The Concert Thread

"Until next time Gadget!" is the famous quote from the bad guy at the end, every time he can't get Gadget.

This is what I am telling you (every time you say you can't make it to a Maidenfans meet!).
 
Wiki:
Inspector Gadget is a French-Canadian-American animated television series that revolves around the adventures of a clumsy, dim-witted cyborg detective named Inspector Gadget—a human being with various bionic gadgets built into his body. Gadget's nemesis is Dr. Claw, the leader of an evil organization known as "M.A.D."
Click to expand...
And I'm Gadget, am I? Thanks Foro...
:ninja:
 
Last night saw the co-headlining US tour of Savage Master and Holy Grail at a club in Houston called Walter's! :shred:
Holy Grail is the reason I went, but Savage Master (who I was not familiar with) won me over. Met the singer Stacey briefly few minutes after performance while she was still dressed in her stage outfit, then later after she changed and was more casual, she was working the merch booth is when I had a chance to speak to her. I asked her about singers who influenced her and she pointed to her shirt which was Messiah from Candlemass! She was very cool and down to earth. Bought a glossy that she signed as well as shirt from 1st cd (they are touring to promote 2nd cd, but I like the shirt for the 1st one better).

For those not familiar with Holy Grail, fans of Maiden and/or Helloween I would HIGHLY recommend give Holy Grail a listen. Five members, high voiced singer who is STRONG live with a twin guitar attack with FAST TIGHT harmonies. They are promoting their 3rd CD now.

Setlists:
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/holy-grail/2016/walters-downtown-houston-tx-1bfec14c.html
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/savage-master/2016/walters-downtown-houston-tx-1bfec130.html

Walter's is a good small place to see a show where you feel close to the band. Also, they have a vinyl and cassette music store as soon as you walk in!
 
So much to update here. I went to Download Festival last weekend, for Sunday only. The weather was absolutely horrible and the ground was ankle deep in gloopy, pea soup-like mud across the site, so not the most pleasant experience. In terms of bands, all was good, however.

First band I saw, in one of the covered stages, was The Wild Lies (feat Adrian Smith's son on bass). I think I'd prefer to have seen them supporting Maiden rather than The Raven Age, who came on straight after them. They're more like hard rock and quite good at it. Then it was back outside in the rain to see Amon Amarth on the main stage. That's the first time I've seen them with a full size stage set, pyros and all, and they didn't disappoint. I'd have preferred to hear more new songs, but that was a very small slot they had, at midday, at Download. The rain kind of suited their set nicely! I hope to get to see them again when they tour later this year.

I caught the last two songs by Grand Magus, on the second stage, then a new band to me live, Delain. I've listened to a bit of them, but not been terribly impressed. However, they were a completely different experience live and well worth seeing. Thanks to the rain, we just wandered about and some food after this point, watching a bit of Halestorm. I'm no great fan of them, but Lzzy's voice was terrific, she doesn't put a note wrong live. I did see a little bit of Disturbed's set, but somehow missed Blaze's guest spot.

We caught the end of Electric Wizard's set indoors, then stayed inside for Gojira. They were excellent as ever, but almost impossible to see. It was bucketing down outside at this point so a load of people with absolutely no interest in Gojira had crammed inside the tent. I'm not sure if the times on the third stage were all moved around a bit, or bands played longer sets, because Ghost, who were meant to be second from top of the bill on that stage, cancelled because Papa had lost his voice.

Finally, it was back out to find a decent view of the main stage for Nightwish and then Maiden. I'm sure they said they was the first time Nightwish had played Download. They did a good job of it, being such polished performers with a big stage presence and pyros etc, although it was obvious some of the crowd had buggered off to the bar/toilets/to see Saxon at this point. I guess Nightwish aren't metal enough for the meatheads :D

Nightwish did a nice mix of newer songs from Greatest Show on Earth and the Anette era, plus some of the classic Tarja era songs. I actually thought Floor's singing was better here than it was at Wembley Arena last December, particularly on the Tarja songs.

Maiden got an amazing reception. I felt they had a slight wobble to begin with. The opening song featured what I thought was a big messup, although so far nobody else has said they heard that. Despite the miserable conditions, I think there was possibly a better atmosphere and bigger crowd response to Maiden at Download than in Oslo. Huge sections of the crowd, right the way up the bank, were singing along, and people around us were going nuts when songs they weren't expecting started. There was a big cheer in particular for Bruce taking the pee out of the mud and rain of 'Downpour' festival, and confirming there will be a UK tour in 2017.

So after a knackering day at Download, we got home on Monday, repacked the bags and set off early on Tuesday for Oslo.

This was actually the first time I'd seen Maiden play indoors, and it was such a different experience. Raven Age weren't as bad as I'd thought on a full size stage (I'd seen them before supporting British Lion at tiny venues). I didn't get to see a lot of Ghost as the tall people had waded in by this point, although they sounded good. As per the first time I saw them at Sonisphere 2014, they're a very different band live, for the better. I won't go into Maiden spoilers here, although we got a really good view of them. For the first time I was able to see the stage very clearly and actually see what the guitarists were playing. The performance was a bit more polished at Oslo, but if anything, I don't think the crowd was quite as into everything as it was a Download.

Next on my 2016 concert schedule: Amon Amarth in November, if I can get to Manchester on a Monday night; and possibly Damnation Festival in Leeds, also in November. The 2017 schedule currently includes Sabaton in January, and now Maiden in 2017 too.
 
Well last weekend was exciting, I haven't really had time to recall my rock adventure.

It started last Thursday with Axl/DC at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. I bought tickets primarily because there was some avaliable as people were getting refunds because Brian Johnson wasn't fronting the band. I was devistated that I missed getting tickets back in 2014 and last year, so I knew I had to leap at this chance before it passed regardless if Axl Rose was singing or not.

The show itself was amazing, Axl sang brilliantly and it was obvious that he was honoured to be there by how humble he came across and how much he smiled throughout the set. He was a pleasure to watch. And Angus is just Angus, the legend that he is. Flawless playing, and my god was his guitar loud (as was everything else). The setlist itself was great, there were a lot of welcomed Bon Scott era tracks that Axl blew out of the water, mixed with the obvious tracks and some songs from Rock or Bust (it's a shame they only played two from it)

The crowd itself were not great. There were a few obnoxious arseholes in the audience with a lot of pushing, even before AC/DC came onto the stage, with a couple of fights that almost broke out before the stewards intervened.

Overall, it was a crackin' night. Axl was great, and wasn't as bad as everyone was expecting. Only downsides were the arseholes in the crowd and missing the last train to Macclesfield and having to be rescued by my dad. Didn't get home until about 2am, which wasn't great as I had Download the next day! The things I do for rock!
 
Oh, but it would need to be in spoiler tags or the spoilers-allowed thread if it contains info on the setlist or stage set.
 
I saw Testament in Oxford last time, this being the fourth time that I've seen them.

I have to admit that I wasn't particularly excited about this gig as I'd been to Download Festival for a day just a week before and in between I was over in Oslo seeing Maiden again. I came back from Oslo exhausted and a bit ill so I was feeling a bit apathetic about the support bands. The first of them, Broken Teeth, had plenty of energy but were nothing more than a shit Hatebreed where every riff was taken from Slayer's textbook: slow menacing start followed by a mid-tempo to fast rhythm. The second band, Savage Messiah, were a bit better and seemed to be known by a few people as they'd supported Amon Amarth last year. They were pretty much Thrash by numbers though, even down to the outfits. All of the post-Oslo lethargy was gone, however, within seconds of Testament taking to the stage as they opened up with one of my favourites in 'Over the Wall'. I was lucky enough to have a place right on the barrier for the entire gig - right in front of Alex Skolnick! You know what you're getting with Testament: a really intense, energetic show and they didn't disappoint. They were as powerful and impressive as ever with a set full of classics (the setlist isn't on setlist.fm yet) despite being only an hour long. The highlight of the night has to be Chuck Billy announcing the wrong song only for Gene Holgan to sit shaking his head pointing at his copy of the setlist. :lol: I'm definitely looking forward to the new album and seeing them again with Amon Amarth later in the year.
 
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