Don't follow the shadows

The Soilwork show on Friday was amazing! Wisconsin just recently passed a statewide smoking ban, so it was nice to be able to breathe and not have to worry about my eyes watering or feeling light-headed or smelling horrible after the show. The only downside was that it was incredibly hot - even worse than at Hypocrisy. After the show, Sam said the only concert he’d been to that was hotter than this one was in the desert in 120-degree heat.

The Crinn
This band was mostly straight-up hardcore with some metalcore and technical and progressive elements. Before I saw them, I read that their album can also be interpreted as one whole song, and after seeing them I have to agree. You couldn’t tell one song from the next and the band rarely stopped for applause. I’m also not impressed with bands that use weird time signatures. They make a big deal about it because all of them are self-taught musicians, which I find a bit annoying. Once you get the feel for a strange time signature such as 5/7, it’s not much different than playing a song in 4/4, whether you’re classically trained or not. Though I’m not a fan of hardcore, this band was at least tolerable to listen to and their music had a few interesting aspects to it.

Swashbuckle
I could see this band every week and never tire of them - that’s how much fun I always have watching these guys. They were playing “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” while warming up, and some idiot behind me yelled, “Minus 100 metal points for that!” Seriously, fuck you ‘cause Pat Benatar is awesome. Once again, no coconut tree or parrot costume guy, but they came onstage dancing to what sounded like an electronic remix of Alestorm’s “Set Sail and Conquer”. Another funny thing that happened was some guy back at the bar yelled that he wanted some women and Admiral Nobeard said that a metal show is not the place to pick up women ‘cause the ones that are there look just like the men. XD Swashbuckle even dedicated a song to beer, cheese, and bratwurst in honor of Milwaukee!

About halfway through their set, I felt someone tap my arm, and I looked back to see Sam and Elizabeth! I hadn’t heard anything from them about the show, so I assumed they weren’t going, but they decided to come at the last minute. I’m glad they came so I had some people to hang out with, since Dominic wouldn’t be there. I was also feeling too shy to go up and talk to the guys from Mutiny Within when they were hanging out near the buses and vans before the show.

Mutiny Within
These guys were fucking amazing! I had just checked out their video and a couple other songs on YouTube a couple hours before I left to go to the show and I was completely blown away. Beth has been a big fan of theirs and kept telling me to check them out. I just wish I had done so sooner so I could have properly sang along when they asked the audience to at the show. I’ll definitely be ready when they return in a couple months, though! I love Chris’s clean vocals just as much as his growl and both sound flawless live. He’s also a great showman, constantly running around the stage with his cordless mic. The whole band sounded really tight, too! I’m really impressed with them, especially for being so young and a new band. I can’t stop listening to their record. Here’s their video for the single “Awake”:

Augury
As I mentioned in an earlier entry, Dominic ‘Forest’ Lapointe, their bassist, decided to leave the band after their tour with Vader. The band is definitely not the same without him! Their new bassist isn’t as good, and you could hardly hear him. Dominic made sure to really crank it up when he played, as it is an important element to their music and truly put the technical in technical death metal. The rest of the band sounded good, but it was disappointing after the last time I heard them when they were great.

On a side note, Dominic isn’t talking to me anymore, and I’m kind of disappointed about it. He probably realized that I’m not interested in him romantically and stopped pursuing me. Ugh, why do guys always just totally ignore you and never talk to you again after you’ve turned them down? Why can’t they get over it, look for someone else, and still be friends, especially if there are common interests between both parties? It seems like the only men women can really be friends with have to be either already married or in a relationship or gay. Oh well.

Death Angel
The 80’s Bay Area thrash legends did not disappoint! They put on one of the most energetic performances I’ve ever seen, which inspired the crowd, despite the heat. Some smaller pits had broken out during Mutiny Within and Augury’s sets, but they didn’t come close to the massive circle pit during Death Angel. There were constantly 20-30 people in it, and after they were done playing, the floor was covered in puddles of sweat. Their frontman’s ferocious yell and guitarists’ abilities really stood out. It’s also always a treat to see someone playing a Les Paul in a metal band, where the skinny, light guitars are usually preferred.

After I got back from the bathroom after Death Angel’s performance, who of all people do I see at the bar with Sam and Beth? Chris from Mutiny Within! I’d told them earlier that I thought the only cute guy there was him, after Beth and I had a bunch of annoying gross old guys hit on us. Later during Soilwork, one even touched my tattoo like he was trying to read Braille off it. Because of this, Sam made a special effort to introduce me to him, and we actually hit it off pretty well! I had no idea he and one of their guitarists were actually from the UK. He said he liked my haircut because it made me look like a movie star from the 1940’s, which was probably the best compliment I’ve ever received! :D I try to style my hair and make-up from that era, and I guess I succeeded. Then he started singing some Vera Lynn song to me and I was smitten. Seriously, a guy who’s single, a fantastic formally trained metal vocalist, a vegetarian, a few years older than me, AND also likes mid-Century vintage stuff? Why can’t he live around here!? :( This is not good that I only keep falling for guys from bands and no local guys ‘cause at this rate, I’ll be single forever…unless I move somewhere else or by some stroke of luck attract someone who isn’t from here. FML. Anyway, Sam was going to buy him a drink, but I had two free drink tickets I hadn’t used yet, so I bought him one. (Sam insisted on buying me two waters and saving my drink tickets, bless him!) Even though I said it was too hot to drink, he said he’d get a beer if I got a beer, so I caved to peer pressure and got a Heineken. I literally got a slap on the wrist from Chris for stealthily sneaking a drink from a straw so I wouldn’t mess up my lipstick but I got caught. It’s not like it was a particularly good beer anyway, and if they actually had a decent beer selection there, you can be sure I wouldn’t have used a straw. He ended up chucking the straw over the bar, so that was the end of it.

Brandon from Mutiny Within came over after a while, and Chris asked if we’d met his guitarist yet, and I had to tell everyone that I’d hit him with the women’s bathroom door as I was coming out. I’d already apologized profusely to him after it happened, but having to tell everyone made it even more embarrassing. This is probably worse than when I walked in on Blackguard’s soundcheck last year ‘cause I ended up embarrassing the poor guy as well. (I also got walked in on in the bathroom even though I could’ve swore the door was latched, but it was just another chick, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.) In my defense, I have to wonder what the hell he was doing right outside the door because their merch table was a good four feet away from it. Anyway, I had a really great time chatting and drinking with them and Elizabeth and Sam. I’ll be looking forward to their return in October and November with Nevermore and Epica.


I have no idea why he’s making that shifty eyes/raised and lowered eyebrows face in the photo, but he did the same in Sam and Beth’s photos as well. I think I’ve finally been bested when it comes to the “Elrond eyebrow”! XD Also, don’t mind my flushed, sweaty self here!

Soilwork
I’ve never been more than a casual fan of these guys, and their live performance further reinforced my opinion. They’re a good band, but nothing really stood out about their performance. Some people left right after Death Angel, and while I think it was a bit rude, I can also now understand why. They also didn’t play any songs I know, but I was pretty tipsy by then, so it was nice to just lean back on the bar and listen. I was too hot and tired to care at that point.

These are the only two photos I took that turned out due to the damn strobe light. I was too chicken to try to take any before Soilwork’s set (and coincidentally before the alcohol started to kick in). Luckily the venue’s photographer got some decent shots of Soilwork, Death Angel, and Augury.

After the show, I went back over to Mutiny Within’s booth and picked up their self-titled album for only $5! Brandon said if I opened it he’d sign it, and he also got the rest of the band to sign it! :D

( + 3 photos )

Sam and Beth were so kind to offer me a ride home, so we quickly stopped at an East Side coffee shop and were on our way. I felt bad because the concert got out really late and it’s a 45-minute drive to my house when there’s no traffic. They also had to drive straight into a huge thunderstorm and back home in it, too. I have some toys and books for their daughter next time I see them, so hopefully that will make up for it.

TL;DR Version:

• Got there early, made an ass of myself by running up to the stage during Blackguard’s sound check, got yelled at by security. Watched Markus from Ensiferum rock out next to me, couldn’t remember his name at the time, as I was completely starstruck.
• Blackguard was amazing. Met Paul (vocalist) at the merch booth and the rest of the band eventually showed up. Apologized for my previous idiocy. Hung out with him for a while between bands’ performances. He found me in the crowd to say goodbye when he left to go weightlifting.
• Lots of waiting for shitty metalcore bands to get their sets over with and trying to chase away lame guys who were hitting on me. Finally found Stacie from my Norse mythology class with her boyfriend and another friend.
• Ensiferum slaughtered. Everything was perfect. Was up front the entire time and was pleasantly surprised by the lack of a pushpit.
• Found Stacie and the guys outside while stalking Ensiferum. Hung out with roadies, Darkest Hour, and Blackguard behind the buses. Waited for Ensiferum guys to stop going back and forth so we could get pictures with them. Finally succeeded, but Petri unfortunately went and put a shirt on. At least he put on a good show through the bus window. ;) Hung out with him and Markus for a while. Made an ass out of myself with my fangirling and lamenting over his departure from Norther. Random guy who thought he was a rapper showed up and made some hilarious rhymes about Markus and I talked him into doing one for Petri. Hopefully redeemed myself for previous retardation. Stacie and the guys left, and the drummer from Decrepit Birth came out, hit on me and tried to talk me into coming on their bus. He got mad when I refused, so I left because he was starting to scare me. As I was leaving, Paul from Blackguard stopped me to say goodbye and gave me a hug and a kiss.

( Read on for the whole story and to find out the truth behind Petri leaving Norther… )

( Blackguard )

( Set List )

( Hanging with Paul from Blackguard and waiting for Ensiferum )

( Ensiferum )

( Set List )

( Finally getting to meet Ensiferum after the show )

Me with Petri fuckin’ Lindroos! I’m wearing heels here, which makes me about six feet tall, and Pete still makes me look short. And since when did he get that awful tattoo of a flaming acoustic guitar on his bicep and when the hell did he get engaged!? My fangirl is totally slain now. :'(


Markus Toivonen and I. What the hell were we looking at!?

( More pictures that Stacie took during the show and after, including the random guy rapping about how Petri is a baller (shot caller, twenty-inch blades on the Impala) )

I. Today is the first day of winter, which means Yule has officially begun! It sure feels like it here with the subzero temperatures and -30˚F wind chill. Whatever you are celebrating this season, I hope you have a good one. As far as my family goes, I’m having lunch with my mother’s side on Wednesday, which should be fairly predictable, yet entertaining. Things could be interesting on Thursday, since it’s with my father’s side of the family. It will also be the first time we’ve all been together in a year, and my father hasn’t even seen his own mother since then.

II. I’m finally done with finals! I was fortunate enough to have a snow day Friday when we got 13 inches because I had just started my final painting the night before the critique. Unfortunately, I worked my ass off in a panic and missed two episodes of The Office, but at least I didn’t have to get up early and rush to finish the piece. Even though the exam was to be rescheduled for Saturday, my professor was nice enough to put it off until as late as tomorrow and let us submit pictures, so I still got to go home on time.

III. The very thing I’ve been dreading for the past two years finally happened: my dad discovered my tattoo work. I was home earlier in the week, since I didn’t have exams on Wednesday or Thursday, and he saw it when I was putting on my boots before I left for a dental appointment. That morning, I purposely decided to wear high-waisted jeans and a long shirt to avoid this, but when I bent over, a tiny sliver of my back showed. I basically told him “no comment” and left, but my poor sister was grilled with questions for fifteen minutes. When I came back, he was smiling about it, but was mad that he’s “scraping the bottom of the barrel and I’m going out and wasting money on this”. Maybe he wouldn’t be in that situation if he didn’t decide to randomly up and leave a year ago. He also has like 130 acres of land and two farming tractors he doesn’t need, and works two well-paying jobs, so I don’t know what he’s talking about. After I explained that my appointments have been few and far between, he seemed okay with it, but still felt the need to remind me that it’s permanent. He also said he doesn’t know what Nana is going to say when she finds out. He’s such a blabbermouth, so I’m sure he’ll tell her, even though she really doesn’t need to know. Most of the comments he made were totally out of line and irrelevant, since he doesn’t even know me or what I’m interested in anymore. I just hope he doesn’t make a scene on Christmas. He thinks it’s smaller than it really is and doesn’t even know how far it goes down. That will not go over well with his side of the family, as they are all Catholic. However, it’s good to know that they aren’t entirely opposed to tattoos. My dad has been talking about getting a shamrock on his bicep since I can remember, and my aunt has Celtic knotwork on her back. Hopefully he will have enough tact not to say anything and the issue can be avoided entirely.

IV.

July 22, 2009
Reverend Horton Heat
Nekromantix
Miramar Theatre
Milwaukee, WI

Keep 'em coming! 2009 isn’t even here yet, and it already looks like it’s going to be a great year for live music in Milwaukee. Reverend Horton Heat always puts on an impressive show, and I really want to see Nekromantix live, since they’re my favorite psychobilly band. This is convincing me to study abroad in Ireland next summer instead of this one because it’ll mean missing this show. I’m also crossing my fingers that a Milwaukee date for Paganfest II will be announced, after the success of last year’s North American tour. That and Korpiklaani, Eluveitie, and Moonsorrow are in the line-up, among plenty of other folk metal goodness. If not, I’m sure Robbie will still want to go to Wacken and/or Tuska, or any of the other European festivals one of these summers.

I know this makes two bitchy posts in a row, but I’ll probably be more misanthropic than usual this semester due to my insufferable suitemates, classmates, and old acquaintances I can’t seem to get rid of. Just warning everyone now. My spirituality and yoga practice help, but it's hard to deal with when these people create constant drama and negativity around me. I'm sure I'll be able to ignore all of these people as time goes on, but right now I am seeking catharsis via complaining on LiveJournal.

( Long post is long )

Friday was the first and regrettably last time I will be able to see The Police. Surprisingly it was also my first German Fest, despite the fact I’ve been speaking German for over six years and having German heritage on both sides of my family.

I was surprised at how most of the culture at German Fest was set back quite a few decades. It seemed to be made for old German Catholics and Lutherans. I couldn’t find any rune sets or rune pendants anywhere. The only other cultural festival I’ve attended before was Irish Fest, which embraces old traditions as well as modern culture and bands, and doesn’t leave out aspects of Ireland’s pre-Christian past. The other interesting thing is that German Fest is very Bavaria-oriented, which is quite a bit different than the rest of Germany. Most of the steins even had sayings about Bavaria and the Black Forest. The rest was very stereotypical from the food to the dress to the music. With the sheer amount of people with Germanic heritage living here, one would think the festival would try to bring something new to Milwaukee. I wasn’t surprised to see all the local German restaurants vending there. Nearly all the items for sale can be found at German Glass & Gift Imports in Richfield or Chicago’s annual Christkindlmarkt. There was one German rock band that played – Biba und die Butzemänner, but I was unable to see them due to the concert. Perhaps it may have been more enjoyable if I was old enough to publicly consume Jaegermeister or any of the other fine imported beer and alcoholic beverages, but I won’t be able to do that at German Fest for another two years. Will I go back again? Depends on what bands are playing then, really.

I had a better seat than I imagined as I was only about thirty rows from the stage and between the center and the left, which made for a great angled view. I was disappointed that hardly half of the Amphitheater was filled by the time Elvis Costello and the Imposters went onstage. Despite the insane humidity, he still wore a suit and left it on for the entire set, even though he looked like he was going to keel over at any moment from the way he was moving around with his guitar. I had previously seen Costello with Allen Toussaint for all of five minutes at Summerfest a few years ago when a certain someone I was with decided they wanted to leave. Anyway, him and his band were very solid, playing the ‘80s hits “Pump it Up” and “Everyday I Write the Book”, along with material from his new album. His keyboardist did an excellent job with the complex and diverse material and the drummer had a very primal sound (which I love) that cut through the summer air like a knife. He also played more soulful numbers such as “Flutter and Wow” and “Allison”, where Sting came out and turned it into a duet. A good third of the audience missed out on that one for arriving late.

Although nothing can compare to the original at their peak, I thought The Police were phenomenal, especially for a reunion. Sting and Stewart Copeland were in great shape, and Andy Summers just looked like Steve Diggle from the Buzzcocks, especially with the frilly flowery shirt he was wearing. Regardless, he’s a great guitarist. I studied his work while I was taking lessons, so it was a treat for me to see him play live. He even gave a Fender Strat warmth and feeling, which ain’t easy. Andy and Sting also had a bit of a guitar and bass play-off, which are always fun. Other than the fact Sting looked like he hadn’t shaved for a few days and his shirt looked like Under Armour, he was still in great physical shape and his voice cut right through the crowd of 15,000 that were all singing along. Sting took advantage of that and let us sing quite a few parts of their songs, including half the chorus to “Da Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”. Unfortunately, he obviously forgot part of the lyrics toward the beginning of “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”, but recovered quickly. The audience’s average age was roughly 50, and most of them were drunk off cheap watery American beer, so no one else really seemed to notice. This is the third legendary band I’ve seen this summer, and it’s funny that all of their tours have been based off their best albums: Iron Maiden with Powerslave, Blondie with Parallel Lines, and now The Police with Synchronicity. The stage setup and lights also reflected this, and despite being designed back in the ‘80s, still gave the stage a very futuristic look. There were even several rising columns with different seizure-inducing lights. The Police’s reggae, jazz, and Eastern influences really came out during this performance, especially with Stewart Copeland’s incredible percussion skills. For “Don’t Stand so Close to Me” and “Wrapped Around Your Finger”, he played a gong, xylophone, and several different chimes and symbols simultaneously. During one of their songs Sting even changed the lyrics to “this is the Stewart Copeland show”. Indeed it was, and a great one at that.

Photos can be viewed here, since I didn't realize my camera did not have any batteries in it until I got down there.

( Set List )

Other highlights include:

• Drunken middle-aged people doing all kinds of dorky dances
  
• Modert art images being shown before the concert by Warhol, Mondrian, and Haring
  
• Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up” being played loudly before The Police went onstage
  
• People showing up to the concert wearing lederhosen and other traditional German garb
  
• Losing about five pounds in sweat, only to probably gain it back by eating a large piece of Schwarzwald Kirschtorte afterward
  
• Doing the chicken dance and polkaing to an oom-pah band with my mom
  
• A stein that was also a drinking horn, which would have been pretty badass if it wasn’t $80
  
• The “das Boot” drinking boot stand that actually means ‘the boat’ in German, not ‘the boot’, so the shirts that meant to say ‘I love the boot’ (I love das Boot) were really ‘I love the boat’. Boot = Stiefel auf Deutsch. This is why you can’t put German and English words together in a sentence.
  
• The lack of umlauts in signs, which also changes the meanings of some words. The least they could have done was add an ‘e’ after the letter that should have had an umlaut over it.

Some lowlights:

• My $120 jacket getting stepped on by a drunk old cougar
  
• Nearly all the food stands revolved around meat and sauerkraut and some combination of the two
  
• Most of the stuff being geared for old people who don’t know squat about ancient or modern German culture
  
• The only people I caught actually knowing German were those onstage

Next up is Irish Fest, where I will be purchasing an assload of jewelry, seeing Leahy’s Luck and Gaelic Storm, and probably failing at trying to avoid my dad, aunt, and uncle. (We all go when we can get in free because we’re cheap.) I wish I would have gone in the rain last year to see The Tossers ‘cause they aren’t playing this year and I’ve never been able to catch them whenever they’re in town.