So once I entered the venue, I found my bro, Lincoln (BrutalDescent from Metalsetlists) and we talked and stuff. He had VIP so he was able to save us some spots in the 2nd row, since the rail was taken up rather quick. So we just talked 'n' stuff. Then the lights grew dim and the Mars Volta started.
I didn't really know what to expect from them. I've heard absolutely nothing but good things about their live performance, but when I saw them back in 2006, their opening set for Red Hot Chili Peppers was just this thick, raspy wall of noise. Not very enjoyable. But it was a completely different story this time around. They fucking kicked ass! Since I don't know much of their material, I was perfectly fine with most of their set being all new material, which sounded great. The only song they played that's already been released is Goliath, which was my favorite. Everyone in the band(discluding the keyboard guys considering I couldn't really tell what they were doing ) is a great musician. The singer really impressed me, not only with his singing abilities but with his great stage presence too. They definitely redeemed themselves this time around.
The Mars Volta 1.Aegis 2.The Whip Hands 3.Molochwalk 4.Dyslexicon 5.Broken English Jam 6.Goliath
So during the wait for Soundgarden, some older lady with a beer in hand was trying to get ahead and pushed her way between me and the dude on rail infront. At first I didn't mind because she's a lady and she's short. But she turned out to be a huge bitch. She started talking to Lincoln, asking him why he was there. He told her for Soundgarden in a kind of "are you fucking kidding me?" tone, and she was completely dumbfounded by the fact because she would never expect some one with his hair style(it's kinda long, a little below the shoulders, but he parts it to the side and was the wavy this across his forhead like what some scene kids do) to like Soundgarden. Then she continually gave him shit about his hair through-out the rest of our conversation. She then asked what kind of music he listened to, to try to convince her that he wasn't an emo kid, so he started naming a bunch of Metal bands, and she had no clue what he was talking about, so that didn't help. After that, she asked how old we were, then showed us pictures of her 15 year-old daughter, who had green hair and was "emo". When she asked where we went to school, Lincoln told her he went to school in Russia, which is true. Then she started like, hella interegating him like we were back in the 50's during the Red Scare or some shit. Then she tried arguing with us about the school system over in Europe, as if it's the same in every country. She was convinced that if he did go to school in Russia, he should be graduated by now, which isn't true. Then she grabbed my arm and was like "When Soundgarden starts, we're gonna rush to the rail and split up the people up front and take their spots!" and I just gave her the "you're a stupid bith" stare. Eventually, she got a text from her boyfriend of husband, telling her that he was near the back of the venue. After minutes of contemplating, she went back there to look for him, thank God. Literally seconds after that, Soundgadern took the stage.
The second Soudgarden started the push came. It wasn't so bad for the first couple of songs, but then some tall, fat guys came about. Around the third song, somebody couldn't take being in the crowd and so she was carried out by some of the guard dudes, and after that happened, Lincoln was able to grab some rail. Later a little spot opened to my right and I grabbed on to it to make sure the big fat guys wouldn't push me back or anything. I eventually grabbed some rail to my left too. When one of the big guys saw, he told me if I let him grab the rail to my right, he'd protect me, so I took the offer and let him have some rail. After some moving around, my right arm was pressing against this one chick's breats, and stayed their for at least 5 song or so, so it was kind of awkward... It was around then Lincoln and I saw the bitch from earlier being dragged out of the show, to which we laughed and bumped fists. I eventually found some rail to grab hold of to my left, took it, then moved my right arm away, as I could my arm was starting to annoy that chick. I then apologized, then continued to enjoy the show. After that, nothing to significant happened, crowd wise.
Soundgarden were phenomenal. They played a great set. Chris Cornell is an awesome singer, probably one of my favorites, so it was awesome to see that. I was actually really impressed with the bassist. He has some really great lines, and made the bass really present during the set. The guitar player was wearing a Neurosis shirt too, so that was cool. All else I can really say is that I went ape-shit during Jesus Christ Pose, since that's my favorite Soundgarden song. Great show.
Soundgarden Searching With My Good Eye Closed Spoonman Room a Thousand Years Wide Jesus Christ Pose Blow Up the Outside World The Day I Tried to Live My Wave Ugly Truth Fell On Black Days Loud Love Drawing Flies Outshined Nothing to Say Rusty Cage Black Hole Sun Black Rain Burden in My Hand Head Down Superunknown 4th of July ----------- Beyond the Wheel Pretty Noose Like Suicide Slaves & Bulldozers
Go there at 3PM and stayed thru Godsmack, left before Disturbed. Met Jamie Jasta and the rest of Kingdom of Sorrow. Got the military wrist band and it got me one water...yay. Hotter than fuck but kept hydrated and did fine. Don't even have a sun burn bank diown the street from the venue had a sign that said it was 106 degrees.....
All Shall Perish - caught 3 of their songs. not that impressed, but because i did'nt see all of their set i'll give them an incomplete
Kingdom of Sorrow - Last year saw them at Ozzfest without Kirk and in the rain. Much better this year with Kirk, even with the sound cutting out during their second song. Crowd was into it and the pit was going. Meeting them afterwards gives them some extra points 7/10
Suicide Silence - shyt! 0/10
Unearth - would say shyt, but i admit i got my head bobbing to their music 1/10
Machine Head - very loud. could barely hear the vocals and guitars over the bass and drums for the first 2 songs, but once that ironed out, sounded great. they were given a 5 minute warning before they started Halo. out of the 3 times i've seen them, was the most enjoyable. 8/10
In Flames - incomplete - didnt catch any of their set
Trivium - caught up on my reading the mayhem program and rested in my seat. they still suck 1/10
Megadeth - heard Mustaines voice has been off lately but i didnt hear it. spot on. whole set sounded great and i enjoyed it. 9/10
Godsmack - sounded great. best part was the dueling drums. first time i got it up close. its amazing to watch, both are extremely talented drummers
I’ll start this review saying that this is the first time I’ve seen all the bands on the tour, so this is really just my initial live impression of each band. It might be more boring for people who have already seen them. I arrived at the venue around 12:30 with my friend Tyler, and hung out in the shade until they let in people with laminates around 1:30.
DEAD SEASON (Jager opener) - 3/10 For the first half of this band, I was waiting at the other side of the lot for the merch tent to open so I could grab a shirt, so I couldn’t really hear them. After I grabbed a shirt I headed to the Rockstar tent to wait to meet Machine Head, and the tent was right in front of the stage and I could hear/see them perfectly. They’re just a really mediocre metalcore band who isn’t going to get any more popular than they are now. They sounded somewhat solid except for sloppy guitar playing and derpy lyrics.
STRAIGHT LINE STITCH - 2/10 Yet again, I could hear/see this band perfectly from the Rockstar tent, and I wish I couldn’t. Their vocalist sounds like a dying cat and I couldn’t find any redeeming quality in their performance. I give them at least some points because they can at least play their instruments somewhat well.
RED FANG - 8/10 By now, I was getting pissed off because Machine Head was supposed to sign at 2:15 and it was now 2:30. I could hear Red Fang from the tent perfectly but could only see their guitarist. They sounded fantastic. Machine Head eventually showed up at the tent around 2:45 without Robb Flynn, because he was apparently missing. It sort of sucked because I planned on getting a picture with Robb but I ended uo having a pretty sweet but short conversation with Phil Demmel. Wires started playing while I was in the signing and had ended by the time I got up to Red Fang, so I was sad face. The crowd was pretty sparse all day because of the heat and the somewhat unpopular lineup, so I legitimately walked right up to the rail halfway through Red Fang. A moshpit formed behind me during Prehistoric Dog that I jumped into. I then listened to most of the song and headed over to where ASP was going to start.
ALL SHALL PERISH - 7/10 They were mildly disappointing. They had a lot of energy, but pretty much everything sounded the same and I went to go get water and get rail for KOS after 3 songs. Wage Slaves was beautiful
KINGDOM OF SORROW- 9/10 This was a great performance from a great band. I was on rail. The sound cut out halfway through Free the Fallen but got fixed quickly. Good show.
SUICIDE SILENCE - 8/10 They put on an extremely energetic performance and were a lot of fun, but Mitch’s vocals were WAY too high and it felt like it was going to rupture my left eardum or something, because my head was tilted to the right since I was on the rail to the left of the band. I ended up having to put my finger in my left ear for the first 2 songs until the sound guys fixed the obvious problem. I caught their setlist from a roadie while waiting for MH to come on. My left ear still is ringing, 18 hours later. Setlist: Wake Up, Unanswered, You Only Live Once, Fuck Everything, Disengage, Slaves to Substance, No Pity for A Coward
MACHINE HEAD - 10/10 Machine Head was worth every drop of anticipation I put into the band. I was on the rail, nearly in the center, and it was the best show I’ve seen yet. I made eye contact with Robb Flynn for about 10 seconds during the first half of Halo, and he pointed at me. It was goddamn epic. Out of the side stage bands, they had the biggest crowd watching and headbanging. I have whiplash right now because of them. Setlist: Imperium, Beautiful Mourning, Locust, Halo
Trivium – 6/10 I skipped In Flames to recuperate from Machine Head. Trivium started after half an hour and were nothing special. They continually bitched about the fact that most people were sitting and I think they cut their set short because of it. I’m glad they did because I was hungry and needed French fries. Setlist: In Waves, A Gunshot To The Head of Trepidation, Built To Fall, Like Light To Flies, Down From The Sky, Throes of Perdition
Megadeth – 9.5/10 Beautiful show. Definitely an impressive first Megadeth concert. Dave’s voice sounded pretty good (not perfect but not bad by any means). The show was straightforward but impressive. Even the songs I’m not a big fan of like Headcrusher and Wake Up Dead sounded great live. Setlist: Trust, Hangar 18, Wake Up Dead, Headcrusher, A Tout Le Monde, Public Enemy No. 1, Symphony of Destruction, Peace Sells, Holy Wars
Godsmack – 8/10 Good show. Sully Erna sort of sounded like he had a cold though; his voice was higher pitched than usual. Not extremely noticeable though. It was a good time seeing them. Their setlist was the usual.
Disturbed – 7/10 Solid show from a meh band. It was entertaining to hear some old favorites and to watch the screen and pyro. My show had none of the sound problems that Seb was talking about and Draiman sounded fine. Setlist was the usual. I ended up leaving at the beginning of Down with the Sickness and surprisingly beating 99% of traffic.
STRAIGHT LINE STITCH - 2/10 Yet again, I could hear/see this band perfectly from the Rockstar tent, and I wish I couldn’t. Their vocalist sounds like a dying cat and I couldn’t find any redeeming quality in their performance. I give them at least some points because they can at least play their instruments somewhat well.
told you the vocals were bad live....dieing cat...yup. glad i didnt have to sit thru that again
Slayer/Rob Zombie/Exodus - July 21st 2011 - DTE Amphitheater
So yesterday was the Hell On Earth tour and it was a great fucking show. It all started out before I left and logged into my email and saw that I won tickets to summer slaughter from Metal Injection so I was stoked all they way down there. I love DTE even though alot of people hate it when we enter the parking lot you can smell the beer, smoke and everyone having a good time. I go to check out merch as usual and fucking $35 for a t-shirt but I gave in and bought a sweet slayer shirt. As we got to our seats they were right by the soundboard which was cool and it would work out later.
So Exodus came on and they were as I expected an old school thrash band that played a great set but very few people paid attention to. Holy shit I was thinking when Gary Holt was playing his solo's. They opened with The Ballad Of Leonard And Charles which sounded great as it did through their whole set. By half way through their set I got my brother to stand up(he is a huge pussy) and he ended up having fun. Absolutely love Blacklist and that was the highlight of their set for me. As what I thought was a pit opening up it was just like five guys running around and occasionally hitting each other. Other than that a great set and I hope to see them again in a club setting. 8/10 Exodus 1.The Ballad of Leonard and Charles 2.War Is My Shepherd 3.Blacklist 4.Bonded By Blood 5.The Toxic Waltz 6.Strike Of The Beast
I didn't know who was coming next but when I saw behind the curtain Kerry Kings guitar I was like SLAYER. So by this time the amphitheater was pretty full except for the lat 10 rows in the right corner and I was pumped. Slayer came out in full blaze with World Painted Blood which I still love hearing as their opener. Then went right into Hate Worldwide and I was like wait I'm in seats for Slayer and so left and went up onto the hill where was the best Pit I have ever seen on the hill. I have got knocked on my ass so much. I even took a somersault down the hill. After about half their set I went back down to watch the last half of the performance. And last time I saw Slayer they were good but tonight they were great. The sound was crisp and I that was one of the best sets I have ever watched. Seasons In The Abyss was orgasmic and probably my favorite song they played. As Raining Blood kicked in all I could think was Dat Riff. As they played Black Magic and Raining Blood together I was just like Fuck Yeah. Then their closing song Angel Of Death and I just can't get over that scream. Great Song, Great Energy. 10/10 Slayer 1.World Painted Blood 2.Hate Worldwide 3.War Ensemble 4.Postmortem 5.Dittohead 6.Dead Skin Mask 7.Spirit in Black 8.Mandatory Suicide 9.Chemical Warfare 10.Silent Screams 11.Seasons in the Abyss 12.Snuff 13.South of Heaven 14.Raining Blood 15.Black Magic 16.Angel of Death
After Slayer my little brother wanted a slayer shirt and my big brother wouldn't take him so I was stuck taking him. So we buy his shirt and we proceed to walk around the whole venue and then I bought a water and even then Rob Zombie wasn't on. Well he came on really late so he said he would get fined if he wanted play late but for Detroit he said he could make it work. And all through the night he would say things like "that song just cost me $1000". He also told this riveting story about when he played Harpos and how it was a bad idea to serve $1 beer in glass mugs. Now Rob Zombies show is second to none. I thought Slayer had a sweet show and no one could top it but Zombie did. He had a pretty generic set but Pussy Liquor and Mars Needs Women were pretty sweet add ons. Now Rob Zombie must really like Detroit if he is willing to play almost an 30 min. past curfew. Which is $1000 per minute if you play past curfew. Now after they played Dragula it was a quarter past 11 and I was no way will he play another one. So DTE turned on the house lights but Rob came back out to play House Of 1000 Corpses. By the end of that beer was getting thrown and hit the soundboard and the guy was pissed but it was all good. After that I was just like wow. And the sound guys gave my little brother a set-list which made his day. Oh and during Thunderkiss 65 some chick took her top off and my brother was just like 8-> which made me laugh. 10/10 Rob Zombie 1.Jesus Frankenstein 2.Superbeast 3.Scum of the Earth 4.Living Dead Girl 5.More Human Than Human 6.Sick Bubble-Gum 7.Pussy Liquor 8.Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy) 9.Mars Needs Women 10.Thunder Kiss '65 ----- 11.Dragula ------ 12. House of A 1000 Corpses
It was one big clusterfuck on the way out. but other than that it was a kickass show and maybe the best of the year so far for me. I won tickets for summer slaughter and saw a kickass metal show and had some tasty mcdonalds on the way home. Now I can't wait for Mayhem Fest.
I had a ton of fun yesterday in Mansfield despite the blistering heat all day. The day started really early when I woke up early, ate breakfast with my friends and headed to the Comcast Center, arriving at around 12:30. After waiting around for an hour they let us in and the day began.
It was disgustingly hot out, with temperatures in the high 90s/low 100s all day. Staying hydrated was a challenge but my friends and I managed ourselves well through the heat.
The first band that played was Dead Season, the Jager Band. They were awful, one of the worst bands of the day. I walked away halfway through their set. 2/10.
Straight Line Stitch played next and they have the honors of being in my top 5 worst bands ever seen. They were terrible, I watched one song and then proceeded to get as far away from the stage as possible. Ugh. 0/10.
Red Fang played next and they were great. One of the better bands of the day, their whole set was a ton of fun. Nobody moved around for them until the end of their set, but everyone watching was into them. I'll definitely see them live again. 7.5/10.
Reverse Thunder Sharks Malverde Wires Good to Die Prehistoric Dogs
All Shall Perish played next. I was anticipating their set a lot, it was finally my first time seeing them. The crowd was into them, they were the first band all day to get the crowd moving a lot. Their set was great and I can't wait for the new album.
Wage Slaves Gagged, Bound, Shelved, and Forgotten There Is No Business to Be Done on a Dead Planet Procession of Ashes In This Life of Pain There Is Nothing Left Eradication
Next was one of the bands I was most excited for, Kingdom of Sorrow. They were amazing despite sound problems during my favorite song of theirs (Free the Fallen) which they had to cut from the set because of time after their PA blew out. Despite that they played a great set. Seeing Jamey Jasta perform live with any of his projects is always a treat. It was cool to see Kirk Windstein again as well. One of the best sets of the day. 9/10.
Behind the Blackest Tears Free the Fallen (first minute or so until the sound went out) ??? (A song that was supposed to appear on Jasta's solo album) Enlightened to Extinction Begging For the Truth Monuments of Ash Led Into Demise Lead the Ghosts Astray Buried In Black
Suicide Silence played next and like usual, they were awesome. It had been a year since I've seen them last and they sound better than ever. I was a little disappointed that they played only two songs from The Cleansing, but it was a great set regardless. 8.5/10.
Wake Up Unanswered You Only Live Once Fuck Everything Disengage Slaves to Substance No Pity For a Coward
After Suicide Silence I felt like I was going to pass out so I cooled off in the shade and got water during Unearth. I wanted to see them and I'm sure that their set was fun but they aren't worth it for me to pass out during their set.
Once Unearth was just about to finish up, I went to the Revolver Stage and got a great spot a few rows back for Machine Head. I'm so glad they played on the side stage because I wouldn't have been able to feel the intensity of their set on such a big stage. They absolutely killed it on the Revolver Stage, they had the crowd going insane the entire time. Because of time issues they had to cut Aesthetics of Hate from their set, but it didn't put a damper on their performance for me. Fantastic set. 9.5/10.
Imperium Beautiful Mourning Locust Halo
In Flames closed out the side stages with an average set. It was nothing special and the majority of the songs they played sucked but it could have been worse. Anders sounded extremely drunk on stage and just talked aimlessly when they could've had time for another song. Hopefully when I see them on a headlining tour their set will be better, but I (along with everyone else) won't hold my breath. 6/10.
Cloud Connected Alias Pinball Map Deliver Us The Hive Where the Dead Ships Dwell The Quiet Place Take This Life
After In Flames, I bought some merch at the tents with my friends as we made our way to the lawn for the main stage.
We got to the lawn just as Trivium was starting. It was my fourth time seeing them and I honestly could not have cared less about their performance. No one was into it and they didn't sound good at all on the main stage. I would have enjoyed their set more if it were on the side stages, (and if the played Pull Harder) but whatever. Boring set. 5/10.
This might be incomplete/out of order.
In Waves A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation Like Light to the Flies Built to Fall Down From the Sky Throes of Perdition
Up next were the thrash legends Megadeth, my first time seeing them. The crowd was into it, but from the lawn I couldn't get into it as much as I wished. Everyone on the lawn was sitting down and nobody was moving around. The set was still enjoyable though, even if it was nothing out of the ordinary. 7.5/10.
Trust Hangar 18 Wake Up Dead Head Crusher A Tout Le Monde Public Enemy No. 1 Symphony of Destruction Peace Sells Holy Wars...The Punishment Due
Finally, the first rock/metal band I ever listened to took the stage, Godsmack. It was my first time ever seeing them in the 12 years I've been listening to them. I've had opportunities but I was always too young, they were on a shitty bill that wasn't worth the money, or I had no ride. But finally I'm old enough to actually drive and they were on a worthy show, so there was no way I was going to miss it. Their set was so much fun for me because of the serious amounts of nostalgia that I felt during their older songs. The new stuff comes off good live, and they had a great set that mostly everybody enjoyed. The pit on the lawn finally opened up and their were a ton of people moshing. Nobody was sitting down in their seats or the lawn. The hometown band got a great, warm response playing to their home crowd and they along with the fans enjoyed every minute of it. Excellent set, the most fun of the day for me. 9.5/10.
Cryin' Like a Bitch The Enemy Forever Shamed Straight Out of Line Awake Speak Love-Hate-Sex-Pain Voodoo Batalla de Los Tambores Whatever I Stand Alone
It was a group decision to leave before Disturbed to beat traffic and because they play the same set every time you see them. Godsmack were the perfect way to end a very fun day. I can't wait until next year!
Comments
So once I entered the venue, I found my bro, Lincoln (BrutalDescent from Metalsetlists) and we talked and stuff. He had VIP so he was able to save us some spots in the 2nd row, since the rail was taken up rather quick. So we just talked 'n' stuff. Then the lights grew dim and the Mars Volta started.
I didn't really know what to expect from them. I've heard absolutely nothing but good things about their live performance, but when I saw them back in 2006, their opening set for Red Hot Chili Peppers was just this thick, raspy wall of noise. Not very enjoyable. But it was a completely different story this time around. They fucking kicked ass! Since I don't know much of their material, I was perfectly fine with most of their set being all new material, which sounded great. The only song they played that's already been released is Goliath, which was my favorite. Everyone in the band(discluding the keyboard guys considering I couldn't really tell what they were doing
The Mars Volta
1.Aegis
2.The Whip Hands
3.Molochwalk
4.Dyslexicon
5.Broken English Jam
6.Goliath
So during the wait for Soundgarden, some older lady with a beer in hand was trying to get ahead and pushed her way between me and the dude on rail infront. At first I didn't mind because she's a lady and she's short. But she turned out to be a huge bitch. She started talking to Lincoln, asking him why he was there. He told her for Soundgarden in a kind of "are you fucking kidding me?" tone, and she was completely dumbfounded by the fact because she would never expect some one with his hair style(it's kinda long, a little below the shoulders, but he parts it to the side and was the wavy this across his forhead like what some scene kids do) to like Soundgarden. Then she continually gave him shit about his hair through-out the rest of our conversation. She then asked what kind of music he listened to, to try to convince her that he wasn't an emo kid, so he started naming a bunch of Metal bands, and she had no clue what he was talking about, so that didn't help. After that, she asked how old we were, then showed us pictures of her 15 year-old daughter, who had green hair and was "emo". When she asked where we went to school, Lincoln told her he went to school in Russia, which is true. Then she started like, hella interegating him like we were back in the 50's during the Red Scare or some shit. Then she tried arguing with us about the school system over in Europe, as if it's the same in every country. She was convinced that if he did go to school in Russia, he should be graduated by now, which isn't true. Then she grabbed my arm and was like "When Soundgarden starts, we're gonna rush to the rail and split up the people up front and take their spots!" and I just gave her the "you're a stupid bith" stare. Eventually, she got a text from her boyfriend of husband, telling her that he was near the back of the venue. After minutes of contemplating, she went back there to look for him, thank God. Literally seconds after that, Soundgadern took the stage.
The second Soudgarden started the push came. It wasn't so bad for the first couple of songs, but then some tall, fat guys came about. Around the third song, somebody couldn't take being in the crowd and so she was carried out by some of the guard dudes, and after that happened, Lincoln was able to grab some rail. Later a little spot opened to my right and I grabbed on to it to make sure the big fat guys wouldn't push me back or anything. I eventually grabbed some rail to my left too. When one of the big guys saw, he told me if I let him grab the rail to my right, he'd protect me, so I took the offer and let him have some rail. After some moving around, my right arm was pressing against this one chick's breats, and stayed their for at least 5 song or so, so it was kind of awkward... It was around then Lincoln and I saw the bitch from earlier being dragged out of the show, to which we laughed and bumped fists. I eventually found some rail to grab hold of to my left, took it, then moved my right arm away, as I could my arm was starting to annoy that chick. I then apologized, then continued to enjoy the show. After that, nothing to significant happened, crowd wise.
Soundgarden were phenomenal. They played a great set. Chris Cornell is an awesome singer, probably one of my favorites, so it was awesome to see that. I was actually really impressed with the bassist. He has some really great lines, and made the bass really present during the set. The guitar player was wearing a Neurosis shirt too, so that was cool. All else I can really say is that I went ape-shit during Jesus Christ Pose, since that's my favorite Soundgarden song. Great show.
Soundgarden
Searching With My Good Eye Closed
Spoonman
Room a Thousand Years Wide
Jesus Christ Pose
Blow Up the Outside World
The Day I Tried to Live
My Wave
Ugly Truth
Fell On Black Days
Loud Love
Drawing Flies
Outshined
Nothing to Say
Rusty Cage
Black Hole Sun
Black Rain
Burden in My Hand
Head Down
Superunknown
4th of July
-----------
Beyond the Wheel
Pretty Noose
Like Suicide
Slaves & Bulldozers
The Mars Volta 8/10
Soundgarden 9/10
Bitchin'
Go there at 3PM and stayed thru Godsmack, left before Disturbed. Met Jamie Jasta and the rest of Kingdom of Sorrow. Got the military wrist band and it got me one water...yay. Hotter than fuck but kept hydrated and did fine. Don't even have a sun burn
All Shall Perish - caught 3 of their songs. not that impressed, but because i did'nt see all of their set i'll give them an incomplete
Kingdom of Sorrow - Last year saw them at Ozzfest without Kirk and in the rain. Much better this year with Kirk, even with the sound cutting out during their second song. Crowd was into it and the pit was going. Meeting them afterwards gives them some extra points 7/10
Suicide Silence - shyt! 0/10
Unearth - would say shyt, but i admit i got my head bobbing to their music 1/10
Machine Head - very loud. could barely hear the vocals and guitars over the bass and drums for the first 2 songs, but once that ironed out, sounded great. they were given a 5 minute warning before they started Halo. out of the 3 times i've seen them, was the most enjoyable. 8/10
In Flames - incomplete - didnt catch any of their set
Trivium - caught up on my reading the mayhem program and rested in my seat. they still suck 1/10
Megadeth - heard Mustaines voice has been off lately but i didnt hear it. spot on. whole set sounded great and i enjoyed it. 9/10
Godsmack - sounded great. best part was the dueling drums. first time i got it up close. its amazing to watch, both are extremely talented drummers
me with Jamie Jasta
7/22/11 Mansfield MA
I’ll start this review saying that this is the first time I’ve seen all the bands on the tour, so this is really just my initial live impression of each band. It might be more boring for people who have already seen them.
I arrived at the venue around 12:30 with my friend Tyler, and hung out in the shade until they let in people with laminates around 1:30.
DEAD SEASON (Jager opener) - 3/10
For the first half of this band, I was waiting at the other side of the lot for the merch tent to open so I could grab a shirt, so I couldn’t really hear them. After I grabbed a shirt I headed to the Rockstar tent to wait to meet Machine Head, and the tent was right in front of the stage and I could hear/see them perfectly. They’re just a really mediocre metalcore band who isn’t going to get any more popular than they are now. They sounded somewhat solid except for sloppy guitar playing and derpy lyrics.
STRAIGHT LINE STITCH - 2/10
Yet again, I could hear/see this band perfectly from the Rockstar tent, and I wish I couldn’t. Their vocalist sounds like a dying cat and I couldn’t find any redeeming quality in their performance. I give them at least some points because they can at least play their instruments somewhat well.
RED FANG - 8/10
By now, I was getting pissed off because Machine Head was supposed to sign at 2:15 and it was now 2:30. I could hear Red Fang from the tent perfectly but could only see their guitarist. They sounded fantastic. Machine Head eventually showed up at the tent around 2:45 without Robb Flynn, because he was apparently missing. It sort of sucked because I planned on getting a picture with Robb but I ended uo having a pretty sweet but short conversation with Phil Demmel. Wires started playing while I was in the signing and had ended by the time I got up to Red Fang, so I was sad face. The crowd was pretty sparse all day because of the heat and the somewhat unpopular lineup, so I legitimately walked right up to the rail halfway through Red Fang. A moshpit formed behind me during Prehistoric Dog that I jumped into. I then listened to most of the song and headed over to where ASP was going to start.
ALL SHALL PERISH - 7/10
They were mildly disappointing. They had a lot of energy, but pretty much everything sounded the same and I went to go get water and get rail for KOS after 3 songs. Wage Slaves was beautiful
KINGDOM OF SORROW- 9/10
This was a great performance from a great band. I was on rail. The sound cut out halfway through Free the Fallen but got fixed quickly. Good show.
SUICIDE SILENCE - 8/10
They put on an extremely energetic performance and were a lot of fun, but Mitch’s vocals were WAY too high and it felt like it was going to rupture my left eardum or something, because my head was tilted to the right since I was on the rail to the left of the band. I ended up having to put my finger in my left ear for the first 2 songs until the sound guys fixed the obvious problem. I caught their setlist from a roadie while waiting for MH to come on. My left ear still is ringing, 18 hours later.
Setlist: Wake Up, Unanswered, You Only Live Once, Fuck Everything, Disengage, Slaves to Substance, No Pity for A Coward
MACHINE HEAD - 10/10
Machine Head was worth every drop of anticipation I put into the band. I was on the rail, nearly in the center, and it was the best show I’ve seen yet. I made eye contact with Robb Flynn for about 10 seconds during the first half of Halo, and he pointed at me. It was goddamn epic. Out of the side stage bands, they had the biggest crowd watching and headbanging. I have whiplash right now because of them.
Setlist: Imperium, Beautiful Mourning, Locust, Halo
Trivium – 6/10
I skipped In Flames to recuperate from Machine Head. Trivium started after half an hour and were nothing special. They continually bitched about the fact that most people were sitting and I think they cut their set short because of it. I’m glad they did because I was hungry and needed French fries.
Setlist: In Waves, A Gunshot To The Head of Trepidation, Built To Fall, Like Light To Flies, Down From The Sky, Throes of Perdition
Megadeth – 9.5/10
Beautiful show. Definitely an impressive first Megadeth concert. Dave’s voice sounded pretty good (not perfect but not bad by any means). The show was straightforward but impressive. Even the songs I’m not a big fan of like Headcrusher and Wake Up Dead sounded great live.
Setlist: Trust, Hangar 18, Wake Up Dead, Headcrusher, A Tout Le Monde, Public Enemy No. 1, Symphony of Destruction, Peace Sells, Holy Wars
Godsmack – 8/10
Good show. Sully Erna sort of sounded like he had a cold though; his voice was higher pitched than usual. Not extremely noticeable though. It was a good time seeing them. Their setlist was the usual.
Disturbed – 7/10
Solid show from a meh band. It was entertaining to hear some old favorites and to watch the screen and pyro. My show had none of the sound problems that Seb was talking about and Draiman sounded fine. Setlist was the usual. I ended up leaving at the beginning of Down with the Sickness and surprisingly beating 99% of traffic.
So yesterday was the Hell On Earth tour and it was a great fucking show. It all started out before I left and logged into my email and saw that I won tickets to summer slaughter from Metal Injection so I was stoked all they way down there. I love DTE even though alot of people hate it when we enter the parking lot you can smell the beer, smoke and everyone having a good time. I go to check out merch as usual and fucking $35 for a t-shirt but I gave in and bought a sweet slayer shirt. As we got to our seats they were right by the soundboard which was cool and it would work out later.
So Exodus came on and they were as I expected an old school thrash band that played a great set but very few people paid attention to. Holy shit I was thinking when Gary Holt was playing his solo's. They opened with The Ballad Of Leonard And Charles which sounded great as it did through their whole set. By half way through their set I got my brother to stand up(he is a huge pussy) and he ended up having fun. Absolutely love Blacklist and that was the highlight of their set for me. As what I thought was a pit opening up it was just like five guys running around and occasionally hitting each other. Other than that a great set and I hope to see them again in a club setting. 8/10
Exodus
1.The Ballad of Leonard and Charles
2.War Is My Shepherd
3.Blacklist
4.Bonded By Blood
5.The Toxic Waltz
6.Strike Of The Beast
I didn't know who was coming next but when I saw behind the curtain Kerry Kings guitar I was like SLAYER. So by this time the amphitheater was pretty full except for the lat 10 rows in the right corner and I was pumped. Slayer came out in full blaze with World Painted Blood which I still love hearing as their opener. Then went right into Hate Worldwide and I was like wait I'm in seats for Slayer and so left and went up onto the hill where was the best Pit I have ever seen on the hill. I have got knocked on my ass so much. I even took a somersault down the hill. After about half their set I went back down to watch the last half of the performance. And last time I saw Slayer they were good but tonight they were great. The sound was crisp and I that was one of the best sets I have ever watched. Seasons In The Abyss was orgasmic and probably my favorite song they played. As Raining Blood kicked in all I could think was Dat Riff. As they played Black Magic and Raining Blood together I was just like Fuck Yeah. Then their closing song Angel Of Death and I just can't get over that scream. Great Song, Great Energy. 10/10
Slayer
1.World Painted Blood
2.Hate Worldwide
3.War Ensemble
4.Postmortem
5.Dittohead
6.Dead Skin Mask
7.Spirit in Black
8.Mandatory Suicide
9.Chemical Warfare
10.Silent Screams
11.Seasons in the Abyss
12.Snuff
13.South of Heaven
14.Raining Blood
15.Black Magic
16.Angel of Death
After Slayer my little brother wanted a slayer shirt and my big brother wouldn't take him so I was stuck taking him. So we buy his shirt and we proceed to walk around the whole venue and then I bought a water and even then Rob Zombie wasn't on. Well he came on really late so he said he would get fined if he wanted play late but for Detroit he said he could make it work. And all through the night he would say things like "that song just cost me $1000". He also told this riveting story about when he played Harpos and how it was a bad idea to serve $1 beer in glass mugs. Now Rob Zombies show is second to none. I thought Slayer had a sweet show and no one could top it but Zombie did. He had a pretty generic set but Pussy Liquor and Mars Needs Women were pretty sweet add ons. Now Rob Zombie must really like Detroit if he is willing to play almost an 30 min. past curfew. Which is $1000 per minute if you play past curfew. Now after they played Dragula it was a quarter past 11 and I was no way will he play another one. So DTE turned on the house lights but Rob came back out to play House Of 1000 Corpses. By the end of that beer was getting thrown and hit the soundboard and the guy was pissed but it was all good. After that I was just like wow. And the sound guys gave my little brother a set-list which made his day. Oh and during Thunderkiss 65 some chick took her top off and my brother was just like 8-> which made me laugh. 10/10
Rob Zombie
1.Jesus Frankenstein
2.Superbeast
3.Scum of the Earth
4.Living Dead Girl
5.More Human Than Human
6.Sick Bubble-Gum
7.Pussy Liquor
8.Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)
9.Mars Needs Women
10.Thunder Kiss '65
-----
11.Dragula
------
12. House of A 1000 Corpses
It was one big clusterfuck on the way out. but other than that it was a kickass show and maybe the best of the year so far for me. I won tickets for summer slaughter and saw a kickass metal show and had some tasty mcdonalds on the way home. Now I can't wait for Mayhem Fest.
It was disgustingly hot out, with temperatures in the high 90s/low 100s all day. Staying hydrated was a challenge but my friends and I managed ourselves well through the heat.
The first band that played was Dead Season, the Jager Band. They were awful, one of the worst bands of the day. I walked away halfway through their set. 2/10.
Straight Line Stitch played next and they have the honors of being in my top 5 worst bands ever seen. They were terrible, I watched one song and then proceeded to get as far away from the stage as possible. Ugh. 0/10.
Red Fang played next and they were great. One of the better bands of the day, their whole set was a ton of fun. Nobody moved around for them until the end of their set, but everyone watching was into them. I'll definitely see them live again. 7.5/10.
Reverse Thunder
Sharks
Malverde
Wires
Good to Die
Prehistoric Dogs
All Shall Perish played next. I was anticipating their set a lot, it was finally my first time seeing them. The crowd was into them, they were the first band all day to get the crowd moving a lot. Their set was great and I can't wait for the new album.
Wage Slaves
Gagged, Bound, Shelved, and Forgotten
There Is No Business to Be Done on a Dead Planet
Procession of Ashes
In This Life of Pain
There Is Nothing Left
Eradication
Next was one of the bands I was most excited for, Kingdom of Sorrow. They were amazing despite sound problems during my favorite song of theirs (Free the Fallen) which they had to cut from the set because of time after their PA blew out. Despite that they played a great set. Seeing Jamey Jasta perform live with any of his projects is always a treat. It was cool to see Kirk Windstein again as well. One of the best sets of the day. 9/10.
Behind the Blackest Tears
Free the Fallen (first minute or so until the sound went out)
??? (A song that was supposed to appear on Jasta's solo album)
Enlightened to Extinction
Begging For the Truth
Monuments of Ash
Led Into Demise
Lead the Ghosts Astray
Buried In Black
Suicide Silence played next and like usual, they were awesome. It had been a year since I've seen them last and they sound better than ever. I was a little disappointed that they played only two songs from The Cleansing, but it was a great set regardless. 8.5/10.
Wake Up
Unanswered
You Only Live Once
Fuck Everything
Disengage
Slaves to Substance
No Pity For a Coward
After Suicide Silence I felt like I was going to pass out so I cooled off in the shade and got water during Unearth. I wanted to see them and I'm sure that their set was fun but they aren't worth it for me to pass out during their set.
Once Unearth was just about to finish up, I went to the Revolver Stage and got a great spot a few rows back for Machine Head. I'm so glad they played on the side stage because I wouldn't have been able to feel the intensity of their set on such a big stage. They absolutely killed it on the Revolver Stage, they had the crowd going insane the entire time. Because of time issues they had to cut Aesthetics of Hate from their set, but it didn't put a damper on their performance for me. Fantastic set. 9.5/10.
Imperium
Beautiful Mourning
Locust
Halo
In Flames closed out the side stages with an average set. It was nothing special and the majority of the songs they played sucked but it could have been worse. Anders sounded extremely drunk on stage and just talked aimlessly when they could've had time for another song. Hopefully when I see them on a headlining tour their set will be better, but I (along with everyone else) won't hold my breath. 6/10.
Cloud Connected
Alias
Pinball Map
Deliver Us
The Hive
Where the Dead Ships Dwell
The Quiet Place
Take This Life
After In Flames, I bought some merch at the tents with my friends as we made our way to the lawn for the main stage.
We got to the lawn just as Trivium was starting. It was my fourth time seeing them and I honestly could not have cared less about their performance. No one was into it and they didn't sound good at all on the main stage. I would have enjoyed their set more if it were on the side stages, (and if the played Pull Harder) but whatever. Boring set. 5/10.
This might be incomplete/out of order.
In Waves
A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation
Like Light to the Flies
Built to Fall
Down From the Sky
Throes of Perdition
Up next were the thrash legends Megadeth, my first time seeing them. The crowd was into it, but from the lawn I couldn't get into it as much as I wished. Everyone on the lawn was sitting down and nobody was moving around. The set was still enjoyable though, even if it was nothing out of the ordinary. 7.5/10.
Trust
Hangar 18
Wake Up Dead
Head Crusher
A Tout Le Monde
Public Enemy No. 1
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells
Holy Wars...The Punishment Due
Finally, the first rock/metal band I ever listened to took the stage, Godsmack. It was my first time ever seeing them in the 12 years I've been listening to them. I've had opportunities but I was always too young, they were on a shitty bill that wasn't worth the money, or I had no ride. But finally I'm old enough to actually drive and they were on a worthy show, so there was no way I was going to miss it. Their set was so much fun for me because of the serious amounts of nostalgia that I felt during their older songs. The new stuff comes off good live, and they had a great set that mostly everybody enjoyed. The pit on the lawn finally opened up and their were a ton of people moshing. Nobody was sitting down in their seats or the lawn. The hometown band got a great, warm response playing to their home crowd and they along with the fans enjoyed every minute of it. Excellent set, the most fun of the day for me. 9.5/10.
Cryin' Like a Bitch
The Enemy
Forever Shamed
Straight Out of Line
Awake
Speak
Love-Hate-Sex-Pain
Voodoo
Batalla de Los Tambores
Whatever
I Stand Alone
It was a group decision to leave before Disturbed to beat traffic and because they play the same set every time you see them. Godsmack were the perfect way to end a very fun day. I can't wait until next year!