Children of Bodom -- Kansas City, MO -- September 27th, 2008

I don't feel like writing up a huge review, so I'll just kind BS it right here:

BTBAM: I thought they were going to be good, but they were mediocre. I guess I was expecting like...I guess maybe Dillinger Escape Plan-esque crazy tempo changes and stuff? But, no, just metalcore. No terribly breakdowns like, say, Unearth or anything like that, but just nothing stood out about them. 6/10

BDM: Always put on a good show and tonight was no different. Their vocalist cracks me up, he always has a huge grin on his face. He's so happy! He ends every song the same way. Music cuts out, "FUCK YEAH!" They're fun. 7/10

Bodom: Best band of the night, they were really fun to listen to! The solos sounded fantastic live and that keyboard is awesome! Alexi Laiho is really awesome at what he does and every song, give for "Blooddrunk", was really engaging and powerful. No encores with silly jam songs, but that's okay. Bed of Razors was the highlight. 8/10

The Crowd: A lot of hardcore dancers during BTBAM but they were the "pick up the change" kind. During BTBAM there was a huge lack of devil horns too, which was weird. Everyone did rap hands during the breakdown-esque parts of BTBAM and Black Dahlia for some reason. During Black Dahlia, there were less hardcore dancers but they were the fucking most annoying I've ever seen. They would stand on the sides and, like, fucking do this stupid ass move to wait until the pit died down so they could go in. Like...the move was...okay, put your hands out in front of you like you're riding a motorcycle. Doing it? Okay, now act like you're revving the gas, and while doing that, imagine if a gangster was doing it. That's what they were doing. I was so fucking pissed off at them. People picked up on their faggotry and just kept running into them whenever they tried to do anything so they just left after BDM. In fact, about half the people there left after them. But then a bunch came in just for Bodom, so it evened out.

Children Of Bodom:

Follow the Reaper
Smile Pretty for the Devil
Silent Night, Bodom Night
Living Dead Beat
Hellhounds on My Trail
Sixpounder
Blooddrunk I did not really like this song
Angels Don't Kill
Children of Decadence -> Chokehold (Cocked 'n Loaded)
Hate Me!
Bed of Razors Probably the best song of the night
In Your Face Extremely fun
Hate Crew Deathroll
Downfall

The Black Dahlia Murder (partial):

What A Horrible Night to Have A Curse
A Vulgar Picture
Statutory Ape
I Worship Only What You Bleed
Everything Went Black

Between The Buried and Me:

Foam Born B: The Decade of Statues The only song I knew by them
All Bodies
Prequel To The Sequel
White Walls Part of this was very good

Soulfly and Suicidal Tendencies are comin' up

A pair of upcoming concerts:

"JumpDaFukkUp" thrash metal/nu-metal group Soulfly will be at the Beaumont Club on November 23rd with Incite and local metal band Hammerlord.




Seminal thrash/skatepunk band Suicidal Tendencies will be at The Beaumont Club on November 28th (That's the day before GWAR at the same venue). Also appearing will be Terror and Whole Wheat Bread.

Impaled -- Lawrence, KS -- September 15th, 2008

Impaled – Lawrence, KS – September 15th, 2008

The concert took place at The Jackpot in Lawrence, KS on a chilly school night. The first band, playing to a barely filled bar, was Maruta. Maruta is certainly different, seeing as the only members were the vocalist, guitarist, and drummer. No bass player for this grindcore outfit. They ripped through their set but the crowd was unresponsive. Maruta definitely had hardcore influences and incorporated a bit of breakdowns into their music, and the crowd were metal purists tonight. There was absolute silence in between Maruta songs. All in all, though, they accomplished warming up the crowd and kicked off the night to a not-so-bad start.

The second band was Illogicist from Italy. Illogicist absolutely blew me away. The mix was perfect and you could hear each instrument perfectly. Their style of music was Progressive Technical Death Metal. Jaw-dropping talent and solos combined with unexpected tempo changes and odd time signatures made for an outstanding experience to bang your head to, even if the headbanging wasn't always on the beat. Illogicist stole the show.

After that was the beginning of some well-received grindcore. By this time, the Jackpot was packed and the mosh pit was in full force. The band next on the bill was Dallas' “Kill The Client” and they did good ol' fashioned grindcore. The vocalist even went off the stage and into the pit (kind of surprising, the pit was particularly crazy) and did some songs. He called that “doing it house-show style”. No guitar solos from Kill The Client, but they didn't need them. Full of aggression and fueled by the craziness of the pit, they tore through their set and left no head un-banged.

The co-headliner Phobia took the stage and offered up more traditional grindcore songs. A handful of songs lasted no more than a few seconds. Most rarely lasted past the minute mark, but the crowd absolutely loved it. The band had the packed bar eating out of their hands. Some would scream the words into the microphones, some would stage dive and hit the floor, only to get right back up and try it again, and some would put their arms around each other and declare war on every other member of the pit, all the while with huge grins on their faces. With song titles such as “Death To False Punks”, “Beers, Bitches, and Bullet Belts” and “Let's Get Pissed” no one took Phobia seriously which made for more reasons to have fun and headbang.

By the time the headliners Impaled took the stage, there were only about 50 people left in the Jackpot. It was about 11:30 on a Monday night, so I expected as much. Decked out in matching uniforms and washed in the red of Christmas lights and flashing lights, Impaled began their set. The mixing for them was sub-par, though. For some songs, the two-guitarists and the bass blended together and the high-pitched vocalist just sounded like static. The low-guttural vocalist (who was also in Phobia) sounded great all night long, however. Playing intro's to songs via an iPod just resulted in what sounded like more garbled static over the sound system. Impaled deserves a bigger venue and a better sound system. Still, they made due with what they had and gave what they called “the true underground metal warriors” a great set of grind-influenced death metal and humorous medical overtones: “We all know school is important, we did go to school for twelve years”. They ended the night with a particularly crushing performance of their classic “Operating Theater” to end a great night of metal. I just wish it could have been at a place with a better sound system.

Alice Cooper -- Hutchinson, KS -- September 12th, 2008

Alice Cooper – Hutchinson, KS – September 12th, 2008

Alice Cooper might seem as an odd choice for the Kansas State Fair, but it was probably the best outdoor performance that I've ever seen. The venue was a grandstand facing a large, muddy racetrack but, for the fair, had a stage erected in front of it. The seats were bleachers which made it cramped for sitting, but there wasn't any of that as soon as Alice started. The stage was ridiculously close to the front row of bleachers, Alice had no problem interacting with everyone close to him. The rain thankfully let up half an hour before the show started and kept away the rest of the night. It was perfect conditions for a magnificent performance from legendary Alice Cooper.

First and foremost, Alice Cooper is a performer. Whether stabbing a look-alike before his opening song “It's Hot Tonight”, impaling a baby doll on a stake during “Dead Babies” or wearing a top hat and throwing fake money to the crowd while playing “Billion Dollar Babies”, Cooper and his band were always entertaining. And when it's that good, you can't help but sing along. He played a twenty-five song set and each song sounded fantastic. The mixing was impeccable for an outdoor venue. Time has certainly passed since he wrote the songs because gone are the electric twanging of 1970's guitars and now all his songs are heavier and louder, and for the most part, really add a lot of positive aspects to the music. Other things have changed as well: Alice Cooper still has his distinctive tone that goes well with his style of music but he can't hit too many of the higher notes now. Luckily, both his guitar players and bassist do the back-up vocals and they make up for it. Included in the show were guitar, bass, and drum solos. Every member of this band is ridiculously talented and the crowd, who I though was going to be a very conservative crowd (since it's a family fair and all), were eating out of Alice's hand all night long. Extremely wonderful concert.

It's Hot Tonight > No More Mr. Nice Guy
Under My Wheels
I'm Eighteen
Is It My Body
Woman Of Mass Distraction
Lost In America
Feed My Frankenstein
Acoustic Guitar Solo > (In Touch With) Your Feminine Side
Dirty Diamonds
Vengeance Is Mine
Halo Of Flies > Bass Solo > Drum Solo > Instrumental Jam
Welcome To My Nightmare > Cold Ethyl
Only Women Bleed > Steven
Dead Babies > Ballad Of Dwight Fry > I Love The Dead
School's Out
---
Billion Dollar Babies
Poison
Elected

Soilwork does a real concert tour.

It's not common these days to see a band play in almost every state possible while on a tour. Most tours consist of twenty or so dates with 3 dates in Texas and 3 in California and, for the most part, skip entirely over the Midwest. THANKS IRON MAIDEN!

But not the new Soilwork tour next year!

The lineup is:
Soilwork
Darkane
Warbringer
Swallow The Sun

The support bands are all fantastic and I've heard good stuff about Soilwork live. Mark this one down as a "Yes"!

They'll be at the Beaumont Club on March 12 and full dates can be found here.

Mandatory Metallica -- September 8th, 2008

Hero Of The Day
That Was Just Your Life
(Anesthesia)--Pulling Teeth/Whiplash

Hero Of The Day would be better, I think, had it been written by a different band. James' vocals are TERRIBLE in this song. Probably the worst I've ever heard. Ugh.

The first song off of Death Magnetic, That Was Just Your Life is an alright song, although I think it could've been better. I like albums that open with a bang, and this one wasn't that good in the beginning. Great solo, though.

I had no idea wtf was going on when (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth started. I seriously didn't think it was Metallica at first; not until it went into Whiplash. I could've done without it. However, Whiplash is awesome. The solo on this song is insane! One of my favorite Metallica solos so far!

Mandatory Metallica -- September 3rd, 2008

Until It Sleeps

Cyandie (Live)

Eye Of The Beholder

Only heard a little bit of Until It Sleeps but I could tell I didn't like it. I listened to the whole thing and it's just another slowish song. Not cool for a thrash band, damnit!

Cyanide is from Death Magnetic and it sounds fantastic live and in the studio (that version is on Metallica's site). I really love the Bass part before it kicks in. And the lyrics are good stuff, too. James founds fantastic on it. A+

I've heard Eye of the Beholder before and I think it's my favorite song off of AJFA right behind One. Great everything about it. Got a great beat.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Metallica tickets go on sale next saturday (the 13th) but you can get them now for about $112 at www.989therock.com which includes a floor seat, Death Magnetic and a download of the KC show after it's done. Too much for me, but some might like it!

Metallica will be here Oct. 25