amon amarth US HEADLINING TOUR!!!!

goddamn good news and bad news.

Good is that I got my tickets for me and my girlfriend

Bad is that WHENEVER I FUCKING SEE AMON AMARTH I FUCKING HAVE TO BE INJURED BEFORE SEEING THEM!!!

This fucking time I tore my quad muscle and its going to be a month recovery

So if you see a guy with a crutch (Who knows if I'll bring it) at the LA show and you remember seeing a cripple last year at the wiltern then you can come up to me and say HEY YOURE THAT CRIPPLED DUDE!!!!

Oooohhhhh the irony
 
Vancouver BC 12/14

I left Seattle about 2 PM after obtaining my Nexus pass in hopes of getting to BC in time for the signing session at a local record store but due to the shittiest traffic ever after crossing the border I barely got the the Croatian Cultural Centre in time for the first band.

No Himsa, instead we got local openers Gross Misconduct who are way better than Himsa. They put on an entertaining 30 minute set and were well received by the crowd. The band kind of got fucked over by the sound guy as the guitars were barely audible.

Next up was Sonic Syndicate. The majority of people in the room were booing loudly but a few people seemed to like them. They didn't look as fruity as in their promo photos but their music more than made up for it. Listening to them made me feel as though I was in a metal gay bar, tough guy hardcore style yelling from one "singer" and weak ass emo clean vox from the other mixed with music that makes Korn sound heavy. I sat on the floor in the back and played some Virtua Tennnis on my PSP hoping to hear something positive from them but that something never came so I headed to the beer garden (which was near empty when I arrived) to find it very full of people who were hungry for some real metal.

After chain smoking a couple to stock up on nicotine for the headliners I went back inside. Lots of people now! The lights went down and the same intro music on the "Wrath of the Norsemen" DVD. Apart from a little confusion from Johan where he started a verse late in "Vallhall Awaits Me" they were tight as hell, playing the songs just like on the albums. Sound was pretty darn good as well despite the large boxy room the show took place in. One was able to pick out all of the individual instruments, unlike with the openers. As one would expect the stage was overwhelmed with windmills, if I were closer to the stage I probably would have been knocked down by the sheer force. Johann dedicated “Fate of Norns” to Vitek (R.I.P.) and the crowd went nuts. That was very cool! Before starting their encore Amon Amarth was presented with plaques for the “Wrath of the Norsemen” DVD going Gold in Canada. Merch was expensive as hell with t-shirts, caps and toques going for $30, long sleeve tees at $40 and hoodies at an unbelievable 60 dollars. Regardless it was an awesome set that left me hoarse and with a VERY sore neck.
Note: AA kept their shirts on for the entire show. No Viking bellies to be seen. Maybe their management told them they should start keeping their shirts on?

Set List:
Intro
Valhall Awaits Me
With Oden On Our Side
Death in Fire
Versus the World
Asator
The Sound of Eight Hooves
Hermod's Ride To Hel
Cry Of The Black Birds
The Fate of Norns
Thousand Years of Oppression
Down the Slopes of Death
Bleed for Ancient Gods
Runes To My Memory

Encore:
Victorious March
An Ancient Sign of Coming Storms
The Pursuit of Vikings
 
Do they play God's of War Arise in any of the sets in the US?

The more I listen to it the more I fucking love it, and it seems like the kinda of song that would work up the crowd.

i agree with everything u just said. hopefully it is true that they r coming back next yr and they can work that one into the set. if they do come back, they're almost certainly going to alternate what songs they play from WOOOS. so maybe next yr, gods of war and prediction of warfare?!

and im just curious has anyone noticed a lack of old school fans on this tour.? i realize most of these kids only 1st saw them on SOTU. but the night i went, i swear to god i was the only one in that place to cheer when they played sound of eight hooves. i was kind of disappointed about it to be honest.
 
I was at the Charlotte show 11.29 - it was one of the best shows I've ever been to in 30+ years of headbanging. I was right up front, with my cane, losing my mind. My son came with me - I may have embarassed him, but revenge is sweet, isn't it? I got into a conversation between sets with someone about Black Sabbath (cuts from Sabotage were playing on the PA) and how none of the current metal scene would be as it is without them and other pioneers. I was disappointed that the younger folks didn't even know "Hole in the Sky" - I mean Pantera covered it, so it not completely out of circulation. But AA was the tightest, most brutal, technically and tactically proficient metal band I have ever seen. Set list was as above. The band all signed a raven banner I brought along - gotta get it mounted and framed.
 
ok, Friday morning, north of Seattle on our way to Vancouver, cold and wet, sweeet, later


and now I'm back in the real world doing eight to fiver with the rest of the stiffs ;), it was awesome awesome awesome as usual, both the trip and the shows, when crossing Canadian borde never say that you have 2 engineers and a chemist in the car or they take you to the side for further questioning, that's all I have to say about that, while in Vancouver
got a chance to meet T and her cool hubby, it's been a pleasure, we shall see again, first trip to Vancouver which although wet and cold looked to be like an awesome city, more euro than american style where you can actually see people walking the sidewalks, not to mention the beatiful surroundings, the venue in Vancouver could have been better but I'll take the 1200 that showed up with space to spare than 700 something in Seattle with no room to breath, the crowed in Vancouver seemed to be very aggressing, lots of assholes pushing through without saying fuckin' excuse me, my bro saw a dude with a pencil and paper in his hand headbanging and writing the songs in between, funny stuff from a dedicated guy, the sound system was very weak and you had to be in a good spot to trully get the full enjoyment of the live performance, the set list was the same as in other cities with cool presentation of Golden Disc or something rather for DVD sales of WoN in Canada, the awards were handed to AA guys between the songs by local vikings courtesy of T, very cool I thought, I got really good buzz going from all the banging and yet without drinking, getting back to States at 7:00am to avoid lines of canadians going down south was a lot smoother, this time the 3 in the car were a teaching assistant and a manufacturing plat employees, while in Seattle did some more touristy things such as the Space Needle where we almost got blown off and my bro got nearly punched by a camera man for taking a picture, found a cool motel/hotel within walking distance of downtown and the venue, lucky for that as there is nowhere to park and getting back on foot at 3:00am was probably much safer for me and others, the venue in Seattle has a good feel to it with some history behind it although 700 peeps that showed up were few too many for that joint, can't complain as the drinks were on band and the house ;), got hammered, good thing I did the old puke before you sleep trick as things would have been a lot worse next morning, Oli must have been suffering next day, Ted & JH took it easier, probably due to toll from last night, Fred was so beat/exhausted from beating the skins in 120F temperature that he must of gone resting as I don't remeber seeing/talking much, JS just said WTF you doing here, shook hands and went to sleep ;), bro found once again something interesting at/after the show, a bullet, good thing the guyes played the wright songs, otherwise who knows, set list, same, again, once again, the place was so packed that you couldn't headbang, forget any kind of running like an idiot, ok, I think I'm confussing here myself with all this giberish with no commas or any kind of structure

anyway, the tour looks to be a great sucess and we shall see you again

Capilano Suspension bridge area, huge trees I like very much
Seattle-Vancouver12142007032.jpg


Vancouver crew, before the show
Seattle-Vancouver12142007073.jpg


Vancouver, drink break, which btw they didn't do in Seattle due to no drinking allowed anywhere but bar, orange juice did the trick though
Seattle-Vancouver12142007078.jpg


award
Seattle-Vancouver12142007081.jpg


damn tourists
Seattle-Vancouver12142007089.jpg
 
Hey! It was truly an honour to meet you, Tomasz. I hope we'll get to see you again. I lost track of you after the show, so I didn't get to say bye, but I hope you know that the offer for a place to stay remains open. We wanted to go party with Johan after the Seattle gig, but by the time he got back from showering etc, the town had closed down. Probably just as well, since we had to drive back to Vancouver after. After about three hours of sleep the night before (holy shit was I ever high on adrenaline!! Could not for the life of me get to sleep!), I was fighting pretty hard to stay awake driving. Got home at 4:30 AM. Either way, I can tell you that I had at least one woman ask me "Who is that gorgeous blonde man you were talking to?!"
"Oh, that's Tomasz. He came up from Florida for this!"
"Hoooly shit! Really!? That's a long way..."

Those gigs were so awesome!! If I'd have put together my dream set list, it would pretty much have looked the way it did for these shows. The only complaint would have been the heat factor. I watched Johan drip buckets of sweat, and Fredrick came off the stage and had to just sitt in a heap on the back stage stairs for a while. I just about passed out myself, but I managed to go get some ice and a drink and return to head banging. I was truly impressed that Fredrick could keep it together for the show considering how exhasted I was just standing still! Very professional. I thought the Seattle crowd rocked, and I feel really bad for all those who got turned away. My advice is to make sure y'all have pre-purchased tickets for the upcoming shows!
 
thanks Tyra, we will come back some time I'm sure as I would really like to explore the wilderness of the surrounding area, it will have to be summer though ;), same offer on this side if you or the little ones want to see a Mickey Mouse or Florida in general, I wish you guys stayed at the bar after the show (Seattle), the drinks appeared to be on the house, I didn't ask any questions I just polietely kept on taking what was offered ;), I was so drunk I was talking all kinds of crazy stuff, haha, it was a weekend to remember, you got that chick's number btw, j/k ;), wife would kill me, but seriously, you got it ;)




Hey! It was truly an honour to meet you, Tomasz. I hope we'll get to see you again. I lost track of you after the show, so I didn't get to say bye, but I hope you know that the offer for a place to stay remains open. We wanted to go party with Johan after the Seattle gig, but by the time he got back from showering etc, the town had closed down. Probably just as well, since we had to drive back to Vancouver after. After about three hours of sleep the night before (holy shit was I ever high on adrenaline!! Could not for the life of me get to sleep!), I was fighting pretty hard to stay awake driving. Got home at 4:30 AM. Either way, I can tell you that I had at least one woman ask me "Who is that gorgeous blonde man you were talking to?!"
"Oh, that's Tomasz. He came up from Florida for this!"
"Hoooly shit! Really!? That's a long way..."

Those gigs were so awesome!! If I'd have put together my dream set list, it would pretty much have looked the way it did for these shows. The only complaint would have been the heat factor. I watched Johan drip buckets of sweat, and Fredrick came off the stage and had to just sitt in a heap on the back stage stairs for a while. I just about passed out myself, but I managed to go get some ice and a drink and return to head banging. I was truly impressed that Fredrick could keep it together for the show considering how exhasted I was just standing still! Very professional. I thought the Seattle crowd rocked, and I feel really bad for all those who got turned away. My advice is to make sure y'all have pre-purchased tickets for the upcoming shows!
 
CAN'T FUCKING WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WEDNESDAY IS THE DAY!!!!

This is probably the most excited I've been for a concert...Probably because it's the first one that I'm taking a girlfriend to. SHE LOVES METAL LIKE ME AND SHE'S EXCITED TOO!
 
I was right in front with some guys at the albuquerque show. We were having a blast til I had to put some stupid fuck in his place in the middle of Victorious March and got kicked out, but I get to hear all of that song first and fight someone, it was fucking awesome.