The Concert Thread

Saw Hardcore Superstar + Mustasch.

Venue with no proper division between bar and floor + the most alcohol happy bands around resulted in a rather unpleasant experience. How I miss the times when Hardcore Superstar's fans where mostly 15 year olds who went to see them for the music only.

Probably profit en masse though.
 
Updated:

Feb 22, 2018: Iced Earth feat. Sanctuary & Kill Ritual, local guest Wolftooth - Old Concert Theater, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
March 2, 2018: Sabaton feat. Kreator & Cyhra - MTelus, Montreal, QC, Canada.

March 20, 2018: Nightwish - MTelus, Montreal, QC, Canada.
March 25, 2018: Judas Priest feat. Saxon & Black Star Riders - TD Place Arena, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
May 5th, 2018: The Iron Maidens - The Brass Money, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
 
Bah. Bad Religion hits my country and they will play the whole Suffer album. I love that one a lot.

...on the same day Priest plays their gig.
 
Bah. Bad Religion hits my country and they will play the whole Suffer album. I love that one a lot.

...on the same day Priest plays their gig.
I will be very surprised if Priest has another tour with Glenn out of commission. This will probably be the last one. Not familiar with Bad Religion but i would assume they are younger than Priest and probably have more tours in them
 
BR are indeed younger. Still old though. :)
I'll go for Priest. Just a pity I won't see that whole Suffer album performed.

Incidentally, yesterday it struck me how Never the Heroes kinda sounds like a BR song (like Streets of America or Shades of Truth).
 
I saw Sepultura in London last night, despite the snow making me worried about travelling. There were three support bands - Fit For An Autopsy, Goatwhore and Obscura, I only saw the latter two and they were both shit. Sepultura were great though. They had a bunch of songs from their latest album 'Machine Messiah' along with the usual crowd-pleasers. There were also a few songs from 'Against' - their first with Derrick Green - as this year marks 20 years since Derrick joined Sepultura. He is a very impressive frontman at about 9 foot tall and build like a tank. Remind me who Max Cavalera is again...

Forthcoming schedule:

26/03 Sumo Cyco, Boston Music Room (London)
29/03 Testament, Motion Bristol
31/03 Testament, Birmingham Institute
05/04 Cellar Darling, Boston Music Room
13/04 Epica, Kentish Town Forum (London)
01/06 Iron Maiden, Stockholm
05/06 Iron Maiden, Copenhagen
16/06 Scorpions/Megadave, O2 Arena
(28/06-05/07 Tremonti)
04/08 Iron Maiden, Aberdeen
07/08 Iron Maiden, Birmingham
09-12/08 Judas Priest/Gojira/Nightwish/Kamelot/Devildriver, Bloodstock Festival
(22-28/09 Halestorm)
10/11 Within Temptation, Manchester Apoll0

I don't know which Tremonti/Halestorm shows I'll manage to get to (if any) as I don't currently know where I'll be living/working, it I'm working at all.
 
I’m a big stones fan but refuse to drop ridiculous amounts for shitty seats next year. £250 for anything decent, £89 to be behind a rich people barrier, forget it boys.
 
I saw Sepultura in London last night, despite the snow making me worried about travelling. There were three support bands - Fit For An Autopsy, Goatwhore and Obscura, I only saw the latter two and they were both shit. Sepultura were great though. They had a bunch of songs from their latest album 'Machine Messiah' along with the usual crowd-pleasers. There were also a few songs from 'Against' - their first with Derrick Green - as this year marks 20 years since Derrick joined Sepultura. He is a very impressive frontman at about 9 foot tall and build like a tank. Remind me who Max Cavalera is again...
This was Sepultura's setlist from Sunday night if anyone is interested.
 
Saw Dirkschneider last night on the 2nd leg of his Back To the Roots tour. I did see him last year on the first leg of the tour and this time he switched out about half the setlist!

Very happy about deep tracks like Fight It Back, Another Second To Be, Love Child, and especially Russian Roulette which I have been waiting since the cd first released to see live!

His band was great again and at the end he said "See you next time with U.D.O."! GOD I hope that happens! Have always wanted to see that band...

The opening band Elm Street I had never heard of but were pretty good (although they could use a better singer). They said they were from Australia so I looked them up online and they have put out 2 cds since 2011. I met the lead guitarist and welcomed him to Texas! I told him I saw and met the Australian metal band 4Arm few years ago when they opened the Dark Roots of Thrash tour for Testament. He said 4Arm is from the same town as them!

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/elm-street/2018/scout-bar-houston-tx-63ef767b.html

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dirkschneider/2018/scout-bar-houston-tx-5bef7784.html
 
I went to see Steven Wilson in Birmingham last Thursday. I've been wanting to see him since I became a fan since the release of The Raven that Refused to Sing in 2013, so when he announced the To the Bone tour last May, I bought tickets pretty much straight away, so it's been a long time coming. I had a great seat in the rear stalls of the Symphony Hall, and I have to say the acoustics of that venue are just perfect. It was the best sounding gig I've been to since David Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall.

The set was a mix between the new tracks from To the Bone, his solo career (mainly Hand. Cannot. Erase), and some tracks from Porcupine Tree. And I'm not going to lie, the emotion he puts into those songs is unparalleled, every song was beautiful. Also, the visuals on the projections were just stunning also, to a point where you're more transfixed watching them than the band.

Steve himself was incredibly chatty with the audience, and incredibly happy, which was unusual for him. Although he did get a bit pissed off with a guy who kept shouting for an obscure song to be played. Also it took him three attempts to start playing
People Who Eat the Darkness
due to guitar fuck ups, but he took it in good jest as did the audience.

Overall, the show was amazing! I'm definitely seeing him again when he passes through again.
 
Just back from Myles Kennedy's solo gig. Wow! It was fantastic! More detailed review to come later, I just can't now.
Did he play 'The Trooper'?

In the last week I've been to three gigs and I can't be bothered giving detailed reviews of all so I'll try to be brief.

Last Monday I saw Sumo Cyco play in a tiny venue (~250 capacity). They're a Canadian band who are some sort of combination of Punk, Metal and Dancehall (that's what they say). The singer, Skye Sweetnam, used to be some sort of discount Avril Lavinge when she was a teenager and even supported Britney Spears once. :lol: Her change in musical direction could be interpreted as a delayed rebellious phase but it seems quite genuine to me and it's not like playing in tiny, shitty venues is earning the band a lot of money. They're really good live too and have quite an active crowd. The support bands were Skarlett Riot who I seem to keep on seeing as a result of them supporting other bands but they're pretty good live, and also Midwich Cuckoos (stupid name) who are somewhat heavier than the other two bands and have a fantastic singer. She's Italian and I was talking to her after her band's set about Italian Metal bands - most of whom seem to be really cheesy.

Last Thursday and Saturday I saw Testament, Annihilator and Vader in Bristol (a birthday present to myself) and Birmingham. Both were great shows and my body is still recovering from them (many bruises!). I also had a bit too much to drink on Saturday (which continued after the show!) so don't have as clear a memory of the show as I should. :oops: Testament's setlist was excellent as it properly spanned their entire career (take note Iron Maiden). They could've done without the solos from each member of the band to be honest but the shows were still fantastic. That's now eight times I've seen Testament and hopefully I'll see them several more times. I don't think much of Vader but Annihilator were very good both nights. I hope @Albie enjoys the London show on Wednesday.

Next up is Cellar Darling on Thursday. This will make a nice change of pace from two thrash shows in three days. I don't think my body could handle it!

Upcoming schedule:

05/04 Cellar Darling, Boston Music Room (London)
13/04 Epica, Kentish Town Forum (London)
01/06 Iron Maiden, Stockholm
05/06 Iron Maiden, Copenhagen
16/06 Scorpions/Megadave, O2 Arena
(28/06-05/07 Tremonti)
04/08 Iron Maiden, Aberdeen
07/08 Iron Maiden, Birmingham
09-12/08 Judas Priest/Gojira/Nightwish/Kamelot/Devildriver, Bloodstock Festival
(22-28/09 Halestorm)
10/11 Within Temptation, Manchester Apoll0
(8-11/12 Nightwish)
 
Soon I'm going to Epica's 1000th concert. 1000 concerts. Not bad a for a band that did the first gig in December 2002. I've seen their first as well (and many in between, most in between 2002 and 2008). A very hard working band, deserving their success!

years and number of gigs (I did some quick counting with their gig archive but it's probably not exact)

2002: 1 (they were called Sahara Dust back then)
2003: 50
2004: 68
2005: 92
2006: 67
2007: 71
2008: 87
2009: 50
2010: 115
2011: 38
2012: 94
2013: 23
2014: 38
2015: 79
2016: 57
2017: 105
2018: 13 and counting
 
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On Thursday evening I saw Cellar Darling - the new band from three former Eluviete (or whatever) members Anna Murphy and two guys. They played in a tiny venue in north London called the Boston Music Rooms which has ~250 capacity. It was indeed a room and there was indeed music, but it is not in Boston. The support band was Diamond Black who were formed by someone from Sisters of Mercy - they play some Goth Rock or whatever, not particularly interesting to me. Cellar Darling were excellent though and they played their entire debut album* plus a cover of 'The Prophets Song' by Queen which works surprisingly well with a hurdy gurdy. They've started working on their second album so hopefully they'll be touring again soon. They also spent some time at the merch stand after their set but I couldn't stick around as I had to jump on the train. Sad!

* setlist from Manchester as nobody has bothered to put the London setlist online yet

Soon I'm going to Epica's 1000th concert. 1000 concerts. Not bad a for a band that did the first gig in December 2002. I've seen their first as well (and many in between, most in between 2002 and 2008). A very hard working band, deserving their success!

years and number of gigs (I did some quick counting with their gig archive but it's probably not exact)

2002: 1 (they were called Sahara Dust back then)
2003: 50
2004: 68
2005: 92
2006: 67
2007: 71
2008: 87
2009: 50
2010: 115
2011: 38
2012: 94
2013: 23
2014: 38
2015: 79
2016: 57
2017: 105
2018: 13 and counting
I will be seeing Epica's 999th show in London on Friday, which I'm looking forward to a lot after seeing their previous London show in February last year. Support is from Oceans of Slumber and Myrkur. This will be my last concert before Iron Maiden in Stockholm at the start of June. Whatever will I do with myself?

That 1000th show will probably be a really good occasion, I hope you have a good time Foro. The total of all those shows definitely exceeds 1000 though.
 
My schedule is a bit weak. Hoping for some more shows to come through town.

8/26 Alice In Chains/Stone Temple Pilots/ Bush/ and the Cult. Vancouver, WA

12/2 Metallica in Spokane, WA
 
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