Got information on a new show or need to contact me?

I'd love to hear from you if you read this blog. If you have tips, if you wanna say how much I rule or how much I suck: It's all good.

Add me on Facebook!: http://www.facebook.com/mankvill
E-Mail: mandatory-metallica@hotmail.com
MSN Messenger: jjstrfx64@hotmail.com
AIM: jjstrfox64

Friday, February 25, 2011

The man himself returns

After a pretty amazing show on the Blackest Of The Black tour on Halloween a few years ago, Danzig will be returning to Kansas City. He'll be at the VooDoo Lounge inside of Harrah's Casino in Kansas City on May 4th. Opening the show will be DevilDriver and 2Cents.







Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Lightning Swords Of Death!

US black metal beasts LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH will be returning to Kansas City just around the corner on March 1st at the Czar Bar. Awesome local bands Stonehaven and Meatshank will be opening!

Kansas Gets Prog

Between The Buried and Me just announced they've signed to Metal Blade Records and announced a tour which is coming to the Granada in Lawrence!

Between The Buried And Me
Job For A Cowboy
The Ocean
Cephalic Carnage

April 26th
Granada
Lawrence, KS

Too bad JFAC is randomly thrown in there, another proggy-type band would've been great. But BTBAM puts on a great show!







Thursday, February 17, 2011

Motorhead -- Kansas City, MO -- February 17th, 2011

Great show from all the bands, but WOW what a performance by Clutch. BUT FIRST:

I got to the venue right at eight o'clock, but the line was still stretched around the block. I hear Valient Thorr playing while I waited to get in and missed about half their set. Their sound mix wasn't all that great, but the band was as great as ever. Kansas City is their second home, so I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot of them very soon.

I finally did it! I lost my Clutch show virginity! And what a show it was! Neil was moving all around and the music sounded great. Lots of great grooves; it's impossible not to move around to the beat at a Clutch performance! Big News I was really good, but my favorite song they did was Immortal. That song sounds great live! Might be the best opening set I've ever seen. Big thanks to Brad and Jeff for helping me figure out their set!

Motorhead was Motorhead. Nothing more, nothing less. I will say I enjoyed them a bit more than the last time I saw them. Also wasn't as loud as I remember. Still awesome. Songs like "Rock Out" and "I Got Mine" were great, but my personal favorite was "Going to Brazil." It's just too much fun. The guitar solo was kind of lame, but the drum solo was great. Always fun to see this legendary band, so hopefully they'll be around a while longer!

Motorhead:

We Are Motörhead
Stay Clean
Get Back In Line
Metropolis
Over the Top
One Night Stand
Rock Out
Guitar Solo
The Thousand Names of God
I Got Mine
I Know How To Die
The Chase Is Better Than the Catch
In the Name of Tragedy
Drum Solo
Just 'Cos You Got the Power
Going to Brazil
Killed by Death
Ace of Spades
---------
Overkill

Clutch (thanks Brad and Jeff!)

50,000 Unstoppable Watts
The Mob Goes Wild
Freakonomics
Pure Rock Fury
Big News I > jam > Big News II
The Incomparable Mr. Flannery
Child of the City
Immortal
Let a Poor Man Be

Motorhead - 8/10
Clutch - 9/10
Valient Thor - 8/10

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

War Is Our Destiny

I'm still in shock that a concert this good will be here.

March 28th at the Aftershock Bar and Grille in Merriam, KS.

Saint Vitus
Crowbar
Kylesa
Red Fang
Howl
The Atlas Moth

This is legendary.











Saturday, February 12, 2011

Death Angel -- Lawrence, KS -- February 11th, 2011

I'm feeling it. Going all out two nights in a row is putting a strain on my body, but it feels pretty effin' good. For their first show in Kansas City since 1987, Death Angel ripped the rowdy Friday night crowd in half. It was a good night for metal.

A country show at a nearby venue caused me to park further away than normal, thus only catching the last 1 1/2 songs from KC's own power-metal titans Vanlade. I walked in on what sounded like a new song, and it sounded really awesome. The last one they played (it seemed they got their set cut short) was Breakin' The Law by Judas Priest, but they definitely put a thrash spin on the song. Best time I've ever seen them play it! I'll hold off on giving them a numbered review this time since I barely saw any of them, but I already can't wait to see 'em again!

Next up was At The Left Hand of God (or: drunkenly screaming ATLHOOOGGG!!!) and they were the odd-man out on this bill but brought a refreshing breath of air to the crowd. I'm always a big fan of these guys live and they never disappoint. The lead singer has ditched the keyboard and it seems like they play melodic death metal/metalcore in the vein on As I Lay Dying...but better! Great stuff, though the crowd wasn't too much into them. A more appropriate show for them, and they'd get tons of applause! Always a pleasure with ATLHOG.

And then came the best thrash band from the Midwest, Hammerlord. They were definitely on top of their game tonight, and they (for lack of a better word) absolutely thrashed through their opening set. Demon Fever was particularly vicious. Amazing as always. Oh, and still some of the best guitar playing I've ever seen in a live setting.

Bonded By Blood was the first of the touring bands. They were a little bit better than the last time I saw them, opening for Early Man. They seemed like they were kind of sloppy last year, but they were a lot tighter this time around. I love new thrash, but Bonded by Blood has yet to win me over. They're getting there, though.

Lazarus A.D., on the other hand, was pretty much the only band I wouldn't pay to see again. They had some pretty fun thrash parts, so it wasn't all a loss. But they definitely sounded way too much like Pantera for my liking. The crowd seemed to like them, though.

And then came Death Angel. They were outstanding. And they told us time and time again that we were by far the best crowd on the tour so far. People were spazzing out the entire time, everyone was singing along, not only to classics like Seemingly Endless Time, but also new ones like Claws In You. It was absolute chaos and absolutely insane. And let me tell you, Thrashers is probably the best live thrash song I've ever heard. Absolutely INSANE! I can't say it enough! Death Angel, please don't wait 24 years to come back again!

Death Angel (same as Chicago)


01. I Chose The Sky
02. Evil Priest
03. Buried Alive
04. Mistress Of Pain
05. Claws In So Deep
06. Seemingly Endless Time
07. This Hate
08. Relentless Revolution
(Acoustic outro from Claws In So Deep played over the P.A.)
09. Truce
10. Purgatory (Iron Maiden cover, no vocals) /
11. Veil Of Deception
12. Opponents At Sides
13. Bored /
14. Heaven And Hell (Black Sabbath cover)
15. Thrashers

16. Lord Of Hate
17. River Of Rapture
18. The Ultra Violence (Intro) / Thrown To The Wolves

LaZarus A.D. included:

The Onslaught Pt. 1 - Revolution
American Dreams
The Ultimate Sacrifice

Bonded By Blood included:

Immortal Life
Feed The Beast
Prototype: Death Machine

Hammerlord:

Wolves At War's End
Creating Destruction
Demon Fever
Cloudsplitter
The Ballad Of Rusty Tomaski
Tombstone Piledriver

At The Left Hand of God included:

The Tower Is Tall But The Fall Is Short

Vanlade included:

Breaking The Law (Judas Priest cover)

Death Angel: 9/10
Lazarus A.D.: 6/10
Bonded By Blood: 7/10
Hammerlord: 8.5/10
At The Left Hand Of God: 8/10
Vanlade: n/a

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Eluveitie -- Lawrence, KS -- February 10th, 2011

That's it. It's decided: Folk metal concerts are the most fun concerts in the entire world. I've never seen a more energetic crowd throughout such a long set dancing, moshing, singing, chanting, etc. than I have for a Lawrence, KS crowd on a freezing Thursday night. It was, to say the least, epic.

But it definitely didn't start out epic.

System Divide was definitely the odd man out on this tour. If they didn't have the female vocals, I'd completely write them off as a Whitechapel-worship band, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. Lots of breakdowns and the guitars just sounded like a wall of noise at times. They had a lot of energy, though. Not my favorite openers, but they woke the crowd up.

After them was Holy Grail. I expected them to sound a lot like a younger and more aggressive Iron Maiden. I wasn't completely off the mark, but they were still fun. They had some amazing twin guitar solos and the vocalist could really hit those high notes. Some songs seemed to drag on way too long, though. I'd love to see their counter-band White Wizzard and compare the two!

The first band I came for was 3 Inches Of Blood. They have a history of cancelling shows on Lawrence (I was at one that they eventually canceled) but they definitely made up for it. I was down in the pit for most of them and they sounded great, but the closer I got to the stage, the less I could hear Cam. Other than that, they were definitely on their game. "Goatrider's Horde" and "Deadly Sinners" sounded great as always, but their new one, "Lords Of Change" sounded GREAT. I think it might win back the fans they lost from their latest album. Would've loved Wykydtron, but 3IOB was fantastic all around.

Although the sound was spotty early on, it was quickly fixed and Eluveitie worked the crowd into a frenzy. Just the combination of their woodwind instruments, violin, hurdy-gurdy and the typical metal sound is just amazing in a live setting. The crowd clapped along, the pit was very active the entire set, and the hurdy-gurdy player even successfully got an audience in a Kansas college town to sing the lyrics to an ancient Celtic song. That's impressive! I will say the sound suffered just a bit because the members switched up instruments a lot, but overall it was managed very well. The vocalist was great with interacting with the crowd. Singing along with "Inis Mona" was really, really fun. Highlights were Tegernakô , Your Gaulish War, and Thousandfold. One of the all-around best performances I've ever seen! It was their first time in Kansas, but I really hope they'll be back soon!

Sets were the same all around:


System Divide

Purity in Imperfection
Repent/Forget
An Intoxicating Affair
Echoes
The Apex Doctrine
Vagaries of Perception


Holy Grail

Immortal Man
Call of Valhalla
Crisis in Utopia
Hollow Ground
My Last Attack
Fight to Kill


3 Inches of Blood

The Goatrider's Horde
Destroy the Orcs
Lords of Change (new song)
Trial of Champions
Premonition of Pain
Night Marauders
Deadly Sinners
Battles and Brotherhood


Eluveitie

Otherworld (intro)
Nil
Bloodstained Ground
Grey Sublime Archon
Your Gaulish War
Thousandfold
Inis Mona
Slanias Song
Brictom
Omnos
Quoth the Raven
The Song of Life
Kingdom Come Undone
(Do)minion
AnDro

--------------------------------

Primordial Breath
Uis Elveti
Tegernakô

System Divide - 5/10
Holy Grail - 7.5/10
3 Inches Of Blood - 8.5/10
Eluveitie - 9.5/10

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

SNOWPOCALYPSE!

Hope everyone is staying warm.

Kansas City is now grim and frostbitten.