carnifex-deathcore. enough said. didnt add anything to the genre but got the crowd going. good opener. i can tolerate deathcore a little so ill check them out on youtube. 6/10
unearth- great live band as always. it was my first time seeing them and i dont really know their older material so i didnt know a lot of their set but it was still great. they def. lived up to their reputation. the pit took up almost the entire floor but it was almost exclusively hardcore dancers. i like unearth but they brought in more scene/hardcore dancer people than carnifex 7.5/10
as i lay dying-solid fuckin show. solid setlist that i wouldnt have made any changes to except for them to play a little longer to fit a couple other songs in. this was my second time seeing them and the crowd was more mellow than last time. i was about 4th row so i really pay attention to the pit but it was solid. not really any hardcore dancers. they had some technical problems with the stage monitors but we could hear everything just fine. they put on a fantastic show and they did the signing before hand which made my night. i got a shirt and the poster they were signing for everyone. i got ot talk to nick and phil a little bit about the no fear tour with LoG. 8.5/10 setlist is as follows not in order
94 hours (opener) adonyne sea condemned vacancy beyond our suffering sound of truth within destruction drum solo (somewhere in the middle) ocean between us forever through struggle (closer) ------- nothing left confined
Powderburn and Blue Flame at the Dirty Dog for free
I talked with the Powderburn guys before the show and if I did some promoting they would let me in free despite there being a 10 dollar cover for people under 21, so I got in for free.
Blue Flame comes on and they are a couple of older people, a female singer, guitarist, bassist, drummer, and two pretty girls who just danced and did backup vocals, well this band ended up being really badass, they sounded like a punk rock meets rockabilly style and was very high energy, the drummer and Guitarist were nothing short of amazing and that singer had so much energy for an older woman it was crazy, definitely one of the best shows I have seen. A highlight of their set was during a song called Satan Baby where the singer at times would just do this vicious scream into the microphone, well at one point she holds the mic over the crowd and directly over my head to be exact and I matched the scream she did but much louder, really cool band. 9/10
Then comes Powderburn, this is probably pretty close to the biggest Metal Band from Austin that hasn't hit it big nationwide, the reason is beyond me because they are really good, they are like if one of the old school bands formed now and did their music with todays equipment, so a modern classic band is the best way to descripe them. Well to say the least they absolutely killed it, every song delivered, their lighting was spot on, they interacted with the crowd and the crowd interacted back. 2 or 3 former members of the band were in the crowd and did a couple songs as the original lineup. There was a raffle which gave away an old coffin case they don't use anymore and a member of another local band won it so they let him do a song. They did 3 full encores before they had to close up at 2 in the morning but god damn they really hit all the walls with this. 10/10 perfectly done.
DESPISED ICON (Final tour) September 26 / Nile Theatre, Mesa, AZ
First of all, I had never been to this venue so I didn't know exactly what to expect.
Wow... what a shithole. It was basically a salt mine made into a makeshift venue. Sketchy stuff. They actually had to unscrew the lights on the ceiling in order to turn them off.
So I met up with a few friends and went on in. When I got to the front door, I proudly said "I'm on the guestlist... Ale-" "Yeah you're good."
So I got down to the basement level (where the main venue is), and the first thing I noticed was the lack of Misery Index merch. (No... there's no way that they...) "Hey dude, Misery Index is still playing, right?" "No, they had a family emergency and canceled this morning." FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
The one band I REALLY REALLY wanted to see... goddamnit. We better get a raincheck for this one. So anyways, they had two local bands act as fillers (Of course they couldn't just extend Revocation's set, right? Such bullshit.)
ARISE OH FALLEN: Shitty AILD wannabe band with a crabcore posing guitarist and a dubstep whoring singer. The ninjas came out swinging too. Luckily, I escaped the first half of their set because I was doing the interview with Revocation (which went very well.) Oh, and they started going on about Jesus and how they "live every breath for him." 2/10
?????: Yeah, I didn't even catch their name. They were a little bit better. They did a cover of Raining Blood which was actually pretty damn good. 6/10
Revocation: Just like last time, very good. I got one of their picks too. Like I said, the interview went well. They're very chill guys. The interview will be available to hear hopefully by noon tomorrow (today). 8/10
Despised Icon: My god. I have only been to four other shows where I've nearly gotten killed being in the front (Hellyeah, JFAC, Parkway Drive, Mudvayne). This was the fifth. The crowd was like a sea of rats climbing on each other to get to a piece of meat. The roof on this place was only about seven feet tall and people were jumping on shoulders and crowd surfing their asses off. Combine this with the ninjas, headbanging and the fact that the stage was ONE foot off the ground... and well, you can imagine. Absolutely apeshit. I did manage to stay in the front for 8 out of their 10 songs, however. Oh, and I got (half of) a drumstick and a pick. So at least there's that. 8/10
The lighting in the place sucked, so I only got a couple good shots, and they're only of Revocation at that.
They sort of answered it in a way when I asked some other question by saying that they don't really have much of a say in choosing who they tour with. Bands just ask them and they take it.
I copied and pasted this from my review at metalsetslists.com so deal with it Got to the venue at around 3:45 or so. doors opened at 540 or so, and the first band went on at 5:45. much better then i expected, having been forced to see 10 locals open a show before, they were amazing lol. Vanna: had never heard of them before tonight. Id prob compare them to A Day To Remember without the bass drops. Def got the crowd movin and energized The Chariot. holy fuck, they were insane. When they started, the core/scene kids didn't know what to think, as they're more a math metal band ala DEP, who doesn't do pretty breakdowns and such. First song in, bassist dives into the crowd (thankfully not on my side) On my side one of the guitarists actually hung from the balcony upside down and played. there were so many dives to the crowd/crowd walks (where the band member is being held up by the crowd) that i lost count, easy 9/10. Now here's where the fun shit comes in, they probably played 35 or 40 minutes. Which leads us to
Chelsea Grin. I was dreading seeing them after hearing a few songs on youtube. Just the worst kind of deathcore there is, the generic chug chug breakdown, ad nausium. I also noticed they had 3 guitarists, and with the basic generic crap they were playing, i was thinking "WHY". Oh and one of their songs had what i call the Suicide Silence sweep that alot of deathcore bands seem to play (listen to the "solo" during 'no pity for a coward' or 'lifted' and you'll get the point.) anyways, on to the good shit, after about 3 or 4 songs and 15 minutes of torture, the house music cut on and their mike was cut and they put their banners up front. All the core kids were fucking pissed and i was happy as fuck even chanting 'please be done' I assume they got cut off, since this place has a strict 10pm curfew on weeknights, more on that later. Which leads us to Eyes Set To Kill. I'm def a fan of theirs so i'll be a bit biased, but they were great, and spot on. And god damn, the 2 sisters in the band are hot lol I know they played Heights Broken Flames All You Ever Knew the Listening Iwrestledabearonce, now on to the main event. They started at around 9:30 or so, so i was concerned that they were gonna get their set cut. But thankfully they didn't, and got to play til about 10:15. the crowd was a little weak in the energy department but oh well, there still was a pit people were def into them, just i guess not the crazy crowds they usually get. Anyways here's their set You Ain't No Family The Cats Pajamas Still Jolly After All These Years Eli Cash and the Godless Savages Danger In the Manger Corey Feldman Holocaust Blind (Korn cover/teaser) Pazuzu For the Win Black Eyed Bush See You in Shell Alaskin Flounder Basket Vlork: Mighty Wielder Of Sheep Tastes Like Kevin Bacon They only skipped 3 songs from their entire catalog which i thought was pretty impressive, given that hell most bands with only 1 full length and an ep don't headline often, but they pulled it off. Oh and during "kevin bacon" i actually got in the full pit and even did some hardcore dancing of my own during the big breakdown at the end (which they dropped confeti and streamers from the ceiling during that part) i made it out alive without getting hit or hititng anyone. All in all a great night overall, Slayer, here i come! __________________
Comments
carnifex-deathcore. enough said. didnt add anything to the genre but got the crowd going. good opener. i can tolerate deathcore a little so ill check them out on youtube. 6/10
unearth- great live band as always. it was my first time seeing them and i dont really know their older material so i didnt know a lot of their set but it was still great. they def. lived up to their reputation. the pit took up almost the entire floor but it was almost exclusively hardcore dancers. i like unearth but they brought in more scene/hardcore dancer people than carnifex 7.5/10
as i lay dying-solid fuckin show. solid setlist that i wouldnt have made any changes to except for them to play a little longer to fit a couple other songs in. this was my second time seeing them and the crowd was more mellow than last time. i was about 4th row so i really pay attention to the pit but it was solid. not really any hardcore dancers. they had some technical problems with the stage monitors but we could hear everything just fine. they put on a fantastic show and they did the signing before hand which made my night. i got a shirt and the poster they were signing for everyone. i got ot talk to nick and phil a little bit about the no fear tour with LoG. 8.5/10
setlist is as follows not in order
94 hours (opener)
adonyne sea
condemned
vacancy
beyond our suffering
sound of truth
within destruction
drum solo (somewhere in the middle)
ocean between us
forever
through struggle (closer)
-------
nothing left
confined
I talked with the Powderburn guys before the show and if I did some promoting they would let me in free despite there being a 10 dollar cover for people under 21, so I got in for free.
Blue Flame comes on and they are a couple of older people, a female singer, guitarist, bassist, drummer, and two pretty girls who just danced and did backup vocals, well this band ended up being really badass, they sounded like a punk rock meets rockabilly style and was very high energy, the drummer and Guitarist were nothing short of amazing and that singer had so much energy for an older woman it was crazy, definitely one of the best shows I have seen. A highlight of their set was during a song called Satan Baby where the singer at times would just do this vicious scream into the microphone, well at one point she holds the mic over the crowd and directly over my head to be exact and I matched the scream she did but much louder, really cool band. 9/10
Then comes Powderburn, this is probably pretty close to the biggest Metal Band from Austin that hasn't hit it big nationwide, the reason is beyond me because they are really good, they are like if one of the old school bands formed now and did their music with todays equipment, so a modern classic band is the best way to descripe them. Well to say the least they absolutely killed it, every song delivered, their lighting was spot on, they interacted with the crowd and the crowd interacted back. 2 or 3 former members of the band were in the crowd and did a couple songs as the original lineup. There was a raffle which gave away an old coffin case they don't use anymore and a member of another local band won it so they let him do a song. They did 3 full encores before they had to close up at 2 in the morning but god damn they really hit all the walls with this. 10/10 perfectly done.
September 26 / Nile Theatre, Mesa, AZ
First of all, I had never been to this venue so I didn't know exactly what to expect.
Wow... what a shithole. It was basically a salt mine made into a makeshift venue. Sketchy stuff. They actually had to unscrew the lights on the ceiling in order to turn them off.
So I met up with a few friends and went on in. When I got to the front door, I proudly said "I'm on the guestlist... Ale-" "Yeah you're good."
So I got down to the basement level (where the main venue is), and the first thing I noticed was the lack of Misery Index merch.
(No... there's no way that they...)
"Hey dude, Misery Index is still playing, right?"
"No, they had a family emergency and canceled this morning."
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
The one band I REALLY REALLY wanted to see... goddamnit. We better get a raincheck for this one. So anyways, they had two local bands act as fillers (Of course they couldn't just extend Revocation's set, right? Such bullshit.)
ARISE OH FALLEN: Shitty AILD wannabe band with a crabcore posing guitarist and a dubstep whoring singer. The ninjas came out swinging too. Luckily, I escaped the first half of their set because I was doing the interview with Revocation (which went very well.) Oh, and they started going on about Jesus and how they "live every breath for him." 2/10
?????: Yeah, I didn't even catch their name. They were a little bit better. They did a cover of Raining Blood which was actually pretty damn good. 6/10
Revocation: Just like last time, very good. I got one of their picks too. Like I said, the interview went well. They're very chill guys. The interview will be available to hear hopefully by noon tomorrow (today). 8/10
Despised Icon: My god. I have only been to four other shows where I've nearly gotten killed being in the front (Hellyeah, JFAC, Parkway Drive, Mudvayne). This was the fifth. The crowd was like a sea of rats climbing on each other to get to a piece of meat. The roof on this place was only about seven feet tall and people were jumping on shoulders and crowd surfing their asses off. Combine this with the ninjas, headbanging and the fact that the stage was ONE foot off the ground... and well, you can imagine. Absolutely apeshit. I did manage to stay in the front for 8 out of their 10 songs, however. Oh, and I got (half of) a drumstick and a pick. So at least there's that. 8/10
The lighting in the place sucked, so I only got a couple good shots, and they're only of Revocation at that.
Got to the venue at around 3:45 or so. doors opened at 540 or so, and the first band went on at 5:45. much better then i expected, having been forced to see 10 locals open a show before, they were amazing lol.
Vanna: had never heard of them before tonight. Id prob compare them to A Day To Remember without the bass drops. Def got the crowd movin and energized
The Chariot. holy fuck, they were insane. When they started, the core/scene kids didn't know what to think, as they're more a math metal band ala DEP, who doesn't do pretty breakdowns and such. First song in, bassist dives into the crowd (thankfully not on my side) On my side one of the guitarists actually hung from the balcony upside down and played. there were so many dives to the crowd/crowd walks (where the band member is being held up by the crowd) that i lost count, easy 9/10. Now here's where the fun shit comes in, they probably played 35 or 40 minutes. Which leads us to
Chelsea Grin. I was dreading seeing them after hearing a few songs on youtube. Just the worst kind of deathcore there is, the generic chug chug breakdown, ad nausium. I also noticed they had 3 guitarists, and with the basic generic crap they were playing, i was thinking "WHY". Oh and one of their songs had what i call the Suicide Silence sweep that alot of deathcore bands seem to play (listen to the "solo" during 'no pity for a coward' or 'lifted' and you'll get the point.) anyways, on to the good shit, after about 3 or 4 songs and 15 minutes of torture, the house music cut on and their mike was cut and they put their banners up front. All the core kids were fucking pissed and i was happy as fuck even chanting 'please be done' I assume they got cut off, since this place has a strict 10pm curfew on weeknights, more on that later. Which leads us to
Eyes Set To Kill. I'm def a fan of theirs so i'll be a bit biased, but they were great, and spot on. And god damn, the 2 sisters in the band are hot lol I know they played
Heights
Broken Flames
All You Ever Knew
the Listening
Iwrestledabearonce, now on to the main event. They started at around 9:30 or so, so i was concerned that they were gonna get their set cut. But thankfully they didn't, and got to play til about 10:15. the crowd was a little weak in the energy department but oh well, there still was a pit people were def into them, just i guess not the crazy crowds they usually get. Anyways here's their set
You Ain't No Family
The Cats Pajamas
Still Jolly After All These Years
Eli Cash and the Godless Savages
Danger In the Manger
Corey Feldman Holocaust
Blind (Korn cover/teaser)
Pazuzu For the Win
Black Eyed Bush
See You in Shell
Alaskin Flounder Basket
Vlork: Mighty Wielder Of Sheep
Tastes Like Kevin Bacon
They only skipped 3 songs from their entire catalog which i thought was pretty impressive, given that hell most bands with only 1 full length and an ep don't headline often, but they pulled it off. Oh and during "kevin bacon" i actually got in the full pit and even did some hardcore dancing of my own during the big breakdown at the end (which they dropped confeti and streamers from the ceiling during that part) i made it out alive without getting hit or hititng anyone. All in all a great night overall, Slayer, here i come!
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