Death Threat
Death Before Dishonor
The Mongoloids
xTHE WARx
Jackpot
Lawrence, KS
April 15th.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
A Mayhem off-date
July 19th
Kansas City, MO
The Beaumont Club
Lamb of God
Hatebreed
3 Inches Of Blood
The first of the Mayhem off-dates?
Kansas City, MO
The Beaumont Club
Lamb of God
Hatebreed
3 Inches Of Blood
The first of the Mayhem off-dates?
Saturday, March 20, 2010
The Gruesome Twosome
Three different chances to catch a pretty cool tour with Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie:
May 7th - Springfield, MO @ Shrine Mosque
May 8th - Kansas City, MO @ Ameristar Casino
May 9th - Wichita, KS @ Hartman Arena
May 7th - Springfield, MO @ Shrine Mosque
May 8th - Kansas City, MO @ Ameristar Casino
May 9th - Wichita, KS @ Hartman Arena
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Metallica playing a club? Sorta
"Metallica's favorite version of themselves" is coming to Kansas City. Battery, the Metallica tribute, will be at the Beaumont Club on Friday, May 21st. Opening the show is Meat Shank and quite possibly the greatest Kansas City band ever, Vanlade.
Hatchet -- Kansas City, MO -- March 17th, 2010
In terms of money spent to amazing music, this was far and away the best show I've ever been to.
The Scion Lab is tacked on to the back of Crossroads (outdoor venue where I've seen GWAR and Ben Folds before) and is pretty much a garage with a bar. There is no stage, there are no monitors. This place was made for shows like the one I just saw.
The first band was pretty much a local favorite. The Tards have been around for a while, and it's easy to see why they haven't faded into obscurity: they thrash. Pretty much your old school Metallica or Megadeth and the guys were spot on tonight. They blazed through three or four songs at a time, barely giving the audience a chance to rest their headbanging. They definitely set the tone for the night.
I think I have a new favorite local band. It astounds me that Vanlade isn't huge by now. They are one of the few bands that sound straight out of the 80's but are completely relevant now and make amazing metal. They sound like an old-school speed/heavy/power/thrash band. Think Running Wild, Grave Digger, Overkill and Helloween all rolled into one with a "KILL ALL POSERS!" attitude. Amazing. The entire crowd was headbanging and moshing and a lot of them were singing along with the vocalist as he wailed over them all. And ending a set with an Iron Maiden cover, especially "Invaders", is amazing on its own, but Vanlade nailed it. Spot on. Can't wait to see them again.
The only let-down of the night was The Sacred Have Fallen. Completely stuck out like a sore thumb. They were brutal death metal/deathcore and while at times they weren't completely unlistenable, they definitely did not bring anything to the show that no one had seen before. Definitely forgettable.
The first of the California bands was next. Unlike most of the bill last night, Witchaven was not just thrash, but also a healthy dose of black metal. And despite having a tiny hitch in the sound department which was fixed pretty quickly, the band completely shredded every single living soul in Kansas City. They played with unrelenting speed and threw down insane solos like they weren't even trying. It was truly one of the best thrash performances I've ever seen. Lots of moshing and tons of headbanging.
The thrashing didn't stop after Witchaven. Hatchet kept it going. Apparently, the guitarist and bassist were KC locals filling in for the actual band members. It didn't make a difference, though. Solo's were shredded, heads were banged, and faces were melted. Lots of dual-guitar solo's and the speed was topped out for the entire performance. They did a great job, and I really want them to come back.
Although the show was headlined by the two Bay Area bands, the last performer of the night was probably Kansas City's most unique local band. Stonehaven was the last band of the night, and they play viking/black metal. From Kansas City. And the thing is...they're good. Real good. They sound not all unlike Kampfar, Thyrfing, even early Gorgoroth. And it really showed. They wore the corpsepaint and they wore the animal pelts, and they made epic black metal. From Kansas. Now I've seen everything. Can't wait to hear them on disc.
This show cost $5. That's all. And it was one of the best and craziest shows I've ever had the pleasure of attending. I can only hope more crazy thrash shows go to the Scion Lab. It was made for thrash
Vanlade:
Partial/Out Of Order:
Awaken And Kill
Black Sails Cross The Seven Seas
Blood Eagle
Life By The Blade
Wings Of Fire
Invaders (Iron Maiden cover)
The Sacred Have Fallen:
Partial/Out Of Order:
Phantasmagoric Conceptions
Witchaven:
Partial/Out Of Order:
A.D.D.
Terrorstorm
Black Thrash Assault
Absolute Profit
Dawn Of The Unholy
Hatchet:
Partial/Out Of Order:
Frailty Of The Flesh
Frozen Hell
Attack Imminent
Morlock's Tomb
Awaiting Evil
Stonehaven:
Partial/Out Of Order:
Longship Arises
Adorned In Frost
Black Sails
Hearing the Pyre-Breath
Fury of the Seafarer
Stonehaven - 8.5/10
Hatchet - 9/10
Witchaven - 9/10
The Sacred Have Fallen - 6/10
Vanlade - 9/10
The Tards - 8/10
The Scion Lab is tacked on to the back of Crossroads (outdoor venue where I've seen GWAR and Ben Folds before) and is pretty much a garage with a bar. There is no stage, there are no monitors. This place was made for shows like the one I just saw.
The first band was pretty much a local favorite. The Tards have been around for a while, and it's easy to see why they haven't faded into obscurity: they thrash. Pretty much your old school Metallica or Megadeth and the guys were spot on tonight. They blazed through three or four songs at a time, barely giving the audience a chance to rest their headbanging. They definitely set the tone for the night.
I think I have a new favorite local band. It astounds me that Vanlade isn't huge by now. They are one of the few bands that sound straight out of the 80's but are completely relevant now and make amazing metal. They sound like an old-school speed/heavy/power/thrash band. Think Running Wild, Grave Digger, Overkill and Helloween all rolled into one with a "KILL ALL POSERS!" attitude. Amazing. The entire crowd was headbanging and moshing and a lot of them were singing along with the vocalist as he wailed over them all. And ending a set with an Iron Maiden cover, especially "Invaders", is amazing on its own, but Vanlade nailed it. Spot on. Can't wait to see them again.
The only let-down of the night was The Sacred Have Fallen. Completely stuck out like a sore thumb. They were brutal death metal/deathcore and while at times they weren't completely unlistenable, they definitely did not bring anything to the show that no one had seen before. Definitely forgettable.
The first of the California bands was next. Unlike most of the bill last night, Witchaven was not just thrash, but also a healthy dose of black metal. And despite having a tiny hitch in the sound department which was fixed pretty quickly, the band completely shredded every single living soul in Kansas City. They played with unrelenting speed and threw down insane solos like they weren't even trying. It was truly one of the best thrash performances I've ever seen. Lots of moshing and tons of headbanging.
The thrashing didn't stop after Witchaven. Hatchet kept it going. Apparently, the guitarist and bassist were KC locals filling in for the actual band members. It didn't make a difference, though. Solo's were shredded, heads were banged, and faces were melted. Lots of dual-guitar solo's and the speed was topped out for the entire performance. They did a great job, and I really want them to come back.
Although the show was headlined by the two Bay Area bands, the last performer of the night was probably Kansas City's most unique local band. Stonehaven was the last band of the night, and they play viking/black metal. From Kansas City. And the thing is...they're good. Real good. They sound not all unlike Kampfar, Thyrfing, even early Gorgoroth. And it really showed. They wore the corpsepaint and they wore the animal pelts, and they made epic black metal. From Kansas. Now I've seen everything. Can't wait to hear them on disc.
This show cost $5. That's all. And it was one of the best and craziest shows I've ever had the pleasure of attending. I can only hope more crazy thrash shows go to the Scion Lab. It was made for thrash
Vanlade:
Partial/Out Of Order:
Awaken And Kill
Black Sails Cross The Seven Seas
Blood Eagle
Life By The Blade
Wings Of Fire
Invaders (Iron Maiden cover)
The Sacred Have Fallen:
Partial/Out Of Order:
Phantasmagoric Conceptions
Witchaven:
Partial/Out Of Order:
A.D.D.
Terrorstorm
Black Thrash Assault
Absolute Profit
Dawn Of The Unholy
Hatchet:
Partial/Out Of Order:
Frailty Of The Flesh
Frozen Hell
Attack Imminent
Morlock's Tomb
Awaiting Evil
Stonehaven:
Partial/Out Of Order:
Longship Arises
Adorned In Frost
Black Sails
Hearing the Pyre-Breath
Fury of the Seafarer
Stonehaven - 8.5/10
Hatchet - 9/10
Witchaven - 9/10
The Sacred Have Fallen - 6/10
Vanlade - 9/10
The Tards - 8/10
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Black Dahlia Murder -- Lawrence, KS -- March 13th, 2010
I got to the venue a little after seven and there was quite a line out the door. It's been a loooooong time since I've stood in a line to get into the Bottleneck, and even longer since it's been for a metal show. While I was in line, the guys from Elctrikchair (http://www.myspace.com/elctrikchair) were selling their album in line, and I bought it. Plan to give it a good spin over the next few days, I've been meaning to check them out for a while.
The first band on stage was Hatesphere from Denmark. The guys in this band were so happy to be here in the states on a tour and playing metal. They kept smiling all the time and messing around with the crowd. They were probably most similar to The Black Dahlia Murder in terms of sound, just kind of a straight-up melodic death metal band. A couple good thrashy parts and some not-too-terrible breakdowns and they definitely won the crowd over. They exceeded my expectations a bit and I'd definitely like to see them again.
It took a while for Augury to warm up the crowd musically, but their mainman won over the crowd immediately after they heard the wacky French-Canadian open his mouth: "LET'S GET NAKED!" he screams at the interlude to one of his songs. Stuff like that just made Augury fun to watch, but at times the technicality bordered on WAY over-the-top, and the so-so sound mix didn't help either, but they were still a blast to watch. A couple pits near the end of their set helped solidify their set as a win.
More people than I assumed showed up and were stoked for Germany's Obscura, and it really showed. I even saw a couple people screaming the words! And really: when you have two ex-members of Necrophagist and the current bassist for Pestilence on one stage, you have probably one of the greatest technical death metal shows on the planet in front of you. The technicality of these four guys was just stupid-good. Fretless basses are one of God's greatest gifts to Earth. Before "Incarnated", Steffen said that his favorite Death albums were Individual Thought Patterns, Symbolic, and The Sound Of Perseverance. It's safe to say that had Chuck Schuldiner not been taken from this Earth much, much too soon, Death would sound exactly like Obscura (at least for that song) today. They did Chuck proud. I am already jonesing for them to be back.
This was my fifth time seeing The Black Dahlia Murder. FIVE TIMES! But also the first time where I paid to see them specifically, not as an opening act (Children of Bodom tour) or solely for one of their opening acts (Hate Eternal), and they just never disappoint. This was really one of the crazier shows I've been to, in terms of the crowd. The people went full steam the entire time, with tons of moshing, circle pits, stage divers, and crowd surfers. The band loved it and encouraged it more and more. They played a great selection of older material and several prime cuts off their latest album. Their new guitarist, Ryan Knight (ex-Arsis) was great as well. And Trevor Strnad has the best vocals for any metalcore/deathcore band ever (except I thinkg TBDM is melodic death metal now). Tons of fun and I'll always be looking forward to them again.
Hatesphere:
Partial/Out of Order:
The Fallen Shall Rise In A Pool Of Blood
Reaper Of Life
The Coming Of Chaos
Drinking With The King Of The Dead
Backstabber
Cloaked In Shit (maybe)
Augury:
Partial/Out of Order:
Simian Cattle
Beatus
Faith Puppeteers
and some more!
Obscura:
The Anticosmic Overload
Choir Of Spirits
Incarnated
Universe Momentum
Desolate Spheres
Centric Flow (maybe?)
And one off their first album
The Black Dahlia Murder
Same set as before, but songs were switched around. Songs were:
Unhallowed/Funeral Thirst
Necropolis
A Vulgar Picture
Everything Went Black
Black Valor
Christ Deformed
Elder Misanthropy
Closed Casket Requiem
I'm Charming
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
Statutory Ape
Denounced, Disgraced
Deathmask Divine
Miasma
I Will Return
Hatesphere: 8/10
Augury: 8/10
Obscura: 9/10
The Black Dahlia Murder: 8.5/10
The first band on stage was Hatesphere from Denmark. The guys in this band were so happy to be here in the states on a tour and playing metal. They kept smiling all the time and messing around with the crowd. They were probably most similar to The Black Dahlia Murder in terms of sound, just kind of a straight-up melodic death metal band. A couple good thrashy parts and some not-too-terrible breakdowns and they definitely won the crowd over. They exceeded my expectations a bit and I'd definitely like to see them again.
It took a while for Augury to warm up the crowd musically, but their mainman won over the crowd immediately after they heard the wacky French-Canadian open his mouth: "LET'S GET NAKED!" he screams at the interlude to one of his songs. Stuff like that just made Augury fun to watch, but at times the technicality bordered on WAY over-the-top, and the so-so sound mix didn't help either, but they were still a blast to watch. A couple pits near the end of their set helped solidify their set as a win.
More people than I assumed showed up and were stoked for Germany's Obscura, and it really showed. I even saw a couple people screaming the words! And really: when you have two ex-members of Necrophagist and the current bassist for Pestilence on one stage, you have probably one of the greatest technical death metal shows on the planet in front of you. The technicality of these four guys was just stupid-good. Fretless basses are one of God's greatest gifts to Earth. Before "Incarnated", Steffen said that his favorite Death albums were Individual Thought Patterns, Symbolic, and The Sound Of Perseverance. It's safe to say that had Chuck Schuldiner not been taken from this Earth much, much too soon, Death would sound exactly like Obscura (at least for that song) today. They did Chuck proud. I am already jonesing for them to be back.
This was my fifth time seeing The Black Dahlia Murder. FIVE TIMES! But also the first time where I paid to see them specifically, not as an opening act (Children of Bodom tour) or solely for one of their opening acts (Hate Eternal), and they just never disappoint. This was really one of the crazier shows I've been to, in terms of the crowd. The people went full steam the entire time, with tons of moshing, circle pits, stage divers, and crowd surfers. The band loved it and encouraged it more and more. They played a great selection of older material and several prime cuts off their latest album. Their new guitarist, Ryan Knight (ex-Arsis) was great as well. And Trevor Strnad has the best vocals for any metalcore/deathcore band ever (except I thinkg TBDM is melodic death metal now). Tons of fun and I'll always be looking forward to them again.
Hatesphere:
Partial/Out of Order:
The Fallen Shall Rise In A Pool Of Blood
Reaper Of Life
The Coming Of Chaos
Drinking With The King Of The Dead
Backstabber
Cloaked In Shit (maybe)
Augury:
Partial/Out of Order:
Simian Cattle
Beatus
Faith Puppeteers
and some more!
Obscura:
The Anticosmic Overload
Choir Of Spirits
Incarnated
Universe Momentum
Desolate Spheres
Centric Flow (maybe?)
And one off their first album
The Black Dahlia Murder
Same set as before, but songs were switched around. Songs were:
Unhallowed/Funeral Thirst
Necropolis
A Vulgar Picture
Everything Went Black
Black Valor
Christ Deformed
Elder Misanthropy
Closed Casket Requiem
I'm Charming
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
Statutory Ape
Denounced, Disgraced
Deathmask Divine
Miasma
I Will Return
Hatesphere: 8/10
Augury: 8/10
Obscura: 9/10
The Black Dahlia Murder: 8.5/10
Friday, March 12, 2010
As I Lay Dying US Tour
Before about a year ago, I would've never even considered this show. However, when I saw As I Lay Dying open up for Lamb of God at the Uptown last April, they wiped the floor with every other band there. So this is definitely a possibility. Going to be an insane show regardless.
As I Lay Dying
Demon Hunter
Blessthefall
War Of Ages
May 13th @ Beaumont Club in Kansas City.
As I Lay Dying
Demon Hunter
Blessthefall
War Of Ages
May 13th @ Beaumont Club in Kansas City.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Misery Index -- Lawrence, KS -- March 4th, 2010
First band stuck out like a sore thumb. Stull is from Lawrence, and they play sludge/doom. And not very good either, so it made it twice as agonizing as it should've been. There were a couple parts where it sounded pretty good and heavy, but in the end, they played for way too long and were just flat-out boring.
The next local band was No Master, and they're your typical straight-up crust punk/grind band. Lots of people moving around for them, but they didn't have too much variation in their music. Lots of energy, but something just didn't click all the way with their set. I would love to see them again, however.
The special treat for us in Lawrence tonight was certainly Magrudergrind. It's been a long time since they've played here. Magrudergrind is one of the premier power violence/grindcore bands today that really invoke the sound of bands before them to show that they mean business. The set lasted 20 minutes, but they blazed through a ton of songs, including "Emo Holocaust" and "The Protocols of Anti-Sound". "Anti-Sound" is the greatest way of describing Magrudergrind to someone, right after "bursting at the seams with energy". Insane mosh pits, stage diving, broken noses, but smiles for everyone. Absolutely a blasty blast.
After that amazing output of pure insanity, it was a bit hard for Misery Index to follow-up, but they did a decent job. It was a bit refreshing to hear some good ol' death metal, and they were plenty fast and plenty loud. Some people had left after Magrudergrind, but the people left made it worth it for Misery Index. Got a couple of cuts off their upcoming album, and touched on all of their albums before it about equally. A fun time; Misery Index never lets down.
Misery Index: 8.5/10
Magrudergrind: 9/10
No Master: 7.5/10
Stull: 4/10
The next local band was No Master, and they're your typical straight-up crust punk/grind band. Lots of people moving around for them, but they didn't have too much variation in their music. Lots of energy, but something just didn't click all the way with their set. I would love to see them again, however.
The special treat for us in Lawrence tonight was certainly Magrudergrind. It's been a long time since they've played here. Magrudergrind is one of the premier power violence/grindcore bands today that really invoke the sound of bands before them to show that they mean business. The set lasted 20 minutes, but they blazed through a ton of songs, including "Emo Holocaust" and "The Protocols of Anti-Sound". "Anti-Sound" is the greatest way of describing Magrudergrind to someone, right after "bursting at the seams with energy". Insane mosh pits, stage diving, broken noses, but smiles for everyone. Absolutely a blasty blast.
After that amazing output of pure insanity, it was a bit hard for Misery Index to follow-up, but they did a decent job. It was a bit refreshing to hear some good ol' death metal, and they were plenty fast and plenty loud. Some people had left after Magrudergrind, but the people left made it worth it for Misery Index. Got a couple of cuts off their upcoming album, and touched on all of their albums before it about equally. A fun time; Misery Index never lets down.
Misery Index: 8.5/10
Magrudergrind: 9/10
No Master: 7.5/10
Stull: 4/10
Skipping Kansas: Iron Maiden
And Kansas City continues its dry streak of Maiden. 10+ years. Awesome. Closest dates are Chicago or Denver. Dates on www.ironmaiden.com
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tomorrow: Keep It Here
Tomorrow at around 2:00 CST, Iron Maiden will announce their touring plans for North America for, presumably, this year. I'll be here to update as soon as I hear what's happening.
A rumor going around is that they are going to be focusing on the later Iron Maiden material, mostly Brave New World and Dance Of Death. They might pull out a set list that no one sees coming.
A rumor going around is that they are going to be focusing on the later Iron Maiden material, mostly Brave New World and Dance Of Death. They might pull out a set list that no one sees coming.
Monday, March 1, 2010
A conundrum
It appears that Cattle Decapitation are coming here. But there's a problem.
That tour (Cattle Decapitation, Revocation, and Enfold Darkness) is going to be at Outland Ballroom in Springfield on May 11th.
However, Cattle Decapitation and Revocation will be at the Bottleneck in Lawrence on May 22nd, but it looks like they're opening for Job For A Cowboy and Whitechapel. Disgusting.
Decisions, decisions...
That tour (Cattle Decapitation, Revocation, and Enfold Darkness) is going to be at Outland Ballroom in Springfield on May 11th.
However, Cattle Decapitation and Revocation will be at the Bottleneck in Lawrence on May 22nd, but it looks like they're opening for Job For A Cowboy and Whitechapel. Disgusting.
Decisions, decisions...
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