British Lion on the Monsters of Rock cruise

I hear you on all of this, I'd probably go to more shows but for the damn anxiety.

I did just pick up tickets to an Alice Cooper show in July in Niagara Falls, Ontario (man, I haven't seen him since 1988!). It's local so the driving/parking anxiety should be ok, and I'm dragging the wife and kids along so it won't just be me (but I can't do that for extreme metal shows, that would just be me going ).

Edge of Paradise at the Forge in Joliet

Immortal Guardian

Flotsam & Jetsam

I don't have the best phone for pictures, but here's what I think is a decent shot of Decapitated in Greensboro. You can't see him, but John from Incantation was about 5 feet in front of me for most of the show. I didn't talked to him, but he was such a nice dude to the people that talked with him.



It was a fun show. I felt a bit bad for Allegaeon because the sound for their set was a bit rough. They're by far the most technical of the bands I saw and they played their asses off, but a lot of the shreddy guitar work was kinda drowned out. Vocalist sounded great though.

I also felt bad for Septicflesh because the singer yelled out "South Carolina!" a few times in North Carolina. I didn't care, but some people did I'm sure. They're from Greece, I'll cut them some slack.

Lizzy Borden on the Monsters of Rock cruise

2024-04-28: Sabaton at Everwise Amphitheater in Indianapolis. I'm a big fan of these guys and they put on another fun show that sounded great. Returning guitarist Thobbe Englund fit right back in. Hope we get another headlining show from them soon.

2024-04-28: Judas Priest at Everwise Amphitheater in Indianapolis. It's been that way for a while, but these guys are statues with Rob wandering around the stage these days. The last time I saw them was at the show right before Richie Faulkner had his aorta rupture. Good to see him back at it again. They did sound great.

05/01 - Bad Religion and Social Distortion - Firefly Distillery, North Charleston SC

More of a throwback venue to something I'd go to in my younger days. It's just a full scale production stage, in a field, next to a restaurant/whiskey distillery. All GA and not the greatest sound. Both bands are not huge but they are established acts currently co-headlining a mostly sold out amphitheater tour so it was weird they come this out off the way. I was shocked that it was almost at capacity (~5000). Even with the bad sound, Bad Religion was great. Audience was mainly Xers and younger Boomers but a surprisingly amount of Ys and Zs. Every few years I'm reminded that a mosh pit is the whitest thing ever at a concert. . 25-45 youts (and the obligatory 1-2 arseholes) running around in a circle surrounded by a bunch of middle age folks is a surreal experience.

Lacuna Coil, New Years Day & Oceans of Slumber - The Underground Charlotte

They get a bad rap, will never be considered 'cool', but I've seen them a few times at events like the Vegas Strong fundraiser concert and thought they were great. I also saw them play before the Stanley Cup Final Game 2 in 2018 and it really pumped up the crowd. The Knights still lost though.

05/07 - Queens of the Stone Age - Live Oak Bank Pavilion, Wilmington NC

First time I've seen them in concert. Damn they were good. Set was a tad short but Josh Homme was super involved with the crowd even come off stage and into the pit while singing.

Kerry King last night at Reggie's in Chicago with his first performance with his new band performing most of the new upcoming album plus some Slayer cuts.

I was there too, I was the guy in the Decapitated shirt leaning against a beam for the entire night. It was a good show although the guy next to me who screamed through Lacuna Coil's entire set gave me a headache. Not super into Oceans of Slumber or New Years Days music apart from a couple songs, but they sounded great and put on good performances. Lacuna Coil was great, Christina really seemed to be having fun up there. There was a bit during Veneficium where the whole band was backlight that looked incredible.

It was weird having us spooky people for The Underground show and Madison Beer's fans lined up together. Weird crowd mix there.

Me and my daughter were on the right side near the front of the stage. I only knew of one song by Oceans of Slumber(third song played) going in last night. I like a few songs by New Year's Day, but my daughter is naturally into them more than me. One of their guitarist stood on that platform Ash uses and flicked a pick at the end of the song. I nailed me right in the left shoulder. No one around seemed to notice, so I told my daughter about it and she was able to find it without calling attention to it. She was having a rough day and that definitely made things right for her. She evened posted a couple of pictures of their set and a picture of the pick and tagged Ash online and Ash posted it on their Instagram and Facebook page story.

Loved Lacuna Coil. And yeah, Christina seemed to be enjoying it last night.

I had(and still don't) have no idea who Madison Beer is. My daughter had to inform me who was there and as to why so many of the females were wearing those style dresses. Definitely a weird mix.

I only know who Madison Beer is because she was a guest once on a YouTube show I watch called Good Mythical Morning. No idea what her music sounds like, but she seemed nice enough. She's actually in Raleigh tonight apparently.

I'm currently at an In Flames show in Greensboro. Creeping Death just got done and they were awesome. Pretty good sound at this Piedmont Hall venue here.

In Flames was great, I mostly only know their older death metally stuff, but it was a great show. I went against my usual routine and actually got a spot right up front against the rail and now I think that's what I'll be doing from now on. It was way more fun being like 7 feet away from Chris Broderick during a guitar solo. Also, no sea of phones to have to look at. Kinda kicking myself for not getting closer for Lacuna Coil.

After the show Bjorn threw a guitar pick at me and I actually caught it. A girl behind begged me for it and I knew I'd end up putting it in a box and forgetting about it so I let her have it.

5/10/24 - Avatar, Conquer Divide, Oxxymorrons(2 r's, not 1; their slogan not mine)

I just saw Avatar late last year but they were one of the opening bands. So this was my first time seeing them as a headliner. Very entertaining and definitely got my moneys worth with just them alone. They went on stage at 10pm and didn't finish until a few minutes after midnight.

Conquer Divide was pretty good also as I really like their most recent release; as was Oxymorrons.


Agreed. Despite living about 40 minutes from Greensboro, this was my first time attending a show at this venue. Also a little history about this site. It used to be a Canada Dry distribution center ages ago before they transformed it into what it is today(music venue/Greensboro Swarm NBA G league office).

Its a nice place overall, Amorphis and Dark Tranquillity are playing at Hangar 1819 and I wish they were at Piedmont instead. Hangar is fine, but I figured those bands were known enough to get a venue bigger than 500 capacity. When we were in line for In Flames they had a huge stack of Steel Panther tickets they were giving out, but nobody wanted them. Felt kinda bad for them, I don't know their music, but I would have gone if I didn't live 80 minutes away.

Cruel World Fest is happening over by the Rose Bowl today. Duran Duran is headlining the mainstage. Tons of other throwback bands. I'd want to see Ministry play since they'll be playing songs from With Empathy (never thought I'd see the day). Tickets are $209 GA each.

There was a guy in line yesterday that mentioned the free tickets. I have never heard any of their stuff either. Only heard how over the top they were with their music(adult content).

Rolling Stones, Hackney Diamonds '24 Tour, Allegiant Stadium



Bought inexpensive tickets at almost the last minute. Went alone as the Mrs wasn't feeling up to it, also we've seen them plenty of times already. This was like my 6th or 7th Stone's show. Obviously they've slowed down, but it's still a fun show and Mick can still move and sing. Not what he once was, but hey, dude is 80!

2024-05-12: Blackbriar at the House of Blues in Cleveland. First time seeing this band (it’s their first tour in North America), but I know their music. I met Zora (singer) and a couple band members after their set in a hallway. The guys were really outgoing and talkative. Zora is tiny and very shy, it felt like talking to a very young little girl. Band sounded great.

2024-05-12: Battle Beast at the House of Blues in Cleveland. Have seen these folks a couple times, but this is their first North American headliner tour. They were very high energy, sounded great, and the crowd was realllly into them. We did the meet and great for this one, and they were all very nice. After the standard meet and greet, there was still about an hour before the show, and we got to hang out with them (us and about 10 other folks) for about a half hour near the merch tables. Had a blast at this show and talking with them.