Raven/ A Sound of Thunder/ Cab Ride Home @ Empire 4/19/2013

I went to see Raven w/ A Sound of Thunder (and Cab Ride Home) last night. I  noticed that the doors opened later than anticipated, so I actually got there in time to see all bands, for once. I actually saw more people than I expected there- Dave, all of ASOT (of course), Mr. Nina, Sako n Greg (Wolverine), Those Mexican metal guys (who aren't Mexican), Gerber, Christina n her dude, THAT GUY FROM CAB RIDE HOME (Chris) , Neil n Michelle, guy from Ripper, maybe someone else!

It was kind of sparsely populated when I got there. About 15 people on the floor, more at the bar and maybe in the alchemy room. ASOT had their merch table w/ CDs n shirts, and Raven had a pretty small set up of a couple shirts (Ramones-esque design, meh), a postcard (?)(1), a sticker (2), a patch (5), a few CDs (15, 25. Hung out with Dave a bit an we watched Cab Ride Home from the bar.Overall, less than 100 people (more like 80?) were there.

Cab Ride Home sounded a lot better than the last time I saw them. The last time I saw them was March 31, 2012 at the A Sound of Thunder Album Release. I thought they were...not great at that showing, but this time was drastically different. They sounded way better, and got the (small) crowd moving. A mini mosh pit actually broke out for a couple songs as well. Their rhythm section sounded very powerful and helped the songs flow. The vocals were a bit rough at some points, and one guitar solo was a bit...messy, but overall I was impressed. I was not familiar with any of their songs, but I think I need to give these guys another shot.

Local darling A Sound of Thunder was on next and I was def excited to see them again. I figured they would play their new song and some from their EP, so their setlist was pretty predictable except for the oldie 'Walls!' Their new song 'I Won't Break' sounded very good live, particularly with the emphasis on the bass and drum, as well as the sound guy working that night. Josh's guitar parts seemed a bit less emphasized than at other shows, but maybe that was because I was HABOing a buddy with a ticket about 1/2 way thru their set. The most...interesting...part of the evening was when a 'Beer Maiden' was summoned... and ended up being the singer from Cab Ride Home with his long hair in braided pigtails and his shirt... um tied up like a bra. Yeah. And he faux-molested Jesse. Awesome! ANYWAYS, Nina, Jesse, Chris, and Josh sounded solid as usual. Perhaps I wanted a slightly different setlist, but regardless I have no real complaints.


Then, a little after 10, the NWOBHM trio Raven took the stage.... and I immediately noticed their pretty rough appearances. I was wondering if they were going to be able to actually play for long. However, when 'Take Control' got going, all my fears were firmly put to rest as they played with the energy that you normally see from bands 1/2 that age! The drummer, looking like a cryptkeepr or something, was perched on top of the drums, peering over all those under his drum dominion, and EFFORTLESSLY played them. He reminded me of Tommy Aldridge from Whitesnake with his old ass looks and drumming. This dude looked like he was not even trying, and producing some damn powerful drumming. They powered thru their set with only a few delays, keeping the energy fairly constant. I thought something was up with the sound during their set tho, either they were 'too loud,' I was not standing in the right place, or something was not mixed right.

I kind of wish I was more familiar with their material- all I kinda knew was their 'All for One' album, hence the kinda rough setlist. The guitar solo was kind meh, but I liked the bass solo (probably cause you don't hear them often). Their last song reminded me of the Ripper show, where Ripper's band played a medley of partial covers. This was a bit more cohesive than that, but still a bit kinda odd. I figured they would play more...Raven songs. But their assortment of partial covers was pretty cool- UFO, Montrose, Sabbath, Steppenwolf, Priest.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by some bands tonight. That combined with hanging with some friends made for a pretty good night out (despite the rain).


Photos:
Cab Ride Home
A Sound of Thunder
ASOT II
ASOT III
A Sound of a Beer Maiden
Maiden and Jesse
ASOT V
Raven
Raven II
Raven III
Raven IV
Raven and Heavy Metal Tifa
Raven End



Setlists:

Cab Ride Home (8-8:30)
Thrash Mob and a bunch of new songs

A Sound of Thunder (9:00- 9:45)

• Queen of Hell
• Walls
• I Will not Break
• Murderous Horde
• Trashed (Black Sabbath cover)
• Hello Nurse
• Out of the Darkness
• A Sound of Thunder

Raven (10:17- 11:45)

• Take Control
• (Unknown)
• All for One
• Breaking You Down
• (Unknown)
• Rock Until You Drop
• Guitar Solo
• (Unknown)
• (Unknown)
• Mind Over Metal
• Faster Than the Speed of Light
• (Unknown)
• On and On
• Bass Solo
• Rock Bottom (UFO cover) (Partial)
• Break the Chain (Partial)
• Born to Be Wild (Steppenwolf cover)
• Rock Candy (Montrose cover) (Partial)
• Symptom of the Universe (Black Sabbath cover) (Partial)
• Genocide (Judas Priest cover) (Partial)
• War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover) (Partial, the end)
• Break the Chain (The rest of it)