Music What was the last concert you went to?

[Spiner202]

Yesterday I went to the Symphony X/Heathen tour.

I'm a massive Heathen fan, and it's funny how it took about 15 years for me to get a chance to see them last year, and then they immediately come back again. This set was obviously shorter, but just as good. The venue was surprisingly empty when they started, and it seemed like nobody was there for them, which is too bad, but they seemed happy.

Symphony X were the much better performers however. Michael Romeo is a Malmsteen-level player. and Russell Allen was perfect too. I saw them on the Underworld tour in 2016 but didn't know a lot about them at the time. I like them quite a bit more now, so it was nice to recognize all of the songs.

That said, I have a massive complaint about this show. It was way too loud. I wear earplugs at every single show, and yet my ears are still ringing this morning. I've never had that happen before, and if I knew it was going to happen, I gladly would have moved somewhere else in the venue. I'm actually surprised that concert volume isn't regulated; I know everyone wants it as loud as possible, but that's actually quite a dumb decision.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

The best concerts I've ever gone to are the ones where they aren't maxed out in volume. It just sounds like a wall of noise at a certain point.

Do you use specific ear plugs? I bought a brand last year and they muffle the sounds so bad I don't like wearing them.

 

[Spiner202]

Do you use specific ear plugs? I bought a brand last year and they muffle the sounds so bad I don't like wearing them.

I have custom ones that I got at an ear doctor. They run about $200-$300, but that's in CAD, so they might be cheaper where you are.

Ironically, I temporarily sent in my new custom pair last week to have a small string added to let me take them out of my ears more easily, so I was wearing my old custom ones. I don't think this was the cause of the issue because I've been to probably 100+ shows with that old pair without an issue.

The old ones were supposedly made by hand, while the new ones were made by a machine. The difference is pretty clear as the new ones block more sound and are much tighter. They're just tougher to get out of my ears, which seems sort of dangerous in its own way.

Anyways, I always strongly recommend going this route if you go to a lot of concerts. It is expensive, but definitely worth it if you go to enough shows.

 

[Spiner202]

Two shows in the last two days! Death to All and Cryptopsy are touring together, and they're doing this cool thing where in some cities they play two nights with totally different setlists instead of one night. DTA did Scream Bloody Gore and songs from Leprosy/Spiritual Healing the first night, and then they did The Sound of Perseverance and songs from Human, Individual Thought Patterns, and Symbolic last night. I'd say the second night was better for me, but both were great. Steve Digiorgio is one of the most insane bass players. Gene Hoglan also made all of the crazy drum parts look effortless, even if I do think they messed up a few parts last night.

I don't listen to a ton of Death these days. Largely because I listened to them so much in high school that I felt like I never needed to revisit them, but I'll be jamming them constantly for the next little while.

Cryptopsy is a band that I like more than I should. They don't really write the most memorable songs, and it's just chaotic death metal, but something about Flo's drumming really appeals to me. He's probably an even better drummer than Gene (less power and finesse but more technical).

 

[Gloom-is-good]

Got pretty fantastic seats to see Say Anything late-April for some 20th anniversary tour



As my husband and I walked into the venue, some clown came from behind us and was like "what up nerds???" I turned around fully expecting to not know this person but it was MRM actually

I think it was maybe the second to last song, I was just thinking about why the show had "20th anniversary" on it... Like anniversary of what? Of them coming to Dallas? Their 20th tour through America? What? No... It's 20 years from the date of that album release and just immediately I felt like:

went home and just went directly to sleep

 

[Spiner202]

I forgot to come in here after my last show. Last week on Saturday I saw Archspire, Aborted, and a couple of other death metal bands.

This was a weird show because it was half comedy set and half metal show. Archspire in particular seemed like they needed to write a break into their set after every song because their music is too fast to play more than 1 song in a row. They only played 9 songs, and while they probably should have played more, I was still pretty satisfied.

This is my only show for June () but July is filled with them!

 

[Spiner202]

Went to a mostly local show on Friday night. The band I wanted to see was called Tower Hill, and despite being from Alberta, they were on second (and the Toronto band was headlining). I'm fortunate that it turned out that way because everybody went on 30 minutes later than the advertised set times to that it could "fill up" according to the drummer of the first band. It had the opposite of the intended effect for me because I left after seeing Tower Hill, but would have otherwise stayed for at least 1 of the other two bands.

Anyways, the opener totally sucked. Easily one of the worst bands I've ever seen. The drummer was out of time for most of the set and the singer was really mediocre. What I could make out of their lyrics were politically unfortunate.

Luckily, Tower Hill came on to save the day. These dudes are so totally metal and just play great trad metal. They were really having trouble with their sound for a few songs, but eventually it got sorted out. I don't think their singer can really hit the notes that he does on the record, but he's a massive dude with a great look, and lots of energy. You could tell how excited he was to be there - I don't think they've done a lot of touring.

I didn't plan to buy merch, but during their set, the told us to buy merch (tough to convince me, eh?), so I grabbed the CD and a shirt. Really happy they turned around what was looking like an otherwise rough night!

 

[shortkut]

My wife went to the Green Day concert at Citi Field last night

Linden, Rancid, and Smashing Pumpkins opened for them. Green Day themselves played for 3 straight hours with no break

 

[Fool's Requiem]

My wife went to the Green Day concert at Citi Field last night

Linden, Rancid, and Smashing Pumpkins opened for them. Green Day themselves played for 3 straight hours with no break

I'm going to the show on the 15th here in STL. No Smashing Pumpkins. They're doing a solo show the following week.

I saw went to a concert headlines by I Prevail. Fit for a King, Hollywood Undead, and Halestorm opened for them. I didn't stick around for I Prevail, only really went for Halestorm. Halestorms audio mixer/producer/whatever needs to do a better job. Audio often seemed muffled when the instruments were playing and it sometimes made it difficult to hear the lead vocalist. She had some pipes, though. When you could hear her, she sounded really good. They also had a fun drumline bit in the middle.

I can't say I liked the other two bands. I'm not really a fan of the screaming/growling stuff. Hollywood Undead had a couple fun covers towards the end of their bit.

 

[Mark]

I'm going to the show on the 15th here in STL. No Smashing Pumpkins. They're doing a solo show the following week.

I saw went to a concert headlines by I Prevail. Fit for a King, Hollywood Undead, and Halestorm opened for them. I didn't stick around for I Prevail, only really went for Halestorm. Halestorms audio mixer/producer/whatever needs to do a better job. Audio often seemed muffled when the instruments were playing and it sometimes made it difficult to hear the lead vocalist. She had some pipes, though. When you could hear her, she sounded really good. They also had a fun drumline bit in the middle.

I can't say I liked the other two bands. I'm not really a fan of the screaming/growling stuff. Hollywood Undead had a couple fun covers towards the end of their bit.

She recently did a stint with Skid Row, too. Put Sabastian Bach to shame.

 

[Spiner202]

I'm going to the show on the 15th here in STL. No Smashing Pumpkins. They're doing a solo show the following week.

I saw went to a concert headlines by I Prevail. Fit for a King, Hollywood Undead, and Halestorm opened for them. I didn't stick around for I Prevail, only really went for Halestorm. Halestorms audio mixer/producer/whatever needs to do a better job. Audio often seemed muffled when the instruments were playing and it sometimes made it difficult to hear the lead vocalist. She had some pipes, though. When you could hear her, she sounded really good. They also had a fun drumline bit in the middle.

I can't say I liked the other two bands. I'm not really a fan of the screaming/growling stuff. Hollywood Undead had a couple fun covers towards the end of their bit.

I went to this tour as well, although Halestorm was the headliner in Toronto. It definitely seemed like two completely different crowds. I missed Fit For A King, but Hollywood Undead and I Prevail had basically the same crowd, and a reasonable number of them left after I Prevail's set. The ones that stuck around didn't look like they knew too much about Halestorm.

Fortunately, our sound was pretty good for them. Not perfect, but in an outdoor amphitheatre it's hard to sound perfect, so I was happy with it. I thought they were great. I don't really listen to Halestorm at all, but I got free tickets to see them last year, and they were so good that I went again this year. Like you, I didn't enjoy Hollywood Undead or I Prevail at all. I do like growling, but don't like the genre that those bands play.

She recently did a stint with Skid Row, too. Put Sabastian Bach to shame.

The videos of these shows are insane. She's legitimately the only person to sing those songs correctly since the original albums. I know Halestorm pays better, but I'd pay absurd money to see her front Skid Row.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

I bounced after Halestorm played. Didn't even listen to I Prevail. I listened to some of their stuff on YT, and it seemed like the kind of over produced stuff that wouldn't translate well to a concert setting, plus the growling stuff.

Halestorm was quite good despite the audio issues. Everyone in that band is really good at what they do.

 

[Mark]

I bounced after Halestorm played. Didn't even listen to I Prevail. I listened to some of their stuff on YT, and it seemed like the kind of over produced stuff that wouldn't translate well to a concert setting, plus the growling stuff.

Halestorm was quite good despite the audio issues. Everyone in that band is really good at what they do.

I’m not really a fan of Halestorm, honestly. Most of Lzzy’s lyrics sound like she’s trying to convince herself of what she’s saying in the songs, but that’s just me being critical. However, those guys have been busting their chops for years running around the local circuit before they made it big, since they were teenagers. They deserve all the success they’ve achieved so far just on that. She is definitely a student of metal history, and a pretty good guitarist as well.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

Phone camera sucks.

 

[Mark]

View attachment 19064

Phone camera sucks.

Looks like they need more speakers to me. Otherwise, seems like a pretty good venue.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

Looks like they need more speakers to me. Otherwise, seems like a pretty good venue.

probably the largest outdoor venue in the immediate area. This is where Green Day is playing next week.

 

[Mark]

probably the largest outdoor venue in the immediate area. This is where Green Day is playing next week.

I dunno if you’ve ever made it to Columbia, MD to see a show at Merriweather Post Pavilion, but that place there reminds of it. Before their renovation a few years back, their sound system looked very similar and didn’t really carry sound to the lawn seats that well. I guess it’ll really depend on your surroundings beyond the venue, too. At Merriweather, the sound just got lost in the hill or the woods before they added a larger system.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

I dunno if you’ve ever made it to Columbia, MD to see a show at Merriweather Post Pavilion, but that place there reminds of it. Before their renovation a few years back, their sound system looked very similar and didn’t really carry sound to the lawn seats that well. I guess it’ll really depend on your surroundings beyond the venue, too. At Merriweather, the sound just got lost in the hill or the woods before they added a larger system.

The other two bands sounded fine, though. It was just Halestorm where it sounded slightly muffled. Hell, Hollywood Undead had a couple audience members participate by yelling into the mic and it sounded pretty clear. Props to the bald dude, he had some pipes.

 

[Mark]

The other two bands sounded fine, though. It was just Halestorm where it sounded slightly muffled. Hell, Hollywood Undead had a couple audience members participate by yelling into the mic and it sounded pretty clear. Props to the bald dude, he had some pipes.

That’s wild, but not unheard of… reminds me of the sound issues Deftones had at the beginning of a set I saw of theirs in 03, which was a strong touring cycle for them coming off of “White Pony” blowing up and releasing “Hexagram” as a single back when that kinda stuff was a big deal. They were a middle band on the tour with Metallica, Limp Bizkit, and Linkin Park playing after them, but it was still a stacked lineup for 2003. It always bugged me how they started off, because you couldn’t really hear anything Chino was saying until a break in the drumming happened. Then, out of nowhere, his vocals drowned everything else out for half of “Around the Fur” and balanced out by the bridge.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

There are thunderstorms in the forecast on Thursday. What usually happens to outdoor concerts when foul weather occurs?

 

[Mark]

There are thunderstorms in the forecast on Thursday. What usually happens to outdoor concerts when foul weather occurs?

Oh, I can tell you all about this spending years hitting concerts in Bristow at Jiffy Lube Live. Typically, a pop-up thunderstorm occurring before show time will hold attendees at their vehicles. If it’s a large system moving through, with plenty of notice, they’d cancel it. Questionable weather often leads to the most confusion, because they’ll delay start times and start trimming sets and play it by ear on 15 minute intervals. You could be stuck sitting in your seat, at the entrance to the venue, or the parking lot, it all depends on when you get there and when the storm does.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

There's currently a 50% chance of precipitation at the time of the concert.

 

[Mark]

There's currently a 50% chance of precipitation at the time of the concert.

If I were you, I’d keep tabs on the venue’s social media account or website. That’s usually where they’ll announce delays or postponements these days.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

Twitter is fucking trash. Posts are out of order. It looks like they have rescheduled events in the past. Thing is that Green Day's tour has very short breaks between concerts. Hopefully their FB account provides updates. I can at least see their most recent posts. Website says they operate rain or shine, but severe weather can change things. It's still only about a 60% chance of rain around the time, but it's all T-storms. Luckily, today and tomorrow went from having rain and t-storms all day to little if anything at all, as the big cell missed us to the south. Hoping for luck on Thursday, as well. I've been waiting a long ass time for a chance to see Green Day live.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

Rain pushed back to at least 11 pm.



The Linda Lindas. The instrument playing is fine, the singing isn't that great. Definitely sounds like an indie punk band try to figure out their niche. All 4 members led singing in at least one song, even the drummer. The girl with the short hair sounds like she took her inspiration from Motorhead for her singing.

Edit: Holy crap, these girls are just kids. The drummer turned 14 today. Touring at that age must be difficult.

Edit 3:

Rancid is what you expect from Rancid.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

I'll get to pictures later on. Green Day almost made it through their entire show before they were told that they need to have us leave. They were unable to play the two encore songs, Bobby Sox and Good Riddence. Billy Joe wanted to try to squeeze one last song, but he had to resort to ad-libbing a speed version of Good Riddence as we left.

Green Day is AMAZING live. Billy Joe sounds almost exactly like he does on the albums. He sounds better now than he did when they released the Bullet in a Bible live album. Billy Joe had a total blast the whole time. A true professional. He invited someone onto the stage to finish off singing Know Your Enemy. You could tell she was suuuuuper nervous. He asked her to do a stage dive at the end of the song, but she was uncomfortable as he'll doing it, so they basically had her jump back off of the elevated speaker or whatever right at the end. Billy Joe was smart to remind her and the crowd a little later that he respected her for saying "No."

I don't think they really know much what to do with their new songs from Saviors as they pretty much speed ran the songs without doing anything special. I give it a couple of tours to determine what songs the audience truly loves to hear them play. Dilemma and One Eyed Bastard have a solid chance at being concert mainstays.

I hope this isn't the only time I get to watch Green Day live.

Edit: Side note, I'm really glad they at least got to Whatsername. It's one of my favorite songs from them and it's not exactly a concert staple, so I doubt I'll have another chance to hear it live again.

 

[Fire Queen]

finally saw my first concert since 2019 and it was childish gambino (donald glover), who i was seeing for the second time since his atlanta show in 2018. WILLOW (smith) was the opener but we arrived fashionably late and missed all of her set.

he’s made a big deal about how he’s retiring the childish gambino moniker after this tour but he also said the same thing the last tour. this time it feels like he’s serious because this concert really felt like a farewell. he played songs as old as 2010 when at the previous tour he didn’t do anything older than because the internet. (that said his two albums from this year are great and he did play all the best songs off those too. Lithonia was a hell of a closer.) he went all out for the staging and lighting. the live instrumentation was phenomenal. and he did the whole damn show in leather pants.