If you loved Dream Theater live, you would love Symphony X live. Romeo is just as amazing on guitar as Petrucci, and Russell Allen kills LaBrie when it comes to live vocals.
We had our house sitter who is our stripper friend come over around 10. Fooled around for a while and left for the venue around noon. It was about a 300 mile drive and wasn't that bad getting there until we got about 5 miles away from the venue and there was a shit ton of new road work that my GPS didn't have maps for. We ended up getting lost When my GPS finally came back, we were like 10 miles away from the venue which really pissed me off.
So, we get to Jaxx around 6 and there was only a dozen of people outside. So, we decided to go over to 7-11 and get slurpees. I clogged their toilet then proceeded to go get in line. I have to say that Jaxx is the most piss poor, shittily managed, venue that I've ever had the disadvantage of going to. Door were at 7 and at 655 a fat ass came out and started checking IDs. Asshole gave me a hard time because he couldn't figure out how to read a NC license. 7:00 comes by, 7:15..... around 7:40 they finally open the doors. I quickly go to the merch stand and buy a surtur rising tour shirt and get a chair for Judy. The show was supposed to start at 8:00. Amon Amarth did not come on stage until 8:55.
Set 1: Surtur rising in it's entirety. I have to admit I think my expectations for this set were a little too high. Most of the crowd was not really familiar w/ the material and admittedly there is a couple songs from myself as well that I haven't listened too all that much. Another reason why I despise Jaxx is because for some reason they decided it would be a good idea to run the drums, bass, and vocals through both stacks but run the guitars seperately. So, I was standing on the right side of the stage and one guitar was completely over powering the other. Regardless, what was coming through the stack sounded just like the album. Johan's vocals were spot on. Another sound complaint I have about Jaxx is they turn their highs up WAY too much. There were certain notes on the guitar that would physically hurt my ears even WITH earplugs. Crowd really didn't move that much except for Destroyer of the Universe and A beast Am I. The last stand of frej was heavy as fuck and Wrath of the Norrisman was brutal. Lights go down, Amon Amarth leaves stage and I spend 20 minutes waiting in line for the slowest fucking bar tenders on the planet trying to get a water but Amon Amarth comes back on stage even before I can get my water. 9/10
Set 2: As soon as the lights went down the second time, you could tell the real show was about to start. During the first riffs of TOTTG you could tell the first set was Amon Amarth opening up for Amon Amarth, literally and figuratively. The energy was incredible. The pit was going constantly. Then they played it, the song that I've been watiing for years to hear live, With Odin on our side. My favorite Amon Amarth song. That song live was the best experience of my entire concert life. The place went insane for The guardian of Asguard as well as Asator. You literally could not stand still for more than a second w/out being pushed into. The only thing that disappointed me about this set was the medley. While it was awesome to see Gods of War played live, I wish it would have been in its entirety. Also, they cut out the best parts of Death and Fire. The crowds participation for the Pursuit of Vikings was thunderous. All in all, this is quite possibly the best show I've been to in my entire life. 13.14 / 10
If you are even remotely a fan of Amon Amarth, this is the end all, be all show that you should go to or should have gone to. I doubt I will ever see them in finer form.
Comments
We had our house sitter who is our stripper friend come over around 10. Fooled around for a while and left for the venue around noon. It was about a 300 mile drive and wasn't that bad getting there until we got about 5 miles away from the venue and there was a shit ton of new road work that my GPS didn't have maps for. We ended up getting lost When my GPS finally came back, we were like 10 miles away from the venue which really pissed me off.
So, we get to Jaxx around 6 and there was only a dozen of people outside. So, we decided to go over to 7-11 and get slurpees. I clogged their toilet then proceeded to go get in line. I have to say that Jaxx is the most piss poor, shittily managed, venue that I've ever had the disadvantage of going to. Door were at 7 and at 655 a fat ass came out and started checking IDs. Asshole gave me a hard time because he couldn't figure out how to read a NC license. 7:00 comes by, 7:15..... around 7:40 they finally open the doors. I quickly go to the merch stand and buy a surtur rising tour shirt and get a chair for Judy. The show was supposed to start at 8:00. Amon Amarth did not come on stage until 8:55.
Set 1: Surtur rising in it's entirety. I have to admit I think my expectations for this set were a little too high. Most of the crowd was not really familiar w/ the material and admittedly there is a couple songs from myself as well that I haven't listened too all that much. Another reason why I despise Jaxx is because for some reason they decided it would be a good idea to run the drums, bass, and vocals through both stacks but run the guitars seperately. So, I was standing on the right side of the stage and one guitar was completely over powering the other. Regardless, what was coming through the stack sounded just like the album. Johan's vocals were spot on. Another sound complaint I have about Jaxx is they turn their highs up WAY too much. There were certain notes on the guitar that would physically hurt my ears even WITH earplugs. Crowd really didn't move that much except for Destroyer of the Universe and A beast Am I. The last stand of frej was heavy as fuck and Wrath of the Norrisman was brutal. Lights go down, Amon Amarth leaves stage and I spend 20 minutes waiting in line for the slowest fucking bar tenders on the planet trying to get a water but Amon Amarth comes back on stage even before I can get my water. 9/10
Set 2: As soon as the lights went down the second time, you could tell the real show was about to start. During the first riffs of TOTTG you could tell the first set was Amon Amarth opening up for Amon Amarth, literally and figuratively. The energy was incredible. The pit was going constantly. Then they played it, the song that I've been watiing for years to hear live, With Odin on our side. My favorite Amon Amarth song. That song live was the best experience of my entire concert life. The place went insane for The guardian of Asguard as well as Asator. You literally could not stand still for more than a second w/out being pushed into. The only thing that disappointed me about this set was the medley. While it was awesome to see Gods of War played live, I wish it would have been in its entirety. Also, they cut out the best parts of Death and Fire. The crowds participation for the Pursuit of Vikings was thunderous. All in all, this is quite possibly the best show I've been to in my entire life. 13.14 / 10
If you are even remotely a fan of Amon Amarth, this is the end all, be all show that you should go to or should have gone to. I doubt I will ever see them in finer form.