03/04/2013 Deftones, The Contortionist (Rochester, NY @ Main Street Armory)

By Eric | March 5, 2013 12:00 pm

The gaps between seeing the Deftones for me unfortunately are of the long variety. Saw them twice in 1998 (the second of which was in this venue!), twice in 2000, then not until 2007, and now five and half years after that I finally got to see them again. Every show had been worth the wait though, and this one was no exception.

I didn’t know much about The Contortionist before seeing them, but their brand of technical death metal sounded pretty cool, despite them not being the most physically active band I’ve ever seen. Rather, a bunch of dudes just standing and playing their instruments. But they damn sure knew how to play them! A fairly heavy opener, yet not a ton of crowd movement. I’m thinking most people were saving up their energy, and for good reason.

The place got loud as the guys made their way to the stage, then opening with Be Quiet and Drive set it off. I was right in the middle of things, probably about 7 people deep most of the night. Talk about energy, both the band and the crowd had it in spades.

They definitely do not forget the old school fans, as the whole first part of the show was My Own Summer tunes, and the end was all Adrenaline! They turned the tempo up and down in the right spots also, giving us relative breathers like Digital Bath and Rosemary between all the aggressive songs. Overall, the setlist had a great mix, and the construction of it was interesting, as they’d go on runs of 2-3-4 songs from an album in one chunk. The first four from My Own Summer, they sandwiched Minerva in there, then three from Diamond Eyes, two from White Pony, four from Koi No Yokan, Change (in the House of Flies) gets sandwiched, and the last four from Adrenaline. Nothing from Saturday Night Wrist, oddly enough, only the one from self-titled, and I didn’t even notice until it came time to write this review. It’s hard to pick any highlights because the entire show was great, The crowd was by and large really good too, people picking each other up, no real idiots near me, most of the crowdsurfers weren’t kicking people, etc. At a couple points there were some big piles of bodies, though nothing approaching the domino effect like the last time I saw the band at this place. It’s difficult to say much more than awesome band, awesome show, awesome setlist, and great crowd.

My Own Summer

Rocket Skates

You’ve Seen The Butcher

Deftones setlist
—————-
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
Lotion
My Own Summer (Shove It)
Lhabia
Minerva
Diamond Eyes
Rocket Skates
You’ve Seen the Butcher
Feiticeira
Digital Bath
Tempest
Poltergeist
Rosemary
Swerve City
Change (In the House of Flies)
Engine No. 9
Nosebleed
Encore:
Root
7 Words

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I’m going to Deftones at Main Street Armory in Roc…

By Eric | March 4, 2013 5:58 pm

I’m going to Deftones at Main Street Armory in Rochester, NY – Mar 4 http://t.co/qbTgAKWj7v

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02/09/2013 Daughtry, 3 Doors Down (Rochester, NY @ Main Street Armory)

By Eric | February 10, 2013 12:00 pm

This was one of those shows that I can just go to and have a good time, without having to dissect every little part of it, bemoaning what did and didn’t get played, etc. It’s a “grab a beer, find a decent spot, sing along and enjoy it” show. I grabbed a nice position behind the soundboard, could see and hear everything, and wasn’t bothered crowd-wise in the least. Ended up next to an older couple that really knew their stuff song-wise and had some intelligent concert conversation to boot. First up was 3 Doors Down, and considering they’re touring behind a greatest hits album, that’s exactly what we got. As this was my 9th time seeing them, I was glad to see they managed to sprinkle in the handful of new tunes on that greatest hits album (Goodbye, There’s a Life, One Light), and even threw in a truncated cover of Megadeth’s Symphony of Destruction, in addition to the usual suspects. During Citizen/Soldier they rolled out a 2nd drum kit and had a pretty good drum solo (ala Godsmack’s “Batalla de los Tambores”) with Greg Upchurch and Brad Arnold. They sounded as good as they always do, Brad’s voice sounded fine, and they got Chris Daughtry to come out and do Kryptonite with them for some added spice. A typical, solid, 3 Doors show.

One Light

Drum Solo

Kryptonite (w/ Chris Daughtry)

3DD setlist
———–
Time of My Life
It’s Not My Time
Duck and Run
The Road I’m On
Away From the Sun
Let Me Go
Goodbye
Loser
There’s a Life
Landing in London
One Light
Here Without You
Citizen/Soldier
Symphony of Destruction (Megadeth cover)
The Better Life

Encore:
Kryptonite
When I’m Gone

A quick set change later, and time for Daughtry. I had last seen him two and a half years prior at the Blue Cross Arena, and came away impressed, so I had pretty high expectations this time around also. Chris and the band met them, as they sounded great, he sounded great, and an enthusiastic crowd (moreso than that BCA show) made for a fun set. Break The Spell was the opener, and they rock and rolled through a nice spread of songs over all three albums. One of the things I think I enjoy about Daughtry is that for all the lighter ballad-y stuff he does, he and the band can actually rock too (See Outta My Head, What I Want, Renegade). For this show especially, a major highlight was seeing Rochester’s own Elvio Fernandez (he of East End Fest veterans Uncle Plum) perform for the hometown crowd as Daughtry’s touring keyboard/guitar player. There was a large contingent screaming for him all night, and none louder than when he came to the front of the stage to play and sing Gone Too Soon.

After the song Chris even remarked on how much of a reaction Elvio got. Good stuff. They did the requisite cover of In The Air Tonight, and this was Brad Arnold’s chance to return the guest-singer favor.

They closed up with an encore of September and sent everyone home with It’s Not Over (except it was). Another very solid show by Daughtry and his boys. I had a great time, it seems like the rest of the crowd did too (and there were a lot of people at this show, if it didn’t sell out it was very close). As I said in the review for the other Daughtry show, “Yay pop-rock at its finest!”

Outta My Head

Daughtry setlist
—————-
Break the Spell
Feels Like Tonight
Outta My Head
Crawling Back to You
What I Want
Renegade
Gone Too Soon
Tennessee Line
Over You
No Surprise
In the Air Tonight (with Brad Arnold)
Every Time You Turn Around
Home

Encore:
September
It’s Not Over

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™« I just entered 3 Doors Down & Daughtry Nort…

By Eric | January 31, 2013 7:57 am

™« I just entered 3 Doors Down & Daughtry North American Winter Tour Ticket Giveaway http://t.co/7Wm37RJh

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I’m going to Eye Empire at Mac’s Bad Art Bar in Ma…

By Eric | January 24, 2013 3:38 pm

I’m going to Eye Empire at Mac’s Bad Art Bar in Mattydale, NY – Feb 8 http://t.co/WnZk5o0y

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Monday, March 4th. Deftones at Main Street Armory.…

By Eric | December 18, 2012 2:17 pm

Monday, March 4th. Deftones at Main Street Armory. Don’t say I didn’t tell you.

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12/14/2012 Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, Acaro (Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom)

By Eric | December 14, 2012 11:14 pm

KsE playing “Alive or Just Breathing” front to back? WITH Jesse Leach back in the band? And Shadows Fall opening? YES PLEASE.

Acaro was pretty cool, they got the crowd hyped enough, even though they lost the PA during their set. They also completed the Massachusetts band trifecta.

Shadows Fall never disappoints… a quick 8-song romp with a couple tunes from Art of Balance, War Within, and the new Fire From The Sky. I got right down front, and when lead singer Brian Fair decided to stage dive, guess who got landed on? This guy! Good thing Brian is light!

Shads setlist:
The Light That Blinds
The Idiot Box
Weight of the World
King of Nothing
Still I Rise
Destroyer of Senses
Divide and Conquer
War

The Light That Blinds

Destroyer of Senses

Then, the show a lot of us in the crowd had been waiting ten years for: Killswitch Engage, back with Jesse! They come out to a raucous ovation and rip into… A Bid Farewell? Swerve! And then Rose of Sharyn after that?

Ok I think I can get behind this. Interesting role reversal, as KsE re-recorded “Fixation on the Darkness” with Howard Jones, so it was coming full circle to hear Jesse do the End of Heartache tunes. It was also cool to have them open with these tunes, as most times when one gets the “full album front to back” treatment, the extra songs come at the end.

So now it was AOJB time, and of course, as the band hits the opening notes of Numbered Days, the entire crowd chanted in unison, “THE TIME APPROACHES!” and we were off and running. I know I hadn’t heard a lot of these songs live, obviously never with Jesse, and I wonder if this tour was the first time some of them were being played at all. Needless to say, there was no shortage of energy in the crowd, certainly no lack on stage, as the KsE boys looked like they were having a blast up there, and holy crap is Jesse Leach a dynamic front man. Running and jumping all over the place, singing, screaming; he was on point the entire night.

Fixation / Serenade / Life to Lifeless

KsE never really skipped a beat when Jesse first left and Howard joined the band, and Howard was a hell of a performer in his own right. However, it seems like there’s a whole new energy in the band now that Jesse is back, and it reflected in the performance to be sure. I suppose it was refreshing to revisit some of these songs that probably hadn’t been played since the album was released a decade ago. At the conclusion of the album, we were treated to two more “greatest hits”, with the encore starting with My Curse, and closing out an immensely enjoyable evening with “The End of Heartache”.

I seriously doubt anyone went home disappointed, I know I sure didn’t! Got to say a quick hello to Brian from Shadows Fall on the way out, and had quite the smile plastered on my face the entire way home!

KsE Setlist:
A Bid Farewell
Rose of Sharyn

Numbered Days
Self Revolution
Fixation on the Darkness
My Last Serenade
Life to Lifeless
Just Barely Breathing
To the Sons of Man
Temple From the Within
Vide Infra
The Element of One
Without a Name
Rise Inside

Encore:
My Curse
The End of Heartache

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It’s a good thing @brianshadfall is pretty light, …

By Eric | December 14, 2012 10:48 pm

It’s a good thing @brianshadfall is pretty light, and not like the dude from Crowbar. Landed right on top of me stagediving! #showhazards

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RT @brianshadfall: Thank you Buffalo! A great met…

By Eric | December 14, 2012 10:40 pm

RT @brianshadfall: Thank you Buffalo! A great metal show was exactly what I needed I get my mind off of today’s tragic events. Music heals.

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I’m at Town Ballroom for Killswitch Engage and Aca…

By Eric | December 14, 2012 8:29 pm

I’m at Town Ballroom for Killswitch Engage and Acaro (Buffalo, NY) w/ 3 others http://t.co/1cFy7H7d

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