02/21/2009 Disturbed, Skindred, Caustic (Rochester, NY @ Main Street Armory)
By Eric | February 23, 2009 4:59 pm
To preface this, the doors were supposed to open at 7pm, with the show at 8. Tiff and I rolled up on the Armory at about 7:15, and the line was already down the street and around the corner, and the doors didn’t look open yet. Traffic was crazy, because as luck would have it, there was a show at the Auditorium Theater across the street as well. So we twiddled our thumbs in traffic on Main Street and actually were able to pull into the church parking lot next door with no real problem. And surprisingly, there were tons of spots! We meandered back down the driveway, and since Tiff was on her crutches, everyone pretty much gave us a pass as we cut about 3/4 of the line. Milk it for all its worth! We still waited for about a half-hour to get in, and once inside, we grabbed one of the tables off to the left side, right by the doors, so Tiff could sit. It actually worked out rather well all night.
For those of you about to say, “Tiff doesn’t like Disturbed, why the hell did she go?”, the reason Tiff even came was because at the time of ticket purchase, Sevendust was on the bill, but due to the fact that they’re coming back with Black Label Society in April, they opted off this date. Only date with Disturbed they’re not playing. By the time we found that out, we already had the (somewhat expensive) tickets, and Tiff figured she’d come hang out and watch anyway, plus meet up with Adam and her friend Scott from work. Since there was no 7D, I wasn’t going to be “pitting” this one anyway, so it’s not like I was gonna be cranky not being in the middle of everything.
The first band, Caustic, was on as we walked in. Unbeknownst to me, they’re an upstate NY band, and apparently have some of their songs featured on the WEC MMA shows. They were pretty good, standard-fare metal, but we only caught like two songs. I’m sure a full set would probably hold my interest.
Skindred was up next, and I’ve heard a couple tunes before (“Nobody” in particular), so I kinda knew what to expect. They brought their best “Roots Rock Riot” and had the entire crowd bouncing for most of their 40-min set. The ragga-punk-roots-whatever you wanna call it was a lot of fun. I have no clue about order, nor if this is complete, but songs I was able to gather were “Roots Rock Riot”, “Trouble”, “Rat Race”, “Pressure”, and “Nobody”. There may have been one or two more. Definitely a good time with these UK boys!
Nobody
Then it was Disturbed time. The place was pretty much packed (not sure if it sold out or not, but it had to be close), and Adam and Scott had joined us by this point. After the canned intro music, the guys came out and ripped into Perfect Insanity. The set, (and setlist, for that matter) was quite similar to what Adam and I saw at Mayhem in July, with two additions and two switches. The first six songs were identical, and the last five were the same as well. In the middle, we got Land Of Confusion, Deify, Divide, and Haunted (as opposed to Mayhem, where we didn’t get any of those, and got Ten Thousand Fists and Criminal instead). They sounded great again, Draiman was cracking in one or two spots, but overall the vocals were strong as well. Big crowd pops, and the pit looked way more active than at any point at Mayhem. It’s always a different perspective standing on the sidelines vs. being in the middle of it all, and you get to see things you normally wouldn’t. Like security “escorting” people out the doors we were camped next to. And by “escorting”, I mean “opening the door with the dude’s face”. And a chick fight too, notable for the one girl wrapping her arms around the doorframe post, wailing, “I PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR THIS TICKET! YOU CAN’T THROW ME OUT!”. Yes honey, yes they can. A little bit of everything on this night!
Intro / Perfect Insanity / Liberate
Overall, another excellent show, only minorly dampened by the lack of Sevendust. And Tiff’s a trooper for making it through a Disturbed show with nary a complaint!
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Tags: 2009, Caustic, Disturbed, Main Street Armory, rochester, Skindred
Going to get Down With The Sickness… Seeing Dist
By Eric | February 21, 2009 12:00 am
Going to get Down With The Sickness… Seeing Disturbed at the Armory tonight!
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The Sell-Out Gets An iPod
By Eric | February 17, 2009 8:04 pm
I caved. Hook, line, sinker. I bought a 120GB iPod Classic (6th gen.)
After my beloved Archos died, I tried a host of other MP3 players, including the Creative Zen, and the SanDisk Sansa that I got for free from the Woot Off. Both had their good and bad points, but chief among the bad for both was the fact that 8GB just wasn’t enough. After being able to carry every song I own around with me, being forced to whittle it down to 7% just didn’t cut it. The other big negative to the others, including the Archos, was car integration, or rather, lack thereof. You just can’t beat the iPod as far as the wealth of car mounts, chargers, and accessories in general. So armed with a couple of Best Buy gift cards from Christmas, I winced and plunked down for the iPod, and in the next day or two I’ll most likely own a Griffin Tuneflex Aux also.
As a side note, though, as a new iPod owner, my shit now no longer stinks, I have accepted Steve Jobs as my savior, Justin Long is my new role model, and my smugness factor is now through the roof.
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Tags: NT
All this reliving high-school stuff has made me di
By Eric | February 11, 2009 12:00 am
All this reliving high-school stuff has made me dig into the archives and listen to some Bush this afternoon (as in Gavin Rossdale, not W!)
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Looks like we’re gonna be checking out Jared Campb
By Eric | January 29, 2009 12:00 am
Looks like we’re gonna be checking out Jared Campbell at Spot Coffee tonight… A coffee shop? Time to get my smug on!
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Have to say, the new Stemm CD rocks!
By Eric | December 15, 2008 12:00 am
Have to say, the new Stemm CD rocks!
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How the hell did I miss the fact that the Toadies
By Eric | October 29, 2008 12:00 am
How the hell did I miss the fact that the Toadies have had a new album out since August? Thanks for the heads-up, Matt!!
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Two shows in two nights is now over… onto the th
By Eric | October 17, 2008 12:00 am
Two shows in two nights is now over… onto the three day weekend in the Falls!
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10/16/2008 Trivium, All That Remains, 36 Crazyfists, The Human Abstract (Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom)
By Eric | October 16, 2008 11:59 pm
I was really really excited for this show, as it’s been ages since I’d seen ATR, just slightly less of a time for Trivium, and then not having a festival crowd for 36CF was going to be great. As I was able to work the day at Fairgrounds, I didn’t have to make the back-and-forth Rochester trip, and thus got to the venue around 6pm. As I’m walking up Washington St. towards the ballroom, three guys in hoodies come around a corner in front of me. I catch up to them, to find that it was Phil and Mike (who I misidentified, sorry!) from All That Remains! So I got to chat with them for about a block before heading into the ballroom. Always fun meeting the band! I got in and was watching The Human Abstract’s set when Adam made his way in. THA is described as progressive metal, and they were decent, but not something I’m really into. They would have had to be phenomenal to have any effect though, because Adam and I were both jacked to see 36CF.
We made our way down to the floor, and much like the Mayhem festival, they opened with I’ll Go Until My Heart Stops, right into The End Of August. Again, there were a good number of people that knew the songs, which always makes it more fun when you’re bouncing around down front. Can’t remember the order completely, but they also played We Gave It Hell, The Heart and the Shape, Felt Through a Phone Line, Elysium, Installing the Catheter, and the closer was The All Night Lights. Just about the same set as Mayhem, except no Bloodwork. Cool by me! One of my favorite songs by them is Elysium, so I was especially psyched for that song.
The All Night Lights
We didn’t get much of a break, as All That Remains had the next slot. They’d been alternating “headlining” sets with Trivium on the tour, and ATR was playing first on this night. It’d been since June of 2005 that I’d seen them, on the tour for This Darkened Heart, so two albums later, I was more than ready to see them again. The crowd was really into them, knew most of the songs, and there were just as many ATR shirts as Trivium shirts, which was cool to me, because Trivium seems to get more recognition. Phil, Mike, Olli and crew were on point, tearing into the songs and the crowd gave it right back. They sounded great, and the setlist was a good mix between the latest two albums, with a nod to the older stuff as well. I really don’t remember the order, but they played This Calling, Not Alone, It Dwells In Me, Become The Catalyst, The Air That I Breathe,The Weak Willed, Six, Before The Damned, Two Weeks, Undone, Chiron, For Salvation, and This Darkened Heart. This Calling was actually the closer, and everyone sang along which was really cool. The crowd was good for the most part, save for one 15 year old kid on the barrier that decided to make the “I’m gonna push back and slam everyone behind me” move, which absolutely killed the girl behind him, who happened to be right in front of me. Needless to say, I reached over the girl, put the kid in a headlock and screamed right in his ear that if he did that again, I’d rip his nuts off and let the girl get a shot in too. Between me, her, and her boyfriend (who was next to kid A, also threatening him), I think he got the message. Everyone else was pretty cool.
Become The Catalyst
Chiron
Before The Damned
For Salvation
This Calling
Adam and I were pretty much done by that point, so we got out, got a beer, and retreated to the outer bar area near the merch booth. The drummer from 36, Tom, was out there, so I talked to him for a second and gave him a little bit of crap for the Rangers logo on his drumkit. I told him “you know you’re in Sabres country, right?” He laughed and said he was kinda dreading coming here, as the Rangers had just lost to the Sabres a night or two before. Apparently all the guys in the band are hockey fans (they’re from Alaska), so that fact alone makes them okay in my book! I also got to talk to Brock, the lead singer from 36, and thanked him for coming back around after Mayhem, and told him we had a great time in the pit. He mentioned “Dude, I saw you down there singing, that was badass!” He’s a Flyers fan, so he thanked us for Biron and Briere… haha. The 36CF dudes are really nice guys, they spent a bit of time with everyone that wanted to talk. Nice to see.
Once their set started, Adam and I went up to the “balcony” behind the soundboard to watch Trivium. I like these guys, I like the songs, and they sound great, but I can’t get over the feeling like every time I see them live, it’s missing something. I don’t feel nearly the same inclination to get in the pit and jump around for them as I do other bands (36 and ATR this time, and Lamb Of God the last time). They certainly have the stage antics down pat though, with no less that five microphones spread across the stage. Heafy and crew sounded good though, mixed up the songs between the albums, and had the crowd into it. Since I didn’t write anything down this time, I lifted this setlist from the Trivium message board: Kirisute Gomen, Becoming The Dragon, Insurrection, A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation, Like Light To The Flies, Into The Mouth of Hell We March, Down From The Sky, Rain (I love this song, so this made their set for me!) and closed with Pull Harder On The String Of Your Martyr.
Kirisute Gomen (Embedding was disabled, so here’s a link.)
The two shows in two nights were great, tiring, and I think got the metal out of my system for a little bit!
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 10/16/2008 Trivium, All That Remains, 36 Crazyfists, The Human Abstract (Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom)
Tags: 2008, 36 Crazyfists, All That Remains, Buffalo, The Human Abstract, Town Ballroom, Trivium
10/15/2008 Five Finger Death Punch, In This Moment, Bury Your Dead (Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom)
By Eric | October 15, 2008 11:59 pm
[Another Black Day was the first band on the bill, but we missed them.]
Adam and I got there just as Bury Your Dead was starting. It was typical hardcore fare, but with the off-rhythm stuff that I don’t really care for. They were fine, but I’m not running out to get any of their stuff. It was passable.
In This Moment was another story entirely. Metalcore must be starting to jump the shark, because this was the most “put-together” band I’ve seen in awhile. They had a chick lead singer, and they were from LA. Gimmick city. Most female lead singers of metal bands fall into two categories. Either they can scream really well, or sing really well. This girl did neither, it was just a lot of screeching. And the 2nd to last song they played, which they called their “hardest”, was the most formulaic, metalcore-by-numbers song I think I’ve ever heard. As in, I could predict all of the changes, the breakdowns, everything. Terribly generic.
Anyway, after that 40 or so minutes, it was time for us to head into the pit for some action. The floor filled up, and everyone was quite excited. So was the band! They blew out of the gate with “Ashes”, then into “The Way of the Fist”. I really don’t remember the rest of the order, but they played a good chunk of the album, a couple of the bonus tracks, and a cover of “Bad Company” which was pretty cool. Everyone on the floor was bouncing around, a couple pits, a wall of death during “White Knuckles”, and general mayhem. The only idiots were these two 16-year old guys, who were pretty much holding hands the entire night, and using each other as leverage to jump (and drive their elbows) into everyone else. It’s like, if you can’t mosh and hold your spot like a normal person, don’t be a douche. They got smashed during the wall of death, so karma got em in the end! They ended up doing “The Bleeding” as the encore, and at the end of the song, had a little 7-year old kid get up on stage. When asked who his favorite band was, the kid looked kind of sheepish and pointed at lead singer Ivan Moody, who told him it didn’t necessarily have to be his band, and the kid actually mumbled “Slipknot” instead!
Setlist (probably not in order): Ashes, The Way Of The Fist, White Knuckles, Salvation, The Devil’s Own, Meet The Monster, Never Enough, Stranger Than Fiction, Bad Company, The Bleeding
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 10/15/2008 Five Finger Death Punch, In This Moment, Bury Your Dead (Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom)
Tags: 2008, Buffalo, Bury Your Dead, Five Finger Death Punch, In This Moment, Town Ballroom