Aesthetic Perfection @ Ottobar 6/10/2012

 Went with John n Kate to Ottobar to see Industrial band Aesthetic Perfection. They had X-RX from Germany with them, too. Got there around 9, paid my $12, and X-RX took the stage about 5 minutes later. There was a decent crowd there, not too packed, but decently attended. about 50 or so people? Ottobar seemed smaller than I remembered for Winger years ago. The parking lot seemed way easier and less sketchy this time, too. There was someone sitting out there, monitoring it too.

X-RX I was only familiar with maybe a couple songs (Stage 2), but I thought they sounded great. they played mostly from their new CD ($17- purchased). Songs "Push it" and "Blood On the Dance Floor" were not covers, much to our dismay/chagrin.  Crowd was getting into it, a lot of crowd participation (hey! hey!)  but not as energetic when Aesthetic Perfection came on. X-RX was 2 guys doing live vox over their computers playing the music. They were also good at saying what the song titles were :3

Aesthetic Perfection I also only recognized a couple songs, also played a bit from their album ($13, purchased). I thought X-RX sounded heavier and better, but they were still good. They had a couple plastic flamingos on stage for some reason. Aesthetic Perfection was a vocalist and some live drummer. Pretty cool, the live drums augmented the sound. Their set started out slow, IMO, but picked up speed. People were moving a lot during their set, so I guess they were a hit? I enjoyed their set. The vocalist also had a sweet tattoo of the Universal Studios monsters (Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein's Monster, etc.) on one arm. So badass.


The set times seemed about 15 minutes earlier than the advertized times. ex: Aesthetic Perfection was to go on at 10:30-11:30, but I think they were on around 10:15- 11:15 (def stopped around 11:10 , 11:15). So on a Sunday THAT was nice. I was expecting things to last until like 1 or so.

They had CDs for the opener we missed, shirts ($?) and CD for X-RX ($17 damn), Aesthetic Perfection ($6- single, $13 album, $17 delux album w/ bonus CD of remixes), - a Patch ($5), shirts (?). Small but decent merch selection. Kind of wished they had more CDs, but glad they didn't cause I woulda had to get those too.

Overall a very good show, oddball day for it, but glad I went. My neck was sore the next day from headbanging. Legs fine since they were mostly stationary LOLz

People Uploaded videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6GeL6aEa4E&feature=youtu.be (X-RX)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXmtVQpxcpo&feature=youtu.be (Aesthetic Perfection)
You can see Kate in the shadows on the right on the X-RX one.

Pictures:
http://stevesnack.tumblr.com/post/25183199661/aesthetic-perfection-ottobar-6-10-2012-i-x-rx
http://stevesnack.tumblr.com/post/25183302488/aesthetic-perfection-ottobar-6-10-2012-ii
http://metalcowboy.tumblr.com/post/25183458138/aesthetic-perfection-ottobar-6-10-2012-iii-note

X-RX
Escalate
Activate the machinez
Hard bass hard soundz
Hit the drums
Kein Herz
Blood on dance floor
The Update
Push it
Stage 2


Aesthetic Perfection

All Beauty Destroyed
A Nice Place to Visit
The Devil's in the Details
Inhuman
One and Only
The Little Death
Hit the Streets ( Sounded like La Grange or Spirit in Sky)
The Siren
The Ones
The Great Depression
Spit it out
Living the Wasted Life

M3 Fest Day 1 @ Merriweather 5/11/2012

My Buddy Tony and I were pumped for M3 coming back to Merriweather Post Pavillion. We vowed to go both days this year. First up, the Kix-off party with the Kix band, Night Ranger, and Enuff Z'Nuff. Tony's a big Enuff Z'nuff fan. I'm a bit lukewarm on them. I've seen them open a couple of times. Kix I love. Night Ranger I'd never seen live before. Tony's cousins joined us later, I think in time for KIX. Scalped tickets for $20@. Didn't get a chance to check out any of the merch

We got there around 6:30, hang around a bit and roll in around 6:50, when Enuff Z'Nuff was supposed to be playing (6:45). Things seemed to be running a little late- Tony theorized because of the mic/drum kit set up for Night Ranger- not many other bands have a singer/drummer.

Enuff Z'Nuff came out and was very Beatles-esque. A few of their songs would totally be hits on the radio if it was another band who did them and Chip or whomever wrote it for them. The singer looked like he was channeling John Lennon. They were alright, but I really could have done without the Beatles cover. I really dislike that song. A fun fact was that Tony was more enthusiastic than the band about their set. jeez.

Night Ranger came on and played a couple songs that I didn't expect them to (ex: Eddie..). They sounds very good. My favourites of the set: "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" and "HIGH ENOUGH." Mr Nugent and Mr Shaw and Mr Blades need to talk about a tour.

The Kix band finally came on and like always, did NOT disappoint. Something was wrong with the mix for the first couple of songs, but then it got straightened out. Pretty standard setlist from Kix. no complaints, but it would be nice to hear a deep cut :3 Steve had the bucket, the umbrella, and then the balloons all at the right times/songs. Totally worth going to see Kix and night Ranger was a nice bonus. Enuff Znuff...well we could have just napped in the car a bit.


Enuff Znuff

• Heaven or Hell
• Kitty 
• Baby loves you
• We're all alright
• ?
• ?
• There goes my heart
• Fly high Michelle
• Come together (Beatles cover)
• New Thing

Night Ranger

• Lay it on me
• Send me away
• Rumors in the air
• Growing up in California
• The Secret of my success
• Midnight madness
• Keyboard interlude
• Sentimental street
• Eddie's comin out tonight
• HIGH ENOUGH  (Damn Yankees)
• 4 in the morning
• When you Close Your Eyes
• Don't Tell Me You Love Me
• Sister Christian
• You can still rock in America

Kix

• Hot wire
• Heartache
• The Itch 
• Same Jane  
• Cold shower  
• Girl money 
• Don't close your eyes 
• No ring around Rosie  
• Lie like a rug
• Midnight Dynamite
• Cold blood
• Drum soloish
• Blow my fuse
• Solo
• Yeah yeah yeah

Behemoth @ Ram's Head Live - 5/5/2012

Behemoth and Watain (and some other bands too but we got there after they got off stage) came to Ram's Head Live in Baltimore. I would have liked to hear the retro Devil's Blood, but it was fine- better not to rush rush.

We were putting on corpsepaint, which was fun. However, I noticed that NO ONE else was sporting any paint. Which, after see Turisas where a good number of people had facepaint. The actual bands were the only ones with paint besides us LOLZ.  I opted for a variation on Immortal (with some Zartan looking eye makeup), Milla went for a Behemoth look, and Kate  had some crazy stuff.

After we finished applying corpsepaint, we went to the venue, got patted down, and entered. Watain's roadies brought in a bunch of candles/candlesticks/etc. and we knew they would start soon. A pretty good crowd for Behemoth- the floor was pretty crowded. Balcony was not open tho. Chicken suit guy was there too. Some people around us remarked that he should have something more metal than a chicken suit.

Watain came on (I was not very familiar with any of their songs, apart from a bunch of yubtub listens in the background) to some mood setting strings. They were pretty energetic and definitely entertaining, but ultimately unintelligible. The crowd seemed pretty pumped for them. The bass player in particular was very animated and GRIM.The vocalist seemed to have some sort of what looked like a dead bird strapped to the back of his vest. Not sure tho.

Behemoth came on a bit after- to a very enthusiastic crowd. Their sound was like as it should be- Heavy Metal Thunder \m/ Nergal vox were, as expected, a bit muddy- but the power of everything together made that perfectly fine. The lights were pretty well done- except for the strobe lights (see below). The band was pretty tight and no one screwed anything  up as far as I could tell

Crowd was a bit rowdy at times, until the wheelchair guy entered the pit. He was also hoisted up at a couple points. Wow. I did not like the combination of a wheelchair that can run people over, a couple shorter people in the pit, and strobe lights blinding me combination. I did not get run over, so that was good. There were a couple parts that I thought would be played live, but they were piped in. Odd. Behemoth only played about an hour. That was a bit disappointing, but I think Nergal's  still not feeling fully 100%, so that makes sense.



Note:  Pretty much all songs I got from selist reports from other places- I had no idea any of Watain's songs names, but why would they play anything different?

Watain

1. Malfeitor
2. Reaping Death
3. The Serpent's Chalice
4. Total Funeral
5. Waters of Ain

Behemoth

1. Ov Fire and the Void
2. Demigod
3. Moonspell Rites
4. Conquer All
5. The Thousand Plagues I Witness
6. Alas, the Lord is Upon Me
7. The Seed ov I
8. Decade of Therion
9. At the Left Hand ov God
10. Slaves Shall Serve
11. Chant for Eschaton 2000
    ---
12. 23 (The Youth Manifesto)
13. Lucifer

Slash @ Ram's Head Live 5/3/2012

Slash (featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators *whew*) came to RAM's Head Live for the first stop on his Apocalyptic Love tour to a sold out show. I had to stand near the back. Slash had a bunch of merch - Bandana (15), LIVE CD/DVD (30), shirts for the new album (35), a few other things I don't recall.

Brand New Sin opened. They had a different singer than the last time I saw them (back opening for Black Label Society in like...2001 or something). They played their one song I recognized (My World), and some other songs that sounded more like Black Stone Cherry. Their old singer was way better than this guy. They just seemed a bit generic. They are at about the same level as they were about 10 years ago. Maybe lower. Not bad, but not great. An OK opener.
(may update later w/ a setlist for them as I'm waiting for my car to be serviced)

Slash came on around 9:45 and played until about 11:30. They had a bunch of dynamic lighting, but not much of a theatric show beyond that. But they didn't really need one, I thought. Slash was jumping around a bit near the beginning, and the bass player and Myles were pretty energetic. Soundwise, they were great- at least from where I was standing. Solid, the sound was very similar to that 'Made in Stoke' release that Slash put out recently - very close if not spot on to what their live sound was. Myles may suffer a little from 'everything in the same tone/drone syndrome' and sometimes lyrics were a bit hard to distinguish, but that's how he sounded on that live album too. Regardless, I thought he did a very good job.

People were NOT very responsive during most songs. They were cheering and hootin' and hollering after each song, tho- so they must have been enjoying it. The biggest reactions were for the GNR songs and (I thought surprisingly) a couple of the Velvet Revolver songs that I was pretty unfamiliar with. I just thought it was odd that most people were mostly motionless except for a few people jumping up and down and a small group of people near the front pumping fists and the like. I noticed a couple other headbangers, but I felt like I was the only one really moving. This whole feeling was similar to the Within Temptation show I went to last year... Well to each his own.

There were a couple of songs that I thought I had taken better notes on- but apparently I just have question marks.

Highly recommended. A bit pricey (~$40 US dollars), but if you like Slash's solo stuff, GNR, Velvet Revolver, or some combination then I have to say you will enjoy this show. I thought the Velvet Revolver stuff sounded better here than on the albums, but still overrated. We got a couple new songs- they sounded pretty good. Not great, but not horrible. Pretty cool. I left as Paradise City (when suddenly... confetti... shot out from the stage) was winding down...to have to jump start my car. Buzzkill.

No Pits were seen.

Setlist:

• Mean bone
• Dirty Little Thing (Velvet Revolver)
• Ghost
• Night train (lively crowd)
• Rocket queen w solo (GNR)
• Short guitar jam
• Back From Cali ( restarted due to ? some reason that I missed, Myles was trying not to laugh. I think someone missed their cue)
• Sucker Train Blues (Velvet Revolver)
• Standing in the Sun (New Song)
• Fall to Pieces (Velvet revolver) (a lot of applause. Apparently )
• Dr Alibi (bass player sang on this song)
• Speed Parade (Slash's SnakePit)
• Watch This-(3 guitar jam w/ Myles on guitar)
• Starlight
• You're a Lie ? (New Song- video out soon)
• My Michelle (2 guys jumping.)
• Just Like Anything (Slash's Snakepit)
• Sweet child O' Mine (GNR)
• band intros
• guitar wankery to -
• Slither (Velvet Revolver)
• -----------------11:15
• By the Sword
• Paradise City (GNR)

(originally posted http://www.metalsetlists.com/showthread.php?t=20292 , some revisions here)

Deicide/ Jungle Rot / Abigail Williams/ Lecherous Nocturne / Krass Judgement @ Empire (Jaxx/ Jaxxpire) 3/1/2012

I went to see Deicide and Jungle Rot at Empire (formerly JAXX...Jaxxpire?). First time I'd been back since Korpiklaani in December. The JAXX sign is now EMPIRE (Empire!) and there is a lot of new, modern/clean looking improvements/changes. New paint pretty much everywhere. Only one staff member from the 'old guard' there- The sound dude. The ticket booth now is an actual booth. There were a couple other places where a similar 'booth' was erected- with a black top and silver metal looking paneling. There is a small stage in the back bar, and both bars were stripped down. A couple easy to read whiteboards or some signs were visible near them advertising drink specials. The bathrooms (well the mens at least) have tile, the urinal trough is gone, and it seemed CLEAN in there. There was a huge banner in the back of the stage that said EMPIRE (EMPIRE!) and some big flags of their new tiger mascot were on the sides of the stage. Staff was attentive and no problems to report when I got a Michael Schenker ticket. Seems like a change for the better...

Another change I noticed was that things seemed way more on time than usual JAXX time... The set changes seemed to take about 1/3 less time- I wish I had timed things. There was an actual time schedule posted on the side of the speakers- and the numbers there were pretty accurate. This (and the bathrooms) was a big improvement IMO. We'll see if the Schenker show next week will be as smooth.


I got there a bit too early (7:45 or so), and saw most of the set for Krass Judgement (Thrashy Death Metal). They were decent, I in particular enjoyed the guitarist shredding. He looked like a young Jeff H. from Slayer. There was some seemingly random big boned black guy backing up/helping on some of the guttural vocals (and did fine in that respect). He seemed a little out of place, and at one point came down tot he floor and tried to invoke a pit.

Krass Judgement photos

Lecherous Nocturne came on next, and they sounded like some sort of black/death metal combo. The vocalist was extra unintelligible and the music didn't sound particularly great IMO. I disliked their set.

Abigail Williams came on after a quick set change, and I was not sure what to expect. They had some sort of 'core' or death sound but I know they recently shifted gears to a black metal sound. And apparently a chick who knew/was photographing the previous band informed me that they had gone thru NUMEROUS lineup changes... They sounded like some sort of atmospheric black metal- with tracks that are probably off that newest album (which is in that style). I know the last song is def "Beyond...". I am assuming that the rest of their setlist is the same as from some December shows... I think they were better than Lecherous Nocturne, but I don't think I was in the mood for this atmospheric type music so I didn't enjoy their set too much.

Jungle Rot was next (and they had speakers with their logo emblazoned on them). I was pretty excited to see them- had not seen them live before. They sounded very good and were the highlight of the show for me. I def banged my head a lot during their set. They got the crowd moving and some actual pits rolled out.

Abagail Williams and Jungle Rot photos

Deicide came on around 11PM and the floor got a lot fuller, and they all seemed pumped to see these dudes. They were very loud, but a quite bit unintelligible (perhaps more than anticipated). I think they sounded way better on the album (I was also way tired by that point and not sure if that affected the sonic review) and I think I would say I was a bit disappointed. The crowd seemed a bit dead compared to Jungle Rot and all the moshing after the 4th or so song. The pits that Deicide had dried up after that... quite odd. I stayed for what I predict was about half of their set.

Deicide photos

Overall I'm glad I went (tho I could have taken my time eating a bit more X__X)






There was some idiot doing some sort of martial arts posing with his moshing/stomping around/hardcore dancing. I had never seen something like what he was doing at a show before. It was like he was doing some Kung Fu poses in between stomping around. I mostly avoiding getting caught in a mosh.


Krass Judgement

• Come and See
• Vengeance
• Crack
• Unwanted

Lecherous Nocturne

• ? no clue

Abagail Williams

• ? (maybe Ascension Sickness)
• ? (maybe Radiance)
• Beyond the Veil

Jungle Rot

• Intro
• ?
• Blood Ties
• Demon Souls
• Worst Case Scenario
• Misplaced Anger
• Let them Die
• Rise up & Revolt
• Fight or Die
• Strong Shall Survive
• ? (sounded like he said "Carbomb")

Deicide

• Homage for Satan
• Dead by Dawn
• Once Upon the Cross
• Scars of the Crucifix
• --
• When Satan Rules His World
• Serpents of the Light
• Save Your
• Hang in Agony Until You're Dead
• Conviction
• Blame It on God
• They Are the Children of the Underworld
• Death to Jesus
• Witness of Death
• Desecration
• < at this point I left to go home and sleep>

(originally posted at http://www.metalsetlists.com/showthread.php?p=449561#post449561)

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 )