Coheed and Cambria / Glassjaw @ Echostage 3/2/2016

I went to see Coheed and Cambria at Echostage ($49.50) in the middle of nowhere in DC. I last saw them in 2014, but never at this venue. Echostage is apparently some converted warehouse near Northeast Washinton. The venue usually hosts electronic music events, apparently. The area seems not a great place for a venue, or anything really, and it could benefit from some more public transportation an a parking area. Or some lights. Regardless, there were a ton of people there, and it was crowded, but not uncomfortably so. I was wondering how all these white people got there!  This was supporting their newest album, The Colour Before the Sun, which I thought was a bit of a drop in quality since their Afterman set of albums.

Tesseract / The Contortionist @ Baltimore Soundstage 12/6/2015

I went to see Tesseract ($13) at Baltimore Soundstage for the last show of 2015. Last time it was sold out at Empire, so I made sure I got a ticket before hand. Also, there was some promotion for cheaper tickets as well! I think Jason, Erin, and Scott were there. Tesseract just released their latest album Polaris, so this tour would be promoting that.

Iris Divine / MindMaze / Dogs & Day Drinkers @ Club Orpheus, Baltimore 8/1/2015

I went to see Iris Divine with MindMaze, and special guests Dogs and Day Drinkers at Club Orpheus ($12) in godforsaken Baltimore. There were a number of people I knew there- Russell, Tom, Lacy, Bobbie, Lauri, Xtina, Gary, Mujeeb, and Josh.

Iris Divine

Rush @ Jiffy Lube Live 5/30/2015

I went with my buddy Andrew to see progressive Canadian power trio RUSH ($50.50 lawn) at Al Fin Del Mundo (aka Jiffy Lube Live). We met up with Ariel, James, Rod, Dwayne, Metal Chris and Catherine, Navid, and Nina there too! I'm not a huge Rush fan, and I hadn't seen them before, but I think it was good to finally see them, as they are not getting any younger and I believe I heard rumours that this may be their last big tour. I am glad my buddy decided he wanted to go! This was their R40 tour, celebrating Neil Peart's 40th year in Rush (wow).

It was hard to take pics in the Limelight of Rush

Empire Farewell - Next to None, A Sound of Thunder, Yesterday's Saints, Iris Divine @ Empire 5/3/2015

I went to see the final Empire show ($15), with progressive metal/rock band Haken (rhymes with Bacon apparently) headlining. A number of local bands were added in addition to Iris Divine (who was the only original billed local). I saw so many people there- Neil and Michelle (and their brood!), Ariel, Ruby, Annie and Amy, Alie and Nathan (w/ a J), Mr and Mrs. Nina, Jesse, Chris H, Josh, Navid, Witt, Matt Rice, Heathen, Nick n JennG (!!), Mike AG, Tom, Superfan Dave, Patricia, Scott, Martin, Sako and Greg, Daniel G and Nick, Avi, Sean, Catherine L, Dorothy, Lacy, and of course- Metal Chris. WHEW. I bet there is someone I missed.

Mike Portnoy

The Contortionist / Revocation / Fallujah @ Empire 2/18/2015

I went to see The Contortionist /Revocation at Empire ($15) this week. I had heard good things about Fallujah and The Contortionist, but wasn't sure about Toothgrinder. I was curious as to how Revocation would be compared to previous shows (2012, 2013) where I thought they were a bit lackluster. I did see a few friends there - Ariel, John H, Sean, Ashley,  and Scott.

Iris Divine / MindMaze/ Division / Vitality @ Cafe 611 12/6/2014

I went to see Iris Divine with other bands up in Frederick at Cafe 611 ($10). I was pretty excited because both MindMaze and Iris Divine have new albums that were recently released. This was going to be an uptick to a pretty dark and dreary rainy night. I did see a few people I knew there- Tom, Bobbie and Nick, The Teets, and Chris J.

Tony MacAlpine / Travis Larson Band/ LoNero @ Jammin Java 10/19/2014

Upon recommendation from T.J., I went to see technical guitar virtuoso Tony MacAlpine at Jammin' Java ($25). I saw T.J, his wife, Christine and Paul, Ariel, and Juan there. As this was a Sunday night, all instrumental bands, kind of short notice, and I'd not been back here (and never seen a show here) in a while, I wasn't sure how all these things would flow together if at all!

Tony MacAlpine, Bjorn, and Aquilies Priester !

Coheed and Cambria @ the FIllmore, Silver Spring 9/23/2014

I went to see Coheed and Cambria at the Fillmore ($35!) for their Neverender (aka play the full album)  of "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3." I guess it is the 11 year anniversary of its release. I met up with Scott, Stacey, Timmy, Oksana, and Nate. This as a sold out show a few months before the show, so you know it as gonna be crazy. The last time they came around as on my birthday, and it was an excellent show!

Cousin It Claudio Sanchez

Agalloch / Vex @ Empire 6/28/2014

I went to see Agalloch ($15) at Empire.  I apparently didn't know that they were that popular, because it was pretty crowded. Accordingly, I saw a bunch of people there -Sean, Jason, Sarah, Evan, Kris, Kristen, Nathan with a J, Scott, Kyler,  Milla, JACINDA, Danielle and Steve G, Steve Miller, Joel, Antonio, Annie, Brian B, Marie and Rolland, maybe one more.

The Allogochs

Winery Dogs @ The Birchmere 5/7/2014

I went to see the Winery Dogs ($58.50 after ridiculous fees ugh)- (Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater,ex-Adrenaline Mob, ex-Avenged Sevenfold, Transatlantic, etc. etc.) Billy Sheehan (ex- Mr. Big, ex-Talas, ex-David Lee Roth band), Ritchie Kotzen (ex- Mr. Big, ex-Poison)) at the Birchmere with Ariel.  We got there around 7, and I was curious as to how it would be, as I've never been to this venue before.

TesseracT @ Empire 3/29/2014

I went to see Tesseract (from the UK) after the Day of the Beast show. It was a good thing that DOTB ended by 10 (tho I still left early), and that Empire was close. Oh and this was the first stop of their 2014 tour over here  I saw some people I know there- Scott, D'Andre, Stacy,  and Sean and Tom who were ALSO at the Day of the Beast show just minutes earlier!

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.

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.

Between the Buried and Me / Deafheaven/ Intronaut/ The Kindred at Empire 2/20/2014

I went to see DeafHeaven... with some other bands. Met up with Milla, Dale, Bridget, Victoria A, and Metal Chris. There may have been more people I knew but this apparently was a sold out show and we were stuck in the back!

Coheed and Cambria @ Rams Head Live, 10/21/2013

We went to see one of my favourite bands on my birthday- Coheed and Cambria! Met up with John, Kate, Timmy, his cousin Nate, and Ms Oksana and we also saw fellow Coheed fan Scott! Now even though I was PUMPED to see Coheed again, they always choose... IMO... less than amazing openers (similar to the Cult, who pulls the same BS). But hey it's their tour, so whatever whatever.

Coheed & Cambria @ 9:30 Club 2/4/2013

Last night I met up with Timmy and Oksana and hit up Coheed & Cambria's first stop on their 2013 tour, on the first of two sold out nights in DC! The openers were Russian Circles and Between the Buried and Me. I didn't care about either of those, so we rolled up closer to Coheed's start time. So I can't say anything about their sets except I know I'd just have bad things to say about BTBAM if they were like how I last saw them

Primordial @ Empire 9/12/2012

Went to see Primordial  with While Heaven Wept and Cormorant @ Empire (empire) ($15 tix). This was show 3 of the Metal Gauntlet. There were about 60 or so people there at the most. Most bands had CDs and shirts, but Primordial just had shirts. I got a WHW CD ($15.). I initially was way more pumped for While Heaven Wept  (despite the horrible band name), based on the smooth progressive metal with clean vocals that I heard. But I will say that Primordial has got to be the 4th best Irish band (after Thin Lizzy ,Gary Moore , and VNV Nation(unless you don't count them as Irish))