Going:
The Eagles 4/24/15
Def Leppard, Styx, Tesla 9/30/15


Want to go to:
Nightwish and Sabaton. It's in 3 days and it's way out of my price range. 36$ is too much for a Sabaton set I've seen most of. Plus I don't really like Nightwish.
Halestorm
Spokane's Rock Hard at the Park festival. Slayer might show up.


Being Hopeful:
Iron Maiden
Dream Theater

Queensryche's also coming to town, but unfortunately I'll be out of town. So that's annoying.
 
Nightwish and Sabaton were absolutely stellar last night!

Sabaton was ridiculously amazing and so full of energy. Joakim could barely form words for half of the set because he was humbled by the intense audience response. I daresay that, although there were more Nightwish fans in the building, Sabaton had the crowd participating at a much higher level. Unfortunately, they dropped two songs from the set that I really, really wanted to see (Soldier of 3 Armies and Uprising) and replaced them with The Art of War (which is still cool, but I've seen it three times now). http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/sabaton/2015/in-the-venue-salt-lake-city-ut-4bc8ef12.html

Regardless of setlist disappointment, any Sabaton show is a brilliant Sabaton show and this was no exception. By the general feeling of the crowd and the band's response, I think a U.S. headlining tour is not far away.

Nightwish killed it, even if the audience was suffering from a bit of Sabaton fatigue. Floor sounded incredible, Marco was completely on point, and everyone seemed to be having a really great time. Emppu in particular got a rise out of messing with the entire band and Tuomas looked more happy and upbeat than I've ever seen him. He even shared a nice moment with Floor after Storytime where they gave each other a big smile, a thumbs up, and a high five.

They premiered Alpenglow and it sounded fantastic. Floor remarked that it is one of her favorite songs on the new album and she couldn't wait to start playing it at gigs. They also played Bless The Child for the first time this tour, eliminating the rotation of Nemo/Dark Chest/Ever Dream and I Want My Tears Back. http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/nightwish/2015/in-the-venue-salt-lake-city-ut-43c8ef17.html

I also got in an Emppu guitar pick!

Oh, and just a friendly warning: Delain is really, truly terrible. Their singer sounds like a goat imitating Britney Spears and the music could not get any more simplistic and pop-oriented. I've never seen a symphonic metal band that is so poor at writing vocal melodies.
 
Nightwish's setlist: I think all songs they are playing are good... however I could do without My Walden and songs from DPP aren't the best choices... However, I bet it'd be kickass to see the show live.

Sabaton's setlist: apart from sucky Swedish Pagans it's pretty good.

Delain: interesting... I didn't hear much but I thought they are decent poppy gothic/sympho metal with an awesome vocalist. And LC said last year that they are awesome live.
 
Oh, and just a friendly warning: Delain is really, truly terrible. Their singer sounds like a goat imitating Britney Spears and the music could not get any more simplistic and pop-oriented. I've never seen a symphonic metal band that is so poor at writing vocal melodies.
I really liked them live. But I saw them in a tiny club (>200 people) and I was up close, and drunk.
 
Nightwish's setlist: I think all songs they are playing are good... however I could do without My Walden and songs from DPP aren't the best choices... However, I bet it'd be kickass to see the show live.

Sabaton's setlist: apart from sucky Swedish Pagans it's pretty good.

Delain: interesting... I didn't hear much but I thought they are decent poppy gothic/sympho metal with an awesome vocalist. And LC said last year that they are awesome live.

Nightwish: I was fine with the DPP songs, it's the Imaginaerum stuff I could do without. My Walden was actually pretty fun live. It made me like the song more.

Sabaton: Whatchu got against Swedes and Pagans, huh?

Delain: Nope. No one but a drunk person could describe that singer as awesome.

I really liked them live. But I saw them in a tiny club (>200 people) and I was up close, and drunk.

Yep, that explains it.
 
Sabaton: Whatchu got against Swedes and Pagans, huh?
I read that as 'penguins'.

I'd be fine with stuff from Endless Forms, but yeah, I'd happily lose Imaginaerum songs. I'm trying to decide if I'm still going to go this December tbh. The layout of the venue has changed and my tickets have been swapped for seats some place at the back, I've no idea where as yet. If they offer refunds I might just take that instead.
 
Easy on the eyes though...

Yeah, but she loses 10 hotness points every time she opens her mouth to sing.

I'd be fine with stuff from Endless Forms, but yeah, I'd happily lose Imaginaerum songs. I'm trying to decide if I'm still going to go this December tbh. The layout of the venue has changed and my tickets have been swapped for seats some place at the back, I've no idea where as yet. If they offer refunds I might just take that instead.

Nightwish put on a great show, and the set will no doubt streamline a bit by December. I'd say it's worth it.

I read that as 'penguins'.

SWEDISH PENGUINS! WADDLING ASHORE!
 
Went to see U.D.O. (with support Sister Sin and Garagedays) this weekend. Saw Accept last October so I was excited to see how U.D.O. compared to the band he is almost synonymous with.

It turns out to not even be a competition. Accept is the better band and live act in every possible way. U.D.O.'s guitarplayers may be far more proficient, but the bass overpowered exactly everything so I heard basically nothing of the guitars from the front. Udo Dirkschneider is still an inconic voice and frontman, but the band as a whole suffered from feeling more like a touring band put together in haste - with a positive surprise in his 21 year old son Sven on the drums, who I can't fault.

Add to that a crowd mostly consisting of older, drunk people. Not my kind of gig in the slightest.
 
11150304_547197338755026_1520250361528020978_n.jpg
 
I think it's because Muert have to go to bed early.

10376724_983282985016002_510594938357650610_n.jpg
 
I have bought a fair amount of tickets lately

July
Smashing Pumpkins/Marilyn Manson

August
Weird Al
maybe Deep Purple, have some scheduling problems
Slayer/King Diamond

September
Van Halen
 
CLUTCH was so awesome tonight! Neil was absolutely on fire. Best I've ever heard him.

Graveyard is a really cool band, but they suffered from poor vocal levels and a lack of stage presence.

Mastodon was cool, but I spent so much time fighting for my spot at the railing during Clutch that I moved to the back of house. No Blood and Thunder encore with Neil, though. :(

One thing that struck me as odd was how little the bands ever spoke to the audience. Maybe I've been spoiled by Sabaton's comedy bits, Opeth's audience participation discussions, or Bruce's song introductions, but hearing three bands in a row that barely spoke was just bizarre. Clutch was by far the chattiest, Neil introduced probably 5-6 of the songs. But Mastodon literally spoke 3 times during their set and one was as they were walking offstage. I appreciate that they want to cram as much music as possible into the sets, but it's still weird.
 
Graveyard is one of those bands who, rather than having crafted a carefully thought out image, actually just seems to be as they are. I would be surprised if their choice to just stand there and play is a thought out move to emulate the 70's rock band they draw inspiration from... If it is, their image is a bit too effective. They just seem like a bunch of lucky junkies to me.
 
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