Alestorm/ Swashbuckle/ The Dread Crew of Oddwood / Sekengard @ Empire 1/29/2015

I went to see the Piratefest America 2015 featuring Alestorm  ($16-20), Swashbuckle, The Dread Crew of Oddwood, and Sekengard at Empire. I expected this to be a pretty ridiculous show
I saw DanPaytas, Sarah, Evan P, Marie, Sean, Steve Miller, Steve Harris, Russell, Spencer, Ray,  Lauri, Danica, Lex, Kevin, Ethan's cousin,  Nathan and Alie, Ariel, ETHAN, Ray, Patricia and Bobby, Bobbie, Jason, Jen P, Yaniv, Matt, hackerStacy, Mike, Bridget, and a tired Metal Chris. This was one of the first nights of the tour as well!

Machine Head @ Baltimore Soundstage 1/28/2015

I went to see An Evening with Machine Head (~$30) at the Baltimore Soundstage last night. It was an interesting turn of events and MH ended up canceling their super tour with Epica, Children of Bodom, among others, but now have returned with the promise of a 2 hr + setlist with old and new songs alike! Needless to say, I was quite enticed, even though I am not the biggest MH fan. I did see a lot of friends there- Ariel and James, Raul, Bobbie, Scott, and maybe a couple others.

Dark Tranquillity / Insomnium / Aurelian @ Empire 1/5/2015

I went to see Dark Tranquillity with Insomnium at Empire ($20) for the first metal show of the year (pretty early this year!)! This ended up being a very well attended show, and I saw Ariel y Ielm, James, Dwayne, Chena, D'Andre, Sean, Jason, Patricia Lynn, Annie, Chris Crazy-Wolf, Danica, Lauri, Scott, Kyler, Elyse, and Mike A.G, Dorothy, Catherine, and of course Metal Chris.

Dark Tranquillity- The Science of Melodic Death Metal

2014 Restrospective

2014 Retrospective

In 2014, I went to a TON of shows and spent a lot of money, and had a ton of fun! Overall a great year for shows, friends, and music in general. Let's hope 2015 is even better (but perhaps a little cheaper!). Overall a pretty great year with a wide variety of music (mostly heavy!). Well, without further ado, here we go:

Tate Ball Z: Spirit Ball- one of my favourite photos of the year

HIM / Motionless in White @ Fillmore, Silver Spring 12/12/2014

I went to see HIM (a pricey $38) with my buddy Tony at the Fillmore, Silver Spring. I saw Robin and Marie there, but not many other familiar faces. My buddy had seen HIM before, many years ago, but I never managed to see them until tonight. I think that this Finnish goth rock/metal band has consistently put out solid albums, albeit a bit more on the emo/mopey/mushy side of lyrics, and I thought they'd be great live. And at the Fillmore, you know it was going to sound pretty fabulous! Initially it was just HIM on this tour when it was announced, and at some point they added Wounds and Motionless in White, neither of which I was excited for.

Crowbar / Unearth/ Black Crown Initiate / Yesterday's Saints @ Empire 12/7/2014

I went to see Black Crown Initiate on their tour w/ Crowbar and Unearth ($18.50). I was on the fence about this show because I like BCI but was kind of meh on the others. I ended up going, as you can tell. There were a decent number of people there- I saw Chris Crazy-Wolf, Kris, Bridget, Dale, Matt R, J. Oliver, Ashleigh~, Dorothy, and Kyler there.

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.