Diamond Head -- Kansas City, MO -- August 23rd, 2011

Diamond Head playing in Kansas City in 2011 on a Tuesday night. Who would've thought? Not a huge crowd, but everyone who was there made so much noise and showed so much love that it looked like Diamond Head was having the time of their lives on-stage. And honestly, it was probably the best pure rock'n'roll/old-school heavy metal live performance I've ever seen.

Firstly, the venue. It's a place called Knucklehead's. It has an inside stage (also part of a bar/restaurant) but the show was on the outside stage. It's a pretty large stage with all the lights and stuff, but rows of tables/bleachers and even an upstairs deck where people could sit and watch. The sound was, in short, impeccable. I don't think I've ever even been to an inside professional concert venue where the sound was that good.

And speaking of the sound, not only were Diamond Head crystal clear in every instrument, there's just that tone that only they can replicate. It was straight out of the 70s/80s that I doubt anyone else could pull off. It made everything so much better.

Diamond Head was really energetic, especially Eddie on bass and, of course, Brian Tatler on guitar. Brian was flawless and was shredding the entire night. Their vocalist, Nick Tart, might've only been with the band for about seven years, but he was all over the stage headbanging with people and letting them sing into the mic. He even bent down to a guy in a wheel chair and kept high-fiving him. Their attitudes transcended to the audience, everyone was just drinking, singing, clapping, headbanging and smiling. The most positive metal crowd I've ever been a part of!

Diamond Head is definitely a band known for their classics (I mean, they're the songs that Metallica based their band off of!) but even the newer stuff was great! "Skin on Skin" was really heavy, and "Nothing To Lose" had a great groove. But everyone really kicked in as soon as the first classic of the night, "The Prince", started. It was chillingly good. They played all the songs from their album "Lightning To The Nations" except one, which is pretty much a dream come true. My neck is sore from how hard I was head-banging to the immortal "Am I Evil?" which every metal fan should know by heart.

No opening band, over early. Diamond Head came on at 8:15, were off by 9:30. Totally fine by me, they crammed every second with bad-assery and just pure, unadulterated METAL.

Diamond Head: 10/10

1. Play It Loud
2. Nothing To Lose
3. The Prince
4. Give It To Me
5. In The Heat Of The Night
6. Skin on Skin
7. From Heaven to Hell
8. It's Electric
9. Pray For Me
10. Sucking My Love
11. Helpless
12. Am I Evil?
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13. Lightning To The Nations

October: still busy for metal

Just announced:

Creepsylvania's own GHOUL will bring their brand of Splatterthrash to the Aftershock in Merriam, KS on October 15th! Will Killbot make an appearance? Who knows! Opening will be Troglodyte!

October: Always busy for metal

A couple of shows have just been announced for October!

First up:

The Black Dahlia Murder will be returning, YET AGAIN, to Lawrence to slay us! They'll be headlining The Granada in Lawrence on the strength of their new album, Ritual. Opening for them is All Shall Perish and Cannabis Corpse. The Black Dahlia Murder always have the best live shows, so get ready to headbang!







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The next October show is quite a doozy:

WARBRINGER comes back to KC on their headlining tour for their new albums, Worlds Torn Asunder! It'll be at the Beaumont Club on October 30th (Halloween Eve!) with LaZarus A.D., Landmine Marathon, Diamond Plate, Vanlade and Meat Shank! Spoooooooooky!

Prepare to accelerate your living!

One of my personal favorite live bands, SAVIOURS, will be returning to the heartland on September 2nd at the Jackpot Saloon in Lawrence. Opening the show will be another great band, Bison BC!