03/12/2003 Tonic, Chris Emerson (Buffalo, NY @ Showplace Theater)

By Eric | March 12, 2003 11:59 pm

Tiff and I finally got inside at 20 after 8, although the doors were supposed to open at 8. No matter, we got inside, and figured we’d get warm right? Hah! Twas a bit cold inside the venue as well, as there were 120 people, maximum, at the show. The opener, Chris Emerson, was walking around before the show and handing out stickers and postcards promoting his new album. I guess he had a song on Dawson’s Creek or something. He gets up on stage, along with an acoustic guitar player and a electric violin player. He can sing, but was trying a bit too hard… I’m all for being emphatic when singing your songs, but it seemed a bit contrived to me. The music wasn’t too bad, I likened it to a John Mayer kinda thing, although he sounded a lot like Glen Frey (from the Eagles) to me. So he got his half-hour, and then it was Tonic time! Emerson, Jeff and Dan, no drummer, two acoustic guitars and a bass. It was wonderful! An all acoustic show! I’ve been to Edge Sessions before, but an entire full set acoustically was a new thing for me… They opened with, fittingly, Open Up Your Eyes, and right into Take Me As I Am. Both sounded excellent, and the guys were having a ball up there! You Wanted More was next, followed by Head On Straight, On Your Feet Again, and Believe Me. If the first part of the set was focused on the new album, the older stuff came out in the next couple songs, as evidenced by Bigot Sunshine and Lemon Parade, noteable because as Emerson said, they’ve played it every night on the acoustic tour, and about six times total otherwise in the 7 years its been out! This was followed by Waiting For The Light To Change, and then mine and Tiff’s “must-hear”, Mountain, which also seemed to generate the largest crowd reaction to that point. Count On Me was next, and then the guys showed just how much fun they were having up there, by starting to play parts of songs, just to have the audience guess the songs! A fairly intimate and goofy take on the usual sport of playing covers… 🙂 After proclaiming to be thinking of a “really deep cut, tell me what band this is…” they launched into If You Could Only See, which the crowd went predictably nuts for 🙂 After this was Casual Affair, and they pulled a Toadies, taking requests out of the audience! (This was actually down on the setlist!) After much deliberation (and my request for Future Says Run getting turned down (much to Tiff’s chagrin, as she wanted Waltz With Me)), they decided on Solider’s Daughter, and closed up with Sugar. A cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Go Your Own Way was on the setlist (knowledge I have because I got a setlist for Tiff!), but Emerson ultimately decided to play two of their own songs instead. There was no drummer persay, but they did have a child’s kit complete with a little tarp over it, and Jeff and Dan took turns actually playing it during certain songs! It was rather amusing, but actually had a decent sound to it! The show was amazing, the crowd was a bunch of die-hards, very into it and very respectful, and the sound was excellent! I’ve been waiting 7 years to see Tonic, and it was very much worth it!
[flickr]7082227749[/flickr]

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03/03/2003 Audioslave, Burning Brides (Toronto, ONT @ The Kool Haus)

By Eric | March 3, 2003 11:59 pm

Me and Tiff made a weekend out of this show, also hitting the science center and the CN tower, but Saturday night was all about the show… We weren’t in line more than 20 minutes, and luckily it wasnt freezing out. We got in, and what a nice venue the Kool Haus is… a really great place to see a show! The doors were at 8, opened right on time, and promptly at 9, the Burning Brides came out. Blah. Right in line with the rest of the “The” bands… a garage band type sound that I’m not at all fond of. So they got their 40 minutes and were done. Then the anticipation set in… out come Tim, Brad and Tom first… then Chris, and the place goes berzerk! Opening with Gasoline, and right into Set It Off, they got the place into a frenzy real quick… we were about 5 deep from the barrier to start out, and immediately started getting tossed around… the crowd was good though, no real assholes, so were were all cool for about half the set. Next up was Light My Way and Like A Stone, which had everyone singing at the top of their lungs 🙂 A cover of Funkadelic’s Super Stupid was next, followed by What You Are, Exploder, and then Show Me How To Live. Chris was hitting everything on this night, all the high notes, and the band sounded just as incredible. They closed the main set with Getaway Car, Hypnotize, and Shadow of the Sun. Naturally, an encore was in order, and a long one at that! Chris came back out shirtless and with just an acoustic guitar, and did I Am The Highway alone, with the band gradually filling in behind him. Most excellent! Next was a Rush cover, Working Man, then into the song that blew the roof off the dump, Cochise. EVERYONE in the place was jumping at this point, and the guys put forth a spirited performance in return. The closer was also the closer of the album, The Last Remaining Light. I was hoping for maybe one of the unreleased songs, but thats only a very minor complaint. The show itself was incredible, and so were the guys and the crowd. All in all an excellent show!

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At least they admit it…

By Eric | February 17, 2003 1:39 pm

Just heard on a 94.1 The Zone promo:

“We take your favorite bands… and make you hate them.”

No truer words have ever been spoken. Maybe if you wouldn’t PLAY THE HELL OUT OF THE SAME FIVE SONGS, that wouldn’t happen!!!

(Pete, I know you’re gonna get a kick out of this one… as I’m writing this, Taproot’s “Poem” comes on!! AAAAHHHH!)

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A great weekend so far…

By Eric | February 16, 2003 12:05 pm

Thus far, its been going even better than I thought it would 🙂 Friday night Tiff got out of class, and after exchaning our Valentine’s pleasantries (thank you kiddo!!), we hit the mall for some grub, and got to the arena about 6:30… The place ended up being packed as usual, and RIT defeated Elmira 5-3 in a fairly exciting game, lots of rough stuff, fan taunting, the usual 🙂 hehe.. After that we joined Karl, Kelley, Chip, Cathy and Joanie at Empire for some post game festivities…

Saturday during the day was my time to wrap up the Computer Crime paper, all thats left is to whip up a presentation… yay powerpoint 🙂 hehe. Once that was done, Tiff came back from the labs, and we left for our belated Valentine’s dinner, to DaVinci’s on West Henrietta… a very nice place, and the food was good too! After that we chilled at Tiff’s place for a little bit, and then it was time to rock!!!

We got to the Penny Arcade about 8:30 or so, just as Noise Therapy was starting… got in (got a ticket stub, how about that?!) and rocked out. The review is up here, but as a synopsis, Ra was up next, and I have not been so impressed with an opening band (that I didn’t know beforehand) in a long time!! They have a middle eastern tinge to them (not as blatant as the Tea Party, but in the same vein…) These guys rocked!! No one seemed particularly interested in the setlist for some reason, so I grabbed it, and got it signed… then it was Seether time… and they were every bit as good… they put on a great show… and I got a setlist from them also!! AND got it signed by the guys… a TWO SETLIST NIGHT!! 🙂 *PLUS* a drumstick from Nick from Seether!! (Ra is on the left, Seether is on the right):




I have to give a quick shout out now to the two girls in front of us, one of which takes pictures for StaticNoise.net, the site has pics from the Greenwheel/Hoobastank show at RIT, and eventually will have pics from the OLP show and this one…

So the parents are coming up today with Jake, Tiff’s parents are coming up also, and we’re all heading to Beale Street for dinner.. should be a fun time!!

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02/15/2003 Seether, Ra, Noise Therapy (Rochester, NY @ The Penny Arcade)

By Eric | February 15, 2003 11:59 pm

What a great place to see bands… its one of the smallest places, and since its so out of the way, everyone thats there generally wants to be there… save for the fence/barrier that’s kinda ghetto, but whatever. We rolled in about 8:30, and after a little confusion on the part of the guys taking the money, we got in, got ticket stubs (don’t know how, not complaining!), and wandered into the place. Noise Therapy was just starting, and save for one or two songs, it was the same downtuned 7-string sludge stuff that Korn made famous and everyone tries to copy. Nothing too original, but they weren’t horrible; their singer actually could sing. They were off in a half hour, and even though the tickets said Socialburn was supposed to be playing, they cancelled for some unknown reason. so up next was Ra. I’d heard a little bit, grabbed the mp3 for the single, but only listened to it like once. But then we saw them live. Oh my!! These guys are the most impressive band I hadn’t known about beforehand in a long time!! They rock hard, but the songs have melody and structure, and the singer can actually sing… they have a slight middle eastern tinge, not as pronounced as the Tea Party, but its there. And its good! For the last song they did, Skorn, they brought out Shaun from Seether, and broke into part of a cover of Korn’s Blind, which was really cool. There were quite a few people there that knew the stuff too… After their set, everyone ran to the merch booth where they were signing stuff, so me and Tiff moved up to the front, to be there for Seether… and Ra’s setlist was just sitting there, in full reach, but no takers!! Except me, of course! I headed to the back, and got all 4 of the guys to sign it… fun wow!

[flickr]7082227583[/flickr]

So I got back to Tiff at the front, and Seether came out and rocked the place… they played everything off the album save for Sympathetic, Fine Again was dedicated to Dave Williams, and Your Bore was for “everyone that didn’t get a valentine on Friday” hehe. They a new song called Burrito (don’t let the name fool you, it rocked!), and the song from the Daredevil soundtrack, Hang On. They came back for a one song encore, the bass player came out with an acoustic guitar, and Ra’s lead singer came out with Shaun to do Broken acoustically… When it was over, I managed to snag a Seether setlist, got it signed by all the guys, and then the drummer was handing out drumsticks, so I got one of those too!! The show was a great time, and since the tickets were only $12, well worth it!!
[flickr]7082227681[/flickr]

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Headstrong

By Eric | February 12, 2003 11:32 am

…the name of that song that was driving us all nuts in the crew room on Tuesday… Trapt got in Pete’s head, and then the rest of ours… so we’re singing it all day. Yep. Gotta love overplayed radio.

Tuesday was a long one, just like every other tuesday, I did get stuff done though, however, especially on the Routing and Switching project, which is coming very nicely… 3-Tier Hierarchical Model anyone? 🙂 I got to set up the NAT router, and did it right this time!!

I trudged home afterward, and after cranking out some slides for our Network Design presentation, Tiff came over and we got some quality Scrabble time in 🙂

1:30 will be the usual lunch time with Tiff, then after I drop her off I’m meeting the guys back in the netlab for more Routing and Switching fun 🙂

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02/07/2003 Our Lady Peace, Greenwheel (Rochester, NY @ RIT Clark Gym)

By Eric | February 7, 2003 11:59 pm

I waited 5 years for OLP to come to RIT, hoping and dreaming, and then when it finally happened, it wasn’t as good as it could have been. Not the show itself, and I’m impressed as hell that RIT got OLP to begin with. However, The doors were supposed to open at 7, so we got there about 6:45 thinking we wouldnt have to freeze so much. Nope, first 7:30, then it was 8 before we got in!!! Frozen! (Shades of OLP @ water street in 2001!) Rumor has it that the soundcheck wasn’t to OLP’s liking, and also that they were goofing around for a while beforehand… Finally got in and huddled together getting warm, and Greenwheel came out about 8:20 I believe, very quickly 🙂 They didn’t disappoint at all, and I think they had a lot more support this time around since everyone saw them with Hoobastank when they came here. They got a bit longer set this time, opening with Shelter, and then into Faces, Identity, Flood, Everything, Radiance (which we didn’t get last time), Breathe, Dim Halo, Strong, and closed with The End (which we also didn’t get last time!) OLP actually came out a short time afterwards, the set change wasn’t that long. This turned out to be the roughest RIT show I’ve ever been to, and naturally, we get behind the one jackass on the barrier that thinks he’s gonna push everyone back… so he slams his ass backwards, right into Tiff’s stomach. She kinda got the wind knocked out of her, so we got out of the crowd and found everyone on the bleachers. OLP’s set sounded good, but Raine can’t hit anything anymore… also, the setlist selection left a little to be desired for me, there was only 1 song off of Happiness, and only 1 off of Spiritual Machines… I don’t remember the order, but they opened with Naveed, into Superman’s Dead, then the order gets fuzzy, but we got All For You, Do You Like It, Not Enough, Birdman, Clumsy, Is Anybody Home, Innocent, Are You Sad, a new song called Our Time is Fading, Whatever, then closed the main set with Starseed. For the encore, they did a song I’ve never seen them do, a cover of The Cars’ Drive, followed by Somewhere Out There, and closed it out with 4am. As I said with the Water Street show over the summer, the show itself was good, but its just not like it was when Mike was with them. I was also surprised at the shortness of the set, they played a bit longer at Water Street, and I still would have liked to have seen maybe Right Behind You, Life, One Man Army, more stuff from Happiness and Naveed. It’s still one of the best RIT shows I’ve seen, so it wasn’t a total bummer, thankfully Greenwheel redeemed the show 🙂

Greenwheel – Breathe

Greenwheel – Dim Halo

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You’re Seeing Them AGAIN??

By Eric | February 7, 2003 10:09 am

Yes, again. Our Lady Peace before my very eyes for the 14th time. Yes, the 14th. No, I’m not sick. (Okay, I am, but that’s besides the point.) I’ve been going to see this band for six years now, starting on June 11, 1997. They’re finally coming to RIT for a show, something I’ve always sorta dreamed of since I got here. And now that it’s happened, its almost bittersweet, like it took them too long, like they’re not in their prime anymore. I’m still excited, I’m still looking forward to the show, and I know I’m gonna have a good time. It’s just that the last two albums to me haven’t quite matched what Naveed, Clumsy and Happiness did for me. Mike Turner isn’t playing guitar anymore, and he was always the one that was the most “fan-friendly”, and the one always willing to talk. And now that he’s gone, it’s just not the same anymore.

Having said all that, I’m still expecting a fun show, as OLP has always sounded great live, (Raine’s voice sometimes notwithstanding), and tonight should be no different. I’ll still be wearing my trusted, faded, holes-here-and-there, why-the-hell-are-you-wearing-that-again OLP shirt from that first show back in 97. Why? Because I have to. Because its tradition. Because I’m “that guy”, that wears the shirt of the band I’m going to see… FROM 4 TOURS AGO! Which means I was there way before any of you snot nosed “Somewhere Out There” teenybopper wannabes. [/RANT]

So anyway, if you’re going tonight, look for me and Tiff, and the rest of our crew near the front, the patented white RIT concert hat will be atop my head, rockin out as per usual. And lest we forget, Greenwheel is opening!!

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RIT does a concert right?

By Eric | January 29, 2003 10:04 am

It’s amazing… OLP is playing here on Feb 7th, and who did they get to open, well, straight off of their own site…. GREENWHEEL!!!! This is awesome!! …at least if the spring concert sucks, we’ll always have this one 🙂

Other shows coming up for the uninformed:

1/31 Henry Rollins @ Harro East
2/06 Greenwheel @ Bridge Street (Syracuse)
2/07 OLP and Greenwheel @ RIT
2/15 Seether @ Penny Arcade
2/20 Quiet Riot @ Penny Arcade < -- c'mon this deserves to be on here! 2/22 TrustCompany @ Showplace 2/25 TrustCompany @ Water Street 3/01 Audioslave @ Kool Haus (Toronto)
3/01 The Watchmen @ Dome Theater (Niagara Falls)
3/12 Tonic @ Nietzsche’s (Buffalo)
3/12 Whitesnake/Scorpions @ Syracuse ONCenter
3/18 SnoCore @ Water Street
3/24 Disturbed/Chevelle/Taproot @ Blue Cross
4/22 ICP/2 Live Crew @ Water Street
5/02 Pearl Jam @ HSBC

Those in Bold I’ll more than likely being attending… OLP, Audioslave and Tonic are definates… got tickets for those 🙂

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01/20/2003 3 Doors Down, Theory of a Deadman (Rochester, NY @ Harro East Ballroom)

By Eric | January 20, 2003 11:59 pm

I hadn’t been to Harro East since Chris Cornell 3 years ago, and I forgot how nice of a place it is. Me and Tiff got there about 5:50, because the doors were opening at 6:30. They even let us wait in the lobby area instead of freezing our asses off. They pushed us back outside when they were about to let people in, and thankfully we were in the middle, because the side doors got closed. We got in right away and got barrier. Waited an hour for Theory to come out, and when they did, they rocked the place HARD. They opened with Invisible Man, and I was immediately rockin out… Their lead singer, Tyler, noticed me right away, and proceeded to try for the rest of the night to throw a pick to me… none of them even coming close hehehe…. Next was What You Deserve, Point to Prove, and The Last Song. Then came my favorite, Any Other Way, and Nothing Could Come Between Us (which everyone knew, so that one was especially cool). Make Up Your Mind was next, and they closed the set with Leg To Stand On. They sounded really good, had a lot of energy, and looked like they were having fun up on the stage. I managed to snag a setlist after begging and pleading hehee. We only had to wait about 20 minutes or so for 3DD to come out, and opened with Not Enough… I can’t remember the exact order, but after that, there were a couple more from the first album, including Duck and Run, Better Life, and then switching to The Road I’m On, When I’m Gone, and Away From the Sun from the new album. They also played Kryptonite, Be Like That, By My Side, Down Poison, and then from the new one, Here Without You, and then they played Going Down in Flames, although I’d swear it wasn’t on the setlist, and it kinda sounded like it. All the other songs sounded great to that point, but I think they need to work on this one a bit more, the changes weren’t smooth and Brad wasn’t comfortable singing in the key he was in I don’t think. After that they did Changes and closed the main set with Sara Yellin’ which for me was their best song of the night. They came back for a one-song encore of Loser. 3dd sounded much better, and were more exciting to watch this time around then they had been before. I’m thinking this may be due to the fact that the new album isn’t played out yet (for me anyway), and they’re not headling over someone way more deserving, like they have before. So the show was a lot of fun, worth going to, and the best part of all, we were done by 10!! It’s about time they started getting us out at a decent hour… 🙂
[flickr]6936152850[/flickr]

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