I’m sitting at Hot Shots and they’re playing NIN’s
By Eric | April 15, 2009 12:00 am
I’m sitting at Hot Shots and they’re playing NIN’s “Not So Pretty Now” on the sound system. How awesome is that?
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Tags: music, twitter
04/08/2009 G. Love & Special Sauce, The Movement (Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall)
By Eric | April 9, 2009 7:52 pm
I’ve had various people tell me over the years that I really needed to check out G. Love & Special Sauce, either on albums or live. They always seemed to be one of those bands that I said, “Cool, I will”, and then never did for whatever reason. So after enough of that, coupled with being bored on a Wednesday night, coupled with Tiff being out of town for work, I figured I’d see what all the fuss was about. Total whim. I wandered downtown to Water Street, stood in line for about 10 minutes or so, and grabbed a beer while waiting for the openers. I ran into some friends from volleyball, so I had someone to chill with for the night as well!
The Movement were the openers, and they were a roots/reggae/hip-hop type of band. Kinda like Skindred but not nearly as hard. Having little experience with this type of music, I can say they kept me entertained, they sounded good, and the crowd seemed to appreciate them. The one singer/guitarist I swore could have easily been the leader of a RATM cover band. He kinda looked and really sounded like Zack at times. Anyways, they were pretty good.
After the requisite long wait, G. Love and his band came out. I’d only listened to a couple of clips on the web, so I was pretty much coming at this not knowing what I was in for. I’ve seen descriptions ranging from hip-hop/country mix to “lazy blues” and every other permutation thereof. It didn’t matter much. G. Love and his band are talented musicians whatever they’re playing, and kept it coming all night long. He can sing, he can rap, even a bit of beatboxing. I’m also forever impressed by bass players that play an upright, so they had that going for them also. Plus someone playing keyboard/organ, which also never hurts. Obviously as a G. Love neophyte, I knew a sum total of zero songs, but that didn’t matter either (No, not even Cold Beverage. Seriously.). As I remarked to my buddy Cory, this is the type of show that if someone didn’t have a good time, it’s their fault, because the band and 99% of the crowd were having a blast.
Speaking of the crowd, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect there either. A mix of your usual jam-band fans (Phish, Dead, Dave, etc.), and then the young college crowd. Considering G. Love has been playing for approximately 15 years, I thought the majority of the crowd would be older than it was. In any event, the peoplewatching was fun as always, especially when I’m in the back taking in the whole scene (as opposed to focusing solely on the band while up front). It was good tunes, good beers, and I’m glad I went.
Topics: Concerts | 2 Comments »
Tags: 2009, G. Love & Special Sauce, rochester, The Movement, Water Street Music Hall
Decided to go see G Love. Having a good time so fa
By Eric | April 9, 2009 12:00 am
Decided to go see G Love. Having a good time so far!
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Tags: music, twitter
Anyone going to G Love at Water Street tonight? I’
By Eric | April 8, 2009 12:00 am
Anyone going to G Love at Water Street tonight? I’ve been told repeatedly that I have to check them out, and I may just do that tonight…
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Tags: music, twitter
04/03/2009 Black Label Society, Sevendust, Dope, The Infinite Staircase (Rochester, NY @ The Main Street Armory)
By Eric | April 4, 2009 9:36 am
Adam and I arrived within five minutes of each other, and much like Shinedown, there really was no line to speak of, and the place wasn’t that crowded at first. We milled around during the first band, The Infinite Staircase. A four-piece from Staten Island, they sounded pretty decent, nothing earth-shattering. Apparently their drummer is Sebastian Bach’s son.
Up next was a band I’d hoped I’d never seen again: Dope. They’re still not any better, and mercifully, they only got a half-hour set. Die Motherf*cker Die, indeed.
Adam and I waded into the thick of things during set change, and after chatting up a couple of the people around us, the full-contact sport known as a Sevendust live show began. And they switched the set up a little bit! Opened with Inside, but then we got Alpha! Definitely a fun live song. Then one of the more tiring streches in a 7d set I’ve experienced: Denial, Pieces, Clueless, Waffle. They brought it down a quarter of a notch with Suffocate and Praise, into Ugly, then finished it up with Bitch and the usual frenzied closer, Face To Face. Sevendust show number 12 was easily one of the more enjoyable ones, everyone down front was very cool, most everyone was a 7d fan, so lots of screaming along too! Awesome awesome awesome.
[flickr]6936089582[/flickr]
We got out, caught our breath, got a drink, got a picture of the Sevendust setlist from the soundboard (didn’t get to keep it, ah well), and camped out in front of the soundboard to watch Zakk and the Doom Crew do their thing. I had not seen Black Label Society to this point, and I’m glad I caught them this time. To me, they don’t seem like the type of band where you’re going to be in the pit and throw down; even though they’re heavy, they’re more of a chill type band, sit back, chug some beers, and have a good time. And we did. There’s a reason that Zakk Wylde is considered one of the premier guitar players in metal today, and we saw it. Every song had great solos, the trademark squeals, and the rest of the band was more than capable at backing him up. What stood out to me was the ease with which Zakk transitioned to playing the piano for the slower numbers (Damage is Done and In This River), and the fact that he can do that just as well, and he can actually sing when called upon (I’d argue that most of the regular “heavy” BLS songs are not stunning vocal displays). After “Fire It Up”, we were treated to an extended Zakk solo (literally, it was just him up there), which culimnated in a great take on the National Anthem. Zakk seemed genuinely appreciative of the crowd, constantly referring to “the Rochester chapter of the Black Label Society” to much crowd approval. No worries about curfew on this night, as the show didn’t end until about 12:40am! It was a great show, great crowd, and a fun night all around. Apparently BLS has been playing the same setlist for the last couple years, with slight variations, and tonight was no different. But since I’ve never seen it, it was quite alright by me!
[flickr]6936089680[/flickr]
BLS Setlist: Black Mass Reverends, Destruction Overdrive, Faith Is Blind, The Rose Petalled Garden, Suicide Messiah, Genocide Junkies, Damage Is Done (on piano), In This River (on piano), Fire It Up, Guitar Solo / Star-Spangled Banner, Stoned And Drunk, The Blessed Hellride (both Zakk and Nick had double-necked guitars for this one!), Concrete Jungle, Stillborn.
Topics: Concerts | 11 Comments »
Tags: 2009, Black Label Society, Dope, Main Street Armory, rochester, Sevendust, The Infinite Staircase
Another awesome 7d set! http://twitpic.com/2sm9w
By Eric | April 4, 2009 12:00 am
Another awesome 7d set! http://twitpic.com/2sm9w
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Double fisting with Adam at BLS7Dust!
By Eric | April 4, 2009 12:00 am
Double fisting with Adam at BLS7Dust!
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WE ARE GOING TO SEE METALLICA! Got my GA Floor tix
By Eric | April 3, 2009 12:00 am
WE ARE GOING TO SEE METALLICA! Got my GA Floor tix. m/
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They split up the April 20th show, now it’s just T
By Eric | April 2, 2009 12:00 am
They split up the April 20th show, now it’s just Theory and Black Stone Cherry at Water Street… Don’t have to see Hinder now!
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Korn is coming to the Rochester Main Street Armory
By Eric | March 31, 2009 12:00 am
Korn is coming to the Rochester Main Street Armory on Monday May 18th… http://snipr.com/exu3b
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