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Monday, September 28, 2009

Dragonforce -- Kansas City, MO -- September 28th, 2009

My one-sentence review from a Dragonforce fanboy standpoint: Extremely fun, concert of the year so far.

My one-sentence review from an un-biased standpoint: Extremely fun, concert of the year so far.

The first band of the evening was Taking Dawn and I'd only heard bad stuff from them. Like they sound like a worse version of Avenged Sevenfold (is that even possible?), but they were a bit better than that. True, I'd never listen to them on my own, but they were pretty entertaining live. At one point, the guitarist ran off the stage and was playing the guitar as he ran all over the club and up the stairs to the VIP section. Awesome. But the music was no bueno. 5/10

I assumed that a ton of people were there for Sonata Arctica. And it showed. Lots of singing along to their songs. It was really fun. They are cheesy as anything, but really entertaining. Lots of lighters in the air and clapping along. The keyboards and the bass were kind of low in the mix, but the vocalist and guitarist were superb. 8/10

Setlist:
1. In Black And White
2. Flag In The Ground
3. 8th Commandment
4. Last Drop Falls
5. Fullmooon
6. Don't Say A Word
7. Vodka

There's not really a less controversial band in metal these days than Dragonforce. Are they tr00? Do they suck live? Well, one just has to attend this tour to see for themselves: Dragonforce deserve every single bit of praise they get for anything. We've all seen the video of them sloppily playing through songs on Youtube. But they are spot-on now. The mix was perfect, Herman Li (Ri) and Sam Totman blazed through their solos with ease and it was some of the most fun I've ever had at a concert. I've been listening to these guys for a long time and to hear those songs live just made everything that much better.

No: My first Draognforce experience was not through Guitar Hero, nor was it the song Through The Fire And Flames.

My friend in front of me caught a Sam pick and gave it to me! YES! The entire crowd was singing to every song all night long and even the keytar duel with the Sonata Arctica got a joyous response. I only hope that an big turnout (for a Monday night, at least) will prompt these guys to come back ASAP. 10/10

1. Fury Of The Storm
2. Heroes Of Our Time
3. Reasons To Live
4. Disciples Of Babylon
5. Starfire
6. Keyboard Solo/Keytar Battle with Sonata Arctica
7. Operation Ground and Pound
8. Fields of Despair
9. Where Dragons Rule
10. The Last Journey Home
11. Valley Of The Damned
encore
12. Strike of the Ninja
13. Through The Fire And Flames

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Motorhead -- Kansas City, MO -- September 24th, 2009

Wow. Up in the top 5, probably top 3, performances of the year for me. Every part of Motorhead's performance was top notch. And to say that they were loud is an understatement.

Because of jankety directions, I got lost downtown trying to find a parking place and ended up missing Nashville Pussy and delicious almost-nudity I hear. Oh well.

Reverend Horton Heat's sound started off kind of weird for me, but as I got used to it, I really started enjoying him. Perfect blend between rock and roll, old time country, and rockabilly, the crowd loved every second of his set. Especially when he played Psychobilly Freakout (curse you Guitar Hero! I haven't 5-starred it yet!) and when he stood on the bass player's stand-up bass. Really fun, and he usually comes around here a ton of times a year, so I'll be sure to catch him next time. 8/10

Reverend Horton Heat’s Big Blue Car
Now, Right Now
I’m Mad
Ain’t No Saguaro In Texas
Drinkin’ And Smokin’ Cigarettes
Please Don’t Take The Baby To The Liquor Store
Psychobilly Freakout
Baddest Of The Bad
400 Bucks
Death Metal Guys
The Jimbo Song
Devil’s Chasin’ Me
Big Red Rocket Of Love

Not 100% on the set, but it seems to be right.

Motörhead. Is there anything else I need to say, really? They were loud, they were heavy, they were awesome, and they will forever be legends. Highlights of the night were Stay Clean, Rock Out, Killed By Death, and of course, Overkill. 9.5/10


1. Iron Fist
2. Stay Clean
3. Be My Baby
4. Rock Out
5. Metropolis
6. Over The Top
7. One Night Stand
8. I Got Mine
9. The Thousand Names of God
10. Another Perfect Day
11. In The Name of Tragedy
12. Jus Cos You Got The Power
13. Going To Brazil
14. Killed By Death
15. Bomber
-----------------
16. Whorehouse Blues
17. Ace of Spades
18. Overkill

They are Motörhead. And they play rock n' roll.

Some show updates

Quick note about a couple of shows.

Going on for 24 hours starting tonight at 12:01 AM, you can buy 1 ticket and get 1 free for the Dragonforce show on Monday, Sept. 28th at the Beaumont Club. Link here.

And now for some slightly disheartening news, the Moonspell show has some big changes. Samael has dropped and taking their place will be Divine Heresy. The show has also changed venues, from the Beaumont Club to the next street over at the Riot Room. That means the show is now 21+. The show time has changed to 8:30 PM. Should still be a fun night!

See you at Motorhead tonight!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

blink-182 -- Kansas City, KS -- September 4th, 2009

Woot!

It rained while I was waiting in line, but let up right as soon as I got in the venue. They had the side stage set up on the lawn section of the amphitheater, so as the stages traded off having bands play on each of them, it was easy to watch all of them.

First band was Billy Boy On Poison. Stupid name aside, they were kind enjoyable. They're a hard/alt. rock band from LA, so you pretty much know what they sound like. They were loud, there were solos, and the vocalist was stumbling around on himself on acid. An entertaining show all-around. Songs included: On My Way, Happy Valentine's Day. 7/10

Opening the main stage was Company of Thieves. An indie rock band (emphasis on indie), the first couple of songs were mediocre, but they really turned it up near the end of their set. Not awesome, but not too bad either. Modest Mouse with female vocals. Songs included: Oscar Wilde, Under the Umbrella. 7/10

Mac Lethal was the only person probably on either stage from Kansas City, and definitely the only one who lived there still. A really awesome underground rapper, it was just him and his DJ on the second stage. He made tons of references to places around KC. The beats wuz phat, and da lyricks was sick. He should've played longer. Songs included: Rotten Apple Pie, Crazy (Perfectly Content). 8/10

The only really bad band of the day was Chester French. They made ironic faux-hipster music for ironic faux-hipster junior high girls. Haha, white rappers! lolololol. No. 3/10

stellastarr* was next on the side-stage. Pretty straight-forward indie-rock, but they did it very well. The vocals weren't too high in the mix, but it all turned out to be very enjoyable. 7.5/10

I've been a fan for a while, so seeing The Von Bondies finally was really a treat. It's a heavier and funner version of the White Stripes (lol irony) and the crowd went nuts. Lots of crowd surfers, and they were loud. Really glad I finally got to see them. Songs included: C'mon C'mon. 8.5/10

Apparently the best local band the Kansas City area has to offer are The Republic Tigers. I could see how they say that. Again, a pretty standard indie rock band, but they do it well. Not too much crowd interaction, but they rocked pretty well. Songs included: Buildings & Mountains, Made Concrete. 7.5/10

The last time I saw blink-182, Taking Back Sunday opened, so I was eager to see if I still liked them as much as I did back in 2004. Unfortunately, while the songs were high energy and memorable, the vocalist and new guitarist/vocalist can't hold a candle to past members and had a hard time recreating their sound. They're still a very fun band, but they played too much new stuff. 7.5/10

Setlist:

What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?
?
?
?
Liar (It Takes One To Know One)
Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)
Where My Mouth Is
A Decade Under The Influence
Makedamnsure

The last band on the side stage was Matt & Kim. It's comprised of 2 people named, well, Matt & Kim. Kim drums, Matt uses a synth. If they weren't so unironically happy and stoked to be playing, I'd almost dismiss their sound as a stupid hipster sound. But they weren't too bad. Lots of mini-covers of songs. Biggest side stage crowd of the day. Songs included: Daylight. 6/10

Weezer was the best band of the day. Seriously. Every song had people going crazy and everyone sang along. They played almost every one of their big hits and it made for one of the most enjoyable music sets I've ever seen. Rivers even had a trampoline he used when he wasn't playing the guitar! Best song of the night: Perfect Situation. 9.5/10

Setlist:

1. War Pigs (Black Sabbath Cover) > Hash Pipe
2. Troublemaker
3. Undone - The Sweater Song
4. Surf Wax America
5. Perfect Situation
6. (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
7. Say It Ain't So
8. My Name Is Jonas
9. Island In The Sun
10. The Good Life
11. Pork and Beans
12. Beverly Hills
13. Buddy Holly
14. Should I Stay Or Should I Go (The Clash cover)

Third time seeing blink-182. I was forever scared that they'd be super serious if they ever reunited, but I was thankfully wrong. Tons of stupid immature fart and penis and gay jokes and changed lyrics to make fun of someone's mom were intact. Was it stupid? Yes, but it was fun. For 2 hours, I was transported back to junior high and I couldn't have been happier. Too much new stuff, though. But they played Josie and Man Overboard! 9/10

1. Dumpweed
2. Feeling This
3. The Rock Show
4. What's My Age Again?
5. Obvious
6. I Miss You
7. Stay Together For The Kids
8. Down
9. Always
10. Stockholm Syndrome
11. First Date
12. Man Overboard
13. Going Away To College
14. Not Now
15. All The Small Things
16. Reckless Abandon
17. Josie
18. Anthem Part II
encore
19. Carousel
20. Damnit