Music What was the last concert you went to?

[Spiner202]

What an adventure! Sounds amazing!

Alexander the Great is a song I have always wanted to hear live!

I believe this tour is the first time they've ever played it. Pretty wild to have a Maiden show with no Number of the Beast/Run to the Hills/Hallowed Be Thy Name, but definitely a worthwhile tradeoff!

 

[Fool's Requiem]

Was rewatching an anime called "K-On" about girls who join a Light Music Club and start a band. Got inspired to look for concerts to go to even if I had never heard of the band. Landed on a concert featuring am indie "rock" band from Austin called Night Cap. Their opener is a band from Chicago called Capital Soiree.

It's lite rock that has a decidedly indie sound. Reminds me of another indie band from Chicago called Tall Walker that I saw like 10 years ago at Tastes of Chicago. Feel like these bands all blend in with each other. Need to do something to differentiate themselves from the others.

 

[Spiner202]

My next show after Maiden was King Diamond, Overkill & Night Demon. I'll spare all the details because I got COVID at this show

Anyways, all 3 bands were fun, and I'd seen them all before, so I knew what I was in for.

Because I had COVID, I had to skip WASP/Armored Saint and I couldn't even find someone to take my free ticket. A few days after the Toronto show, the frontman for WASP showed that he's totally insane. I'll stay out of politics here, but this dude is nuts and it's a shame I couldn't go to the show while I was ignorant of his beliefs. If they come back, I definitely won't be going.

Now that I've recovered, I saw Exodus, Havok, Candy, and Dead Heat last night. Dead Heat was a fun crossover band. All of their riffs hit harder live, and they're a good band, but their songs aren't particularly memorable.

Candy totally sucks. They were the odd band out. The other 3 all played thrash, and Candy was a deathcore (?) band that randomly had industrial and grindcore moments? I'm not even sure if I'm describing them correctly, but very much not my thing.

Havok rules. Their frontman also has terrible political beliefs, but at least he wasn't doing anything embarrassing on stage. I really like the new EP they released, so it was nice to hear both new songs. They mentioned that their bass player was not with them for a few shows, so their tour manager stepped in to play bass - this is the second band I've heard the same story for (Orden Ogan being the other). I have no idea how every random person associated with a tour is good enough at any instrument to step in, but it's always impressive. Today I revisited their debut and was surprised at how great it was - I normally listen to their other 4 records.

Exodus just destroyed everything. For various reasons, I hadn't seen them since 2011, and I've never seen them with Zetro singing. The setlist was actually pretty unusual IMO and I loved it. I did not expect 3 songs from Fabulous Disaster, and they skipped some of the essential Bonded by Blood stuff in favour of a couple of slightly deeper cuts (to be fair, there are no deep cuts on that album because it is 9 perfect songs in a row). I've been jamming Exodus all day because they just have more riffs and better riffs than everyone else. I'm pretty sure that was one of the largest and craziest pits I've ever seen at a show. Despite the band's age and drug history, they were in great shape. They have tons of energy, and you can tell these guys just live for thrash. Even after beating cancer, Tom Hunting was a madman on drums. Strongly recommended.

 

[Gloom-is-good]

I just dread the day I find one of my favorite artists is a POS or just really mis-aligned with my values, etc (looking at you Lost Prophets singer)

 

[Fool's Requiem]

I just dread the day I find one of my favorite artists is a POS or just really mis-aligned with my values, etc (looking at you Lost Prophets singer)

I think I'm in the clear with Green Day.

 

[Spiner202]

Last night I went to Decapitated/Incantation/Darkest Hour/Exmortus. It was my first time seeing each band except Exmortus, who I saw for the 7th time.

I was lucky to see Exmortus, because despite being in line just before doors, I only made it in with 2-3 minutes to spare. This is not the first time this has happened to me at this venue, but it's tough to guess how early I need to be there when I want to see the opener. Regardless, Exmortus ruled. They are one of the most technical bands in thrash and it's crazy how easy they make it look. It's too bad that there weren't more people in the door for their set, because they deserved it.

Darkest Hour is not really my type of music, but I was positively surprised by their performance. There were some really great extended guitar solos and simple lead parts. Would definitely not mind them as an opener on another tour I go to.

Incantation is a tricky one for me. I think they're responsible for much of what I dislike about death metal today. Last night, they took a really long time to set-up, and then they didn't even sound that good. There were definitely some good riffs during their set, but they don't really write songs and it just ended up being a noisy affair.

Decapitated was a worthy headliner. I'm late to their bandwagon, because I've basically never listened to them before this tour was announced, but they were playing Nihility in its entirety. I don't love the album but it really comes alive in a live setting. They were the only 1-guitar band, and I think that really helps make a band sound clearer. I was hoping to buy the album but they didn't have any CDs left (and the sign on their merch table said CDs were $35 )

 

[Spiner202]

2nd show of the year last night: Coroner, Deceased, and Korrosive.

Korrosive is a local thrash band. Apparently this was my 6th time seeing them, but I rarely remember their sets. Honestly, they had a lot of good riffs, and it's clear that they're influenced by many of my favourite bands, but it's like they write great 80s thrash riffs and then layer over top of them elements that I don't really love. Fun live, but I feel like they aren't necessarily for me.

This was my second time seeing Deceased. I last saw them in 2019 at a festival in Milwaukee. While I have owned a couple of their CDs for years, it wasn't until I saw them back then that I became a much bigger fan of theirs and acquired a few more albums. They crushed the stage last night - easily the best band. Their songs are long and surprisingly complex for a band that's just about zombies and horror. King Fowley is as charismatic on stage as he is on their records.

Also, major credit to Deceased for having the greatest merch game of any band I've seen. They had all 8 of their studio albums on CD, plus a couple of other releases. They had 6 of their studio albums on vinyl. Multiple shirts in both t-shirt and long-sleeve form. And most importantly, the prices were reasonable. CDs were only $15 each. That's a rare price to see nowadays in Canada in a store, let alone a concerts. I grabbed a long-sleeve and 3 CDs. I kind of regret not getting two more, but I'm still super stoked to hear these ones.

Coroner was the headliner. People love this band, myself included. But I saw them in Germany in 2012 and realized very quickly that the band does not understand why people love them. They primarily play stuff from their 5th album, which is the only album of theirs that is very bad. Some of the songs were ok live, but as soon as they played the old stuff, people were way more into it. This set was actually quite a bit better than when I saw them last - this time they had 4 songs (+ a cover) from the first 3 albums, compared to last time where they only played 1 song from the second record. I compared the setlists side-by-side, and it's pretty incredible how they've barely changed what they play over the last 13 years, especially considering they should know by now that people aren't into that stuff. Anyways, it was fun to see them in North America (they said they hadn't been here in 35 years), but I'm not sure I'd go if they came again unless it was a really good lineup.

 

[Spiner202]

Yesterday I saw the Meshuggah/Cannibal Corpse/Carcass tour.

Carcass had the clearest sound of the night. I like some of their stuff but am not a huge fan, so it was a good warmup, but nothing mind-blowing. This was my second time seeing them, though admittedly, I thought they were better the last time I saw them.

Cannibal Corpse was up next. The sound quality was pretty muffled for them (though to be fair, there's so much going on in their music that I wasn't overly surprised). They were enjoyable, but you pretty much know what to expect with them, and that's what they delivered. This was my 7th Cannibal Corpse show - also not the best time I've seen them, but no complaints.

I am not really a Meshuggah fan, but I'd never seen them before. To be honest, the entire setlist sounded identical to me. I'm sure someone could say the same thing about Cannibal Corpse if they'd never heard them before, but that's what I felt. That one particular sound didn't grip me too much, so I'm not sure I will start listening to them. I wouldn't have any problem seeing them play at a festival, but you'd need a pretty good lineup (like last night) to get me to a Meshuggah show again.

 

[Spiner202]

We are entering one of the two times of years where there are a lot of shows! Last night I went to the Vortex of Violence tour.

Summoning the Lich opened the show. I'd never heard of them, but they described themselves as a fantasy death metal band. The thing I thought was most interesting is that their singer took a ton of influence from Travis Ryan from Cattle Decapitation - he was doing those weird clean vocals that are all over Cattle Decap's music now. He was pretty funny in between songs too. I'm not sure I'd listen to them outside of a live setting, but they were a good way to warm up.

Skeletal Remains played next. I posted in here last year about how they took forever to set-up and still didn't sound good last time I saw them. They did start a little bit late last night, but they were also only a 3-piece because their frontman wasn't here, so they played instrumental. They didn't mention if he was sick or had a family emergency or something, but in my experience, this usually means they couldn't get over the border. Amazingly, they were more entertaining this time than last time, and their drummer seemed to really enjoy the spotlight of being at the front of the stage and getting to speak between songs.

Allegaeon played third. I guess this was a co-headliner, which I didn't really understand at the time. I've never listened to them before, but they have some of the most insane guitar playing. Some of their songs have clean vocals, and I find this is something bands usually do after they get a few albums in and fans don't like it, but I thought the songs with clean vocals were the best ones because they were more memorable. I didn't really need their set to be as long as it was, but they were fun.

And then the reason why I was there: Warbringer. It's funny how this tour was 3 death metal bands and then a thrash metal headliner. Warbringer proved what I have always known: thrash metal is more extreme than death metal. This set was insane - tons of stage-diving and moshing. John Kevill is an insane frontman. He's got so much energy and was trying to bring back the glory days of thrash shows. Even the songs from their newer albums that I don't love were much better live. This was my 6th time seeing them and probably the best by a wide margin. They definitely could have played a little bit longer, but this is one of the better shows I've seen in a while.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

Went to my first concert of the year Friday. Worked out perfectly, I went to Red Sox opening day at Fenway for a 2pm game, and the concert was a 20 minute walk from the stadium. Doors opened at 6:30, so I enjoyed the game and abnormally warm weather, then walked through Boston to the club.

Prog metal show. Saw Arch Echo, VOLA, and Intervals.

I've seen Arch Echo before, very technical instrumental band. Lead guitarist is incredible, the keyboardist reminds me of Dream Theater. They were pretty great, if not a little "wanky" on their instruments. Great energy.

VOLA was the reason I went, they played 45 minutes and I was in glory. I've been obsessed with them. I've had their 4 albums on repeat. The crowd was less into them, because it's a prog show and the headliner along with Arch Echo are very technical, fast paced, virtuoso style musicians/guitarists. VOLA is very composed, almost chill at times, but they were incredibly solid. The singer plays guitar so there is nothing really technical in their music but man is it good. They had the crowd by the end, though. They flew over from Sweden and are not making much money on this tour, and they did not have any vinyl albums at the merch table like the other two which is unfortunate. I want to support them, I want them to headline a tour at some point over here. I bought a hat and a shirt, I rarely buy merch. I might join Bandcamp and buy their albums through there.

Intervals was good, but it was another fast instrumental prog band with some techno and electronica mixed in. It got the crowd going but didn't do much for me.

Still a really nice day. Red Sox won and I got to see the band I've been most hyped for.

 

[Spiner202]

A couple nights ago I saw Visions of Atlantis & Seraina Tella. A buddy who is not really a metal fan came with me. He wanted to try something different, and I think this ended up being a pretty good choice for a show because he enjoyed it a lot.

I'd never heard of Seraina Tella, but after some quick research, it turns out she played in Burning Witches, who I at least have heard of. Still, she was different from what I expected - it was just her doing guitar/vocals and a drummer. The music reminded me a lot of Halestorm. It was rock that ranged from heavier stuff to poppy stuff, but her voice was a great fit for both styles. She deserves a ton of credit because she was playing a style that likely didn't appeal to most of the audience and she was requesting a lot of audience participation, and yet she won over most people by the end. The only thing I didn't like about her set was that she leaned too heavily on backing tracks. The bass was piped in the entire time, but there were other times where another guitar and backing vocals were added. Backing tracks aren't necessarily out of the ordinary at shows, but it would have been better for her to have a bass player and even another guitarist, because she liked abandoning her post in front of the mic and holding the mic instead of playing guitar.

Last time I saw Visions of Atlantis was when they were opening for Delain. I only have one of their older albums at the moment, and they've largely abandoned that era of their career in favour of going the pirate direction. This set was significantly better than last time. They had a longer set length and more space on stage to work with. They were very theatrical, which I think is the result of having two singers on stage, rather than just one. It's amazing how I've heard their last couple albums maybe 3-4 times in total, but I felt like I recognized quite a few songs, and even the songs I didn't know were memorable by the second chorus. They burned through a ton of songs (19, I think?) and played for about an hour and 40 minutes, which I was happy with.

I ended up ordering the two most recent albums this morning, so their music will be getting a lot more spins soon! As is often the case, it was cheaper for me to get it shipped from Montreal than to buy the albums at the show.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

Visions of Atlantis keeping popping into my algorithm so I've heard some of their music. It's good, but nothing stands out. It feels very safe for what it is trying to do.

 

[Spiner202]

Visions of Atlantis keeping popping into my algorithm so I've heard some of their music. It's good, but nothing stands out. It feels very safe for what it is trying to do.

There are a lot of songs or bands that I find are pretty average until I hear them live and I suspect Visions of Atlantis would fit that mold too. For a European band, they seem to come over here a lot, so it might be worth a shot next time they come back.