There were about 70- 80 people there at the high point. Not quite 100, definitely. I think some people rolled after Raven. This was not a great turnout, even with Raven, but like a friend mentioned- why not go out and support music (heavy, light, whatever). She mentioned people spend $X on a month's Starbucks (for example). Why not use that money toward this instead? And not to even mention the downloading VS purchasing conversation. I feel that if you like and want to support something (music in particular here), you have to go and show it in the way it matters most- with your pocketbook. Rob Zombie also had a sold out show in Baltimore this evening as well- draining some more crowd away.
Merch- Fozzy had 2 shirts (like $20), a CD single (like overpriced $5, I think that was the only song on it), their latest CD ($12 or 10). Raven had several shirts ($20 I think), a DVD, some CD, and like a wristband. Not sure why I didn't get more pics
Shotgun Shiver, a young band that I'd neither seen nor heard of, opened. They were some sort of slightly hard rock band (4 piece- bassist, 2 guitars (the lead guitarist was on vocals), and a drummer). The afro'd singer actually had a decent voice and carried the entire band, but I think he needed to switch to rhythm, because the leads kind of suffered. The rest of the band was pretty together, but the delivery on some songs was a little underwhelming or lacking in power. The frontman was way less awkward and more sure than other bands I've seen several times, so that was def notable. I didn't care for their synthless Journey cover, and "Rosie" was a little thing sounding. This was actually not a bad effort overall, I will say. I'd like to see a follow up performance and maybe I will check out their original material. I wasn't really sure what kind of sound they were really going for.
The three piece Raven from the UK took stage and immediately played their entire set with the energy of what must have been guys half their age! I recognized most of their songs, and even the couple I didn't sounded rousing. This thrashy NWOBHM trio reminded me of Anvil (besides the trio and oldness) in that they seemed so full of energy you knew they loved it and would give it their all for 14 or 14000 people! I did fear that they were going to fall over at the end, but thankfully no one got hurt. These guys were a treat to see again (last time I saw them headline). I don't know how to express their liveliness other than link to some live video of them shredding, stomping across stage, and wailing! John Gallagher's crazy eyes and amped performance had me feeling that Fozzy was the icing on the cake, that their performance was def worth the trip already! His headset microphone still reminded me of Britney Spears tho (despite her having better hair, John sings WAY better).
Check out that amazing jacket Jericho has
Ex WWE wrestler Y2J Chris Jericho's band (unfortunately named) Fozzy was the headliner today- and although some folks seem to not have been interested and rolled out, the majority of people were there for him and Rich Ward's (ex- Stuck Mojo) band (I am pretty sure I saw him at Whole Foods before the show, but for some reason didn't feel like hassling him). Last time I saw them they also were touring on their "Sin and Bones" album. Looking at the setlist they played all of these songs minus the 2 new ones. SO that kind of sucks except that they sounded better this time around! It's a shame because there are a lot of overlooked tracks off of "All that Remains" (the album not the band, "Lazarus," "NameLess Faceless"), "Happenstance" ("Happenstance", "Crucify yourself") or "Chasing the Grail." But I digress- we did get 2 new Fozzy songs that sounded pretty decent. They started out as a kind of gimmicky band, where the 'concept' was that other bands had taken songs that they had allegedly initially written, and they'd been stuck in Japan or something for 20 years. Now they were back and had their versions of their songs (sets it up for a range of pretty decent cover songs) and a smattering of original stuff. Slowly, the covers were phased out and they had more and more original material. Rich Ward and Jericho are the driving forces behind this (tho I think it's more Rich). Regardless, they have definitely evolved over the years.
The Underrated Rich Ward
Performance wise, the band took the stage in the dark, and Jericho ran on shortly after with an amazing light up jacket (see photos)! It was definitely something off of Monday Night RAW, very flashy. I thought Jericho was in way better form this time, and seemed more confident, tho something was a little off about this vocals (too many effects?). Regardless, all their songs (yes even my absolute least favourite Fozzy Song "She's My Addiction") sounded pretty great. My eyes were glue to Jericho and Ward, and I barely noticed the rhythm guitarist or bassist. They may have been a little too loud, but that may have been because there were not a lot of people there to soak up the sound. They seemed to play a lot of songs in that almost hour, I'm not sure why they didn't play more, but at least I got home to get slightly more rest.
Ok just one more
Overall- Shotgun Shiver was OK, Raven woke everyone up, and Fozzy was damn entertaining.
Next Show: Winery Dogs at the Birchmere!
Photos:
Setlists
Shotgun Shiver (7:28-7:56)
- Spiral Feather
- Detroit Rock City (Kiss cover)
- Shatter
- Whole Lotta Rosie (AC/DC cover)
- Rock And Roll (Led Zeppelin cover)
- Separate Ways (Journey cover)
- Little Things (Bush cover)
Raven (8:23-9:06)
- Take Control
- Live At The Inferno
- All For One
- Hard Ride
- Rock Until You Drop
- Guitar Solo
- Stay Hard
- Mind Over Metal
- Fire Power
- On And On
Fozzy (9:45- 10:41)
- Do You Wanna Start a War?
- Lights Go Out
- To Kill a Stranger
- Martyr No More
- Inside My Head
- She's My Addiction
- God Pounds His Nails
- Spider in My Mouth
- Sandpaper
- Eat the Rich (Krokus cover)
- Enemy
- Sin And Bones
My name is Alton and I am the drummer for shotgun shiver. Thank you for your review of our set! First song was an original called spiral feather, second ? Was another original called shatter, last song was little things by bush.
ReplyDeleteThanks man I will update the setlist info-!
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