The Concert Thread

My 31st and final gig of 2023 was courtesy of Tom Jones on Sunday night. A mate and I went along for a bit of a laugh, but we were both gobsmacked at how good he was. 83 years old, belting out banger after banger for two hours straight without a break. Put Sleep Token the night before to shame.

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THESEVENTHMARINER said:
My 31st and final gig of 2023 was courtesy of Tom Jones on Sunday night. A mate and I went along for a bit of a laugh, but we were both gobsmacked at how good he was. 83 years old, belting out banger after banger for two hours straight without a break. Put Sleep Token the night before to shame.

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Tom Jones is legendary! It's crazy to me that he's still alive and performing...
 
Just back from Ed Hunters. Amazing gig at the Ragnarok club with not alot of people, I guess around 40 to 50.
The singer sounded alot like Bruce and reached even the highest notes. The bassplayer did alot of Arry moves and was loud in the mix: I loved it! Overall great solo´s although some flaws here and there but for a tribute band this was extremely well performed.
I loved the little details like Sooty on the bassdrum and of course Doctor Doctor was played right before they started (and Monty Python´s ALOTBSOL at the end)
They played alot of the SSOASS album. (unfortunately no Only The Good Die Young)
The singer shook hands with the crowd during the instrumental part of Blood Brothers. There wasn't a walking Eddie on stage but a latex Eddie head with a christmas hat on a Marshall amp. Good enough for me. :D
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Setlist:

Moonchild
The Evil That Men Do
Infinite Dreams
2 Minutes To Midnight
Stranger In A Strange Land
Heaven Can Wait
Alexander The Great
The Trooper
Blood Brothers
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
The Writing On The Wall
Can I Play With Madness
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden
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The Number Of The Beast
The Clairvoyant
Wasted Years
 
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2023 was a great concert year for me. Really strong mix, had a couple concerts be postponed to next year which was fine. The concert season ended last night in Seattle.
  • Anthrax & Black Label Society w/ Exodus
  • John Mellencamp
  • Alter Bridge w/ Mammoth WVH & Pistols at Dawn
  • Dream Theater w/ Devin Townsend & Animals as Leaders
  • Volbeat w/ Halestorm
  • Trooper w/ Chilliwack & Harlequin
  • Pat Benatar
  • Iron Maiden w/ Atreyu
  • Matthew Good (Acoustic Show)
  • Ann Wilson
  • ZZ Top
  • Guns N Roses w/ Alice In Chains
  • Heart w/ Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening
The best show was Iron Maiden, followed by Alter Bridge, Dream Theater and GNR. I hadn't heard any Devin Townsend before the show, I now own all his solo records and some Strapping.
 
2023 was not a bad year for me either: Suede, Dirty DC (twice; great AC/DC tribute band), Ginger Wildheart, Iron Maiden (twice), Moving Pictures (superb Rush tribute band), Francis Rossi, The Waterboys, Fascinating Aïda, plus different support bands.
 
2024 has some great gigs in store for me. Up until today I had tickets to the following gigs:
  • Tool in London on 3rd June
  • Suede + Manic Street Preachers in Cardiff on 6th July
  • Suede + Manic Street Preachers in London on 18th July
And today I bought tickets to see Ion Maiden, a fully charged Iron Maiden tribute band, on 10th February. Judging by this video, it should be a great night out!


It seems they manage to recreate the classic Maiden live sound from the early days, with Steve's bass guitar drowning the guitars. :lol:
 
This year is becoming one of the worst gig years. So far, only two gigs, both Bruce and there's a concert in March I might go to.
I really hope fall season will be better than the spring one.
(Also, is it me, or are the European festivals in summer having the worst line up in years?! Just look at Download, holy crap what an awful bill)
 
Spambot said:
This year is becoming one of the worst gig years. So far, only two gigs, both Bruce and there's a concert in March I might go to.
I really hope fall season will be better than the spring one.
(Also, is it me, or are the European festivals in summer having the worst line up in years?! Just look at Download, holy crap what an awful bill)
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I'm the same this year, I feel like I burnt myself out last year with the amount of gigs I went to. It felt like every single band I listen to went on tour.

I currently only have three booked.

13/1 - Bring Me the Horizon, AO Arena, Manchester
10/2 - Evil Scarecrow, Rock City, Nottingham
2/4 - Lordi, O2 Institute 2, Birmingham

I'll probably go to see Bruce if I can get a cheap resale ticket, but can't there's nothing on the horizon where I'm like "oh I really have to go to that". Bloodstock, aside (that line up is fucking great).
 
So I know that this is about the concerts we have attended or will attend, but I want to do something a little different. I'm going to talk about a concert I will NOT attend and why. Ever since moving back to Mexico I've had the chance to see bands I wasn't able to in the U.S for a host of reasons starting with they just wouldn't go. Period. And not like to my state, the whole country. For example Rhapsody (currently Rhapsody of Fire), went to New York, then hoped over to Canada, then came back down I think to like Texas or Colorado, then off to California. That was their "U.S tour." Being in AZ I was happy I could catch them on their San Diego date and was more than happy to make the 6 hour trip. But Haggard never toured the U.S.

One tiny problem I have now is that most bands just come to Mexico City and bounce and unlike in the U.S I am NOT willing to do the 7 hour drive or the more expensive hour twenty flight. Navigating Mexico City is a postapocalyptic hellscape.

Speaking of apocalyptic, that's the concert I want to address. Apocalyptica is coming to my city and they're playing a small venue so no matter where I stand I'll have a great view and I've been to that venue before so I know the sound will be good too. Here's the "but." I've seen them 3 times already. The last standing room only concerts I've been to I've ended up with horrible knee/leg pain by the end of the show and the following day. Even though it's on a Saturday it starts past my bedtime. Two days ago I fell asleep on the couch at 8pm. Due to my work schedule I wake up super early, 4:30, and so I go to bed rather early. 5 years ago I had a night of heavy drinking with some friends and it took me three days to fully recover from it. It's the same with "hangovers" from staying up too late. I just have really nasty headaches, feel tired and my eyes become super sensitive to light.

In short, cuz I'm an 80 year old in a 40 year old man's body, I've decided to skip the concert all together, it's just not worth it anymore and I'm more concerned about my retirement plan than cool concerts.
 
Spambot said:
This year is becoming one of the worst gig years. So far, only two gigs, both Bruce and there's a concert in March I might go to.
I really hope fall season will be better than the spring one.
(Also, is it me, or are the European festivals in summer having the worst line up in years?! Just look at Download, holy crap what an awful bill)
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Hellfest looked okay to me.

Download is the weird one, though. It tries to appeal to a pretty diverse rock/alternative scene, but kind of ends up going for the more mainstream end of everything.

I've met some diehard Download goers though who don't have strong band/genre preferences, and seem to go for the festival atmosphere and some varied band sightseeing.

For some reason it always ends up looking cheap and low key.
 
Brigantium said:
Hellfest looked okay to me.

Download is the weird one, though. It tries to appeal to a pretty diverse rock/alternative scene, but kind of ends up going for the more mainstream end of everything.

I've met some diehard Download goers though who don't have strong band/genre preferences, and seem to go for the festival atmosphere and some varied band sightseeing.

For some reason it always ends up looking cheap and low key.
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I know festival bill is not the biggest selling point for festival goers, but Download had at least one big name in the bill. To me, neither of these look headline-worthy considering past headliners. Then again, maybe this is transitional period where the booking agents are trying to move some of these artists a step up.
Hellfest is OK tho, but Hellfest has been running circles around Download, Wacken, Graspop and other rock/metal festivals for couple of years. That 2022 edition where they had six days over two weekends was something to witness.
I'm past age where camping at festivals for couple of days seems interesting, but I must admit that Wacken is still on one of those "to do" lists.
 
I think it depends what age group and interest group you're looking at re big names.

QOTSA don't seem like a Donington headliner to me, more like a Glasto band, but they have more mainstream appeal and I know rock/indie fans who consider their tickets hot property.

Blink 182 and Avenged Sevenfold probably ARE well known/big/household names to people of a certain age. The likes of Sabbath, Metallica and Rammstein are more like headline acts to us, but every year people complain about old dinosaurs of bands.

Haven't they had Biffy Clyro headlining before? Not tiny but borderline mainstream music and not huge.

I can't tell how much of it is 'can't get a big band' or 'let's choose something vaguely alternative scene that more people know'.

It's all a bit Glasto to me.
 
Saw an Iron Maiden cover band from Gothenburg here in town, at an old cinema turned music and events bar, with a buffet a few hours before gig time (they also offer take out on New Years Eve, which we've ordered for a few years now. ) They were really, really good, close to nailed every solo and drum fill. The vocalist was very good, but was rather reminiscent of Todd LaTorre, so it was like watching a singer cover Todd LaTorre vocal covers of Maiden songs.

They did the usual classic hits, but also did Stratego and Judas Be My Guide. I had a blast, sang my throat off and mumbled my way through Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life afterwards, which was suitably played through the PA in true Maiden fashion, mirrored by Doctor, Doctor pre-show.
 
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TheMercenary said:
www.loudersound.com

"Are you ready?" Are AC/DC about to announce a world tour?

AC/DC seem to be teasing something big
www.loudersound.com www.loudersound.com
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On the one hand, it would be nice to see AC/DC with Jonna again. On the other, rumours suggest that there will only be Angus and Brian left from the line-up that recorded Back in Black and I dread to think how much the tickets are going to cost.

I guess I will probably give it a miss and live with the memories of the 3 times I saw AC/DC live (all of them with the classic Brian Johnson/Angus Young/Malcolm Young/Cliff Williams/Phil Rudd line-up): 1996 (arguably one of the best concerts I have ever been to, as captured in No Bull), 2000, and 2009.
 
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