Last night I saw Dream Theater again. If you remember from my last time seeing them, I rated them as the greatest gig I'd ever been to. Well, this time they were better, I kid you not. The band was just spot on - particularly Petrucci, Portnoy and Rudess. There were a lot of improvs and solo spots throughout the night. They played at the Palais - we had spectacular seats - third row from the front in the Lounge area - able to see everything really well. Their setlist was superb as well - very different to last tour, with full versions of 3 songs off the new album (and given two of those songs are well over 15 minutes long - one pushing 20 minutes - quite impressive). Here's the rough order of their set (and even though there's not a heap of songs - it went for just over 2 hours);

• A Nightmare To Remember
• A Rite of Passage
• Hollow Years
• Erotomania
• Voices
• In the Name of God
• Solitary Shell
• Forsaken
  ---
• The Count of Tuscany

Erotomania was probably the best live song I've ever heard. It was certainly the best version of it I've ever heard - but it was literally played to perfection. Not a note out of place. Amazing. On that note, Petrucci was killing it last night. His solos were spot on (sometimes he can play the solos a bit TOO fast live, oddly enough). But last night he was right in the pocket. Portnoy was having fun, I can't fathom his talent at times. Standing up playing the drums (and we're not talking straight 4/4 beats) while talking to the crowd. Deliberately throwing one of his sticks off to the side of the stage to his tech, just to have him throw it back while playing - all the while never missing a beat. In Solitary Shell, he even got off the kit and walked around it while still playing. Insane. Rudess was also brilliant - his two solo spots were unbelievable. He also, very cleverly, hooked his iPhone up to his keyboard rig, and used that to play some of his solo spot. Very cool.

On the back of seeing Opeth 2 weeks ago, I've very much been spoiled with these concerts. Two of the (if not THE) greatest live bands in the world. What a fantastic few weeks of live music.

Labels: Concerts

Friday night was a big night on the Neumann 2009 Concert calendar - Slayer and Megadeth at Festival Hall. Having seen Megadeth 4 times beforehand, and loved them each time, I was keen to see them again on the back of one of their strongest recent releases ("Endgame"). And having not seen Slayer at all before, I was really keen to see them. Unfortunately, the night was a mixture of ups and downs.

First up, met up with Chris, Sean and Pauly for some dinner down at the pub - was nice to see them again and just talk some shit. The support band was "Double Dragon" - a local band, who weren't bad - nothing spectacular, but a good opening act. Megadeth hit the stage at about 8:30 or so (an early beginning!). They came out and opened with "Set the world afire" - a great opening track, however the sound was pretty terrible. Too much treble - sounded like the crowd was just screaming the entire time (which they weren't), and a distinct lack of bass. The band went straight into "Wake Up Dead" and then "Devil's Island". Three excellent tracks, all a bit underwhelming because of the distracting sound quality. After "Devil's Island", Dave Mustaine spoke into the mic; "We'll be back when we get this sound sorted out" and left the stage. 2 or 3 minutes later they were back on stage with Mustaine; "You deserve better than that". They then went into "She-Wolf" - the sound was exponentially better. I have no idea what happened, but from then on the sound was awesome. Overall, the setlist looked kinda like this;

• Set The World Afire
• Wake Up Dead
• Devil's Island
• She Wolf
• Hangar 18
• Rattlehead (!)
• In My Darkest Hour
• Headcrusher
• Tornado of Souls
• Symphony of Destruction
• Peace Sells
• Holy Wars

A great setlist. I would've liked to hear more off the new album (the first time I've said that about a band for a long time - but it's such a great album, and even "Headcrusher" that they did play, sounded fantastic live). I guess the biggest highlight for me from Megadeth's set was Chris Broderick, the new guitarist. He's a fucking machine. He perfected the solo from Tornado of Souls - one of the most distinctive and challenging solo's in metal - and one that I've seen delivered NQR by a few Megadeth lead guitarists in recent years. Megadeth ripped up the stage in general - did a fantastic show and set a real standard for Slayer to live up to.

Slayer, unfortunately, did not live up to that standard, due to one small yet crucial element; Tom Araya's vocals. I was really excited to be seeing Slayer, had been listening to them a fair bit in the lead-up, etc. When they opened proceedings in a blistering fury with War Ensemble, I was blown away. They had 36 Marshall cabs on stage and the loudness to back it up. And King and Hanneman were not only delivering in their playing, but their guitar sound was just jaw-dropping. The first 30 seconds had all the makings of an unforgettable night. Then Tom Araya started to sing... and it became an unforgettable night for all the wrong reasons. Apparently he had blown his voice out - after the first song he made an announcement to the crowd saying as much, and the majority of Slayer's remaining set was performed as instrumentals. Now, as a guitarist, I very much appreciate Slayer for the music, not the vocals, of which I've always thought Araya's vocals were pretty ordinary. But to NOT have them just sounded lame... and I quickly realised that a lot of the energy, fury and drive from the songs come from the lyrics and vocals.

One of the most frustrating parts of the night was that after each song, the stage would go completely dark and the band would pause for 1 to 2 minutes - I assume to work out if they should go on or not. It was a complete mood killer - breaking the momentum constantly. They did get a couple of guest vocalists up (Paul Haug from Contrive did an EXCELLENT job of Dead Skin Mask). I just wish they had've made a call one way or the other; cancel the show, play with a guest vocalist the whole show, or play the instrumental versions one after the other, no gaps in between. It's not the same singing "South of Heaven" or "Raining Blood" to yourself though. It was a very disappointing night... especially given how good the band did sound - had there been some vocals, wow. But there weren't any vocals, and as a result it was a major let-down.

Labels: Concerts

I've finally gotten around to writing up my Soundwave review. In summary, fantastic :) You can read more about it here

Labels: Concerts

In short (because that's all I'm up for right now), here's a review of Nine Inch Nails at Festival Hall last night. This was my 5th (and maybe last?) time seeing them. In summary;

• I saw Trent and the rest of the band arrive in the van, got a wave when one of my mates, Chris yelled out "Trent!"
• Had a good meal down the pub with Chris, Sean and Bren before the show.
• The support band, Jaguar Love, were crap. Two guys (one on guitar, one singing) jumping around to a backing tape. The singer had a good voice, was just really annoying with his stage presence and had a very "wannabe" vibe to him.
• NIN played for about 2 hours.
• The lighting was phenomenal. Spare no expense. More lights than I've ever seen in any live show. And used well to effect. You could feel the heat coming off the lights from the crowd.
• The crowd was pretty good, not too many dickheads from the looks of things. Even the mosh was pretty civilised.
• I learnt that my moshing days are pretty much over - the body can't do it anymore. After going hard during "Gave Up", my right knee pretty much gave up - felt like my shin was now connected straight through to my thigh bone.
• The band was the best live incarnation I've seen of NIN I think. Robin Finck was such a great presence (still amazes me the GNR version of him vs. the NIN version of him). The new drummer is a machine - wow. Bass player was great too. They all played keyboards at some point. Very versatile

The setlist was also pretty freakin' amazing - here it is.

• Intro (lots of drum programming)
• 1,000,000
• Letting You Discipline
• March of Pigs (Not quite as good as when I've seen in previously I think)
• The Frail (Beautifully executed)
• The Wretched
• Head Down
• Burn (one of the best live versions I've ever heard)
• Survivalism
• Gave Up
• La Mer (using an upright double bass, great to see live)
• The Fragile
• Non Entity
• Good Soldier
• Wish
• Suck (Trent mucking around with the intro was a real treat)
• The Hand that Feeds (great crowd pleaser - such a good song)
• Head Like a Hole
• Reptile (awesome green lighting - such a heavy song live)
• The Downward Spiral (gorgeous red lighting during the screaming part)
• The Beginning of the End
• Dead Souls (again, one of the best live versions I've heard / seen of this)
• Hurt (great ending)

Trent was a little bit "drama queen" / theatrical for my liking (banging his head during "Hurt", comments like "I've been going through something", etc.). Might be just me being cynical, but sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. For me it didn't last night.

Overall though, awesome show. Loved it.

Tomorrow, Soundwave!

Labels: Concerts

If you don't know about the Soundwave festival next year, it's going to be quite an event. I'm really looking forward to it and think it's probably one of the best, most focussed line-ups I've seen at a festival in a number of years. Headlining will be Nine Inch Nails, who will be playing their full 2 hour set. But on top of that there are going to be some other fantastic bands playing including Lamb of God, the reformed Alice In Chains, Funeral for a Friend, Finch, Devildriver, Lacuna Coil, In Flames, Alkaline Trio, Face to Face and 36 Crazyfists! The real problem is going to be schedule clashes. As long as I can see Finch (who I haven't seen before, but their first album is some of the finest emo I've ever heard) and In Flames without sacrificing any other favourites, I'll be happy. Otherwise, I've seen most of the bands I listed before, however, it will have been;

• 2 years since I saw Lamb of God, Devildriver and Lacuna Coil
• 3 years since I saw 36 Crazyfists and Funeral for a Friend
• 5 years since I saw Alkaline Trio
• 15 years(!) since I saw Alice In Chains
• The 5th time I've seen Nine Inch Nails

A while to wait, but it's going to be worth it :)

Labels: Concerts

I saw Opeth on Friday night for the 5th time. Again, they were stunning and I can't wait for their return. Rather than write a full review (as I would normally in the concerts section of the site), here's a quick summary. It was interesting to see the new guitarist and drummer - I still don't think the drummer is as good as Lopez (the last drummer), but he was quite good nonetheless. The setlist was mindblowing - they pretty much played my favourite song from each album (with the exception of "The Grand Conjuration" from the "Ghost Reveries" album). The new songs sounded great live and Mikael's between song banter with the crowd was, as always, entertaining. A great gig all round. Here's the setlist (close to the order they played it);

• Heir Apparent (a great opener)
• Masters Apprentices
• The Baying of the Hounds (I was hanging out for this song, and it delivered)
• Bleak (my favourite Opeth song I think)
• Serenity Painted Death (never heard this live before - it was awesome)
• The Lotus Eater
• The Night and The Silent Water
• To Rid The Disease
• Deliverance
• Demon of the Fall (this song never fails to be a spectacular closer)
• ---------
• The Drapery Falls
  

Labels: Concerts

Is finally(!) done. I wrote most of it the day after the show, then completed it today (5 weeks later). Check it out here

Labels: Concerts

My review of last weekend's Golden Plains is done - check it out here

Labels: Concerts

Well, it's been over a month, but I've finally gotten online and been able to post my review of the Dream Theater concerts back at the end of January. You can read it here...

Labels: Concerts

This time next week, I'll be at Festival Hall, enjoying the delights that Dream Theater live in concert have to offer me. Oh yeah, it's pretty damn exciting

Labels: Concerts

By the way, if you missed my last post, I'm a little excited about Dream Theater. And the good folks at OzProg.com are running a comp for free tickets to the show. I'm hoping I win so that I can either;
a.) take Steph to the Melbourne gig
b.) take a flight to Brisbane :)

So, click the logo below and check out the concert details if you so desire...

Labels: Concerts

Yes, it's true, with each day, my life grows slowly more complete. And not just in the literal sense of edging closer to "the end". No, come the end of January 2008, I will have achieved something I've been waiting over 10 years for - to see Dream Theater live in Australia. Today I bought my tickets to both the Melbourne and Sydney shows. And we didn't hold back - Sean and I indulged and have got ourselves "Meet and Greet" packages for the Melbourne show. With this we get;

• One GA PIT ticket (where applicable)
• Exclusive Preshow Meet and Greet with Dream Theater
• Autograph session (includes 8X10 Dream Theater photo)
• Personal Photograph with the band
• Official Dream Theater Meet and Greet VIP Laminate

All for the low, low price of $350 a ticket. A bargain if you ask me :) Only 60 sleeps to go!

Labels: Concerts

Last night I saw Megadeth for the 4th time. I've only seen a handful of international bands this many times (Opeth and NIN are the only other 2 that spring to mind), and Megadeth continue to put on a sterling show time after time. A solid effort from the band, headlining the "festival" they started a few years ago; "Gigantour". Other bands on the bill last night included Lacuna Coil, Devildriver and Static-X. I probably won't get around to writing a review for the concert, so the basics are as follows...

It was a really diverse night. I wasn't exactly sold on the lineup prior to going (they were all good bands, but on the one bill?), but it worked exceptionally well. Lacuna Coil were good - reasonably simple music, the chick's voice is amazing (she ain't too hard to look at either). Devildriver were heavy. Kinda like Lamb of God, sped up... The crowd went apeshit for them. Static X were kinda like Ministry crossed with Rammstein crossed with Soulfly. Really punchy, a little industrial, quite a good show. Megadeth were the highlight though. Again, like last year's Gigantour, I watched all the supports and thought "Well, Megadeth better be pretty damn amazing to top what we've seen so far", and again, they did. Incredible form. Setlist (rough order, order is a bit vague in the middle);

• Sleepwalker
• Take No Prisoners
• Wake Up Dead
• Hangar 18
• Washington Is Next
• In My Darkest Hour
• A Tout Le Monde (with singer from Lacuna Coil)
• Ashes in Your Mouth (surprise - never seen live, it was incredible)
• Gears of War
• Tornado of Souls
• Peace Sells
• ...
• Burnt Ice
• Holy Wars

Will I see them for a 5th time next time? Based on last night, certainly.

Forgot also to blog that I saw Machinehead, Trivium (again) and Arch Enemy (again) 2 weeks ago on "The Black Crusade" tour. Machinehead were definitely the surprise and the best on the night. Plenty more tales to tell (it was Halloween, so there were a few dressed up, including the band), but the even shorter review is; was a good night :)

Labels: Concerts

I just realised I hadn't posted the GnR setlist from the concert I went to a month ago. I don't think I'm going to get to write a proper review, so here's the summarised version; Sebastian Bach was an amazing vocalist (he's still got it), but the new songs were a bit mediocre. Guns N Roses put on a spectacular show. Axl's voice is still great, the new band are consummate professionals (as you would expect). Robin Finck is a great guitarist (much better than I expected). The new songs are quite good - the best probably being "Better". The light show (and pyro / fireworks) was outstanding. Setlist was;

• Welcome To The Jungle
• It's So Easy
• Mr. Brownstone
• Live And Let Die
• Robin Finck Guitar Solo & Jam (with Dizzy Reed & Frank Ferrer)
• Sweet Child O' Mine
• Better
• Knockin' On Heaven's Door
• You Could Be Mine
• Dizzy Reed Piano Solo ("Angie")
• The Blues
• Band Introductions/JamRichard Fortus & Robin Finck Guitar Solo
• Out To Get Me
• Piano Moving Jam
• November Rain
• I.R.S.
• Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal Guitar Solo (Back In Black, Don't Cry)
• My Michelle (with Sebastian Bach)
• Liquor & Whores (with Bubbles)
• Patience
• Nightrain
• ... (Encore)
• Chinese Democracy
• Madagascar
• Paradise City

A good show definitely, and very glad I went

Labels: Concerts

NIN review from a few weeks back is now up here

Suffice to say - a great night :)

Labels: Concerts

Now online here. Suffice to say, was a great night.

Labels: Concerts, Music

Steph, Skogg, Timmy and I saw The Pixies at the Sidney Myer Music bowl on Wednesday night. In short, it was pretty freakin' amazing. The sound was superb (far better than I imagined it would be) - it was near perfect. The weather was great - certainly not too cold for a March night in Melbourne. Our vantage point was insanely good - 2 people back from the barrier that separated seating and standing, and not crushed up against people; plenty of room to move. And finally, the band was incredible. I'd rank it as one of the best gigs I've seen. They were on fire; relentless in their sonic assault, and the setlist reads like a dream. I've nicked this off Skogg's site (saving myself some work - thanks Skogg);

1. Bone Machine - a totally perfect starting song.
2. Caribou Monkey Gone to Heaven
3. Wave of Mutilation

and they stopped mid-song in monkey with Frank Black demanding that a stupid big beach ball was removed. i think most in the crowd agreed with this. there was an amusing few minutes of discussion of where to re-start the song again.

4. U-Mass
5. Head On
6. Caribou
7. No.13 Baby
8. Tame
9. Hey
10. Gouge Away
11. Mr Greives
12. Broken Face
13. I Bleed
14. Here Comes Your Man
15. Planet of Sound
16. Debaser
17. Crackity Jones
18. Something Against You
19. Isla de Encanta
20. Nimrod's Son
21. Vamos
22. Where Is My Mind?

and joey's theatrics were great in Vamos, with the feedback and playing guitar with a drumstick.

encore:
23. La La Love You
24. Gigantic

All in all, it was a gorgeous night, and one that's left me singing Pixies songs for the past few days. Also saw Jarvis Cocker who was quite (unexpectedly) impressive - he's a funny man. The night belonged to the Pixies though.

Labels: Concerts, Music