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.

Ugh…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

A couple weeks ago, I saw Overkill, Vader, God Dethroned, Warbringer, Evile, and Woe of Tyrants at The Rave. Since I’ve already reviewed half of these bands, I’ll try to keep this post fairly short and sweet. This was my first show in the basement, so I had no idea what to expect. It turns out that it’s very similar to the bar, but much larger, and the stage is higher up and has an annoying gate in front of it. It certainly didn’t stop the stagedivers during Warbringer, though! ;) Unfortunately, security was checking bags, so I didn’t want to risk taking any photos. I should really try to get photo passes for shows, but John from Warbringer was in front of me at the box office trying to get one for his friend, and they wouldn’t even let him have one. I should probably start an actual music review website with more professional reviews, so maybe I’ll have a good enough excuse to obtain one.

I hate to start this out on a bad note, but I wasn’t feeling Woe of Tyrants at all, and neither was the rest of the crowd. “Thrashcore” would probably be the term to best describe their sound, and I pray this is not the start of a new “core” trend. The band itself wasn’t too bad, except for some stupid crabcore moves, but I couldn’t stand their ultra-scene frontman. He had good stage presence and seemed like a nice guy, but I’m not about to show any mercy for all this shitty hardcore-fused pseudo-metal that keeps getting thrown in with actual metal bands. It needs to stop. I don’t listen to hardcore, metalcore, deathcore, or any other “core” that might be out there, so I’m can’t really comment any further on this band.

I saw Evile last month with Kreator, and they were just as entertaining and funny this time around. I actually liked their set list better this time because they played a more diverse variety of songs. The band was hanging out by the merch tables again after their set, but Elizabeth, Sam, and John had just arrived toward the end of Evile’s performance, so I decided to hang out with them instead. :p

Next was the band I specifically came to see: Warbringer! I can’t get enough of these guys! John, their vocalist, came out wearing a cheesehead that didn’t stay on for long as the band launched into “Living in a Whirlwind”. They played most of the other crowd favorites including: “Severed Reality”, “Prey for Death”, “Total War”, and finished their set with “Combat Shock”.

I’m not really a big fan of God Dethroned, and I’m still not after seeing them live. They’re pretty boring, but they had kind of a classic blackened death metal sound that was at least listenable. They also played for a really long time, and I have no idea why. I don’t even remember much from the second half of their set because while they were onstage, some middle-aged white trash guy who looks like a clone of Kid Rock decided to drunkenly fall over in front of me and burned my hand with his lit cigarette on his way down. The pain was so bad that it knocked the wind out of me and made my eyes water instantly. I’ve burned my arm on a 400-degree oven before, but this felt so much different and hurt much worse. At first I thought he had a knife and stabbed me, so I shoved him off of me immediately. My friends were freaking out because they thought I was going to catch on fire from all the embers from the cigarette that fell on me, but luckily I was wearing leather from head to toe, so I was okay. My hand didn’t fare so well, and it’s still healing as I type this. I had a pea-sized blister between my index and middle finger on my writing hand and couldn’t draw for a couple days, but the swelling went away fairly quickly and it scabbed over. I have a bad feeling it’s going to leave a scar, but that’s life. I just hope that guy didn’t drive home that night because he was really messed up. He also had the nerve to come back by me after the incident with a few more beers in hand. Ugh! He probably didn’t even realize what happened. Shortly after that, I saw some younger guys helping one of their friends out of the crowd who looked like he was having a hallucination. I really don’t understand people who abuse drugs, let alone use them in public. I’ll just be glad when the smoking ban goes into effect in July and I won’t have to worry about getting burned again at a show. Not smelling like death after the show and having watery eyes and a sore throat will be nice as well.

Vader was up next, and it felt like it took forever for them to set up. Once they finally started playing, it seemed like they only played a few songs in about fifteen minutes and then walked offstage. Everyone was chanting for them to come back out, but the lights went up and the crew started setting up for Overkill. This was the same day the Polish president and other Polish government officials were killed in the Russian plane crash, so I thought maybe they were upset about the whole ordeal. I was told at the Finntroll show last week Thursday from another fan that they had to cut their set short due to technical/equipment problems and that the band went up to the ballroom to watch HIM. Whatever the reason, I was really disappointed that they didn’t play much, since they were one of the main reasons my friends and I were at the show.

Overkill was phenomenal! They played for at least two hours, and didn’t show any signs of slowing down toward the end. They actually riled up the crowd more, closing their set with “Fuck You” after a great call and response chant back and forth with the crowd and advising us not to eat any of the emo kids after the show because they’ll give you diarrhea. XD Those poor HIM fans were completely terrorized by all the trasher dudes before and after the show! Anyway, Overkill’s light show was also absolutely brilliant! It included plenty of their signature bright yellow-green and some cool lightning effects. The strobe light had some great effects on the crowd, where most of the people in attendance were going nuts in the circle pit. Despite the annoying people in the crowd (especially all the bald, goateed middle-aged men who kept hitting on me), it was a great thrash metal show and a fun time hanging out with friends. Warbringer wasn’t so lucky because some asshole stole John Laux’s backpack that had pretty much everything he needed on tour in it.

Speaking of assholes, Terrence was there, but he avoided us because he’s mad I never got back to him about those Diamanda Galas albums and he defriended me on Facebook. I just hope I’m not on his hitlist or anything because Samer swears that he’s the kind of guy to go on a killing spree. All I can really do is try to stay out of his way and hopefully he’ll get past the whole thing because he was the one who approached me in the first place. I wasn’t so lucky in avoiding that guy from high school, but once my friends showed up, he left me alone. He wasn’t as annoying as last time before the show because he was with a bigger group of friends, and some of those guys had more in common with me, so I mainly talked to them.

After the show, Sam and Beth offered to drive John and I home so we all could go out to eat at one of their favorite cafes, even though it’s two hours round trip to my house from Milwaukee. Sam even paid for all our food! Each of us ended up with a delicious falafel pita and Turkish tea from Mona’s Turkish Shawerma House on the east side. It was the first time I’ve been there, but it definitely won’t be the last! The food is very tasty and also very cheap.

Photos of Overkill and God Dethroned are here. (I know…no Vader. :/ WTF?) Since my tattoo will be finished soon, I’m going to start saving up for that digital 35mm I’ve been talking about getting for years, and then I’ll see about getting a photo pass.

Friday night was the Epica show, so here’s the novel about that.

( Warseid )

( Urn )

( Blackguard )

( Threat Signal )

( Epica )



We made Kim crawl under the merch booth to take a picture with us, but he didn’t seem to mind. ;) He unintentionally scared a lot of people doing this, though. They were literally screaming while I was trying not to die of laughter.

( + 3 more photos )

There isn’t really a lot to say about German Fest that I didn’t mention last year. All the performers there played polka and at least I could understand the performer from Austria, since it seems all the German speakers I’ve been meeting use different dialects than I’m used to. Everything was still very stereotypically Bavarian. I ended up buying a set of six shot glasses with various Bavarian/Oktoberfest-related sayings and pictures on them for only $15. There were also $3 desserts, which I generously indulged in. I didn’t remember the Dachshund Park, though, which was really cute. There were a couple of longhaired ones there and now I want one really bad. I also noticed a lot of Edelweiss-related things, including the flower itself you could purchase. Although they were a ton of vendors there and I mainly went for the shopping (and because admission was free), it’s still disappointing that there are more people in Milwaukee of German descent than anything else and yet other festivals outshine it every year. I didn’t take any pictures, since there weren’t a ton of people and those who were there were all locals. Irish Fest on the other hand had a crowd that made it seem like I was at Summerfest, and on a Sunday evening, too! I don’t know if it was because Gaelic Storm was filming for their DVD that night or what, but there were thousands of people there. However, there were much more drunk people at German Fest, but that’s probably because once you bought a boot, you could refill it all night for free.

Although more expensive than any other lakefront festival in Milwaukee (including Summerfest), Irish Fest is always a great time. Once again, it was another hot day and I didn’t go until later in the afternoon. I got there just in time for the parade and only saw two of the dozens of bands playing - the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, who were actually from Scotland, and Gaelic Storm - but both put on amazing shows. There’s nothing like hearing the guitar intro to “Thunderstruck” being played by three pipers! I was really impressed with RHCP’s choreographed dancing and ability to work the crowd. Those guys were as hilarious as they were talented. If I see them again, I’ll stick around for their entire set. I really would’ve liked to, but I wanted to get a decent spot for Gaelic Storm. They even had a piping competition and their frontman said the only reason he didn’t win was because Kevin MacDonald (pictured below) invited all his Irish relatives to cheer for him. It’s funny because it’s true! Other than my mom and I, I’m sure there were plenty others from Clan Donald representin’. ;) I also had to laugh that among the numerous rows of vendors, you could actually purchase dirt and peat moss from Ireland! Absolutely ridiculous.

Anyway, here are some of the better shots from the day. Not very dial-up friendly, I’m afraid.



( Irish Fest Parade & Grounds: + 18 )

( Red Hot Chilli Pipers: + 9 )

( Gaelic Storm: + 9 )

( Unintentionally amusing photos: + 6 )