Avenged Sevenfold - I had mixed feelings about seeing this band for a second time, mostly because they were unimpressive in May 2009 when they opened for Korn in a Rock On The Range tuneup show. Other reasons included the fact that I didn't really like their new album, Nightmare, at all and Mike Portnoy, their temporary replacement on drums, had finally moved on to pursue other projects and was being replaced by a relative unknown. Despite this, I realized it could be a lot worse and the band has changed drastically since I saw them last, as the show I saw them at was the Rev's second to last show in the States. While I had a good idea of what I was getting into musically with this show, I had yet to see what Avenged could do as a headliner with full production at their disposal. I got my answer pretty quickly. Now, I had heard about and seen pictures of the man hanging himself from the rafters to begin their set. However, seeing it is a completely different thing, and it was pretty creepy, to say the least. To pull that off is pretty impressive. Even more impressive, in my opinion, was the entrance that followed. As soon as the man stopped swinging and hung lifeless from the rafters, the intro to Nightmare kicked in and the place started going crazy. Their guitarists came out and introduced their parts, lighting up the three gates they had set up in the background in flames, creating a mesmerizing display as M. Shadows appeared and took his place at the front of the stage to yell, "NIGHTMAAAAAAAARE!" and start the song, the title track of their new album. As one of the few songs on that album I don't dislike, I enjoyed the performance of the song quite a bit. Despite being about twice as long as it needed to be, the pre-chorus and chorus were cool (with the exception of the cheesy "It's your fucking nightmare" ending) and the guitar was satisfactory. Riding the momentum of their entrance, A7X easily topped their 2009 performance with this one song. I thought there was already an noticeable improvement. They followed this up with the opener of their self-titled album, Critical Acclaim, which featured the first of many Rev tributes they sprinkled throughout their set. During the chorus, when the Rev has a vocal part, they played it over the PA, which I found pretty eerie. The song itself isn't terrible, but not a particularly good one either. Thankfully, their selections from the self-titled album were few and far between in this show. Next came probably my least favorite part of the set: four straight new songs. Welcome To The Family, the second single from the album, was a song that is pretty boring on CD and it didn't fare very well live either. Danger Line was up next, and it featured a bit more interesting guitar work than its predecessor, with a nice riff and some cool guitar work in the verses. Buried Alive, the next song, dug deeper into Nightmare's heap of mediocre slow songs while featuring a solo that I've heard a million bands rip off from Metallica at this point. That being said, after said solo, the song definitely improved a bit, making up for the slow start by getting heavier and faster. At this point, Shadows mentioned the Rev and talked about his impact on the band and his life and so forth, leading into the next song, So Far Away, yet another Nightmare slow song. While I like my share of cheesy ballads, this is not one of them, and it pretty much killed any remaining momentum the band had built up through their explosive intro. Thankfully, they followed this up with a hit everyone knows in Afterlife, which has a pretty catchy groove throughout along with a nice chorus and a decent solo. Another new song, God Hates Us, was next, and it was surprisingly pretty good. Very heavy throughout, and it was nice to see Shadows unleash the beast and scream on a song other than Unholy Confessions. It was probably the best new song all night for the band. They dug back into their back catalog and pulled out Bat Country next, a song off City of Evil that I actually like. The pre-chorus and chorus from Shadows were solid, and the solo was one of the better ones I've heard from them. They closed the main part of their set with the usual Unholy Confessions, and as the only really old song the band ever plays anymore, it was the one of the best songs on the night, with Shadows screaming a good bit and some heavy guitars. The band added a little fun on the end with Synyster and the new drummer, Arin, working to get a huge circle pit going in the middle of the floor, and they were moderately successful. After the circle pit, the band left the stage momentarily and returned to play Fiction, the one song on Nightmare in which the Rev had a part in making. Though the trading of vocals between Shadows and the Rev was pretty cool, the song itself was nothing special and another example of the slow songs bogging Nightmare down. The band had one more song left, and surprisingly enough, it was not Almost Easy, but A Little Piece of Heaven. While I would have enjoyed the former as I actually like it, the latter turned out to be a pretty appropriate and effective closer as well and let them drag out their farewell for a little longer. When they were finished, I left the arena with no real change in my feelings for Avenged's music. However, I did feel that their live show was much improved from last time and I give them a lot of credit for that. I'm not sure if I will see them again when they come back, but for now, I am happy that they put on a respectable show and made me feel like the concert as a whole was worth my money. 8.5/10
Setlist:
Nightmare Critical Acclaim Welcome to the Family Danger Line Buried Alive So Far Away Afterlife God Hates Us Bat Country Unholy Confessions ---------------------------------------------------------------- Fiction A Little Piece of Heaven
It is interesting to read a different perspective on two bands we don't agree on. Stone sour to me was boring as all hell. Buried alive is my favorite of the new avenged songs to. I will agree so far away is no good if they had to play a new song there I would have chose natural born killer or save me. And I would have been pissed if they closed with almost easy
You tryin to be a hero fool? You wanna see badass mother fucker?! I'll show ya a badass!!!
Good thing I'm not going to the A7X tour...I don't know most of their songs on the setlist. This is the setlist when I saw them in 2005, with a few songs missing:
Chapter Four Trashed and Scattered Beast and the Harlot Eternal Rest The Wicked End Bat Country Burn It Down I Won't See You Tonight Part 1 Unholy Confessions
Ozzy only played 14 songs last night, but he went exactly 90 minutes. I like Almost Easy so I would have liked to have heard it, but they played it last time.
Dying fetus was awesome last night. I'll put up a review soon. Just to get more people into reading it, I get punched in the eye. Lots of people get the crap beaten out of them
Finnish Metal Tour - Reggie's Rock Club - Chicago, Illinois - 2/19/11
The line to get in was ridiculous, and I completely missed Barren Earth. Oh well.
Rotten Sound: Extremely boring Grindcore. Every song sounded exactly the same and had the exact same accented ride blasting in every song. 3/10
Before I review Ensiferum and Finntroll (Because it applies to both of them equally.) I wanna say, this was one of the most fun crowds I've ever been around. Everyone was laughing/smiling and just having fun when the pit pushed up on the rail, instead of getting asshurt. I even screamed lyrics with quite a few people throughout the night, very welcoming and nice crowd for once. No faggots getting asshurt over windmilling/headbanging, just everyone was having a blast and seemed happy, instead of bitching and dudes fighting over shit. Was a nice change. Literally the only problem was a drunk being a jackass at the end of Finntroll's set lolz.
Ensiferum: First saw them back at Summer Slaughter '09, and it was an extremely fun set. After seeing them with a full set for a second time, I have to say they have one of the most fun live shows I've ever experienced. They're just all around a fucking blast, they love getting the crowd involved. Musically, they nailed everything and sounded perfect, especially the Guitars. The sound was amazing as well. When they played Into Battle, I went absolute apeshit. That chorus is fucking insane to scream along to live. When they played Iron, I got fucking pumped, and ran to the pits. First time I've moshed in a while. Extremely fun pits. Anyways, just an absolutely amazing live band. I will make sure I see them every time they're around, they have a live set that just puts me in an amazing mood, straight up. Very good vibes. 10/10
Finntroll: Same as Ensiferum. One of the most fun sets I've ever experienced. They opened up with Solsagan, just like I expected, and it was just the perfect way to start off, the pit fucking exploded and I went insane lol. There was tons of folk dancing, locking arms, etc. Lol. So badass. I wanted to join in, but wanted to stay close to the rail like I was, so I just stayed. At one point, they formed like a line across the pit and all locked arms and they were dancing. Lol FUCK YEA! Let me just say, Trollhammeren may have been THEE most fun song I've ever seen live. Not the overall set, but that song itself. The second they played the intro, everyone started going crazy, and then when the full song kicked in, everyone was just dancing and jumping around everywhere, everyone was just smiling, laughing, just having fucking fun. It was like a huge party. It's something where you would have actually had to be there, but it was amazing. That's one song I'll never forget when thinking about live shows. Finntroll loves getting the crowd involved in the same way Ensiferum does, which added a lot to their performance. Anyways, amazing set, played 2 encores, and I added to my collection. Got a pick from Mikael. B-) 10/10
I don't know if it was because of the fact that it's a Folk Metal show, but I remember everyone being that giddy at Summer Slaughter '09 for Ensiferum as well, so it must have something to do with it, but this is the perfect kind of crowd for me, I absolutely loved it. Everyone was just happy and having a huge fucking party, just gave off an extremely good vibe and put me in the best possible mood. I definitely need to go to more Folk Metal shows, I know they could very well end up being my absolute favorite kinds of shows.
For merch, got the Finnish Metal Tour shirt that has the knight and troll on the front, with Ensiferum and Finntrolls' logos on the back with the tour dates. That was $20, as were all the shirts I believe.
Finnish Metal Tour - Reggie's Rock Club - Chicago, Illinois - 2/19/11
The line to get in was ridiculous, and I completely missed Barren Earth. Oh well.
Rotten Sound: Extremely boring Grindcore. Every song sounded exactly the same and had the exact same accented ride blasting in every song. 3/10
Before I review Ensiferum and Finntroll (Because it applies to both of them equally.) I wanna say, this was one of the most fun crowds I've ever been around. Everyone was laughing/smiling and just having fun when the pit pushed up on the rail, instead of getting asshurt. I even screamed lyrics with quite a few people throughout the night, very welcoming and nice crowd for once. No faggots getting asshurt over windmilling/headbanging, just everyone was having a blast and seemed happy, instead of bitching and dudes fighting over shit. Was a nice change. Literally the only problem was a drunk being a jackass at the end of Finntroll's set lolz.
Ensiferum: First saw them back at Summer Slaughter '09, and it was an extremely fun set. After seeing them with a full set for a second time, I have to say they have one of the most fun live shows I've ever experienced. They're just all around a fucking blast, they love getting the crowd involved. Musically, they nailed everything and sounded perfect, especially the Guitars. The sound was amazing as well. When they played Into Battle, I went absolute apeshit. That chorus is fucking insane to scream along to live. When they played Iron, I got fucking pumped, and ran to the pits. First time I've moshed in a while. Extremely fun pits. Anyways, just an absolutely amazing live band. I will make sure I see them every time they're around, they have a live set that just puts me in an amazing mood, straight up. Very good vibes. 10/10
Finntroll: Same as Ensiferum. One of the most fun sets I've ever experienced. They opened up with Solsagan, just like I expected, and it was just the perfect way to start off, the pit fucking exploded and I went insane lol. There was tons of folk dancing, locking arms, etc. Lol. So badass. I wanted to join in, but wanted to stay close to the rail like I was, so I just stayed. At one point, they formed like a line across the pit and all locked arms and they were dancing. Lol FUCK YEA! Let me just say, Trollhammeren may have been THEE most fun song I've ever seen live. Not the overall set, but that song itself. The second they played the intro, everyone started going crazy, and then when the full song kicked in, everyone was just dancing and jumping around everywhere, everyone was just smiling, laughing, just having fucking fun. It was like a huge party. It's something where you would have actually had to be there, but it was amazing. That's one song I'll never forget when thinking about live shows. Finntroll loves getting the crowd involved in the same way Ensiferum does, which added a lot to their performance. Anyways, amazing set, played 2 encores, and I added to my collection. Got a pick from Mikael. B-) 10/10
I don't know if it was because of the fact that it's a Folk Metal show, but I remember everyone being that giddy at Summer Slaughter '09 for Ensiferum as well, so it must have something to do with it, but this is the perfect kind of crowd for me, I absolutely loved it. Everyone was just happy and having a huge fucking party, just gave off an extremely good vibe and put me in the best possible mood. I definitely need to go to more Folk Metal shows, I know they could very well end up being my absolute favorite kinds of shows.
For merch, got the Finnish Metal Tour shirt that has the knight and troll on the front, with Ensiferum and Finntrolls' logos on the back with the tour dates. That was $20, as were all the shirts I believe.
\m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ Fucking badass! \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/
I can't wait...our Finnish metal is on Saturday. A giant group of us are going.
Thought since I'm new I will put my review of Ozzy with Slash.
Ozzy Osbourne--The Palace Of Auburn Hills--Auburn Hills, MI--2-12-11
Well the night started out with my Dad, Brother, Cousin and I arriving at the venue and may I say what a nice venue the Palace is. So we find our seats no problem we were 12th row on the floor.
So Slash is the first band up and I couldn't help but feel I was at a GnR cover show. Even though he played some of his solo and Velvet revolver stuff it just wasn't right. Though he did put on a very good show.
Setlist
1. Ghost
2. Mean Bone
3. Nightrain
4. Been There Lately
5. Mr. Brownstone
6. Rocket Queen
7. Back From Cali
8. Starlight
9. Sweet Child O' Mine
10. Slither
11. Paradise City
Next up was the reason most of the people came because alot of people didn't watch slash. But when he got off stage the place filled up. When ozzy came on he opened with Bark At The Moon which was a great opener. He also only played one song off of Scream. It was great because Ozzy was moving around and having a great time. So was everyone in the crowd. Also Gus G. is a very good guitarist. All in all a very good night one of the better concerts I have been to.
Finnish Metal Tour - Reggie's Rock Club - Chicago, Illinois - 2/19/11
The line to get in was ridiculous, and I completely missed Barren Earth. Oh well.
Rotten Sound: Extremely boring Grindcore. Every song sounded exactly the same and had the exact same accented ride blasting in every song. 3/10
Before I review Ensiferum and Finntroll (Because it applies to both of them equally.) I wanna say, this was one of the most fun crowds I've ever been around. Everyone was laughing/smiling and just having fun when the pit pushed up on the rail, instead of getting asshurt. I even screamed lyrics with quite a few people throughout the night, very welcoming and nice crowd for once. No faggots getting asshurt over windmilling/headbanging, just everyone was having a blast and seemed happy, instead of bitching and dudes fighting over shit. Was a nice change. Literally the only problem was a drunk being a jackass at the end of Finntroll's set lolz.
Ensiferum: First saw them back at Summer Slaughter '09, and it was an extremely fun set. After seeing them with a full set for a second time, I have to say they have one of the most fun live shows I've ever experienced. They're just all around a fucking blast, they love getting the crowd involved. Musically, they nailed everything and sounded perfect, especially the Guitars. The sound was amazing as well. When they played Into Battle, I went absolute apeshit. That chorus is fucking insane to scream along to live. When they played Iron, I got fucking pumped, and ran to the pits. First time I've moshed in a while. Extremely fun pits. Anyways, just an absolutely amazing live band. I will make sure I see them every time they're around, they have a live set that just puts me in an amazing mood, straight up. Very good vibes. 10/10
Finntroll: Same as Ensiferum. One of the most fun sets I've ever experienced. They opened up with Solsagan, just like I expected, and it was just the perfect way to start off, the pit fucking exploded and I went insane lol. There was tons of folk dancing, locking arms, etc. Lol. So badass. I wanted to join in, but wanted to stay close to the rail like I was, so I just stayed. At one point, they formed like a line across the pit and all locked arms and they were dancing. Lol FUCK YEA! Let me just say, Trollhammeren may have been THEE most fun song I've ever seen live. Not the overall set, but that song itself. The second they played the intro, everyone started going crazy, and then when the full song kicked in, everyone was just dancing and jumping around everywhere, everyone was just smiling, laughing, just having fucking fun. It was like a huge party. It's something where you would have actually had to be there, but it was amazing. That's one song I'll never forget when thinking about live shows. Finntroll loves getting the crowd involved in the same way Ensiferum does, which added a lot to their performance. Anyways, amazing set, played 2 encores, and I added to my collection. Got a pick from Mikael. B-) 10/10
I don't know if it was because of the fact that it's a Folk Metal show, but I remember everyone being that giddy at Summer Slaughter '09 for Ensiferum as well, so it must have something to do with it, but this is the perfect kind of crowd for me, I absolutely loved it. Everyone was just happy and having a huge fucking party, just gave off an extremely good vibe and put me in the best possible mood. I definitely need to go to more Folk Metal shows, I know they could very well end up being my absolute favorite kinds of shows.
For merch, got the Finnish Metal Tour shirt that has the knight and troll on the front, with Ensiferum and Finntrolls' logos on the back with the tour dates. That was $20, as were all the shirts I believe.
Folk metal has the best crowds out of any genre of metal hands down.
Comments
Setlist:
Nightmare
Critical Acclaim
Welcome to the Family
Danger Line
Buried Alive
So Far Away
Afterlife
God Hates Us
Bat Country
Unholy Confessions
----------------------------------------------------------------
Fiction
A Little Piece of Heaven
By the time it was all said and done unholy confessions was about 10 minutes for us
Chapter Four
Trashed and Scattered
Beast and the Harlot
Eternal Rest
The Wicked End
Bat Country
Burn It Down
I Won't See You Tonight Part 1
Unholy Confessions
The line to get in was ridiculous, and I completely missed Barren Earth. Oh well.
Rotten Sound: Extremely boring Grindcore. Every song sounded exactly the same and had the exact same accented ride blasting in every song. 3/10
Before I review Ensiferum and Finntroll (Because it applies to both of them equally.) I wanna say, this was one of the most fun crowds I've ever been around. Everyone was laughing/smiling and just having fun when the pit pushed up on the rail, instead of getting asshurt. I even screamed lyrics with quite a few people throughout the night, very welcoming and nice crowd for once. No faggots getting asshurt over windmilling/headbanging, just everyone was having a blast and seemed happy, instead of bitching and dudes fighting over shit. Was a nice change. Literally the only problem was a drunk being a jackass at the end of Finntroll's set lolz.
Ensiferum: First saw them back at Summer Slaughter '09, and it was an extremely fun set. After seeing them with a full set for a second time, I have to say they have one of the most fun live shows I've ever experienced. They're just all around a fucking blast, they love getting the crowd involved. Musically, they nailed everything and sounded perfect, especially the Guitars. The sound was amazing as well. When they played Into Battle, I went absolute apeshit. That chorus is fucking insane to scream along to live. When they played Iron, I got fucking pumped, and ran to the pits. First time I've moshed in a while. Extremely fun pits. Anyways, just an absolutely amazing live band. I will make sure I see them every time they're around, they have a live set that just puts me in an amazing mood, straight up. Very good vibes. 10/10
Finntroll: Same as Ensiferum. One of the most fun sets I've ever experienced. They opened up with Solsagan, just like I expected, and it was just the perfect way to start off, the pit fucking exploded and I went insane lol. There was tons of folk dancing, locking arms, etc. Lol. So badass. I wanted to join in, but wanted to stay close to the rail like I was, so I just stayed. At one point, they formed like a line across the pit and all locked arms and they were dancing. Lol FUCK YEA! Let me just say, Trollhammeren may have been THEE most fun song I've ever seen live. Not the overall set, but that song itself. The second they played the intro, everyone started going crazy, and then when the full song kicked in, everyone was just dancing and jumping around everywhere, everyone was just smiling, laughing, just having fucking fun. It was like a huge party. It's something where you would have actually had to be there, but it was amazing. That's one song I'll never forget when thinking about live shows. Finntroll loves getting the crowd involved in the same way Ensiferum does, which added a lot to their performance. Anyways, amazing set, played 2 encores, and I added to my collection. Got a pick from Mikael. B-) 10/10
I don't know if it was because of the fact that it's a Folk Metal show, but I remember everyone being that giddy at Summer Slaughter '09 for Ensiferum as well, so it must have something to do with it, but this is the perfect kind of crowd for me, I absolutely loved it. Everyone was just happy and having a huge fucking party, just gave off an extremely good vibe and put me in the best possible mood. I definitely need to go to more Folk Metal shows, I know they could very well end up being my absolute favorite kinds of shows.
For merch, got the Finnish Metal Tour shirt that has the knight and troll on the front, with Ensiferum and Finntrolls' logos on the back with the tour dates. That was $20, as were all the shirts I believe.
Rowdy as fuck. Massive technical difficulties. Three fights broke out. Show almost got canceled due to them.
Bonded killed
Lazarus was pretty sweet.
Death Angel was killer. Got two different picks.
/review
I can't wait...our Finnish metal is on Saturday. A giant group of us are going.
Ozzy Osbourne--The Palace Of Auburn Hills--Auburn Hills, MI--2-12-11
Well the night started out with my Dad, Brother, Cousin and I arriving at the venue and may I say what a nice venue the Palace is. So we find our seats no problem we were 12th row on the floor.
So Slash is the first band up and I couldn't help but feel I was at a GnR cover show. Even though he played some of his solo and Velvet revolver stuff it just wasn't right. Though he did put on a very good show.
Setlist
1. Ghost
2. Mean Bone
3. Nightrain
4. Been There Lately
5. Mr. Brownstone
6. Rocket Queen
7. Back From Cali
8. Starlight
9. Sweet Child O' Mine
10. Slither
11. Paradise City
Next up was the reason most of the people came because alot of people didn't watch slash. But when he got off stage the place filled up. When ozzy came on he opened with Bark At The Moon which was a great opener. He also only played one song off of Scream. It was great because Ozzy was moving around and having a great time. So was everyone in the crowd. Also Gus G. is a very good guitarist. All in all a very good night one of the better concerts I have been to.
Setlist
1. Bark At The Moon
2. Let Me Hear You Scream
3. Mr. Crowely
4. I Don't Know
5. Faries Wear Boots
6. Suicide Solution
7. Road To Nowhere
8. War Pigs
9. Shot In The Dark
10. Rat Salad
11. Iron Man
12. Crazy Train
Encore
13. Mama I'm Coming Home
14. Paranoid