In Flames @ Ram's Head Live 1/14/2012

Saw In Flames and Trivium @ Ram's Head Live 1/14/2012

 Got there about 8 :30, parked at the way top of the garage (6 1/2). Stowed away my wallet, took keys and ID and cash...Get down the stairs and realize I forgot my card to pay for the ticket.. Elevate back up, grab card and head back down. I get in line behind some thrashers. Some younger guy walks by and asks me if I need a ticket.I ask how much. He says $5. I'm like whaaaaat. He shows me his VIP pass. I jokingly ask him about change, as I've only got a 10. I just give him the 10 and walk right in. SWEET

I step in and it is PACKED. A younger crowd, no real obscure t shirts unfortunately. A Sonata Arctica one, a Suffokate one... nothing like Saxon tho. I make my way to the far back near the back bar on the right and stand for Trivium. No way I'm getting to the pit right now.  

Trivium comes on and they sound pretty good. John's earplugs seem to filter out too much noise :(  I switch to me old earplugs about 1/2 way thru their set. They sound heavier and more full now. A decent setlist, but again I'm not a huge Trivium fan. I like them, but am not super-familiar with. Crowd seems to enjoy them tho. During the last song I head to use the lavatory and am heading back as everyone is heading there or to the bar. I make my way to the back middle of the pit.

Best song: In Waves

I am noticing people near me look like moshers...and I migrate slowly to the right. There is even one guy with half a beard, like Two Face... I don't ask him why. Some cute girls when I walked in. A couple girls with character backpacks (1 Totoro, 1 skunk)..wtf. Shirts for In Flames /Trivium/other bands don't look like anything special. Trivium has some booty shorts tho....I notice an ad for Black Dahlia Murder/Nile/Skeletonwitch tour in the lavatory!!!

In Flames comes on and sound very good. Up until Anders starts singing, his vox sound a bit off. After the first couple of songs, they stop and Anders apologizes he is a bit sick and may not make it thru the set. :( Well they continue and he sounds a bit better as the show goes on, but still a bit off. The band sounds tight and very good, but their setlist could have been better, so much from the new album. But, as the show went on, the songs they selected def sounded great. I would have preferred Pinball Map or something like that, but a different setlist is good overall I think now.

There is a lot of moshing and crowd surfing (Anders was saying that Sweden may taste great, but he wants to SMELL America! And that we should make the bouncers sweat, earn their money). The moshing was similar to the All That Remains portion of the last show- elbows in the back, getting smushed against other people and shoved every so often. I migrated a bit right even more, and then it got a bit less. I still had room to headbang, for the most part. The crowd def was energetic and sung and moshed along. Overall a very good show. Over early, too...11:30PM

Best Song(s): Cloud Connected and The Mirror's Truth



Trivium Setlist

• Capsizing The Sea
• In Waves
• Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr
• Black
• Forsake Not the Dream
• Departure
• Built to Fall
• Like Light to the Flies
• Caustic Are the Ties That Bind
• Down From the Sky
• Throes of Perdition

In Flames Setlist

• Sounds of a Playground Fading
• Deliver Us
• All for Me
• Trigger
• Alias
• Swim
• The Hive
• The Quiet Place
• Where the Dead Ships Dwell
• Fear Is the Weakness
• Come Clarity
• Ropes
• Cloud Connected
• The Mirror's Truth
• Take This Life

Korpiklaani @ JAXX 12/17/2011

Decided it was a great idea to go see Korpiklaani after getting back from Texas on that Wednesday. Like right after I got off the plane I headed to Jaxx to meet Milla for dinner and the show.

Got there kind of early, but we wanted to see Arkona and I was already in VA. We went to get some Pizza at the place across the way. It was pretty good, and we had leftovers. We headed to Jaxx, got tix and heard Polkadot Cadaver who were already playing their set. They, IMO were rubbish. The best song they did was a cover of Billie Jean...and even then...

As the opener was playing, we moved the back bar area and stood around. There was no bartender back there, and there was a guy with a Wintersun hoodie, so we had to ask him WTF he got it from. During this, we notice a police officer in some heavy tac gear come in. Not too surprising, but it didn't seem that rowdy. Then 6 other officers follow after him. WTF is going on?

They make their way to the half of the bar back room that is clear, and some blond girl is in the corner now, talking with them. I suspect it is some sort of  assault ... then we notice a bottle of bud light being dusted and some samples and photos are taken from it. The dude in the Wintersun shirt thinks it has to do with underage drinking. They eventually clear out and the old dude who works there is PISSED. Needless to say bar service has stopped for the time being. We were more concerned if the show would be canceled or not.


Milla introduced to some friends that happened to be there too. At about this point I notice some guy with dreads and a beard like that one guy from Korpiklaani. And I flash him the horns and ask for a picture. He obliges with some broken English, he was very nice. I think Milla said something to him in Finnish which he seemed to understand.

Eventually Arkona comes on, and people start to mosh. But the music, IMO is not that heavy. Its not bad, but its not stuff I'd think people would/should be moshing to. But they do. On every song. sheesh. They sound good, different instruments produce a unique sound. But I'm not fully convinced of this moshing madness. All the way from Russia tho. I buy one of their CDs, might as well try to help them out, right? And then we get a picture with one of the band members.Also got a Korpiklaani CD too.

The annoying thing is that there is some smallerish guy who must have been a wrestler who, along with a shirtless drunk bald guy, and a tall dude in a kilt are running the pit. And this include running at each other and impacting on the shoulder. On like most songs.

Korpiklaani finally comes on and they sound a bit muddy. Energetic, but muddy. The sound clears up a bit, but I think their frontman has been drinking or its the Engrish. Either way, he is rambling about something between most songs. The songs themselves sound very good and the crowd is still full of energy (but seems like less moshing than during Arkona). I enter the pit a couple times, even.

Near the middle, Milla and I and her friend are in some ridiculous formation and then I am sideswiped by someone and we all fall, my head def hit the cold hard Jaxx floor. I am a bit furious and def make that known to the short dude who is the 'head of the pit. Then I realize the first rule- don't be a douche, people get banged up in the pit. So we make amends and we get back to the show.

The small guy and the drunk guy tangle up a lot more times, and the small guy basically puts some wrestling holds on another guy and SLAMs him (almost a suplex) to the ground! The small guy and drunk guy charge either other and the drunk guy gets out of the way, in an epic trolling. Hilarious.

Overall a good show, but def more moshing than I expected/cared for. Also was very tired from being on the plane. UGH. Setlist is from saetlist.fm form the GA show the night before. I really only know/can pronounce a handful of their songs. But they def played Iron Fist, Tequila, Korpiklaani, Beer Beer, and Vodka.

Setlist:

• Hunting Song
• Päät pois tai hirteen
• Cottages and Saunas
• Tuoppi oltta
• Journey Man
• Juodaan viinaa
• Lonkkaluut
• Vaarinpolkka
• Vodka
• Wooden Pints
• Iron Fist (Motörhead cover)
• Tequila
• Beer Beer
• Yoik Jonne Järvelä
• Kipumylly
• Korpiklaani
• Ii lea voibmi 

Pictures

Jackyl 12/7/2011 @ Jaxx

Went to Jaxx on a cold and rainy night to see Jackyl with my buddy and his cousin. There was a decent crowd there, which was surprising for such horrid weather. At one point it was raining SIDEWAYs. About 100, probably a little less.

We all met at Tippy's for some delicious food first. After I ordered the power went out, however. We sat there for 5 minutes wondering what to do (and if I would get to eat). It came back and I ate like 7 tacos.


Some band that I didn't catch the name of went on shortly after we got there at about 9:30. They played a blend of funk and rap that I thought sounded horrible. You could not understand what the vocalist was saying. That and there was someone in a Panda suit dancing about like a madman which seemed to me rather gimmicky. Perhaps they would have done better opening for some more um hip-hop influenced group? Not my cup of tea

Southern Governor came on next. As they were setting up we notice these long haired not lookin old enough to shave chubby boys had some Skynyrd, Black Stone Cherry shirts on. And 3 guitar players. "They better damn well play some Skynyrd with that many people up there" is what my buddy stated. And they played a set that def got one in the Jackyl frame of mind. However, they played Freebird, which I liked but seemed like a faux pax if you are not Lynyrd Skynyrd. Regardless, I was impressed by an opener for the first time in a long while. For young guys they sounded great. Maybe some great things in the future? We'll see

Jackyl FINALLY came on around 11:30 to the tune of some Dixie sounding song. They played some songs I didn't know to start (that still sounded good), but then once they got into their (non new album?) better songs it sounded great. Jesse's mic could have used some work to make it sound better in the mix, but other than that, no real complaints. Crowd was pretty into it and energetic for the most part. Around the encore we started to smell gas. You know what that means! I was chuckling when they played "She Loves My Cock" and the highlight was def the chainsaw during "The Lumberjack."

Overall I am glad I came out, def would see them again. A good time with my buddy Tony to see some solid hard rock/hair band/whatever




Southern Governor

• ? (cover song- Skynyrd I think)
• Rock n Roll Hootchie Coo (cover)
• Going to the Show (an original)
• ? (Black Stone Cherry Cover)
• Freedbird (Skynyrd cover)

Jackyl

• Dixie Intro
• My Moonshine Kicks Your Cocaine's Ass
• Freight Train
• ? (think there was a song here, but might have been part of Freight Train)
• When Push Comes to Shove
• Just like a Devil
• Locked and Loaded
• Down on Me
• Secret of the Bottle
• When Moonshine and Dynamite Collide
• I stand alone
• When Will it Rain
• Dirty Little Mind
• Redneck Punk
• ----
• She Loves My Cock
• Lumberjack

Note: (Original post )

2012

Going to try this blogging framework for my concert reports etc. this year. Livejournal still exists but maybe this one will be better?