Black People Are Cool

Ok

Edit: **** you

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Concert Review:


I wasn't going to go to this show at first, considering the only band I liked on the original bill was Enter Shikari. But at the last minute iwrestledabearonce had to drop off the tour for a few days and Destroy the Runner was asked to fill in the San Diego show, which prompted me to go as I have wanted to see them for some 2 years now. Tickets were $17 and the line was ridiculous, the majority of the crowd there for August Burns Red.


Destroy the Runner was up first. I must say, a little shaky at the start. Which I can understand because they were called in at the very last moment to fill in, I can only imagine that they hadn't rehearshed in weeks. But irregardless they were hitting all cylinders by the end of the show, the vocals were a bit weak but progressively got better as the show went on. The instrumentals were extremely heavy, yet sounded amazing. They did one of the heaviest breakdowns I have ever heard in my life which completely blew me away. The band itself was tight as hell on the last 3-4 songs and just completely brutalized the crowd more than any opening band should ever do. It was enjoyable none the less. Performance rated 7/10.


Enter Shikari was on next, and I must say, from start to finish they are one of the best bands I have ever seen live. They were so hard to photograph because they moved around so much, sounded great instrumentally and had great vocals harmonies. Their Electroinc/Post-Hardcore sound is something that is unrivaled in todays scene, using every aspect of their ablity to make evey song something better. This was another band I have wanted to see for a long time and afterwords I am very glad I took the chance to do so. Performance rated 8.5/10.


Blessthefall came on next. This was a band that I had never heard before the show, and let me just say that they first thing I did after the show was go home and download their cd from Itunes. They did exactly what a live band is supposed to do, turned me into a fan. With an excellent sound, playing ability, vocals and a charismatic frontman, Blessthefall was by far the best performance of the night. Engaging the crowd in way the other band couldn't think about accomplishing. The bassist does the majority of the screaming, and is damn good at it too, while the frontman handles clean vocals and back up screams. The clean vocals were crisp, clean, and very vibrant throughout the set. Couple this with the on-point sound of the rest of the band and you've got one hell of a solid set. Performance rated 8.5/10.


August burns red... was a dissapointment. Taking over 30 minutes to set up, coming out on stage like they were rockstars, and playing half-assed, generic metalcore, this band had enough to keep me around for 3 songs. I just couldn't take it anymore. Not to mention my camera had died right as they were coming on so I was bummed about that already, but in retrospect, I wouldn't want pics of those tools anyway. I left early. Performance rated 5/10.

Overall this show was very enjoyable and I would recommend seeing it if the tour stops in your town. Worth the 15-17 dollars.

p.s. All photos done by Me (except August Burns Red)

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Astronomer

^ Nice photos crash.

Okay this isn't a review of a gig... but a review of concert ticket prices. I adore Tori Amos. She is coming to Australia. I was tres excited. Went online to buy tickets. ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY DOLLARS. What the hell?! Ticket prices over here are just getting ridiculous.

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Antonio

Well this show my band just played tonight, so yeah, i'll review it.



well, as the title says, this show was the CD release party for the Philadelphia pop-punk band, Seek To Thrill. This show featured supporting acts The Anchor Boys, Yo Adrian!, Adalie, and of course my band, the Success Story. The show was held at the Real Life Cafe, a small Bistro in the neighborhood of Bridesburg, PA. because of the general size of this place, most of the bands had to share equipment, so as to save space. when i arrived half an hour before to set up, there were already a good number of people there from all around the area. i knew that this would be a big show.

The Anchor Boys were up first. normally an acoustic group, they went electric, adding the size of a full band into their set, so they were taking some time to set up. in the meantime, the singer/guitarist whipped out his acoustic and sang a few covers for everyone, really interacting with the crowd and just having fun with it. then the rest of the guys were ready. this band had alot of energy and knew how to entertain. the bassist was espeially crazy, jumping up an down wildly and even running into the audience during two of the songs. their music was rocking, albeit a little tried, but true in the alternative area. in all i would give their performance a 8.6/10

Yo Adrian! was up next, and with it being their second show with so many people, they were really relaxed about it. they had a pretty short set(only 4 songs), but were a really fun band, playing Taking Back Sunday and Blink 182 influenced pop punk while still having music that put a smile on your face. during their first few songs, though, the PA system was acting up a bit, so their songs came of as just a bit too muffled and they kind of lost some people's attention. another unfortunate thing that happened is the singer/guitarist popping a string on his guitar halfway through the last song, and several equipment guys rushing to find a replacement in time. in the end, however, they had to finish it up with only bass and drums. they still pulled through, though, and garnered some respect from the crowd for doing so. overall i give their performance a 6.9/10

The Success Story, i.e. my band, went up next. Their brand of pop punk and alternative was well recieved by the people there, as well as their high energy set garnering alot of attention from the crowd. the guitarist and bassist both had the chops to keep the songs interesting musically(i'm not BSing or exaggerating, that's what people have told me). the bass player was a bit too unbridled though; almost smacking into a few people and spilling some water near the equipment during their set. there were also a few moments where bass parts got messed up, but he kept going with the flow and kept playing. overall, i feel that the performance was a 8.5/10

Adalie came afterwards. they had just had their own CD release show a few weeks before featuring Seek To Thrill, and they were returning the favor. There were still a few glitches in the PA system and mics, but nothing that derailed their set. they played mostly songs from their EP as well as one of their older ones (my favorite song from them, btw ), It's the Same Sky. one of the bands two singers was a bit overzealous at times, and kind of turned off some of people a bit, but not by too much. the music was tight, though, with them having interesting song structures and passages. overall their performance was a 7.7/10

Seek To Thrill were the last to play and the main event of the night. It took them some time to set up, as some of the instruments weren't sounding fully operational and they had to check levels and such. they got off to a bumpy start with the guitar not sounding all the way, but pretty soon they were able to pick it up and keep going. They had a guest singer on one of the songs, but he didn't move around that much if at all. in all their performance was very active; the whole band was moving and having fun with the songs, the music was well done Pop Punk/Emo with al of the instruments clearly audible and active. 8.3/10

Overall, minus some of the technical issues, it was a pretty good show, definately worth the five bucks for everyone who attended.


If you want to hear the bands' music:

Seek To Thrill [EP Release TONIGHT!] on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads
The Success Story on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads
YO ADRIAN! (SHOW TONIGHT!!) on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads
ADALIE on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads
THE ANCHOR BOYS on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

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Mojo

So....£70? Jesus Christ. Ticket prices here are out of hand too but thats a lot higher than I would expect her to charge here.

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Concert Review:


Kiros played first, the typical opening band. Noone was really into these guys, and for good reason, they played some politically infuenced, save the trees pop-punk. They even took 10 minutes to tell everyone they should sponsor an African orphan. Exactly what I didn't pay to see. Painfully rated 4/10.

Next was Secret & Whisper. Well the secret is that these guys are terrible, and it's not being very well kept apparently. This band was a chore, that's all I can really say. A Saosin meets Chiodos soprano fest, with sloppy instrumentals and pretentious band members. Not clicking here with me. Performance rated 5.5/10

Closure in Moscow was the next band up, and they started out on the right foot and left a good first impression that soon went sour. If there was ever a band I've seen that you could tell they all hated each other, it was this band. The vocalist was a complete *******, destroying not one, but two house mics (the sound man was PISSED) and just being an all around douchebag, all but refusing to leave the stage after the performance even after all the other band members had dismissed themselves, singing acapella on stage for a good 3 minutes of incoherent crap that noone wanted to hear before finally storming off without so much as a thank you to the crowd. The drummer didn't even wait for the song to end before leaving the stage and the lead guitarist played the outro from backstage, fairly obvious these guys just didn't want to be there. Performance rated an all time low 3.5/10.

And then...


Up next, the mighty Maylene & The Sons of Disaster. This is one band I always know I can count on, the stage presence was there as usual, the set list was top notch, the sound was near perfect, and of course Dallas was a complete madman. This performance tonight has set aside all doubt for me that Dallas Taylor is the single best frontman playing metal music right now, talk about whom ever you like, but noone, and I mean NOONE gets a crowd moving like Dallas does, and mind you, this was a crowd of Emery fans we're talking about. The show blew me away completely, just when I thought the band might be slipping after suffering the loss of 3 original band members prior to this last album, MATSOD has figured a way to maintain their high level of performance on stage and haven't backed off an inch from their high-powered 3 guitar southern metalcore attack that keeps the fans coming back for more. This is one band I think I will be sticking with for quite some time. Thanks for being awesome Maylene. Performance rated 9.6/10.

Emery played last. I did not stay to watch Emery, their music irritates me almost as must as their pussy little fans do. Performance not rated.


Overall, Maylene was the only reason anyone should go to this show. The other bands don't live up, and touring under Emery is a slap in the face. The same thing happened 2 years ago when I saw Maylene open for He Is Legend, Maylene steals the show. Tickets were well priced at $15.

p.s. All photos done by me.

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RonaldSays

A few years ago the North Sea Jazz festival moved from The Hague to Rotterdam. Some said that it never got the same but I liked it. Better ways to move from one gig to the other and you were able to do some band hopping. But things changed...

North Sea Jazz at Ahoy Rotterdam, 12 July 2009

Another festival another traffic jam. That seems to be the trend this year: stuck in traffic for Pinkpop, Rock Werchter and now North Sea Jazz. But after some driving around we somehow managed to park our car and it was time to meet our friends and to check out the performances.

We wanted to start it off with the Chucho Valdés Big Band but...the hall for this performance was full. So we improvised and went to see the John Taylor Trio instead.

John Taylor Trio (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
A piano trio can be really exciting but this wasn't. Everything was on the safe side and the musicians didn't really challenge each other. Of course John Taylor is very good piano player but it could have used some more fireworks.

So no suprises here and we decided to try to see Kyteman but...the tent was full. So it was time for a bite to eat and a drink or two. I had to choose now: Roy Haynes or Antonio Sanchez with the Scott Colley Quartet. I decided to see Roy Haynes and quickly we made our way there so we wouldn't be too late again!

Roy Haynes Trio (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
What was missing with the John Taylor trio earlier was all here. Of course Haynes had David Kikoski on piano and John Patitucci on bass to help him. Nice compositions, very good musicians of course and now and then some exciting interaction. Haynes showed why he's considered a living legend and challenged the others to play their best.

Bennink, Borstlap and Glerum (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Michiel Borstlap playing Monk should be good. With Han Bennink on drums this is bound to have some good moments. Bennink crazy as always used the whole stage, including his shoes to play his rythms. And Borstlap was playing the Monk tunes in his own relaxed style. You can't go wrong with Monk.

Raphael Saadiq (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
I liked his latest album "The Way I See It" but this gig didn't do it for me. The sound was just awful and the music didn't sound as good as on the album. Maybe just not my cup of tea.

Jasper Blom Quartet (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
I went to see this quartet because Martijn Vink is playing the drums in it and I wanted to check him out. I didn't know the others but was pleasantly surprised. They played some complex songs together, some bop inspired and some more easy and mellow songs. Now and then Blom would come to the mic to introduce a song or make a joke or two making it a very vibrant and entertaining permormance. I'm definitely gonna check out their album "Statue of Liberty".

Steve Winwood (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
Of course when I get the change to see artists like Steve Winwood I make sure I grab it. He was playing several of his hit songs including "Higher Love" and some Clapton songs that were really lacking Slowhand himself. Winwood has some very good musicians playing with him but I still felt like something was missing. Could've been the stage in the very large Nile hall with bad sound again. Or maybe my expectations were too high.

I have mixed feelings about this North Sea Jazz edition. It was just too crowded at times which kind of takes away some of the fun to discover new music or to make it to a performance on time you were really hoping to see. Then again I also saw some great music played by great musicians and had a good time with my friends. So I still went home happy. Maybe next year we're gonna give The Hague Jazz a try?

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Flower Child

Foreigner

2009 Tour
Quapaw, Oklahoma

Best concert I have been to hands down. They put on an very exciting performance. Lou Gramm sounded exactly the same as he did 30 years ago. He hit every high note, low note and everything inbetween flawlessly. He sang the songs and the band played the music the way you wanted to hear it: what you are used to hearing on the albums. They never changed the words, and their guitar playing was spot on. All the '80s effects were playing at full blast too, so it was a very satisfying listening experience.

I would say "Juke Box Hero" was their best performance, even though it was never my favorite song, they were really hitting this one hard. The crowd was going wild, since, well, most everyone was pretty boozed up long before the concert even started. The band was very young at heart especially Lou. He climbed up on the stage and was prancing around non stop the whole concert. You could really tell the band had their heart in it that night and that is what makes all the difference between a good concert and a bad one.

Flower Child

PICTURES


It was an outdoor concert as you can see.


Thats me. Proof I was there


Right off the bat, he climbed up the stage like a wild man

Flower Child

This drummer was unbelievable. He did this solo and it was like nothing I have ever seen. He hit his sticks on the drums and launched them up to the very top of the stage and they came down and he caught them like 10 times in a row. Yeah, I was pretty impressed.


Beginning of Juke Box Hero





At the very end, that guy started playing behind his head