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ferrumaeternumUgh…not again! I really shouldn’t have spent the first week off school sitting out on the porch with my cat and not doing much of anything else ‘cause now I’m really behind with updating. This jewelry/metals class was a lot more work than what I expected, but more on that later. It’s been about a month, so finally, here’s the post on the Hypocrisy show. Luckily I already had most of this typed up the day after the show, since Samer and Elizabeth couldn’t make it and wanted to know what happened.
The weather for the show was awful. It was 90°F and it was so humid that it was difficult to breathe. Sam and Beth didn’t come because they don’t have air conditioning, so Beth’s grandmother would have got sick if she babysat for their four-year-old daughter. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find anyone else to babysit for them. The anti-humidity hairspray and several straightening hair products did nothing, so in just an hour after leaving the house, my hair was just short of a complete afro. I was stuck wearing a t-shirt, since my tattoo work was still healing, which only made it worse. When I arrived at the venue, I learned that the show would be in the tiny bar area. Then I found out it wasn’t air conditioned after they let us in 45 minutes late. There were some ceiling fans above the merch area, but there was no relief near the stage. Most of all, I felt bad for the musicians. It was torture enough just standing in the thick, stagnant air, but they had to actually move around.
Swashbuckle was just as great as last time, though I was mildly disappointed they didn’t have the inflatable coconut tree or the guy in the parrot costume running around. Despite the heat, they still were wearing their full pirate costumes and had great dialogue with the crowd. To quote Admiral Nobeard, “It’s hotter than a wench’s tit inside a tin bra.” He also basically called Paul from Blackguard a whoremonger onstage, but that’s another story… Anyway, I like their new drummer a lot better than their last one. Last time I saw them, that drummer wasn’t even dressed as a pirate! This one not only looked the part, but he was a total powerhouse.
Blackguard After that barb from “Captain Noballs”, I knew Paul was going to fire back with some of his own. ;) He clearly came out on top when he told us to, “Give it up for Alestorm!” and the whole crowd cheered. It was great being in the front row for this band because their synchronized windmill headbanging worked like fans, although I kept getting whipped in the face with hair. XD They played “The Sword”, “In Time”, “This Round’s on Me”, “Farewell”, and “Allegiance”. During “In Time”, Paul pointed me out from the stage. I’m still amazed that he remembers me after I’ve only hung out with him a couple of times.
Speaking of which, the Blackguard fanboys weren’t at the show, so I went straight to their merch table after their set in hopes of getting to chat a little more than last time. Kim was the only one there, so I waited in the back for a while. Then I noticed he was yelling, “Hey, you! Come over here!” at me. :/ He said that it looked like I didn’t know what I wanted to buy, so I asked him if he had any girls shirts. He didn’t, so he tried to get me to buy a thong or booty shorts, since I already had their album and a poster. After I declined, he kept trying to talk me into it or trying to get me to buy other things until I said I’d think about it and walked away. I understand that they’re trying to make money and promote their band, but pushing merchandise on fans isn’t the way to do it. I tried to make small talk with him about the tour and how the band was doing, but all he cared about was making a few bucks. After I told Beth about it, she said that he tried to get her to buy more shirts after she got one at their last show, so it sounds like he does this to everyone.
Hate was alright, but not very memorable. They sounded like straight-up death metal, but looked like a black metal band. Their outfits and facepaint were interesting and their music was listenable, but I wasn’t really into them. They were also the only band that didn’t have a pit during their set.
Scar Symmetry put on a great performance despite some assholes in the crowd booing them and yelling, “Faggots!”. :( There were only about three rows of people at the front of the stage that were even into them, which was kind of discouraging, so I made sure to give them some extra applause. Considering the other bands on the tour, I understand that the crowd might not be into a band that uses clean vocals, but that doesn’t mean you should be rude and boo them. The heat and small stage hindered how much they could move around, but they sounded so solid that it didn’t really matter. They also treated the crowd with a lot of kindness and respect, which I hoped the audience could show them in return, especially since they came here from another country. It’s one thing to be rude to other Americans, but I feel that if there’s people visiting from elsewhere, you should treat them as guests.
After this, I was starting to get a bit down, but Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” came over the PA system and I was almost knocked over from the force of Paul’s hug. He said he was taking a break from catching up on computer work and came out just to say hi to me, which I thought was really sweet. We only got to talk for about ten minutes, but at least I found out that all the bands on this tour expected it to suck in terms of audience turnout and reception, so I was a little relieved about that. I wish there’d been more time to chat, since none of the people who were swarming him last time were around. But Blackguard’s coming back in September and November, so there will always be time later. Still, it was really humbling that he took time out of his schedule to say hi ‘cause I know he meets a ton of other fans (and some fairly memorable skanks, I’m sure) on the tour and still remembers me.
Hypocrisy really turned this night around for me. They played for well over an hour and covered a huge range of material from The Final Chapter to their latest, A Taste of Extreme Divinity. The stage was kept dark for the most part with a lot of strobe light and neon green, red and blue coming from the back that created the ambiance of an extraterrestrial ship landing. The recorded bits that played between songs also helped set the eerie mood. Everyone went crazy when they played “Eraser”, and it was nice to hear that everyone knew the beginning of the chorus when Peter handed us the mic. Peter dedicated “Fire in the Sky” to the bassist from Slipknot who just passed away, which I thought was really nice, even though I don’t like Slipknot’s music. Everything, including Peter’s vocals, sounded fantastic up until the end. I still really want to see Pain sometime because I have to admit that I like them a little bit more than Hypocrisy, but I got my Peter Tägtgren fix…for now.
Paul said he’d see me after the show, but after I waited around for five minutes, I left. I have a hunch that even if I waited longer, he was probably still on the computer. :p
I can stop bitching about The Rave for now ‘cause they took some pictures and posted videos of each band on the website! :D
The weather for the show was awful. It was 90°F and it was so humid that it was difficult to breathe. Sam and Beth didn’t come because they don’t have air conditioning, so Beth’s grandmother would have got sick if she babysat for their four-year-old daughter. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find anyone else to babysit for them. The anti-humidity hairspray and several straightening hair products did nothing, so in just an hour after leaving the house, my hair was just short of a complete afro. I was stuck wearing a t-shirt, since my tattoo work was still healing, which only made it worse. When I arrived at the venue, I learned that the show would be in the tiny bar area. Then I found out it wasn’t air conditioned after they let us in 45 minutes late. There were some ceiling fans above the merch area, but there was no relief near the stage. Most of all, I felt bad for the musicians. It was torture enough just standing in the thick, stagnant air, but they had to actually move around.
Swashbuckle was just as great as last time, though I was mildly disappointed they didn’t have the inflatable coconut tree or the guy in the parrot costume running around. Despite the heat, they still were wearing their full pirate costumes and had great dialogue with the crowd. To quote Admiral Nobeard, “It’s hotter than a wench’s tit inside a tin bra.” He also basically called Paul from Blackguard a whoremonger onstage, but that’s another story… Anyway, I like their new drummer a lot better than their last one. Last time I saw them, that drummer wasn’t even dressed as a pirate! This one not only looked the part, but he was a total powerhouse.
Blackguard After that barb from “Captain Noballs”, I knew Paul was going to fire back with some of his own. ;) He clearly came out on top when he told us to, “Give it up for Alestorm!” and the whole crowd cheered. It was great being in the front row for this band because their synchronized windmill headbanging worked like fans, although I kept getting whipped in the face with hair. XD They played “The Sword”, “In Time”, “This Round’s on Me”, “Farewell”, and “Allegiance”. During “In Time”, Paul pointed me out from the stage. I’m still amazed that he remembers me after I’ve only hung out with him a couple of times.
Speaking of which, the Blackguard fanboys weren’t at the show, so I went straight to their merch table after their set in hopes of getting to chat a little more than last time. Kim was the only one there, so I waited in the back for a while. Then I noticed he was yelling, “Hey, you! Come over here!” at me. :/ He said that it looked like I didn’t know what I wanted to buy, so I asked him if he had any girls shirts. He didn’t, so he tried to get me to buy a thong or booty shorts, since I already had their album and a poster. After I declined, he kept trying to talk me into it or trying to get me to buy other things until I said I’d think about it and walked away. I understand that they’re trying to make money and promote their band, but pushing merchandise on fans isn’t the way to do it. I tried to make small talk with him about the tour and how the band was doing, but all he cared about was making a few bucks. After I told Beth about it, she said that he tried to get her to buy more shirts after she got one at their last show, so it sounds like he does this to everyone.
Hate was alright, but not very memorable. They sounded like straight-up death metal, but looked like a black metal band. Their outfits and facepaint were interesting and their music was listenable, but I wasn’t really into them. They were also the only band that didn’t have a pit during their set.
Scar Symmetry put on a great performance despite some assholes in the crowd booing them and yelling, “Faggots!”. :( There were only about three rows of people at the front of the stage that were even into them, which was kind of discouraging, so I made sure to give them some extra applause. Considering the other bands on the tour, I understand that the crowd might not be into a band that uses clean vocals, but that doesn’t mean you should be rude and boo them. The heat and small stage hindered how much they could move around, but they sounded so solid that it didn’t really matter. They also treated the crowd with a lot of kindness and respect, which I hoped the audience could show them in return, especially since they came here from another country. It’s one thing to be rude to other Americans, but I feel that if there’s people visiting from elsewhere, you should treat them as guests.
After this, I was starting to get a bit down, but Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” came over the PA system and I was almost knocked over from the force of Paul’s hug. He said he was taking a break from catching up on computer work and came out just to say hi to me, which I thought was really sweet. We only got to talk for about ten minutes, but at least I found out that all the bands on this tour expected it to suck in terms of audience turnout and reception, so I was a little relieved about that. I wish there’d been more time to chat, since none of the people who were swarming him last time were around. But Blackguard’s coming back in September and November, so there will always be time later. Still, it was really humbling that he took time out of his schedule to say hi ‘cause I know he meets a ton of other fans (and some fairly memorable skanks, I’m sure) on the tour and still remembers me.
Hypocrisy really turned this night around for me. They played for well over an hour and covered a huge range of material from The Final Chapter to their latest, A Taste of Extreme Divinity. The stage was kept dark for the most part with a lot of strobe light and neon green, red and blue coming from the back that created the ambiance of an extraterrestrial ship landing. The recorded bits that played between songs also helped set the eerie mood. Everyone went crazy when they played “Eraser”, and it was nice to hear that everyone knew the beginning of the chorus when Peter handed us the mic. Peter dedicated “Fire in the Sky” to the bassist from Slipknot who just passed away, which I thought was really nice, even though I don’t like Slipknot’s music. Everything, including Peter’s vocals, sounded fantastic up until the end. I still really want to see Pain sometime because I have to admit that I like them a little bit more than Hypocrisy, but I got my Peter Tägtgren fix…for now.
Paul said he’d see me after the show, but after I waited around for five minutes, I left. I have a hunch that even if I waited longer, he was probably still on the computer. :p
I can stop bitching about The Rave for now ‘cause they took some pictures and posted videos of each band on the website! :D
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