Dubya

And first time played in the US since 1993!

Why So Blu?

Saw Imagine Dragons tonight. I still don't care for their music but it was great seeing Metric live. They fucking rocked and Emily Haines is as beautiful as ever.

jacob_b

Anyone seen Deep Purple recently?

PerryD

Summer Slaughter came into town with headliners Arch Enemy, and supporting acts Born of Osiris, Veil of Maya, and Acacia Strain. Two additional opening acts dropped out, Obscura had visa issues, and After the Burial dropped off at the last minute due to the recent suicide of their guitarist.

But the real treat for me was discovering Cattle Decapitation. They've been around a while, but easily dismissed (by me at least) due to the ridiculous band name. But preparing for the show, I listened to each band on Spotify and wow, this band is excellent! Heavy, brutal, punishing, but mixed in with the standard growls is this David Wayne style melodic thrash vocal, which elevates every song. They are selling their new album, Anthropocene Extinction, on the tour ahead of the release date Aug 7th. I bought the CD in a bundle with a t-shirt for only $25 and it is fantastic, building upon their previous album Monolith of Inhumanity. I'm looking forward to them come back to Chicago next month as headliners on their own tour.

majorjoe23

Hinterland Music Festival with Old Crow, Brandi Carlile, Edward Sharpe and others.

BearFan

Going to go see them next Sunday .. but have not seen them since the Perfect Strangers tour

jacob_b

How long ago was that and were they any good? Seeing them this Wednesday and hoping it's a good time.

cfmoran13

I saw Rush at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ back in June. They were their typical awesome selves. They played for close to 3 hours with no opener, pulling out a few tracks that haven't been played live in ages. They definitely pulled out all the stops for their last major tour.

beavis69

Saw Mayhem fest a couple of weeks ago in Virginia. You could tell this would be the last year as they didn't even sell out the first section much less the other two and the lawn. Was a little pissed that they gave lawn ticket holders free pit tickets. I spent $80 bucks for pit tickets and talked to a guy that got lawn tickets the day of for $7 with free upgrade to pit later in the day. The opening bands were, for the most part, not that good. Jungle Rot and Whitechapel were the only bands on the second stage I thought worth seeing. Concert was worth it though for King Diamond and to see Slayer for a second time.

I'm getting extended for a little while down in Norfolk so I'm able to catch the Between the Buried and Me, Contortionist, and Animals As Leaders show this weekend. Looking forward to that one.

jacob_b

Always the same headliners or trash. Mayhem certainly has gone down the hill since the days I went. Has it been announced it is the last tour for them?

Ky-Fi

One of my favorites, Stan Ridgway in Boston (Somerville) last night. One of the most criminally underappreciated American songwriters, IMO, with an incredible body of work.

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beavis69

Yep, the main promoter announced it on Facebook after the closing show in Texas. The problem is that this year was put together last minute and it showed. Slayer brings people out but they tour the US constantly, Kind Diamond is an aquired taste and holds an older fanbase who won't come out for the younger acts, and HellYeah are hated by most people who go to Mayhem.

That Slipknot/Lamb of God tour and Summer Slaughter are what alot of people chose to go to this year. I think all the bitching back and forth online and in the press between the promoters and Slayer put the nail in the coffin.

TimeandTide

You went to the Boise show?

Saw them at the Forum on the 24th. Great concert. Wasn't a huge fan prior and was there mostly to chaperone our kids, but was super impressed by the lead singer's energy and humility. They're definitely on my radar now. The lasers and rose petal shower were pretty awesome.

Metric was OK. Especially dug that synth-heavy song with the neon shades and low-fi light show, but their other songs were unmemorable.

A pic I took at the close of the show:

PerryD

Last night, I went to see Jasta (of Hatebreed), Fear Factory, and Coal Chamber. I did the meet & greet with Fear Factory, really relaxed environment to hang with the band for a decent time. The had their new album available to purchase at their merch booth, so I was able to get that signed, along with a poster, setlist, and laminate. My friend asked the drummer why he didn't throw his sticks out after the show, and he said that he buys his own drum sticks and they cost $10 a pair, so he can't afford it.

kenbuzz

I saw Boron Cowpunch a few weeks ago. They were at the Odeon with They Might Be Giants and a local band (Cheese Whiz Troopers IIRC) opening for them.

jacob_b

Yeah I just took some time to read about this and they say everyone was filled up (maybe if they had started earlier they would have gotten better acts?). I see a LOT of love on some pages for Manson, which is kind of interesting and how people wanted him at the show.

And what happened between Slayer and the promoters? Couldn't find that. Just read stories of bands hating on each other, but couldn't find a lot of info on that either.

GuessWho

Last night... Motley Crue, with Alice Cooper opening

Why So Blu?

I did.

I think Metric's guitarist, James Shaw, was phenomenal. He shredded the shit out of it on a couple of songs.

BearFan

That was last night

The band was incredibly tight. Some cool jams and plenty of solos, that were actually musical, not just "go get a beer" breaks like most. I was worried about Gillan, and he struggled a bit during some of the classic screams (think Yeah Yeah Yeah Space Truckin' at the end of the song), but overall he sang the older songs effectively. But, he nailed the stuff from Now What !? damn near perfectly. Perhaps that is a good formula for singers who have lost range, come up with good new material that you can sing well and make the songs worthy of playing live.


Airy and Morse are not Blackmore and Lord, but they were really damn good. Paice and Glover brought it as well.


All around really fun show, worth seeing. They played about 1 hour 45 mins.

Setlist


Intro -- Mars, the Bringer of War

Highway Star

Après Vous

Hard Lovin' Man

Strange Kind of Woman

Vincent Price

Contact Lost

Uncommon Man

The Well-Dressed Guitar

The Mule
(Including Ian Paice Drum Solo)

Lazy

Hell to Pay

Keyboard Solo
(Including excerpts from other peices)
-- this was awesome
Perfect Strangers
(Including a snippet of " Gethsemene" from Jesus Christ Superstar)

Space Truckin'

Smoke on the Water

Encore:

Green Onions

(Booker T. & The MG’s cover) (not the full song)

Hush
(Joe South cover) (followed by a drum/bass intro to "Black Night")

Black Night
(with an extended guitar solo that included some ZZ Top stuff)

BearFan

I went to the show in Dallas. Slayer and King Diamond put on good shows. Hellyeah was pretty crappy and it was too hot to get there earlier for a bunch of bands I never heard of. I think it would have been a better tour with just Slayer and Kind Diamond and probably would have drawn about the same crowd

mndtrp

What's interesting is that guy does know how to do a successful summer tour with Warped Tour. But how many times does he need to book Slayer?

PerryD, was Burton able to sign the cleans at all? He's been pretty terrible live every time I've seen him, going back about 15 years or so.

PerryD

I thought he sounded great, but watch my video and decide for yourself .

beavis69

Essentially one of the promoters (I guess its a two person team) called out Slayer for not taking a lower pay to help support upcoming artist like punk bands do for Warper Tour (his words, not mine). He also called metal old, gray, and balding and there are no new acts that can headline a mainstage at Mayhem and still draw crowds. Kerry King shot back and basically called him on it and then called out the weak supporting acts that the tour had this year. This prompted the lead singer of Jungle Rot to call out Kerry for basically shitting on a bunch of bands that were just trying to earn some money and a fanbase. I could kinda sense the animosity between the Victory Records stage acts and the main stage guys by some words said during the show. Then the lead singer of Thy Art is Murder complained about the catering

The whole thing is one big cluster fuck and there is some truth to what each party has said. It's hard for a multi date traveling metal festival to fill up 20,000 seats. I think we'll see alot more 3 day festivals much like Europe has. I mean if ICP can fucking fill up an entire forest in the backwoods of Michigan for 10+ years and good promoter should be able to make a good metal festival in America happen.

Went to the Coma Ecliptic tour with Between the Buried and Me, Animals as Leaders, and The Contortionist. Incredible show all around. I'm not a huge fan of AAL but I was in the minority and the crowd ate them up. Very diverse crowd, which became apparent when a pit started up during BTBAM. I always find it funny when people start pits at prog metal shows. I saw the lead singer of Opeth roll his eyes when one was started during their last tour, especially since their newer albums are alot softer than their old ones.

jacob_b

Yeah those Europe tours are amazing. I am always so jealous at the lineup of those (top to bottom, even has Fozzy there) and I wish America would have shows like those.

jacob_b

Foghat and Deep Purple in Costa Mesa was interesting. The crowd wasn't big to begin as Foghat started, but by the end everyone was rocking and the house was pretty full. They have a good sound and seemed to have a lot of fun on stage. I thought they did a bit than Deep Purple. The music for Purple was amazing but man Ian's chops just aren't good. He has nice dance moves and shows emotion, but it was mostly music as he disappeared a lot and sounded tired. But like Bearfan said, his old stuff just wasn't there, but his new songs (like Vincent Price) were nice to hear. A lot of good music, though.