Ben Folds -- Kansas City, MO -- May 30th, 2009

Happy birthday to me! When I found out Ben Folds was playing in Kansas City the day before my birthday, I was ecstatic and I wasn't let down!

The opening band was Rachel Unthank & The Winterset. They're a folk band from England. They were alright, but got a little boring after a while. Nothing special, nothing too bad. 5/10

This was my 5th time seeing Ben Folds and the best since Way To Normal came out. He seemed really loose and playful. He cracked a lot of jokes, had a lot of crowd banter, and even went out into the crowd once! It was definitely the most joking/friendly I've seen Ben. The set is still full of Way To Normal tracks and the staple tracks as well, but there were some gems thrown in there. Namely: Battle of Who Could Care Less and Boxing. Boxing was the highlight of the night for me. Ben said the band is cooling down and going to record their new album. I can't wait for it and I can't wait for them to be back. :)

Effington
Brainwascht
Sentimental Guy
Kate
Lovesick Diagnostician
Battle of Who Could Care Less
Bitch Went Nutz
Annie Waits
There's Always Someone Cooler Than You
Dr. Yang
Hiroshima
Jesusland
Before Cologne > Cologne
Free Coffee

Ben Solo:
Boxing
Best Imitation of Myself
Gracie

Narcolepsy (extended)
Errant Dog
Landed
You Don't Know Me
Zak And Sara
Rockin' the Suburbs

Encore:
Kansas City Blues improv
Army
Not The Same
One Angry Dwarf

10/10

I have video of Annie Waits, Imitation, Gracie and Narcolepsy. I will upload it soon!

New Hydra Head Releases Streaming

http://cleanhandsgofoul.com/ - Khanate - Clean Hands Go Foul
http://allreflectionsdrained.com/ - Xasthur - All Reflections Drained

Warning: Khanate will mess you up.

The Skeletonwitch concert just got 1000 times better.

Skeletonwitch
Trap Them
Saviours

Be still my heart.

At the Riot Room on July 23rd.

More stage dives! More circle pits! MORE ENERGY!

A pretty awesome hardcore package is coming through Kansas City.

Headliner:

Poison The Well

Certain Dates:

Madball
Bane
Vision Of Disorder

Support:

Terror
Death Before Dishonor
War Of Ages
Crime In Stereo
Trapped Under Ice
The Mongoloids
The Ghost Inside
This Is Hell
Vision

The best part? Tickets are TEN DOLLARS!

It comes to the Midland on August 1.

GWAR -- Kansas City, MO -- May 13th, 2009

Such a GOOD show. And the venue, Crossroads KC, is a nice outdoor venue as well.

Cattle Decapitation opened the show promptly at 8:00, and it was the best time I've seen them by far. The new material from The Harvest Floor goes over so well. The band was tight and never missed a beat and Travis Ryan still has my vote for best American extreme metal vocalist. Travis also did some ambient/drone music in between tracks. Very interesting and it worked well. 9/10

The Gardeners Of Eden
A Body Farm
To Serve Man
We Are Horrible People
Tooth Enamel And Concrete
In Axetasy
Success...(Is Hanging By The Neck)
Regret & The Grave

Priestess was next. I only knew them from their one song on Guitar Hero, but they were pretty entertaining. They started to grate on my nerves (mostly from the vocals) but they were alright. They should be opening for The Sword. The drummer was the best part of the band. At least, he was until he sang on one track. Yeesh. Overall, pretty enjoyable. 7.5/10

The Gem
?
"Sideways" soemthing
? (something about voices)
?
?
?
Lay Down
?

Hoooooly crap. I can't believe I went this long without seeing GWAR. There were so many homemade GWAR shirts and so many fanatical fans that it was almost like a GWAR festival. It wasn't just a concert, it was a show. Complete with decapitated Barack Obama, disemboweled Hillary Clinton, and a mecha Ronald Reagan, there was no shortage of bloody moshing at this show. Excellent, excellent performance. They'll be on tour again in August, they said, for their 25th anniversary. Let's hope they come back to Kansas City. 9/10

1. Battle-Lust
2. Salaminizer
3. Go To Hell
4. Bring Back The Bomb
5. Bonesnapper
6. Crack In The Egg
7. A Short History of The End of the World
8. Murderer’s Muse
9. Crush Kill Destroy
10. Ham On The Bone
11. Krosstika
12. War Is All We Know
13. The Private Pain of Techno Destro
14. U Ain’t Shit
15. Rock N Roll Never Felt So Good
-------
16. Eighth Lock
17. Slaughterama
18. Sick of You

SKELETONWIIIITCH!

http://www.last.fm/event/1065997
1
Coming to the Riot Room July 23rd! That's twice this year already. Let's hope for more!

20 Years of Madness

Today, twenty years ago, Morbid Angel released the greatest death metal album ever: Altars Of Madness. Here's to twenty more.

Hatebreed will be here! (kind of)

Talk about going to a show for the opening acts. Hatebreed will be touring behind their newest all-covers album "For The Lions" later this year, and they will be Springfield at Remmington's Downtown. The lineup is this:

Hatebreed
Chimaira
Winds of Plague
Dying Fetus
Toxic Holocaust

Dying Fetus, Toxic Holocaust? Technically, the only really bad band on the bill is Winds of Plague! I'm gonna try and catch this!

Pick Testament's KC Setlist

Testament, headlining Day 1 of the American Waste festival, is letting fans choose their setlist over on their Myspace. Choices are:

A: "The Legacy" + Best Of
B: "The New Order" + Best Of
C: he Persecuted Won’t Forget, Practice What You Preach, Into the Pit, Dog Faced Gods, Raging Waters, More Than Meets The Eye, Demonic, True Believer, The Legacy, Over the Wall, The New Order, Souls of Black, First Strike Is Deadly, Disciples of the Watch, D.N.R., Three Days in Darkness, The Formation of Damnation

Whichever wins, you know it's going to be a great show. GO VOTE!