd was into it, and it was a nice long set in lieu of the other bands not being able to make it. Alter Bridge was better when I saw them in Buffalo in 2008, and they were great then.
Alter Bridge Setlist: Slip to the Void, Find the Real, Buried Alive, Before Tomorrow Comes, White Knuckles, All Hope Is Gone, Ghost of Days Gone By, Ties That Bind, Blackbird, Isolation, Watch Over Me (Acoustic), Come To Life, Rise Today.
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White Knuckles
Guitar Duel / Rise Today
Theory of a Deadman was up next, and the crowd went even more nuts for them than they did for AB. Tyler’s voice sounded better than the last couple times I’ve seen them, so that combined with the band’s usual tightness made for an excellent show. The set was super-heavy on the latest two albums, with Gasoline only getting two tracks (Better Off and Santa Monica), and absolutely nothing off of self-titled. Yes, I’m whining, because those are just hands down better songs, especially live. However, the new stuff they did play sounded pretty good, including Gentleman and Bitch Came Back. They threw in a cover of Clapton’s Cocaine, and closed out the encore with The Truth Is… and naturally Bad Girlfriend. Again, no problems with how they sounded, but as an old-school fan, the setlist left a lot to be desired.
TOAD setlist: Gentlemen, Got It Made, All or Nothing, So Happy, Bitch Came Back, Not Meant to Be, Lowlife, Better Off, Out of My Head, Santa Monica, Cocaine (Eric Clapton cover), Hate My Life. Encore: The Truth Is, Bad Girlfriend.
[flickr-gallery pagination=”0″ mode=”tag” tags=”2011-09-09, theory of a deadman” tag_mode=”all”]
So Happy
Bad Girlfriend
On both counts, it was pretty damn cool of both bands to lengthen their standard CoM sets to make up for the other bands not being able to make it, and give those of us that did make it a really good show.
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 09/09/2011 Carnival of Madness: Theory of a Deadman, Alter Bridge (Big Flats, NY @ Tag’s Summer Stage)
Tags: 2011, Alter Bridge, Big Flats, Carnival of Madness, Tag’s Summer Stage, Theory of a Deadman
08/26/2011 B.B. King, Buddy Guy (Canandaigua, NY @ CMAC)
By Eric | September 20, 2011 1:18 pm
All these years later and my first real concert with my parents! Dad’s been a blues fan for quite awhile, and I figured this would be the perfect show to hang out with the folks and do it up. I scored 6th row seats, so they got a real nice experience for the show.
Buddy Guy was on first, and at 75 years old, struts around the stage like a man half his age. And through the crowd, which he did halfway through the set, taking a walk up to the edge of the lawn and still jamming away! I wasn’t really familiar with too many of his songs, but it really didn’t matter. Both Buddy and his backing band were top notch, clearly in tune and in sync with one another. About 2/3 of the way through the set, Buddy brought out 12-year-old guitar prodigy Quinn Sullivan, whom Guy met a few years prior and has nurtured the kid’s career ever since. Quinn played two of his songs with Buddy’s band, before the man himself came out and the two jammed on some standard blues covers to end the show. A very uptempo set, a very appreciative crowd, and a great way to start the night!
Nobody Understands Me but My Guitar
Hoochie Coochie Man / Nineteen Years Old / Love Her With a Feeling
Someone Else is Steppin’ In (Slippin’ Out, Slippin’ In)
Fever (Little Willie John cover)
Hip Hop Blues
Skin Deep
74 Years Young
Drowning on Dry Land (Albert King cover)
Use Me / Boom Boom / Strange Brew
Mojo Hand (Lightnin’ Hopkins cover)
Steal Away
Feels Like Rain
Sunshine of Your Love (Cream cover)
Little By Little
Do Your Thing (Isaac Hayes cover)
On the Road
Now it was time for the King. The large band made their way on stage first, played essentially a two-song soundcheck, and then the man himself was helped to his seat at the front of the stage. B.B. is now 85 years old, and while its starting to show physically, he’s still got it mentally, voice-wise and guitar-wise. There’s something about seeing a musical legend playing right in front of you, and B.B. still has that aura. Again, I’m not familiar with a ton of the songs, but again, it didn’t matter. B.B. sounded great, the band behind him sounded even better, and we had a wonderful night of the blues with two absolute legends and one young up-and-comer.
I Need You So
Every Day I Have the Blues (Pine Top cover)
Blues Man
Rock Me Baby
You Are My Sunshine (The Pine Ridge Boys cover)
The Thrill Is Gone (Roy Hawkins cover)
Nobody Understands Me But My Guitar
Hoochie Coochie Man (Willie Dixon cover)
Topics: Concerts | 1 Comment »
Tags: 2011, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Canandaigua, CMAC
RT @starstruck76: My article on the Rochester @pap
By Eric | September 19, 2011 1:49 pm
RT @starstruck76: My article on the Rochester @paparoach shutdown: http://t.co/gB8hjOrt Show photos of @buckcherry & @paparoach here: ht …
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Tags: music, twitter
Rock the cans! @rockallegiance @geneseebrewing @bu
By Eric | September 16, 2011 5:04 pm
Rock the cans! @rockallegiance @geneseebrewing @buckcherry @paparoach http://t.co/SfJqlURI
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Tags: music, twitter
Work ain’t going fast enough. @RockAllegiance at @
By Eric | September 16, 2011 10:31 am
Work ain’t going fast enough. @RockAllegiance at @GeneseeBrewery brewery tonight! @Buckcherry @Paparoach and hopefully some @dundeebeer m/
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Tags: music, twitter