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Music What was the last concert you went to?

Crystal

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Guys ... I might pay $275 to see blink182 at Fenway Park.

I could go cheaper but I want to walk on the grass at Fenway... And also see one of my favorite bands for the first time.
Do It Episode 3 GIF by Star Wars
 
Welp I'm $285 poorer. Got a spot in the outfield right above 2nd base. The stage is in center field. I get to enter the venue the same way the ballplayers do :)
That's awesome and will certainly be a memorable experience.

I'm FINALLY seeing Blind Guardian live! :rock :love Got tickets for April next year!
Yay, I'm glad you get to finally see them! They are one of my favorites, and as Spiner said, they are always great live. Hopefully they return to the States again soon.
 
Forgot about this thread for a bit!

Last week I saw Dragonforce, Amaranthe and Nanowar of Steel (didn't get there in time for Edge of Paradise). Dragonforce was incredible. They've been one of my favourites since I was probably 13 or so, and I live for watching shredding, so it was great. Amaranthe was ok, but I always feel that they're a lot of wasted potential, because they have the guy from Dragonland in their band, and that band is better. Even if that weren't the case, I don't love the mix of vocals. Elize is clearly the star - they should just let her cook. As for Nanowar of Steel, I've known about that band since near the beginning and didn't like them back then. That held true last week too. For me, once the comedy overrides the metal, I start to enjoy it less.

A couple of days later I saw Freeways and HƤllas. Freeways is a Thin Lizzy-styled hard rock band from just outside of Toronto. I've had probably 5 chances to see them and every single time, something comes up, so this was my first time. They were great - that style absolutely thrives in a live setting. I was not familiar with HƤllas, but they were pretty good. Also hard rock, but the formula did wear thin after a while.

Last night I saw Mammoth WVH and Nita Strauss. As an Alice Cooper mega fan, it was awesome to see Nita in her more natural habitat. Her set was basically two sets - the first was instrumental shredding, and the second had more traditional songs. The songs work better live, but I think her shredding is probably better musically. Mammoth was fine. After about 30-40 minutes, I felt like I didn't need to hear much more than that, but he played about 90 minutes. the best thing about this show was that it ended by 9:40PM, so I managed to get home and catch the end of Monday Night Football and Raw :chuckle

I guess in between these shows, I sort of saw The Trews live. They were the halftime act for the CFL Eastern Final Playoff game that I went to. I listened to about 2 minutes and decided that a bathroom break was the better option.
 
Dragonforce remains the most intense show I've ever been to. This was back in 2006 when they were at the Through the Fire and the Flames height. It was like being blasted by a wall of sound that was still recognizable. Black Fire and My Spirit Will Go On were two songs I'll never forget.

Gamma Ray played right after them and were solid, but Dragonforce stole the show.
 
Dragonforce remains the most intense show I've ever been to. This was back in 2006 when they were at the Through the Fire and the Flames height. It was like being blasted by a wall of sound that was still recognizable. Black Fire and My Spirit Will Go On were two songs I'll never forget.

Gamma Ray played right after them and were solid, but Dragonforce stole the show.
That sounds like a great time! They have been playing Black Fire on this tour but for some reason didn't play it in Toronto. I honestly love all 8 of their albums, but those first 3 feel really special for me.
 
More of a Sports post but I was at the Grey Cup (CFL Championship) yesterday. There were two bands pre-game: Church of Better Daze and Monster Truck. The former was not very good, but Monster Truck was at least a rock band, so that wasn't too bad. Inside the stadium, Jamie Fine played before the game. I have no idea who she is, but my mom claimed to know.

The halftime show was Green Day, which is honestly a pretty impressive get for the CFL. Not really my kind of music but they were pretty good. I have no idea how anyone can play in that little clothing when it's that cold outside, but they sounded good.
 

Gloom-is-good

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Welp I'm $285 poorer. Got a spot in the outfield right above 2nd base. The stage is in center field. I get to enter the venue the same way the ballplayers do :)
I feel like that's a pretty great price to see Blink! My friend wanted us all to see them for her bday this past July but tickets were $300+ for stadium seats and I was like "nah I don't love them that much"
 
I was supposed to see KISS last night, but Paul Stanley is sick and they cancelled both last night's show and the night before. I think I might have missed my last chance to see them unfortunately.

On the plus side, since I'll be getting a refund, I'll just direct that money towards some video games :D
 
I enjoyed an evening of death metal last night: Cattle Decapitation, Immolation, Sanguisugabogg, and Castrator.

Much to my surprise, Immolation was the band I enjoyed the least. I'd last seen them in May, and have seen them numerous times, so I suppose that's why, but the other bands were definitely better. Cattle Decap had the most energy and intensity in their show by a wide margin. They played Time's Cruel Curtain, which is my favourite song of theirs, so that was awesome.

Sanguisugabogg was so much fun. They're just dumb caveman death metal. They're one of the hype bands of the last few years, and although I haven't listened to either of their records, they really got people going. During one song, they threw a football into the crowd and said that whoever is holding it at the end of the song gets a free merch item. I'm always curious about unique marketing ideas for bands, so I thought this was really cool (albeit probably quite dangerous).

Castrator was just good old-school death metal. They're a newer band from New York but sounded more like they were from Florida around 1990.

The KISS show was supposed to be my 250th concert, but that honour goes to this show instead! šŸ„³
 
Last night was my first show of the year. I got new custom ear plugs in January (I already had some, but these fit better). I like them a lot - very curious to see how they hold up with different types of bands.

I saw Macabre, Tragedy, and Blood Opera at last night's show. Macabre is a classic death metal band, and they were ok. I liked some things about their set and disliked others, but they're ultimately pretty silly and probably just coasting on their reputation to some extent.

Tragedy was a metal Bee-Gees cover band. Other than a pretty long technical hiccup, they were awesome. I recognized far too many songs. The highlight of their set is that they have a member who doesn't play any instrument. He wears a sailor's uniform with a fanny pack, and he throws glitter out of said pack at random times. His name, Lance, is draped across the back of his uniform and people were chanting for him even during Macabre's set. He was surprisingly entertaining, but the band as a whole was incredibly tight.

Blood Opera was my favourite of the night. They're a local horror-themed glam/heavy metal band that has a singer who is really similar to Ghost. Yesterday was their CD release and I'd definitely recommend it. They play up the theatrical elements live, including wearing masks, bringing random characters on stage, and it's just a great heavy metal party. Overall, a very fun show.
 
The new Judas Priest record came out today, and I went to the listening party that they held in Toronto. It was at one of the smaller venues, so I was expecting it to be somewhat unprofessional, but it was actually an awesome experience. Firstly, it was free and open to anyone. While waiting in line to get in, a rep from Sony Music came out and spoke to us for a few minutes and was super nice. We got a free, massive poster of the new album cover when we went in. They gave us free drink tickets and they had food. They played the album and it sounded incredible (especially at the volumes played last night!). After the record, they did a raffle to win a copy of the new album on both CD and vinyl. Unfortunately, my buddy and I didn't win (though our odds were good - there were probably only 50-60 people there and they picked 5 winners), but it was still a blast.

After the album finished playing, a local band did a full set of Judas Priest covers* and then one of my favourite local bands, Thunderor closed out the night. It was over by 11, and was a very awesome and free night. The whole thing came together very quickly (found out about it earlier this week), so I'm really happy with the experience.

*The (out of order) setlist that the cover band played was:

Better By You, Better Than Me
Delivering the Goods
Hell Bent For Leather
The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)
Metal Gods
Breaking the Law
Grinder
The Hellion/Electric Eye
You've Got Another Thing Comin'
 

Ben

Blind Guardian
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So, finally in line to see Blind Guardian! The door open in about an hour, and there's like 8 people in front of us in line. :D :rock Will return later with thoughts on the show!
Dude! That's pretty cool. Over the years I've fallen off listening to metal in general, but BG was clearly a huge part of my formative years. I honestly think talking about Blind Guardian was what got you and I to be friends, 20 years ago.

My brain still definitely fires off "Noldor! Blood is on your hands!" sometimes.

Hope it's awesome!
 
Dude! That's pretty cool. Over the years I've fallen off listening to metal in general, but BG was clearly a huge part of my formative years. I honestly think talking about Blind Guardian was what got you and I to be friends, 20 years ago.

My brain still definitely fires off "Noldor! Blood is on your hands!" sometimes.

Hope it's awesome!
Haha, yeah I think so too. Must've been that! :D
 
So, about last night!

The opening act Sorcerer, was a epic doom metal band from Stockholm. Never listened to them before, but they definitely surprised me in a good way! Great energy on stage and some good chest-thumping metal music!

As for Blind Guardian. Wow. Just wow. The energy was insane. Hansi's voice was powerful, and he fucking nailed the high parts! Good mix of newer and older songs on the setlist. Singing Bard's Song was so cool. I'm really pleased with the show!

Screenshot_20240407_090104_Chrome.jpg
 
Last night I saw Firewind, Edge of Paradise & Immortal Guardian.

The show was at a venue I've never heard of called Ground Control. It must be new in Toronto because I've been going to shows here for 15+ years and had never heard of it before. Honestly, it was probably the nicest small venue I've ever been to. I'd guess it could hold maybe 300 people. It's a much bigger space but they've laid it out in a really nice way with an open area at the front, and then the back has merch/tables/bars. It's a bit of a hike for me to get to, but I hope more metal shows happen here.

Immortal Guardian was up first and I find them very conflicting. They do a lot of things right in creating classic power metal, but then they have these other moments that deviate too much from the formula for my liking. That's more of an assessment of their studio work though, because live, it all just sounds heavy. Their guitarist also played keyboards and was often harmonizing solos with himself (pretty insane to watch honestly). And the singer was cool because he sang into a hollowed-out skull with a microphone inside.

Edge of Paradise was your standard symphonic band, although maybe a few degrees less heavy than most others. While I liked their songs, it sounded like their singer's voice was heavily processed and had some delay on it. She's a good singer, but what they were going for just didn't work live.

This was my third time seeing Firewind, and in true Firewind fashion, it was the third different singer I've seen them with. That said, I enjoy all 10 of their records and all 5 of their singers, and I have several other albums that Herbie has been on, so I was stoked for it. He crushed the old and new stuff. There were a lot of songs from their new album, which is great because it's a really strong record. There isn't too much to say about Gus G - he's probably the second best guitar player I've ever seen live (after Malmsteen). The guy hits every note effortlessly and is playing some insane stuff. Definitely go see these guys if you haven't!
 
I wish I still enjoyed concerts, but I've skipped out on four this year already because I just don't care to go... plus I would be going alone, which is never fun. I've only done that twice. I went to 6 in 2022, 2 in 2023, and only have 1 that I have tickets for this year.

I considered BG since they are here in May, but I probably won't. I've seen them already. There is also a Powerwolf/Unleash the Archers in September which would be a good show, too. Haven't seen them yet.
 
@The Eye in the Sky! are you guys getting the Symphony X tour? That seems like something that would be up your alley.

Powerwolf and Unleash the Archers is a great combo. I've seen them both, but separately. Would definitely give that one a shot (especially because, until recently, Powerwolf's appearances in North America were non-existent).
 
We are getting Symphony X in Boston, but I don't like going into the city. I'm lucky that most of the metal acts hit up the Palladium in Worcester, MA, which is only a 25 minute drive.

I'm way into Powerwolf now. They showed up on my Spotify feed because I was binging UTA. I can only describe them as paint-by-numbers power metal, or if Ghost decided to be a werewolf and play power metal. It's so catchy even though almost all songs sound and are structured the same.

So I am probably going to force myself to go. I needed a reason to pay the full price to just see UTA, but now I'd be happy seeing both.
 
This is a good week for shows for me. My second show of the week was last night, seeing Queensryche and Armored Saint.

It was my second time seeing Armored Saint. I've really tried to get into those guys, but the gap between March of the Saint and the rest of their discography is massive. The two March of the Saint songs they played were awesome. The rest is good, but nothing special.

Queensryche was insane though. On this tour, they're playing the EP + first album in full. Their singer does probably as good of a job with that stuff that anyone other than Geoff Tate could. Of the three times I've seen them, this was probably the one I enjoyed the most.

On another note, concerts are still way too loud. I was wearing ear plugs last night (as always) and my left ear still feels a bit weird this morning. That should never happen.

I have another show tonight, so hopefully my ear feels better by then, and I'll be back in this thread tomorrow :D
 
The third (and final) show of the week for me saw two tours colliding: Raven and Vicious Rumors are on tour together, and Artillery is also touring. Both shows were in Toronto on the same night, so the promoter just combined them.

I'm normally fairly intentional on when I show up to concerts. This show had 7 bands, and I only wanted to see the last three. But because I was hanging out with some friends yesterday before the show, I ended up getting there much earlier than I wanted to. I saw Vapor and part of Wicked. Neither did much for me. Some good riffs for sure, but not why I was there.

This was my 6th time seeing Lutharo, who is a local power metal band. They were fine, but I've never been a huge fan of them despite enjoying the style a lot. I also think their singer missed a bunch of notes last night.

Next up was Vicious Rumors. I have their second album, but nothing else. It's a fun 80s record, but it was never amongst my favourites. My expectations were significantly exceeded last night. Wicked shredding, great riffs, and awesome screaming vocals everywhere. They also had a very well-stocked merch table, so I picked up two of their CDs (they must have had about 8 CDs, although they were missing two of the ones I wanted).

After they played, it was time for Artillery. I've been waiting a long time for this one - there was a tour announced in 2010 that had Artillery, Onslaught, Gama Bomb, and Bonded By Blood that got cancelled (I still haven't seen Onslaught or Gama Bomb unfortunately). Then Artillery was supposed to play here last fall, and they didn't get their visas in time, so the tour got delayed until this month. In fact, I didn't even buy a ticket for this combined show, I still had my ticket for just Artillery from the postponed October show. They also had the singer from Iron Fire doing vocals this tour, and he's both an amazing frontman, and an excellent singer.

Their set was incredible. They definitely didn't play the full set they've been playing on other dates, meaning that we only got 2 By Inheritance songs instead of 3, but this was great from start to finish. Easily one of the best shows I've seen this year. I wanted to buy a tour shirt, but since it was the last night of their tour, they were out of pretty much every size. I'm probably going to be listening to thrash albums non-stop for a week now, both Artillery and otherwise.

I decided not to stick around for Raven. My stomach was bothering me from something I ate earlier, and it was getting pretty late. I've seen Raven once before, and while I'm much more familiar with their music now than I was back then, I was ok with calling it a night.
 
I can't compete with Jamie's incredible experience, but I forgot to pop in here with my latest one:

On Saturday, I went to Dying Fetus, Full of Hell, 200 Stab Wounds, and Kruelty.

I'm not a huge fan of any of these bands, but my birthday was this weekend, so I thought I'd go to a dumb death metal show. I do sorta like 200 Stab Wounds and they were definitely the best band of the night. It's weird how the more brutal style of death metal is actually less extreme than more standard styles of death metal a lot of the time, but I love slams and this show delivered them. The only band I didn't like that much was Full of Hell; they're a bit grindier and they have some weird stuff going on instrumentally. Also, Dying Fetus' guitar player had some insanely clean soloing. All of their songs should have solos because he's so good.
 
Saw Blind Guardian in Des Moines last night with my dad and brother. I think this was my 5th time seeing them, and they were awesome as always!

The opening band was Night Demon. I hadn't heard of them before, but they seemed to be a traditional heavy metal band and were fine.

The energy for Blind Guardian was fantastic. They have so many parts for the entire crowd to sing along to, which makes you feel more like an active participant than just a spectator. As @Nae'blis mentioned, a great mix of old and new songs (setlist below). Hansi sounded great and was his usual funny self. Was glad to catch them only a three hour drive from home!

Imaginations From the Other Side
Blood of the Elves
Nightfall
The Script for My Requiem
Violent Shadows
Skalds and Shadows
This Will Never End
Secrets of the American Gods
The Bard's Song - In the Forest
Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)
Lost in the Twilight Hall
Sacred Worlds
Welcome to Dying
Valhalla
Mirror Mirror
 
Saw Blind Guardian in Des Moines last night with my dad and brother. I think this was my 5th time seeing them, and they were awesome as always!

The opening band was Night Demon. I hadn't heard of them before, but they seemed to be a traditional heavy metal band and were fine.

The energy for Blind Guardian was fantastic. They have so many parts for the entire crowd to sing along to, which makes you feel more like an active participant than just a spectator. As @Nae'blis mentioned, a great mix of old and new songs (setlist below). Hansi sounded great and was his usual funny self. Was glad to catch them only a three hour drive from home!

Imaginations From the Other Side
Blood of the Elves
Nightfall
The Script for My Requiem
Violent Shadows
Skalds and Shadows
This Will Never End
Secrets of the American Gods
The Bard's Song - In the Forest
Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)
Lost in the Twilight Hall
Sacred Worlds
Welcome to Dying
Valhalla
Mirror Mirror
Glad you had a great time! I sure did!
 
Both Blind Guardian and Night Demon were great last night. I feel like a ton of the crowd didn't know Night Demon, but hopefully they were won over.

Blind Guardian played

Bright Eyes

which was one of the songs I wanted to hear most and I was not expecting, so that was pretty insane.

E: Wow I messed up that spoiler tag pretty bad.
 
Who could have guessed I'd be back in this thread šŸ˜‚

Yesterday I saw Battle Beast and Blackbriar. My dad and I were getting dinner before the show when some European dudes (and girl) came in to the same place we were eating. We didn't recognize them until they went on stage later, as Blackbriar.

Obviously I had no idea who Blackbriar were. All I knew was that they weren't on Metal-Archives, which is usually an indicator that I wouldn't like them. They were sorta like if you took Delain's music, removed all the catchy parts, and then added a slow, quiet intro and outro to every single song. Also, while their sound was really bad. You couldn't hear the guitars because of all the bass. I won't fault the band, because The Opera House is the worst-sounding venue in Toronto. The vast majority of bands sound bad there. Thankfully, Battle Beast knew what to do (I guess because they've played there at least 3 times before).

Battle Beast was great. This was their first headlining tour in North America, which surprised me because it was my 4th time seeing them in Toronto. Pretty much every time I've seen them, they upstaged the headliners (though that was Kamelot twice - not a hard feat). They're basically just a huge heavy metal disco party. When they do a full set, it really accentuates how all of their songs are basically identical, but they're so catchy that it's still easy to tell them apart. Noora sounded incredible and pretty much every band member played everything flawlessly.

I know the band doesn't really recognize their early work, but they probably should play something from the first 3 records just to break up the live show a bit. Or even more stuff from No More Hollywood Endings. Fans didn't like that album, but it's honestly great, and it isn't as samey as Circus of Doom or Bringer of Pain. Still, this was awesome. I think they'll need a new record to come back and headline again, but I'm looking forward to whenever that happens!
 
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