Saw Black Star Riders last night. I'd never seen them as BSR before but had seen a "Thin Lizzy" line up with Scott and Ricky.
Good set, played everything I was waiting for, and even a couple of tracks that I'm not a huge fan of went down well live.
There was a funny bit, that I hope was genuine and not scripted. Before Hey Judas, Ricky introduced the track by saying it was written when they were touring supporting Judas Priest but that it wasn't influenced by them. The track then open with him singing a quiet verse accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. Just after singing the first line, Scott Gorham had some sort of guitar mishap resulting in a big loud noise/feedback distrupting the quiet intro, resulting in Ricky cracking up and saying "maybe it was influenced by Priest" and he then sang the first line again in a Painkiller style voice.
I just, JUST found out Pentagram is playing near me next Sunday! I JUST BOUGHT TICKETS. I NEVER, EVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE PENTAGRAM LIVE!! FUUUUUUUUUUJDJJSFH
Went to see The Who. A fantastic performance from the aged rockers. Roger was absolutely unreal on Love, Reign Oe'r me and Immense on We're Not Gonna Take it and Baba O Reilly. Won't Get Fooled again was played acoustic by just the two originals and Eddie Vedder joined for The Punk And The Godfather marking this as the first time I've seen a show where an unexpected guest shows up. As a whole the setlist was pretty good could of had more of the older hits as the set was dominated by Tommy and Quadrophenia. Pete was super funny throughout the show with smart remarks. Great show
Last Saturday I saw Killswitch Engage in Birmingham - the home of Metal. Although this was the sixth time I'd seen them it was only the second headlining show of theirs I've been to. The first was one of the first gigs I ever went to back in January 2007 - more than twelve-and-a-half years ago! I did see them supporting Maiden four times last year which was cool but I'd been getting frustrated about them not headlining tours for a couple of years. The support bands were Tenside (German Hardcore sort of band) and Revocation (American Death Metal) - I'd never heard of either before they were announced as support a few weeks ago. Tenside opened the show and were OK but just fairly generic fist pumping, shout along Hardcore. Revocation were dreadful and not the sort of band I like at all. Far too heavy and awful Cookie Monster vocals.
I enjoyed Killswitch a lot. Their last couple of albums have been pretty good which reignited my interested in them after they went a bit too soppy for a couple of albums. I knew all the songs at least pretty well and their "classics" like 'Rose of Sharyn', 'My Last Serenade' and 'The End of Heartache' are excellent live. Of the songs from the new album 'Atonement', we got 'As Sure as the Sun Will Rise' played live for the first time which was nice. They ended with their version of 'Holy Diver' which I think they do a really good job of (although Howard Jones is way better than Jesse Leach) but I feel that they dine out on that cover a bit too much. The performance and the atmosphere were both good but the set was only 80 minutes instead of 90 which was a bit odd.
Tomorrow I'll be back in Birmingham at the same venue to see Thrice co-headline with Refused.
HammerFall was really fun, they are truly a great live band. We actually saw Joacim Cans at the Foufounes Electroniques beforehand, which is fun. I am looking forward to seeing them again tonight!
Sabaton was their usual fun self. The crowd was Montreal-level insane, as they tend to be, and I got beat up pretty good as I was 2 from the barrier. Most of the new songs were good, with Great War and Attack of the Dead Men standing out. 82nd All the Way was better live than on the album, but that really only makes it "okay" as it's a pretty low level Sabaton song.
And last night was my second HammerFall show in a row. This time at Ottawa's hole-in-the-ground metal venue, Mavericks. Venue capacity might be 200-250, and it might not quite be that. The promoter for the show was Medi, the guy who runs the Koven where I frequent when I feel like having some beer in a friendly atmosphere, and it was a night of decent local metal followed by a pretty decent sized band.
The first local band was Machine Messiah, which can only be described as old school metal. The singer was a guy with a big mane of grey hair in the style of late-career Dio (excepting that the hair was grey). In fact, he dressed exactly like late-career Dio, and he sang a song that was a Dio tribute in that it just had the names of a bunch of Dio songs in it. But you know, for all that, they were really fun, and the guy actually had a decent voice. They played 5 songs and then were done.
Ottawa band Scepter were next. This was their first gig with their new singer, and while Scepter is decent for a local band, the new singer either wasn't warmed up or he was nervous. He got better as he went along, but the best song was with their old singer, who is flying to his home in the UK like tomorrow apparently. They also played 5 songs.
Wanna-be 80s band Lycanthro were up next. They had a technical problem (relayed to me as the wireless gig not working for two guitars after the show) and so were unable to play their 13 minute long epic Pale Rider. They did cover Heavy Metal (Is the Law) by Helloween, so there was that.
Finally for the local bands was Ottawa-region thrash stalwarts Infrared. It's kinda like having your own little mini-Slayer hanging around. Starting to get used to their usual schtick. They're alright.
HammerFall themselves were pretty fun. While Joacim Cans's voice was not great (likely due to singing every night on this tour, almost), the band is so much fun to watch. The guitarists always seem to be in sync and they are all a wonderful live part of the show. They played a 14 song set (extended from the 11 song set they played in front of Sabaton): https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/hammerfall/2019/mavericks-ottawa-on-canada-7b9d2274.html
Edit: I realize I didn't review the Ghost concert in Ottawa. Well, it was a 17000 person arena with maybe 3500 people in it, a handful of whom were actually good fans. Ghost was fine, but I've seen it before and I think I'm getting a little tired. Nothing More, the opening act, was appropriately named, for when they were done I knew how much more I wanted to hear from them: nothing more.
Nov 5 - Alestorm feat. Sovereign Council, Aephanemr @ The Brass Monkey, Nepean, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Apr 7 - Powerglove feat. Immortal Guardian @ Mavericks, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Oct 12 - HammerFall feat. Beast in Black, Edge of Paradise @ Corona Theatre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Jun 26, 2012 - Iron Maiden feat. Alice Cooper @Comcast Center, Mansfield, Massachusetts, USA
July 14, 2013 - Rush @ Halifax Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Sep 10, 2014 - Sonata Arctica feat. Delain, Xandria @ Mavericks, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Feb 27 - The Iron Maidens, Count Vamp'd, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Feb 28 - Iron Maiden feat. Raven Age @ Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Apr 1 - Iron Maiden feat. Raven Age @ Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Apr 25 - Sabaton feat. Battle Beast @ Club Soda, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
May 27 - Iron Maiden feat. Shinedown @ The O2 Arena, London, England, UK
May 28 - Iron Maiden feat. Shinedown @ The O2 Arena, London, England, UK
Jun 15 - Iron Maiden feat. Ghost @ Hollywood Casino Ampitheater, Tinley Park, Illinois, USA
July 15 - Iron Maiden feat. Ghost @ Budweiser Stage, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Feb 22 - Iced Earth feat. Sanctuary, Kill Ritual, Wolftooth @ The Deluxe at Old National Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Mar 2 - Sabaton feat. Kreator, Cyhra @ MTelus, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Mar 20 - Nightwish @ MTelus, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Mar 25 - Judas Priest feat. Saxon, Black Star Riders @ TD Place Arena, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Jul 28 - Heavy Montreal: Veil of Maya, Lee Aaron, Sword, Pallbearer, Alestorm @ Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Jul 29 - Heavy Montreal: Intervals, Helix, Gloryhammer, Trivium, Gojira @ Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sept 17 - Paul McCartney @ Centre Videotron, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Sept 22 - Alestorm feat. Gloryhammer, Protokult @ Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sept 29 - Unleash the Archers feat. Striker, Lycanthro, Sovereign Council @ Mavericks, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Dec 7 - Ghost @ Place Bell, Laval, Quebec, Canada
April 3 - Kiss @ Canadian Tire Centre, Kanata, Ontario, Canada
April 5 - Dream Theater @ Salle Wilfred-Pelletier, Place des Arts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
May 22 - Slayer feat. Lamb of God, Amon Amarth, Cannibal Corpse @ Canadian Tire Centre, Kanata, Ontario, Canada
June 5 - Gloryhammer feat. Aether Realm, Valfreya @ L'Astral, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
June 11 - Striker feat. Unknown, Infrared @ Mavericks, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
July 19 - Def Leppard feat. Tesla @ Canadian Tire Centre, Kanata, Ontario, Canada
Aug 5 - Iron Maiden feat. Raven Age @ Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Aug 24 - Iron Maiden feat. Raven Age @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Centre, Noblesville, Indiana, USA
Sept 1 - Demons & Wizards feat. Lizzy Borden, Tyr @ Corona Theatre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sept 15 - Kamelot feat. Sonata Arctica and Battle Beast @ Club Soda, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sept 17 - Battle Beast feat. Infrared, Lycanthro, Scepter @ Mavericks, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Oct 18 - Ghost feat. Nothing More @ Canadian Tire Centre, Kanata, Ontario, Canada
Oct 30 - Sabaton feat. HammerFall @ MTelus, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Oct 31 - HammerFall feat. Infrared, Lycanthro, Scepter, Machine Messiah @ Mavericks, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
That explains why all the bands hang out there beforehand. I had a look at the Facebook page and your man has posted pictures of Hammerfall, Eluvietie and Warbringer/Enforcer either inside the pub or standing outside.
Guns n Roses is tonight and tomorrow. As of 10am the cheapest ticket is at $275. Down from $400 a week ago but still a little too much for me. I’ll check it later tonight and hope for the best.
That tour also has Seven Spires opening. They played in Ottawa this year a couple of weeks before I visited. I think they're pretty good and the singer is kind of hot in a wierd, gothy sort of way.
That tour also has Seven Spires opening. They played in Ottawa this year a couple of weeks before I visited. I think they're pretty good and the singer is kind of hot in a wierd, gothy sort of way.
The guy I had to speak to who is obsessed with Scotland will probably be there. He'll want to tell Christopher Bowes about all the places he's s visited in Scotland. All of Ottawa's Nova Scotians too.
The guy I had to speak to who is obsessed with Scotland will probably be there. He'll want to tell Christopher Bowes about all the places he's s visited in Scotland. All of Ottawa's Nova Scotians too.
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I did see them supporting Maiden four times last year which was cool but I'd been getting frustrated about them not headlining tours for a couple of years. The support bands were Tenside (German Hardcore sort of band) and Revocation (American Death Metal) - I'd never heard of either before they were announced as support a few weeks ago. Tenside opened the show and were OK but just fairly generic fist pumping, shout along Hardcore. Revocation were dreadful and not the sort of band I like at all. Far too heavy and awful Cookie Monster vocals.
All of Ottawa's Nova Scotians too.