Two Years In The House, and More Concerts
By Eric | February 15, 2008 3:59 pm
It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since we’ve been in the house. Sometimes it feels way longer, but mostly it’s like, “where did two years go?” I’m not really sure. It’s kinda like asking, where did 28 years go, because that’s coming up in a week’s time too. We’ll be celebrating that at HSBC arena though, at the Sabres/Lightning game. Should be a good one, both teams are playing pretty decent as of late.
We have the Will Hoge show this weekend, and then the parentals are coming up on Sunday for birthday fun, so we’re looking forward to that. Then event/concert silly season heats up for me, as there’s a bunch of stuff that I’m either going to, or I’m on the fence about. Observe:
Sat 2/16 – Will Hoge @ The Tralf
Wed 2/20 – Lightning @ Sabres
Sun 2/24 – Tesla @ Club Infinity – $32 (most likely going)
Thu 3/6 – The Dreaming @ The Haunt (most likely NOT)
Fri 3/7 – The Dreaming @ Water St – $10 (most likely going, its the former lead singer of Stabbing Westward, former drummer of SW and Econoline Crush)
Thu 3/13 – Mike Doughty @ German House (have tickets, going with Matt)
Fri 3/14 – Sun 3/16 – Atlantic Hockey Champs (have tickets, RIT better make it!)
Sat 3/15 – Chevelle/F11 @ Water St – $28 (most likely NOT going)
Fri 3/21 – Matt Good @ Water St – $17 (already saw him once, but I may go again)
Wed 3/26 – Hatebreed @ Water St – $25 (probably will)
Fri 3/28 – Raine Maida @ Town Ballroom – $30 (on the fence, would like to, but $30 is kinda steep)
Sat 3/29 – Matt Good @ Club Infinity – $29 (not likely, esp. if I do go to Water Street)
Wed 4/9 – The Dreaming @ Infinity (probably not, unless the Water St. show is the best show I’ve ever seen, EVER)
Sat 4/12 – Bandits @ KHawks (have tickets)
Sun 8/3 – Rockstar Mayhem @ Darien Lake (waiting for this to go on sale, Slipknot, Disturbed, Sevendust, 36 Crazyfists, etc, etc)
Topics: Blog | 2 Comments »
Tags: concerts, hockey, house, NT, sabres
I Tweaked The CD Pages… Again.
By Eric | February 8, 2008 5:10 pm
I’m not sure if anyone even actually looks at them, but I’ve remade all of the entries for the CD collection, so that it’s completely in line with the Readerware database I have. At this count, we’re up to 993 CD’s, only seven more until 1000! But anyway, all the album covers are there, there’s tracklistings, and of course, my opinions falling on deaf ears.
Naturally, I’m still pondering some kind of convergence between databases for the CDs and the MP3 collection, with all kinds of searchable goodness. That’s gonna take forever, and probably won’t ever happen. But let the little geek dream.
Off the dork topics, it’s nice to see that the Sabres are finally playing well again. We’ll see how they fare against Boston tonight. I love the fact that they’re keeping Pat Kaleta up with the big club, and I love how, much like a frat boy at Mardi Gras, he’ll hit anything that moves. Keep it up PK!
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Tags: NT, sabres
02/05/2008 Eric Hutchinson, Jared Campbell (Rochester, NY @ High Fidelity)
By Eric | February 5, 2008 11:59 pm
Thanks to Matt alerting us to this show two days before it happened, how I was asleep at the wheel I’ll never know! Anyway, Tiff and I headed down to what used to be Milestones to check out two singer-songwriters that’d we seen before at different times. The opener, Jared Campbell, we saw back in 2003 in Harrisburg opening for Sister Hazel, and at that point he did a lot of covers and jokey kinda-stuff. Not so much anymore! He’s definitely come into his own as a songwriter and a performer, and his original music is quite good. As he played this show acoustically, by himself, the songs are in the pop/indie/light rock vein, but he’s got some groove to go with it. He certainly had the small but faithful crowd (probably 75-100 people) with him by the end of the set. After his 45 minutes were up, it was time for Hutch! He invited everyone to get closer to the stage, and opened by himself on keyboards with “You’ve Got You”. After this, he introduced his drummer and bass player, and continued on with “Food Chain”. After this, I don’t remember the order, but they played everything off of “Sounds Like This”, plus “Breakdown More”, and a mashup cover of “My Girl” spliced with R. Kelly’s “Ignition”, and then he encouraged all of us to try and decipher the words to UB40’s “Red Red Wine”. The “encore” consisted of “Rock and Roll” and “OK, It’s Alright With Me”. Eric was interacting with the crowd in his deadpan way all night, alternating between the keyboard and his acoustic guitar, sometimes with the band, sometimes without. The highlight of his set was a rollicking take on “You Don’t Have To Believe Me”, which the crowd ate up. There were certainly more than a couple of Hutchheads in the audience, which made for an even better evening.
After the show, we picked up the three Jared Campbell CD’s, and had him sign them for us. We mentioned that we saw him open for Sister Hazel back in ’03, and after being surprised we were at that show, he relayed a story about how he was really excited to meet and be opening for Hazel, and how he received some encouraging words from lead singer Ken Block. We also caught up with Hutch, thanked him for coming to Rochester, and said we wanted to see him up here again. We had a great time at the show and look forward to seeing these guys again.
Eric Hutchinson – Rock and Roll
Eric Hutchinson – Back To Where I Was
Eric Hutchinson – Outside Villanova
Eric Hutchinson – Breakdown More (clip)
Eric Hutchinson – Oh! (clip)
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Tags: 2008, Eric Hutchinson, High Fidelity, Jared Campbell, rochester
01/31/2008 Killswitch Engage, Every Time I Die, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Parkway Drive (Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall)
By Eric | January 31, 2008 11:59 pm
My first show of the new year! Adam and I got to Water St. around 7:30, expecting to walk right in (doors were supposedly 6:30), but we ended up waiting outside for about 15 minutes. What’s up with that?!?! We got in as the stage was being set up for Dillinger Escape Plan, listening to Parkway Drive (sorta) from outside. Dillinger’s set was okay, but it seemed to me that the songs don’t really have a hell of a lot of structure or direction. No real melody either. I’m sure for those that are into it, they were great, and they seemed to have a lot of energy up on the stage, but it’s not for me. Next up were my _real_ hometown boys, Every Time I Die. All of the guys are from North Tonawanda, and guitarist Andy Williams was actually in my graduating class in high school (I didn’t really know him though, so no rock star connection there!). Regardless, their set and music was what I think Dillinger was going for, but missed. ETID had the crowd going nuts, and put on a really great show. I’m only kinda familiar with the songs, but I certainly enjoyed watching them. They looked like they were having a blast up there themselves, and it made for a fast paced 40 minute set. Adam and I were on the edge of the pit when their set started, and naturally the floorpunchers and spin-kick artists were in attendance. Some unfortunate girl was on the wrong end of an elbow or an arm, and was holding her head in her hands trying to get out of the pit. I was closest, so being the benevolent concert attendee I am, I swung her around out of the pit so she didn’t get clocked again. Adam and I retreated to the bar for the rest of the ETID set, and then returned to our original spot when they were done. As we returned, the girl I pulled out of the pit came back and actually thanked me for doing so! I thought that was pretty cool, and then a couple minutes later, for my ego trip of the night, she came back again and wanted to know if I was single and could she get my number! Alas, all she got was a look at the wedding ring, but hey, I’m flattered. (Of course, Tiff said “Yeah, she only hit on you because she was still woozy from the blow to the head!”).
All this aside, time for Killswitch!! They came out to the Price Is Right theme song, with each band member being implored to “Come On Down!”. Typical goofy KsE! They opened with Daylight Dies, followed by Unbroken. The crowd was into it immediately, much more so than the Niagara Falls show last year. In fact, this whole show was better this time around. The set continued with Take This Oath and Arms Of Sorrow, with various Adam D rants in-between. Next was Breathe Life and my personal favorite, This Fire Burns. Rose of Sharyn, Still Beats Your Name, Fixation on the Darkness, and My Curse came next, with more banter. The set rocked on with Desperate Times, A Bid Farewell, This Is Absolution, and then the main set was closed out with The End Of Heartache. Adam and I took this opportunity before the encore to move up right into the thick of things on the floor, much closer to the stage. The boys came back out, and opened the encore with My Last Serenade. Then for the final number, the floor shook as everyone started jumping in unison to Holy Diver. A great end to a great set, a great show, and one hell of a lot of fun. Grasshopper Adam has learned well from the master, as he staked out the soundboard for the KsE setlist after the show, and was successful!
KsE – Price Is Right Intro / Daylight Dies
KsE – My Curse
Topics: Concerts | 1 Comment »
Tags: 2008, Every Time I Die, Killswitch Engage, Parkway Drive, rochester, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Water Street Music Hall
This Present Bargain
By Eric | January 26, 2008 4:44 pm
Since Tiff headed out to Watkins Glen for the day for her cousin’s cheerleading competition, I was left to my own devices this morning/afternoon, and after running errands, I did what I do best, went used CD shopping. Today’s crown jewel comes courtesy of FYE at Eastview, where among the throngs of used CDs they had in the special section, I uncovered the CD to your left. An original copy of Chimaira’s first EP, “This Present Darkness”, which had a limited run in 2000, and naturally, is nowhere to be found now that the band is world famous. Except at FYE for $6.99. (Sorry suckers, of course it was the only one!!) Considering it goes on Ebay and record collector sites for about $30, I think I got a steal on this one!
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Tags: Chimaira, music
The Best Song Ever Made
By Eric | January 25, 2008 1:13 pm
While surfing Wikipedia, I came across the page for the T-Pain song “Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” (don’t ask, just… don’t ask). This is generally unremarkable, except for the fact that due to the nature of Wikipedia, anyone can edit the pages to say anything they want, and unless someone catches it, funny, goofy, and just plain wrong information can sit there for awhile. Such as with this page. It just struck me as funny, and it’s been there since the 12th.
“In 2008, Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’) won the Grammy for Best Song Ever Made, thus leading to the abolishment of both the Song and Record of the Year awards. T-Pain has since been granted the title “Pimp General of the Republic of Congo.””
I believe everything I read on the Intertubes!!!
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Tags: cat, funny, NT
The Music Mix Challenge
By Eric | December 4, 2007 12:06 pm
A large group of us recently put together a mix of the music we’ve been listening to as of late, a little bit of a soundtrack to 2006-2007 if you will. Naturally, since I usually put forth way too much effort into these things, everyone else has to stick it to me a little bit, and as such I received a couple of CD’s full of the most hysterically bad stuff everyone could conjure up. Only Dan would think to put Charlene’s “I’ve Never Been To Me” on a CD (seriously, that song shouldn’t be on any CD’s… ANYWHERE), Karen + Jeremy saw fit to make a CD chock full of Britney, Jessica Simpson and Indigo Girls songs, Kelley found some acoustic songs with worse singers than the local karaoke bar, and Adam just repeated the same shitty 5 songs as many times as they’d fit. Thanks guys! My faith in your taste still hasn’t wavered!
Anyway, Matt threw his list up on his site, so I figured I’d do the same, just for fun. Of course, I actually remembered to put the liner notes in with my CD’s 🙂
1. Vanilla Ice – Yo Vanilla! (from To The Extreme, 1990) – Um, gotta kick this off right!
2. Burden Brothers – Buried in Your Black Heart (from Buried in Your Black Heart, 2003) – I saw them in March, and have been listening much more regularly since then. You may recognize the voice… Todd Lewis was the lead singer for the Toadies.
3. Cake – Mahna Mahna (from B-Sides and Rarities, 2007) – Everyone loves Cake, so everyone should love Cake covering the Muppets!
4 Pride Tiger – Let ‘Em Go (from The Lucky Ones, 2007) – Pride Tiger is a Canadian band that I saw as the first opener for Finger Eleven, and they blew me away with their live show. The album’s pretty good too.
5. Alter Bridge – Ties That Bind (from Blackbird, 2007) – This is off the 2nd album by the other 3/4 of Creed and the singer from The Mayfield Four. Sorta Creed-like, but a little harder, and way less preachy!
6. Will Hoge – The Man Who Killed Love (from The Man Who Killed Love, 2006) – Tiff saw him open for Edwin McCain a couple of years ago, then got all the music, and now I really like him as well. He’s a great rock/blues/country singer/songwriter.
7. Eric Hutchinson – You’ve Got You (from Sounds Like This, 2007) – We saw him open for Toby Lightman in Geneseo, and he’s another one of those pop singer/songwriters you’d see on VH1, except he’s not famous yet. But he should be.
8. Sevendust – Grasshopper (from Home, 1999) – A goofy little filler track.
9. Killswitch Engage – Holy Diver (from As Daylight Dies (Special Edition), 2006) – A cover of the Dio classic, which KsE make sound like their own. Yay Massachusetts metalcore!
10. Breaking Benjamin – Topless (from Phobia, 2006) – I’ve seen them three times already this year, and they’ve been great every time. A great radio hard-rock band.
11. Matthew Good – Born Losers (from Hospital Music, 2007) – Another Canadian, another artist I’ve seen live this year. I’ve liked MG since 1997, and his new stuff is still good.
12. Emerson Hart – Ordinary (from Cigarettes and Gasoline, 2007) – You may know EH as the lead singer of Tonic. His solo album just came out, and it’s a bit mellower than most of Tonic’s stuff.
13. Psychostick – BEER! (from We Couldn’t Think Of A Title, 2006) – Karl and I found this song within a week of each other, and we laugh our asses off every time we hear it. “Uh, I think you’ve had enough…” “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
14. Seether – Like Suicide (from Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces, 2007) – First song on Seether’s new album, which I like a lot better than their last one. More radio rock, but hey, not that there’s anything wrong with that!
15. Stone Sour – Made Of Scars (from Come What(ever) May, 2006) – Saw ’em twice this year. You’ve probably heard “Through Glass” enough times to stab yourself in the ear when it comes on, but this is more what Stone Sour actually sounds like, and is a way better song. Fun Fact: lead singer Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root both perform those same duties in Slipknot.
16. The Tragically Hip – The Kids Don’t Get It (from World Container, 2006) – I’ve loved the Hip forever, and this is my favorite from their new album. Saw ’em twice this year, front row the 2nd time!
17. nine inch nails – capital g (from Year Zero, 2007) – Trent came back with a noisy album that sounds a lot like most of his Downward Spiral-era remixes. It’s cool. So is this song. So are song titles with no capital letters (see what he did there?)
18. Maroon5 – Wake Up Call (from It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, 2007) – Yes, I like slickly produced, well crafted pop. Like Maroon5. No, I’m not ashamed. Yet.
19. House of Pain – Commercial 1 (from House Of Pain, 1992) – “He who breaks the law, goes back to the House of Pain!”
20. Mudvayne – Dig (from L.D. 50, 2000) – I dismissed Mudvayne as useless nu-metal when they came out, mainly due to all idiot kids that liked them. Turns out, as far as nu-metal goes, they’re pretty good. It only took me 7 years to figure that out though. Their first album is easily the best, and this is one of the more accessible songs on the album.
21. Sevendust – Clueless (from Alpha, 2007) – By far and away, Sevendust is the best band to come out of the nu-metal era, and they’re still going strong. This is one of my favorites on their latest album.
22. 36 Crazyfists – Bloodwork (from A Snow-Capped Romance, 2004) – A co-worker in Tioga introduced me to these guys, and and it took me almost a year to finally really listen to the three albums he gave me. I like these guys a lot, and this is from the album I listen to most often, their 2nd.
23. Nothingface – Error In Excellence (from An Audio Guide To Everyday Atrocity, 1998) – I heard of these guys back in 2000, and had their latest two CD’s for awhile. I dusted them off earlier in the spring, realized why I bought them in the first place, and went and found albums 1 and 2. This is off their 2nd album, and I’ve been listening to all 4 of their CD’s practically all summer.
24. Black Light Burns – Lie (from Cruel Melody, 2007) – This band is fronted by Wes Borland, who was better known as the guitar player for Limp Bizkit. This band/album sounds nothing like LB. At all. This is a good thing, and a really good album.
25. Chimaira – No Reason To Live (from Resurrection, 2007) – Pure American Metal from Cleveland, Ohio. I’m sure most of you won’t care for it, but A) I wanted to be as representative as possible with what I’ve been spinning lately, B) I’ve already gotten Adam to come over to the dark side, so I may get another one of you! and C) It’s awesome and you should just accept it. Seriously.
Topics: Blog | Comments Off on The Music Mix Challenge
Tags: Beer, commercial, house, music, NT, snow, tiff, Work
11/18/2007 Will Hoge (Ithaca, NY @ The State Theater)
By Eric | November 18, 2007 11:59 pm
Tiffany swung by and picked me up from work (an odd Sunday I filled in) and we trekked down Rt 89 to Ithaca. Will was part of a double-bill with the Avett Brothers, and he was on first. Our seats were about 15 rows back, literally in the middle of the ground floor. The state theater was reminiscent of the Riviera in NT, but a little smaller. Anyway, Will started at about 7:45, and eased everyone into it with Someone Else’s Baby, starting with just him and a female violinist/singer, before the rest of the band joined him. These Were The Days was next, and thus began the ebb and flow of the set, mixing slower songs with the rockers. I can’t remember the order exactly, but the meat of the set consisted of When I Can Afford To Lose, Sliver Or Gold, Hearts Are Gonna Roll, Wait Till Your Daddy Gets Home, I’m Sorry Now, The Highway’s Home, and Sex Lies and Money. The closer was another down-tempo, Lover Tonight, with just him, the violin, and the organ. He closed the song by singing sans-microphone, just belting it out, before backing off the stage, still singing. The set was a bit heavy on the slower numbers, and consisting of mainly songs from the last two albums, but that certainly didn’t detract from how great the set was. Just like the Buffalo show, the musicianship was excellent, and Will’s voice was spot-on.
The only thing wrong with the show? The crowd. I’ve always been told that Ithaca is a haven for cultural people, it’s all about the art and the music, etc. BULLSHIT. It’s obviously not about the respect for the artist up on stage, because the amount of people talking throughout the entire set was nothing short of obnoxious. I realize not everyone sits at rapt attention, hell, I’ve done it myself, but at *club shows*, not in a theater, where you can, heaven forbid, GO OUT IN THE %@#$%$# LOBBY AND TALK. It was bad enough during the quieter songs, but one could hear all kinds of talking over the rocking songs too! The big mistake was having a bar available at the rear of the seating area, where everyone congregated, and of course, had to be heard over the band on stage. It was brutal, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard that level of conversation at a show, ever. I’ve been to free festival shows with less talking. Seriously. We mentioned this to one of the ushers after the set, who referred us to the head usher, both of which genuinely acted concerned and equally horrified at the noise level. I’m guessing we weren’t the only ones who complained. However, when I mentioned it to the “promoter”, or at least, the guy who introduced the band on the stage (and apparently runs the Grassroots Festival), he acted as if he could care less, was quite condescending, and generally was indifferent. So much so, that he felt compelled to tell me that “you really won’t notice it with the next band, because they’ll be louder”. Okay, so explain A) why we could hear talking during Will Hoge’s loud songs (which got pretty loud), and B) how that in any way whatsoever excuses it from occuring in the first place? I got a little melodramatic, but I asked how that was supposed to make up for the talking during the performance I just saw?? He didn’t really have an answer for that. So much for supporting the arts. We have no idea how good or bad it was for the Avett Brothers, as we left before they came on. For their sake, I hope everyone was there for them, and kept their mouths shut. So yay for Will Hoge, but boo to the “cultured” Ithacan’s that couldn’t shut up.
Topics: Concerts | 2 Comments »
Tags: 2007, Ithaca, The State Theater, Will Hoge
11/17/2007 Chimaira, Kataklysm, Terror, Divine Heresy (Buffalo, NY @ Club Infinity)
By Eric | November 17, 2007 11:59 pm
This show was a communal gathering of sorts, as I met my Toronto friends Nick and Scott (the guys we met at the Black Light Burns show) in line, and also met Adam there, who happened to bring his friend Mary along. While we were waiting in line, we missed Stemm’s short set, so we got in as Divine Heresy was setting up. This was the band Scott and Nick made the trip for, as they were not on the bill for the Toronto stop of the tour. Divine Heresy is described as melodic death metal, but whatever you call them, they were pretty damn good. Fear Factory’s ex-guitar player, Dino Cazares formed the band with drummer Tim Yueng, who’s actually originally from Rochester (and one of the most famous extreme metal drummers), and singer Tommy Vext. It certainly helped that there were more than a handful of people there to see them, and the crowd was pretty into it. After their set, Terror was up next, and they are of a more hardcore persuasion, ala Hatebreed. Their stuff was pretty cool as well, and all the hardcore kids were doing their thing in the pit. They also have a Buffalo connection, as singer Scott Vogel used to be in Buried Alive. At this point, I headed back to the merch booth to check things out, and I finally bought the Stemm CD, two years later. Their guitar player Joe was back there, so I chatted him up for a little bit, mentioning I’d been seeing them since 2000 and to keep up the good work. He seems like a pretty cool guy. Anyway, next up was Kataklysm, a Canadian death metal band who have been around seemingly forever (1992), but I’d never heard of them before. They were quite good also, some of their riffs were awesome, and their drummer was quite talented. I was impressed with their set.
Then came the reason we were all there… Chimaira! They came out to the beginning sample from Nothing Remains, and then launched into the song, throwing everyone into a frenzy. They kept the momentum up with Worthless, then The Flame. Cleansation was next, followed by Needle. Needle featured a special guest, North Tonawanda’s own Andy Williams (from Every Time I Die) on bass, as Jim was in the back doing whatever. That led to No Reason To Live. Now it was time for the “Epic” part of the show, all 13 minutes of Implements of Destruction, which dovetailed into Six. Both were awesome, but I can’t help feeling that it sucked all the momentum out of the set. However, again, hearing Implements live was awesome, Mark played guitar, and they busted out a theremin in addition to Spicuzza’s samples! They did regain most of their footing though, by playing Resurrection next, followed by Severed. The Dehumanizing Process had the saddest excuse for the wall of death I think I’ve ever seen at a Chimaira show, but the performance was spot on. They sent everyone home tired and happy however, as the last two songs were Power Trip and Pure Hatred, back to back. The setlist seemed a little short, but considering there were four bands on before them, I can forgive it. The band sounded excellent as always, and the crowd was certainly into it! I snagged the setlist off the soundboard, bid farewell to everyone, and hightailed it back to Rochester. A great show all around!
Topics: Concerts | 1 Comment »
Tags: 2007, Buffalo, Chimaira, Club Infinity, Divine Heresy, Kataklysm, Terror
3 Concerts in 2 nights (what?)
By Eric | November 4, 2007 11:21 pm
Friday was two concerts in one night! I had planned the Hip show well in advance, and when I saw Sevendust was coming, I jumped on that ticket as well, not bothering to check what day the show was. As luck would have it, it was the same night. My only hope was that since the Sevendust show had four bands playing, and the doors were at 7:30, it’d go long, and Sevendust wouldn’t start until 11pm, leaving me time to see the Hip (which ended at 11) and then book over to Water Street. My plan actually came through for once, and worked like clockwork. I busted out of the Aud Theater, didn’t encounter any resistance in the parking lot, and the biggest miracle of them all, actually found a parking spot on Andrews. I ran down Water Street to the club, and only missed two songs of Sevendust’s set.
Topics: Blog | 2 Comments »
Tags: bills, cat, concerts, family, music, NT, rochester, sabres, shopping, target, tiff, volleyball, wegmans, wizard, Work