I had fun though because during one of the shitcore bands a a kid in a nice purple sweatshirt starting hardcore dancing and I just loudly applauded going YEAH, SWING YOUR ARMS AROUND MAN, YEAAAA until he stopped. My friends and I pretty much ruined the "pit" for one of the bands because we kept laughing and doing joke dances. The tools all looked really pissed. They mad.
At Mayhem 08 I did the Macarena during an HXC pit during Suicide Silence, and got punched in the face for it.
2-19-11 - The Eagle Theater - Pontiac, MI - Times of Grace
Like Ozzy the previous weekend, getting to the venue and finding parking was no trouble at all. Downtown Pontiac is no more than 15 minutes away, and while it's certainly more of a ghost town since the Detroit Lions left the Pontiac Silverdome, it still attracts a good amount of club shows with its myriad of good venues. In this case, it was the Eagle Theater, and it doesn't get much easier with cheap parking directly across the street from the doors. Doors were scheduled to open at 6, but when I arrived at 6:15, there was still a line forming outside the theater, so I took my place in it and waited.....and waited and waited. It would be another hour before the venue finally started letting people in, and in 32-degree weather, this was not a fun wait. When the time finally arrived, I bolted inside and took my place at the left side of the stage. About 30 minutes later, when everyone had adequately thawed, the local opener took the stage.
It Lies Within - A band from Flint, MI that has apparently been on the scene in the Midwest for about 8 years. This was news to me after I found this out after their performance. Looking back on it, though, it's not surprising. This band got the crowd, which was still leaking in at this point, into it right away with their energy on stage. Everyone except the drummer was moving around and jumping up and down, and the crowd responded pretty well the entire set. It took the music a little longer to match the quality of their stage performance, however. Though the riffs were solid, the vocals were a bit off, most notably during the first song, when the guitarist sounded pretty bad singing during the chorus. The vocalist's cleans weren't fantastic at first either. They seemed to get better as the set went on, though, and before long they sounded pretty good all around. They're an incredibly humble and gracious bunch as well, thanking the fans at every opportunity for coming out early and catching their set. Though their music can probably be characterized as only better-than-average metalcore, their energy on stage and clear connection with the crowd was noted and appreciated. Hopefully a band like this will continue to get opening slots with some bigger acts and possibly get on a US tour with a major label band down the road. They seem to have earned it. 6/10
Straight Line Stitch - One of the bands on Mayhem's latest edition of the Hot Topic/Silver Star/whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-it stage, Straight Line Stitch is another band I knew of by reputation only. I knew they were a female-fronted band and their music supposedly sucks, but that's about it. For the latter reason, I kept my expectations low and figured that, at worst, I could skip them at Mayhem without feeling like I missed anything. Like It Lies Within, the band came out and provided a lot of energy from the start. The singer, Alexis Brown, was a maniac on stage, with her windmill headbanging rivaling that of Mark Osegueda's (Death Angel), her dreads creating an impressive sight. The drummer was entertaining to watch as well, pounding away at his kit with increasing ferocity, bringing back memories of the mighty Morgan Rose behind the kit. Their music, like It Lies Within's, couldn't quite measure up to their presence on stage for me. With an exception or two, a lot of their set consisted of much of the same, which was heavy, heavy, and some more heavy. This is fine in smaller doses, but after a while the edge dulls and it's boring. To their credit, they did incorporate some guitar solos, but most of them sounded like they were created while channeling Kerry King and Kirk Hammett, i.e. sloppy with lots of wah-wah thrown in. In short, I'd classify them as a heavier, less-awesome version of Sevendust. With their stage presence, they might have something here with the addition of some melody. For now, however, they are treading the line into deathcore with their stuff. One less band to worry about at Mayhem. 4/10
Setlist:
Tear Down the Sky Adult Cinema Never See the Day Taste of Ashes What You Do to Me Ballroom Brawl Black Veil
War of Ages - And I thought the stage presence of the last two bands was good. These guys were easily the best of the three opening bands, musically and otherwise. The Pennslyvania quintet brought a Hatebreed-level energy to the stage, sparking the crowd into a real frenzy. Speaking of Hatebreed, the vocalist reminded me a lot of Jamey Jasta, not just in his appearance and connection with the crowd on stage, but in his vocals as well. Indeed, the music had somewhat of a Hatebreed vibe to it, with inspiring lyrics about victory and perseverance, but the band also provides plenty of good guitar work and melody as well. The riffs were catchy, the choruses were infectious, and the solos were plentiful and well-crafted, courtesy of guitarists Branon Bernatowicz and Steve Brown. Most of the solos were performed right in front of me as well. All six songs in their set were great, but among the standouts was Failure, a song off their latest album Eternal, with its great opening guitar riff and beautiful clean vocals in the chorus, and their closer, All-Consuming Fire, which switches between a slower breakdown tempo with some cool guitar leads and a faster tempo led by Leroy Hamp's vocals. Hamp remarked that this was one of the craziest Michigan shows he had ever played, and I believe him. The energy level on the floor spiked during their performance, with plenty of pits and push behind me as they played. Like It Lies Within, they were incredibly gracious on stage and appreciative of us coming out and made that clear at every opportunity. With the set they played, I'm grateful they were on this tour as well. Although it seemed much shorter compared to Straight Line Stitch's, War of Ages's set made me a new fan of the band and got the crowd all riled up for Times of Grace. I hope to catch them again on another tour soon, because I would love to see more from them. 8/10
Setlist:
Through the Flames Eternal Indecision Strength Within Failure All Consuming Fire
Times of Grace - Not many bands with only one album have generated as much mainstream buzz as Times of Grace. Recorded completely by only Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and former KSE vocalist Jesse Leach, the debut album The Hymn of a Broken Man brought many metalcore fans longing for the days of Alive Or Just Breathing-era Killswitch some nostalgia, as well as a new band to get behind. Even before the set began, there were plenty of Killswitch fanboys in the crowd going crazy when Joel Stroezel, another current KSE guitarist and touring guitarist for Times of Grace, came out to tune his guitar. Finally, about a half-hour after War of Ages finished, Adam D took the stage (without a cape this time) and yelled, "Are you guys ready to do this shit?!?!" Following the huge roar from the crowd, the opening for the first track of Hymn of a Broken Man, Strength In Numbers, started to play over the PA, the sound of soldiers marching ominously preceding what was to come. When the live music kicked in and everyone started playing, Jesse took the stage for the first time to yell out the opening lines, "One love! One truth! One destiny!" Strength In Numbers is easily one of my favorites on the album, switching between the march tempo of the verses to a faster one in the chorus, with a cool little guitar riff serving as the bridge between the two. Jesse's screams were on from the start, culminating in the chorus and the powerful "We struggle, we suffer, so we must come together...." lines performed in tandem with touring bassist Daniel Struble. Also worthy of mention was the solo Adam D played and nailed right in front of me during this song. It was an excellent beginning to a set, and their follow-up was just as good: the third song off the album, Willing. This one showed Jesse's range and power as a clean vocalist, as his voice soared during the entire song, accompanied by more nice guitar work in the verses and a short soli section. Undoubtedly the "I'd give it all, I'd give it all..." line was the best part of the song, with Jesse left on his own to shine. Hope Remains, the next song, brought a mix of clean and screaming vocals. Like the previous two songs, however, it featured a catchy and uplifting chorus courtesy of Jesse and Struble, along with another great guitar solo from Adam D. Fight For Life, another favorite of mine from the album, followed, a pretty heavy song driven by a groove-laden riff started off by a bass intro. I enjoyed the hell out of this one, especially chanting "FIGHT! FOR! LIFE!" over and over with Struble, whose mic stand was conveniently right in front of me. Once this was over, the band took a brief pause for Adam D to say some things, then he opened up the next song, Until The End of Days, himself with some pretty good vocals of his own. While this song does have its heavy parts with some great screaming from Jesse, the vocal game of tag between Adam and Jesse is what took center stage in this song. Compared to the rest of their stuff, it was different and pretty cool to watch live. The band then started In The Arms of Mercy, with Adam warning everyone in advance that the next song would be Live In Love, the best song on their album imo. Not surprisingly, I thought it was the best song of the set as well. The alternating screaming and singing vocals in the verses were great, and Adam and Jesse were on point with the harmonies in the chorus. Coupled with a few infectious guitar riffs in the prechorus and the bridge, this song epitomizes how good Times of Grace is for me. I absolutely loved it. Worlds Apart was the unfortunate song to follow Live In Love, and while it paled in comparison and is probably one of the weaker songs on the album for me, it kept the crowd interested and had an awesome Adam solo in the second half. The End of Eternity featured Adam and Jesse trading off on vocals as the song started slow, then gets heavier and darker as it goes on as the guitars come in with full force and Jesse moves to screams. One of the more interesting songs in the set, The End of Eternity served as a change of pace before the set's final push. After a short jam, the band went into the title track of their debut, returning to the effective formula of great riffs and a catchy chorus, especially with the chorus sung in so many different combinations of screaming and singing. It was another song in the list of great ones they featured tonight. After this, the band announced they had one song left, and both Jesse and Adam expressed their gratitude for how well the album and the tour has been received, noting that touring was not part of the plan when the album was being made. With that, they went into Where The Spirit Leads Me, one of the more straightforward songs on the album with a simple riff and a decent if not unspectacular chorus. While not one of the best songs on the album, it provided great closure on a great set. The band left the stage with the crowd clamoring for one more song, but the lights came on and the roadies started packing equipment away, signaling that it would not come. Times of Grace is probably the closest to old Killswitch I'm ever going to see. Regardless of what Adam and Jesse did in the past, however, what they've done in the present is create an album that puts Adam's other band to shame and create a simple but effective live show where the focus is on the music. I hope this isn't the last we hear from this band, because Adam and Jesse have proven time and time again they can make great art off the stage and entertain on it. 9/10
Setlist:
Strength in Numbers Willing Hope Remains Fight for Life Until the End of Days In the Arms of Mercy Live in Love Worlds Apart The End of Eternity Hymn of a Broken Man Where the Spirit Leads Me
Underoath(headliner) - They did ok, nothing really special, the drummer was cool though, met him and and the singer outside the venue, both were cool dudes, but again their show was ok - 5/10
Thursday - They surprised me a little bit, i was expecting a boring, bathroom break band, but they were the second best band of the night - 6/10
A Skylit Drive - One of the 3 worst bands I've seen live, absolutely horrible - 1/10
Animals As Leaders - Absolutely incredible, Tosin Abasi is a guitar genius, the drummer impressed me as well, great presence, great sound, great setlist, i have a feeling these guys will be bigger than BTBAM in a few years after 2 or 3 more albums - 9/10
2/26 Ke$ha: Get $leazy Tour WSG Beardo The Fillmore Detroit
I got to The Fillmore around 4:20 and there were already about 20 people in line. I stood in line until I saw two girls sitting in what looks like to be another line. I went over there and talked to the security management and he said that it was the fast lane. After talking with him for awhile, he let me get in the fast lane. That meant that I would get in before the others in the first line that I was in. After that I knew I would get close to rail The doors weren't until 7:00
After being let in the venue, I just went straight down the stairs to the main floor and got behind a few girls who I knew and waited for another hour till Beardo got on. During that time the crowd was already pushing people back and forth like they were at Whitechapel which was playing down the street.
Beardo- Beardo came on 10 mins late than what he was suppose to. He dressed like he came from an 80's metal band or something like that. He parodied a few songs and got the crowd going. I didn't know anything by him, but the crowd liked him. -Pass
Ke$ha- There is a Goddess and her name is Ke$ha. The only reason why anyone came out last night was because of her and she really put on a show. She started out with a lot of smoke effects coming out and her on an elevated platform. She stayed on that platform for about five songs, until she came down closer to the crowd. After seeing her in pictures and videos, I have to say that she is very gorgeous. She had a full band play on all sides of her, but they were all contained in a square like shape. For the first five songs she had lots of effects and props for her to use. She also had on this headset that resembles a Turtle Beach like headset. The crowd and I knew every word and we sang all night long. The bass in her first song 'Sleazy' sent chills down my spine and I knew I was in for a night. After she finally came down off the platform she said, "I want to see everyone on their worst fucking behavior!" She preceded to play her new hit single titled 'Blow' and everyone went crazy and started jumping up and dancing. After hearing people say that she couldn't sing live....Well you have to see her in person because she hit everything spot on.
The props made everything 10x better. Ke$ha would go on and off on guitar, switch out of different costumes, and even shoot glitter and confetti at the crowd. One of the props involved a dancing pear and a dancing penis during the song 'Grow A Pear' where she picked a guy in the audience (not me) and sat him in a chair. During that song a guy in a Santa Clause outfit and a few of her dancers tied the kid up in the chair. Ke$ha would then precede to give the kid a mini lap dance and mess with his head. I really wished that I was that kid on stage. Before she picked the guy, she would tell a story about the reason behind the song 'Grow A Pear'. She said something along the lines of, "There was this guy I once dated and he was very good in bed, but he always wanted to talk. Fuck that" All of us guys started giving the thumbs down with Ke$ha about that one. Ke$ha would usually tell a story or something quick about certain songs. For Backstabber she said something like, "This song is about this bitch who kept talking shit." Before C U Next Tuesday she said, "This song is about a cunt of a boyfriend who I found out had another girlfriend. Let's just say, I left his ass."
She played her two hit songs last. 'Your Love Is My Drug' and 'Tik Tok'. We all sang along to both and the crowd went super crazy for 'Tik Tok'. Made me feel like I was at a metal show. Ke$ha left the stage after that and we all started chanting "Ke$ha". Ke$ha and her crew came out dressing in a different costume and said, "This song is for all of you guys to be your fucking selves and don't let anyone get you down!" She played 'We R Who We R' and the crowd went crazy. After that she left the stage again and the guy in the Santa Clause costume took the mic and that's when the cover of '(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)' started. It was actually better than what I thought it would be. The guy in the Santa Clause costume did most of the rapping. During the cover a guy ran out and started throwing condoms at people. Ke$ha came back out and started rapping to the song and would do different shenanigans like pulling down her guitarist pants, shooting more glitter and confetti out, and kissing one of her female backup singers.
It was the best show that I've been to and I would love to see her again. There was some dumb shit that happened after the show, but I'm not even mad anymore about it. Her show was so good that I really don't want to see anything else this year. Hopefully she releases a new album this year and goes back on tour next year. The next time it will be an arena and I won't be as close as I was, but that's ok. 12/10
Setlist as follows Sleazy Take It Off (Fuck Him) He's A DJ Dirty Picture Blow Blah Blah Blah Party At A Rich Dude's House Backstabber The Harold Song C U Next Tuesday Animal Dinosaur Grow A Pear Your Love Is My Drug Tik Tok Encore: We R Who We R (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) (Cover)
I'll start off by saying that Glen Benton walked past me twice. It was interesting.....
The Review:
Pathology: Their new singer was much better than expected, although I couldn't help but laugh at every intro being "Ok, this next song is called OOOOYOAORFOGZOFOHOODFHOSFDHOSDFHSHFSSF". They had a very energetic and tight performance and their drummer was fucking great. I'd definitely recommend checking them out.
Neuraxis: I was interested in seeing these guys, but they overall put on a pretty bland performance. They are all talent musicians and I like their music, but their set seemed to blend together to the point of boredom. I've seen worse openers, though.
My friend and I went next door to the Greek restaurant and got cream sodas (fuckyea.jpg). We just hung around outside talking to some regulars for majority of Blackguard's set. We finally went in, and to my surprise, they were incredibly gay. Thankfully they were starting their last song when we got in. The guitarists obviously wanted to be in Dimmu Borgir, while the terrible vocalist obviously wanted to be inside a dudes's ass. He sucked. I also liked the pretty keyboard nonsense that was obviously just thrown in so they could call themselves a folk band. Fuck you Blackguard.
Belphegor: CHEE-CAH-GOOOOOOOR. These guys really surprised me. This was their first show on the tour. They played scary noises on the PA before they went on, which was kind of dumb. As soon as they walked on stage, the only thing left on my mind was how evil this fucking performance was going to be, and that it was. These guys put on one of the best shows I have ever seen, and the singer's scary voice in between songs in hysterical. Adam told me about how excellent it is when the guy says Chicago but I never thought it would be as good as it is. By the end of the night, a good portion of the crowd was yelling CHEE-CAH-GOOOOOOOOR. The crowd laughed when the vocalist was introducing the last song in his voice, "THIS IS OUR LAST SONG, AND IT IS CALLED.......whatever."
Deicide: A legendary band which can now quite possibly be called a death metal supergroup, Deicide came to destroy. Glen Benton gave us his very best indecipherable jibberish vocals, and the band was in top form. He also said our pizza sucked (FUCK YOU) and said not to tell anyone but he hates Canada (you talked shit on my pizza so I'm spreading the word, Glenny). Ralph Santolla was easily the highlight of the performance, his leads were spot on. It was also cool to see Jack Owen playing the same model guitar as me (Ibanez Les Paul copies ftw). So yeah, all in all, good stuff folks.
Deicide tour shirts were 30 (GAY) and reprints of older albums were 25. Pathology shirts were 20, which was a bit surprising. Cream soda from the Greek place next door was one dollar. Also, I guess Blackguard are filming a video at Reggie's (same place) at 11:00 am today. The instructions say to "wear your most metal outfits." No thanks.
Go to this tour if it's coming by you, the addition of Belphegor makes it a must see.
TUPAC IS DEAD/THE LEGEND IS GONE/THEY SAYIN TUPAC'S BACK?/DEM NIGGAS WRONG
Comments
Like Ozzy the previous weekend, getting to the venue and finding parking was no trouble at all. Downtown Pontiac is no more than 15 minutes away, and while it's certainly more of a ghost town since the Detroit Lions left the Pontiac Silverdome, it still attracts a good amount of club shows with its myriad of good venues. In this case, it was the Eagle Theater, and it doesn't get much easier with cheap parking directly across the street from the doors. Doors were scheduled to open at 6, but when I arrived at 6:15, there was still a line forming outside the theater, so I took my place in it and waited.....and waited and waited. It would be another hour before the venue finally started letting people in, and in 32-degree weather, this was not a fun wait. When the time finally arrived, I bolted inside and took my place at the left side of the stage. About 30 minutes later, when everyone had adequately thawed, the local opener took the stage.
It Lies Within - A band from Flint, MI that has apparently been on the scene in the Midwest for about 8 years. This was news to me after I found this out after their performance. Looking back on it, though, it's not surprising. This band got the crowd, which was still leaking in at this point, into it right away with their energy on stage. Everyone except the drummer was moving around and jumping up and down, and the crowd responded pretty well the entire set. It took the music a little longer to match the quality of their stage performance, however. Though the riffs were solid, the vocals were a bit off, most notably during the first song, when the guitarist sounded pretty bad singing during the chorus. The vocalist's cleans weren't fantastic at first either. They seemed to get better as the set went on, though, and before long they sounded pretty good all around. They're an incredibly humble and gracious bunch as well, thanking the fans at every opportunity for coming out early and catching their set. Though their music can probably be characterized as only better-than-average metalcore, their energy on stage and clear connection with the crowd was noted and appreciated. Hopefully a band like this will continue to get opening slots with some bigger acts and possibly get on a US tour with a major label band down the road. They seem to have earned it. 6/10
Straight Line Stitch - One of the bands on Mayhem's latest edition of the Hot Topic/Silver Star/whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-it stage, Straight Line Stitch is another band I knew of by reputation only. I knew they were a female-fronted band and their music supposedly sucks, but that's about it. For the latter reason, I kept my expectations low and figured that, at worst, I could skip them at Mayhem without feeling like I missed anything. Like It Lies Within, the band came out and provided a lot of energy from the start. The singer, Alexis Brown, was a maniac on stage, with her windmill headbanging rivaling that of Mark Osegueda's (Death Angel), her dreads creating an impressive sight. The drummer was entertaining to watch as well, pounding away at his kit with increasing ferocity, bringing back memories of the mighty Morgan Rose behind the kit. Their music, like It Lies Within's, couldn't quite measure up to their presence on stage for me. With an exception or two, a lot of their set consisted of much of the same, which was heavy, heavy, and some more heavy. This is fine in smaller doses, but after a while the edge dulls and it's boring. To their credit, they did incorporate some guitar solos, but most of them sounded like they were created while channeling Kerry King and Kirk Hammett, i.e. sloppy with lots of wah-wah thrown in. In short, I'd classify them as a heavier, less-awesome version of Sevendust. With their stage presence, they might have something here with the addition of some melody. For now, however, they are treading the line into deathcore with their stuff. One less band to worry about at Mayhem. 4/10
Setlist:
Tear Down the Sky
Adult Cinema
Never See the Day
Taste of Ashes
What You Do to Me
Ballroom Brawl
Black Veil
Setlist:
Through the Flames
Eternal
Indecision
Strength Within
Failure
All Consuming Fire
Times of Grace - Not many bands with only one album have generated as much mainstream buzz as Times of Grace. Recorded completely by only Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and former KSE vocalist Jesse Leach, the debut album The Hymn of a Broken Man brought many metalcore fans longing for the days of Alive Or Just Breathing-era Killswitch some nostalgia, as well as a new band to get behind. Even before the set began, there were plenty of Killswitch fanboys in the crowd going crazy when Joel Stroezel, another current KSE guitarist and touring guitarist for Times of Grace, came out to tune his guitar. Finally, about a half-hour after War of Ages finished, Adam D took the stage (without a cape this time) and yelled, "Are you guys ready to do this shit?!?!" Following the huge roar from the crowd, the opening for the first track of Hymn of a Broken Man, Strength In Numbers, started to play over the PA, the sound of soldiers marching ominously preceding what was to come. When the live music kicked in and everyone started playing, Jesse took the stage for the first time to yell out the opening lines, "One love! One truth! One destiny!" Strength In Numbers is easily one of my favorites on the album, switching between the march tempo of the verses to a faster one in the chorus, with a cool little guitar riff serving as the bridge between the two. Jesse's screams were on from the start, culminating in the chorus and the powerful "We struggle, we suffer, so we must come together...." lines performed in tandem with touring bassist Daniel Struble. Also worthy of mention was the solo Adam D played and nailed right in front of me during this song. It was an excellent beginning to a set, and their follow-up was just as good: the third song off the album, Willing. This one showed Jesse's range and power as a clean vocalist, as his voice soared during the entire song, accompanied by more nice guitar work in the verses and a short soli section. Undoubtedly the "I'd give it all, I'd give it all..." line was the best part of the song, with Jesse left on his own to shine. Hope Remains, the next song, brought a mix of clean and screaming vocals. Like the previous two songs, however, it featured a catchy and uplifting chorus courtesy of Jesse and Struble, along with another great guitar solo from Adam D. Fight For Life, another favorite of mine from the album, followed, a pretty heavy song driven by a groove-laden riff started off by a bass intro. I enjoyed the hell out of this one, especially chanting "FIGHT! FOR! LIFE!" over and over with Struble, whose mic stand was conveniently right in front of me. Once this was over, the band took a brief pause for Adam D to say some things, then he opened up the next song, Until The End of Days, himself with some pretty good vocals of his own. While this song does have its heavy parts with some great screaming from Jesse, the vocal game of tag between Adam and Jesse is what took center stage in this song. Compared to the rest of their stuff, it was different and pretty cool to watch live. The band then started In The Arms of Mercy, with Adam warning everyone in advance that the next song would be Live In Love, the best song on their album imo. Not surprisingly, I thought it was the best song of the set as well. The alternating screaming and singing vocals in the verses were great, and Adam and Jesse were on point with the harmonies in the chorus. Coupled with a few infectious guitar riffs in the prechorus and the bridge, this song epitomizes how good Times of Grace is for me. I absolutely loved it. Worlds Apart was
the unfortunate song to follow Live In Love, and while it paled in comparison and is probably one of the weaker songs on the album for me, it kept the crowd interested and had an awesome Adam solo in the second half. The End of Eternity featured Adam and Jesse trading off on vocals as the song started slow, then gets heavier and darker as it goes on as the guitars come in with full force and Jesse moves to screams. One of the more interesting songs in the set, The End of Eternity served as a change of pace before the set's final push. After a short jam, the band went into the title track of their debut, returning to the effective formula of great riffs and a catchy chorus, especially with the chorus sung in so many different combinations of screaming and singing. It was another song in the list of great ones they featured tonight. After this, the band announced they had one song left, and both Jesse and Adam expressed their gratitude for how well the album and the tour has been received, noting that touring was not part of the plan when the album was being made. With that, they went into Where The Spirit Leads Me, one of the more straightforward songs on the album with a simple riff and a decent if not unspectacular chorus. While not one of the best songs on the album, it provided great closure on a great set. The band left the stage with the crowd clamoring for one more song, but the lights came on and the roadies started packing equipment away, signaling that it would not come. Times of Grace is probably the closest to old Killswitch I'm ever going to see. Regardless of what Adam and Jesse did in the past, however, what they've done in the present is create an album that puts Adam's other band to shame and create a simple but effective live show where the focus is on the music. I hope this isn't the last we hear from this band, because Adam and Jesse have proven time and time again they can make great art off the stage and entertain on it. 9/10
Setlist:
Strength in Numbers
Willing
Hope Remains
Fight for Life
Until the End of Days
In the Arms of Mercy
Live in Love
Worlds Apart
The End of Eternity
Hymn of a Broken Man
Where the Spirit Leads Me
the forgotton one and fall from grace would be epic live.
House Of Blues in Orlando, FL
Underoath(headliner) - They did ok, nothing really special, the drummer was cool though, met him and and the singer outside the venue, both were cool dudes, but again their show was ok - 5/10
Thursday - They surprised me a little bit, i was expecting a boring, bathroom break band, but they were the second best band of the night - 6/10
A Skylit Drive - One of the 3 worst bands I've seen live, absolutely horrible - 1/10
Animals As Leaders - Absolutely incredible, Tosin Abasi is a guitar genius, the drummer impressed me as well, great presence, great sound, great setlist, i have a feeling these guys will be bigger than BTBAM in a few years after 2 or 3 more albums - 9/10
2/26
Ke$ha: Get $leazy Tour WSG Beardo
The Fillmore Detroit
I got to The Fillmore around 4:20 and there were already about 20 people in line. I stood in line until I saw two girls sitting in what looks like to be another line. I went over there and talked to the security management and he said that it was the fast lane. After talking with him for awhile, he let me get in the fast lane. That meant that I would get in before the others in the first line that I was in. After that I knew I would get close to rail The doors weren't until 7:00
After being let in the venue, I just went straight down the stairs to the main floor and got behind a few girls who I knew and waited for another hour till Beardo got on. During that time the crowd was already pushing people back and forth like they were at Whitechapel which was playing down the street.
Beardo- Beardo came on 10 mins late than what he was suppose to. He dressed like he came from an 80's metal band or something like that. He parodied a few songs and got the crowd going. I didn't know anything by him, but the crowd liked him. -Pass
Ke$ha- There is a Goddess and her name is Ke$ha. The only reason why anyone came out last night was because of her and she really put on a show. She started out with a lot of smoke effects coming out and her on an elevated platform. She stayed on that platform for about five songs, until she came down closer to the crowd. After seeing her in pictures and videos, I have to say that she is very gorgeous. She had a full band play on all sides of her, but they were all contained in a square like shape. For the first five songs she had lots of effects and props for her to use. She also had on this headset that resembles a Turtle Beach like headset. The crowd and I knew every word and we sang all night long. The bass in her first song 'Sleazy' sent chills down my spine and I knew I was in for a night. After she finally came down off the platform she said, "I want to see everyone on their worst fucking behavior!" She preceded to play her new hit single titled 'Blow' and everyone went crazy and started jumping up and dancing. After hearing people say that she couldn't sing live....Well you have to see her in person because she hit everything spot on.
The props made everything 10x better. Ke$ha would go on and off on guitar, switch out of different costumes, and even shoot glitter and confetti at the crowd. One of the props involved a dancing pear and a dancing penis during the song 'Grow A Pear' where she picked a guy in the audience (not me) and sat him in a chair. During that song a guy in a Santa Clause outfit and a few of her dancers tied the kid up in the chair. Ke$ha would then precede to give the kid a mini lap dance and mess with his head. I really wished that I was that kid on stage. Before she picked the guy, she would tell a story about the reason behind the song 'Grow A Pear'. She said something along the lines of, "There was this guy I once dated and he was very good in bed, but he always wanted to talk. Fuck that" All of us guys started giving the thumbs down with Ke$ha about that one. Ke$ha would usually tell a story or something quick about certain songs. For Backstabber she said something like, "This song is about this bitch who kept talking shit." Before C U Next Tuesday she said, "This song is about a cunt of a boyfriend who I found out had another girlfriend. Let's just say, I left his ass."
She played her two hit songs last. 'Your Love Is My Drug' and 'Tik Tok'. We all sang along to both and the crowd went super crazy for 'Tik Tok'. Made me feel like I was at a metal show. Ke$ha left the stage after that and we all started chanting "Ke$ha". Ke$ha and her crew came out dressing in a different costume and said, "This song is for all of you guys to be your fucking selves and don't let anyone get you down!" She played 'We R Who We R' and the crowd went crazy. After that she left the stage again and the guy in the Santa Clause costume took the mic and that's when the cover of '(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)' started. It was actually better than what I thought it would be. The guy in the Santa Clause costume did most of the rapping. During the cover a guy ran out and started throwing condoms at people. Ke$ha came back out and started rapping to the song and would do different shenanigans like pulling down her guitarist pants, shooting more glitter and confetti out, and kissing one of her female backup singers.
It was the best show that I've been to and I would love to see her again. There was some dumb shit that happened after the show, but I'm not even mad anymore about it. Her show was so good that I really don't want to see anything else this year. Hopefully she releases a new album this year and goes back on tour next year. The next time it will be an arena and I won't be as close as I was, but that's ok. 12/10
Setlist as follows
Sleazy
Take It Off
(Fuck Him) He's A DJ
Dirty Picture
Blow
Blah Blah Blah
Party At A Rich Dude's House
Backstabber
The Harold Song
C U Next Tuesday
Animal
Dinosaur
Grow A Pear
Your Love Is My Drug
Tik Tok
Encore:
We R Who We R
(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) (Cover)
Fail
I'll start off by saying that Glen Benton walked past me twice. It was interesting.....
The Review:
Pathology: Their new singer was much better than expected, although I couldn't help but laugh at every intro being "Ok, this next song is called OOOOYOAORFOGZOFOHOODFHOSFDHOSDFHSHFSSF". They had a very energetic and tight performance and their drummer was fucking great. I'd definitely recommend checking them out.
Neuraxis: I was interested in seeing these guys, but they overall put on a pretty bland performance. They are all talent musicians and I like their music, but their set seemed to blend together to the point of boredom. I've seen worse openers, though.
My friend and I went next door to the Greek restaurant and got cream sodas (fuckyea.jpg). We just hung around outside talking to some regulars for majority of Blackguard's set. We finally went in, and to my surprise, they were incredibly gay. Thankfully they were starting their last song when we got in. The guitarists obviously wanted to be in Dimmu Borgir, while the terrible vocalist obviously wanted to be inside a dudes's ass. He sucked. I also liked the pretty keyboard nonsense that was obviously just thrown in so they could call themselves a folk band. Fuck you Blackguard.
Belphegor: CHEE-CAH-GOOOOOOOR. These guys really surprised me. This was their first show on the tour. They played scary noises on the PA before they went on, which was kind of dumb. As soon as they walked on stage, the only thing left on my mind was how evil this fucking performance was going to be, and that it was. These guys put on one of the best shows I have ever seen, and the singer's scary voice in between songs in hysterical. Adam told me about how excellent it is when the guy says Chicago but I never thought it would be as good as it is. By the end of the night, a good portion of the crowd was yelling CHEE-CAH-GOOOOOOOOR. The crowd laughed when the vocalist was introducing the last song in his voice, "THIS IS OUR LAST SONG, AND IT IS CALLED.......whatever."
Deicide: A legendary band which can now quite possibly be called a death metal supergroup, Deicide came to destroy. Glen Benton gave us his very best indecipherable jibberish vocals, and the band was in top form. He also said our pizza sucked (FUCK YOU) and said not to tell anyone but he hates Canada (you talked shit on my pizza so I'm spreading the word, Glenny). Ralph Santolla was easily the highlight of the performance, his leads were spot on. It was also cool to see Jack Owen playing the same model guitar as me (Ibanez Les Paul copies ftw). So yeah, all in all, good stuff folks.
Deicide tour shirts were 30 (GAY) and reprints of older albums were 25. Pathology shirts were 20, which was a bit surprising. Cream soda from the Greek place next door was one dollar. Also, I guess Blackguard are filming a video at Reggie's (same place) at 11:00 am today. The instructions say to "wear your most metal outfits." No thanks.
Go to this tour if it's coming by you, the addition of Belphegor makes it a must see.
Ke$ha really knows how to put on a show.