Day of the Beast/ Vitality/ Death Penalty @ The Lab 3/29/2014

I was convinced to stop by The Lab in Alexandria to see Day of the Beast ($9). The Lab is some sort of converted space that is used by some church in the area, so there is not alcohol/drugs/etc. there, and its got an early curfew (10PM). There were actually a number of people I knew there- Sean, Tom, Steve Harris!, Brian B, Metal Chris, Miss Annie, Ethan, DanP( Mr Day at the Beach), Danica, and Chris J.

Serpent Witch/ Aurelian/ Weed Warlock @Sidebar, 3/28/2014

Went to see Face Melting Friday: Doom edition up at the Sidebar ($10), which a local promoter Black Rose Metal Heart Promotions arranges a showcase for up and coming locals. I'm a selective doom fan, but I wanted to check out Aurelian, whom I had missed a couple times before.  I saw Bobbie, Nina, DanP, Steve Harris!, the Rock n Roll Experience guy, Scarlett and Alex, and  Elyse and Mike G.

The Aborted/ Pyrexia/ Hydra Kyll @ Empire 3/27/2014

I caught the Aborted at Empire ($15) this past week on the opening date of this 2014 tour.  I saw Zach M, Renae, Kavin, Sanil, Daniel G, Steve M, Jason, and Sean there. I had not seen any of the bands except Hydra Kyll before.

Children of Bodom/ Death Angel / Tyr @ Fillmore Silver Spring 3/21/2014

I went to see Children of Bodom ($10) with Tyr and Death Angels at the Fillmore, Silver Spring. This will be a short and pretty bad review because I unfortunately got too boracho. I saw Ariel y su mujer, James, Rod, Dwayne, Chris, Sean, Dan P, Meghan, Sarah, Evan, Robin, Erich, Dorothy, Miss Lindsey, Joel, Ethan, Matt R, ZACH, Marie, KRIS, BRIDGET, JEN P, and maybe a couple others.

Destruction/ Krisiun/ Widow @Empire 3/20/2014

Went to see Destruction last night ($22) at Empire. I really had only heard of all of these bands in passing, checked out some yubtub videos and was pretty pumped (especially for Widow). Met up with Ariel, James, Matt (briefly), Chris Crazy-Wolf,  Marie, Renee, Theresa, greekgirl, Brian B, Ruby, Gori y Omar, Jacinda, Kris, and Krysia (and maybe someone I missed?). It is always a little stressful being a social butterfly with 20% of the crowd!

Queensrÿche (Tateryche) / Hurricane @ The State Theater 3/13/2014

I went to see Queensrÿche /Tateryche for the Operation Mindcrime 25th Anniversary Tour  last night ($36) with Hurricane opening at the State Theater (VA). I met up with Ariel y su mujer, James, Dwayne, Tom, and Brian. Now I was def on the fence about this for a while, due to price and the whole Geoff Tate/ Queensryche  drama in the recent past. Geoff reportedly being the most bitchy of drama queens-allegedly pulling a knife on bandmates,  throwing cell phones of fans, complaining about fans, releasing a shitty album (or few), publicity stunts about bad album, questionable vocal range, the 2 Queensrÿches, vague advertizements about which version of Queensrÿche was playing where, vest controversies, and I'm sure there are more- had me expecting a shit show. So basically I was very skeptical and  borderline hating.

Metal Church / Martyrd / Ghost of War/ Down Society /Aries @ Empire 3/8/2014

I went to see Metal Church last night ($16) at Empire with a number of local openers. There were a TON of people I knew who rolled out for this classic metal show.  I saw Dave, Rob, Amberley, Ruby and her dad, miss Lindsey, otherLindsey, Kim, Dorothy, metalHenry, Jen P, Kris, Ariel y su Mujer, James y su mujer, Tom, Brittany and her friend, Omar y Gori, Gerber, James O, Joel, Ethan, greekgirl, AND Neil and Michelle. whew. I think the nearly 30 people there I knew made the social butterflying essential and did kind of impact on a couple band watching times.

Cassandra Syndrome / Iris Divine/ Dogs and Day Drinkers/ Fair Skies @ Sidebar 2/28/2014

Went to Sidebar to see local band showcase Face Melting Friday ($8) featuring the Cassandra Syndrome and more! Saw Milla, Bobbie, Sarah, Dan B, Eric F, Robin, Erich, and maybe someone else. There were 3 bands I had not seen before on this bill, so I was pretty excited to see them all.