New shows alert!

Got some new shows announced lately! Remember - always check the sidebar for upcoming shows. I update that more often than actually posting about shows!

That Lamb of God tour that got canceled has had its make-up dates announced. It's all different bands this time, though. They'll be at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City along with In Flames, Hellyeah and Sylosis. Last time they were at the Uptown, a huge crowd showed up. Wouldn't doubt it to happen again at this show. So get there early!

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The Sword will be returning to the Record Bar in Kansas City almost exactly 2 years after their triumphant show in 2010. They'll be there on December 3rd with Gypsyhawk and American Sharks. They were really heavy 2 years ago, so I expect no different from them this time.

If you are really keen on  Gypsyhawk, they have a show at the Aftershock in Merriam, KS on September 20th with Vanlade and Alsatia. A great headliner with amazing local bands. Totally worth seeing them twice!

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Converge is coming back to the Granada theater with an absolutely stacked bill. Opening the show is local boys Mansion, then Kvelertak and Torche will light everyone on fire. The Lawrence date is special because after Torche, local legends Coalesce will take the stage to open for Converge! Legendary. Don't miss this show, because it'll be full of stage dives!

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If you want to slow things down, drone-doom pioneers Earth will be at the Record Bar on November 19th. Earplugs are recommended, they can get loud! Eagle Twin and Stebmo open.

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Keep an eye out, here and on the sidebar and all the local venue's websites. Lots of stuff is getting announced!

Converge canceles date in Lawrence tonight.

Hey everyone -

What a tour...

First thing:
We lost Lewd Acts due to some conflicts within the band.
Our friends Touche Amore are taking their place for a bit on the tour...

Second:
As some of you know, our van's transmission died the other day in Cleveland, OH. With our luck, it died early on a Saturday morning, making an immediate repair impossible.

We ended up ditching our van and gear and renting a minivan to make it to our Detroit and Chicago shows.

Our pal Pettibone from Heiress is sitting tight with the van in Cleveland until it's road worthy. Once it's ready to go, he will be driving to meet us so we can continue the tour. In order for him to catch up with us safely, we have been forced to pull out of the 5/10 (Lawrence, KS) and 5/11 (Denver, CO) shows.

THESE TWO SHOWS WILL CONTINUE with our friends Coalesce headlining with support from Black Breath and Touche Amore. Be sure to attend these shows and support these great bands.

We will rejoin the tour in Seattle on 5/13.
We will also look to make up these two dates later this year as well.

That's about it for now, thanks.

- Converge dudes.

Converge returns to Lawrence

Converge with Coalesce, Lewd Acts, Black Breath on May 10th at the Bottleneck.

Gonna be awesome.

Dethklok -- Kansas City, MO -- October 12th, 2009

Awesome concert! I thought I was going to miss at least some of High on Fire, but I got there in time to see it all. It was a great experience.

High On Fire was my first concert of 2008, and I'd been jonesing to see them again. While they didn't get a very long set, they left me (again) wanting more. They absolutely slayed and Matt Pike is still a beast on the guitar. He rips through solos like it's as easy as not brushing his teeth and the crowd ate it up completely. Frost Hammer was amazing, and Waste of Tiamat is my favorite live HoF song still. I can't wait to see them again. 9/10

Fury Whip
Blood From Zion
Cometh Down Hessian
Waste of Tiamat
Frost Hammer
Rumors Of War

First things first: there was a huge pit filled with hardcore kiddies fighting invisible ninjas for Converge. But to be honest, they're one of the least worst "core" bands I've seen live. Maybe that's because they honestly don't try to be metal, they are at heart a hardcore/grindcore/mathcore band. But I still don't get it. A lot of times it sounded like they were leading up to a huge moment where they'd kick in and the place would explode, but nine times out of ten, it just never seemed to come. However, when they kicked it in, I really enjoyed it. I guess I was expecting a DEP-esque type of craziness, but Converge wasn't terrible. More grind, less core. 5/10

?
No Heroes
Axe To Fall
Eagles Become Vultures
The Broken Vow
Last Light
Reap What You Sow
Wolves At My Door
Dark Horse
?
?
Concubine

I, at first, thought it was lame that Mastodon was performing all of Crack the Skye still. But as I quickly found out, CtS translate extremely well live and made for a really memorable performance. Sound trouble happened at the beginning of the set, but was fixed by The Czar. Speaking of that song, the 2 songs I liked the best from their set were the longest from CtS, The Czar and The Last Baron. Absolutely chill-inducing when heard live. And the brutality of their pre-CtS material as the encore was amazing. The crowd went insane during Mother Puncher. Awesome show. 9/10

Oblivion
Divinations
Quintessence
The Czar
Ghost of Karelia
Crack The Skye
The Last Baron
--
Circle of Casquatch
Aqua Dementia
Where Strides The Behemoth
Mother Puncher
The Bit

Anyone who still doubts the intentions of Brendon Small and Dethklok just need to attend a show to see what all the fuss is about. The straight up melodic death metal approach from Dethklok really paired well with the prog-attack of Mastodon. I will say that Dethalbum I songs are better than Dethalbum II songs. But the crowd loved it all. Craziest pits I've seen all year. Brendon Small and his band are really, really talented. You can't help but headbang through their set. 9/10

Detheme
Bloodlines
Burn The Earth
Hatredcopter
Black Fire Upon Us
Birthday Dethday
Dethjingle
Dethsupport
Awaken
The Gears
Murmaider
Thunderhorse
Go Into The Water
Fansong
_________

Blacker than the blackest black, times infinity.

Dethklok
Mastodon
High on Fire
Converge

Holy crap.

Uptown Theater, Oct. 12.