Cannibal Corpse/Dimmu Borgir/The Haunted/Lamb Of God
April 24, The Palace, Hollywood, CA
By Rodrigo
This show was one that I was very much looking forward to. I mainly wanted to see The Haunted and Dimmu Borgir for the first time. But I was also curious about seeing Lamb of God and what a Cannibal Corpse show is like. When I found out that this show was going to be at The Palace I immediately cringed. I attended the Dream Theater/Dixie Dregs show that was ended by the Fire Marshall. I remembered by the time I got into the venue the Dixie Dregs were already playing and I do not need to repeat the fiasco of pulling the plug on Dream Theater.
Well, I decided to arrive very early but I encountered the same slow process that The Palace uses to let people in. By the time I finally got in Lamb of God was well into their set. What I did manage to see of their set was very impressive. Their singer has a lot of stage presence and he definitely has a great voice. The music was very good. Lamb of God has shades of technicality but not too much. Mainly, they are a very brutal and exciting new band. I must now get their latest release New American Gospel.
So after their set, I managed to get as close as possible to the stage to get ready for The Haunted. The Haunted Made Me Do It, their last album, was one of the best releases of 2000 and I was very excited to finally seeing them live. Well, to simply sum it up: The Haunted were awesome!! They played with a lot of energy, passion and were totally into the show and the fans. Singer Marco Aro was constantly smiling and having a great time as was the entire band. I was closest to guitarist Jensen and he made a lot of eye contact with the fans. I actually was able to meet him and congratulate him on the great job they did. They played a lot of songs from both their albums like "Hollow Ground", "Hate Song", "Chokehold" and "Leech". It was funny to hear that during the time between songs many people were yelling for The Haunted to play At the Gates songs. The most popular request I heard was "Blinded by Fear". Ultimately, they never played anything from At the Gates (and they shouldnt) but never the less everyone was happy to have seen The Haunted. When it was time to wrap up their set the crowd collectively screamed "NO!!".
So the time came for Dimmu Borgir to take the stage. I had moved closer to the stage but I wasnt the only one. Soon, the whole area by me began to get crowded and people began to sway and push each other even before Dimmu Borgir started playing. As soon as they did, all hell broke loose! The mosh pit grew and it got very violent. For the sake of not breaking my eyeglasses I decided to get away and just enjoy the show from the back. Next time I plan to bring a glasses case.
The first thing I immediately noticed about the band is that Siemen (bassist) is incredibly tall. He has such a commanding presence but it was a shame that his bass did not sound very well in the mix of the show. Throughout the show, I noticed that Nick Barker (drums) was not really into it. He was constantly looking to the side and not really towards the crowd. He still played great but he did not show a lot of emotion. Mustis (keyboards) on the other hand was really involved, despite the fact that he was in the back. I really like what he adds to the bands sound. Both of the guitarists Silenoz and Garm were very involved in getting the crowd going, especially Garm. Their playing was excellent. Finally, Shagrath (vocals) was perfect in his duties. Dimmu Borgir played a lot from their new album Purtianical Euphoric Misanthropia (one of the best releases of the year) like the excellent song "Kings of the Carnival Creation and "Blessings Upon the Throne of Tyranny". By the end of their show, Dimmu Borgir managed to absolutely tire everyone out. A lot of people went to the bar and bought Gatorade and waters and sat down. (I would like to point out here how rude the bartender treated me at this time. The guy before me got 2 Gatorades and 1 beer and he was charged $9, I bought 1 Gatorade and got charged $5! A lot of good tipping her did to me. Another reason why The Palace totally sucks!)
I was amazed by the fact of how many people left after Dimmu Borgir ended. I thought the majority was there to see Cannibal Corpse but that was clearly not the case. I stuck around to watch Cannibal Corpse but in the end their show really did nothing for me. I think that a lot of people were really tired (including me) and it was just real hard for any band to go after Dimmu Borgir on that night.
Overall, this was a fantastic night of metal. I am very interested in acquiring the Lamb of God CD and I hope to see both The Haunted and Dimmu Borgir again sometime in the future. Finally, I hope that people realize what a horrible place The Palace is and for bands to not use that venue. There are plenty of other better venues in the Hollywood area.
April 24, The Palace, Hollywood, CA
By Rodrigo
This show was one that I was very much looking forward to. I mainly wanted to see The Haunted and Dimmu Borgir for the first time. But I was also curious about seeing Lamb of God and what a Cannibal Corpse show is like. When I found out that this show was going to be at The Palace I immediately cringed. I attended the Dream Theater/Dixie Dregs show that was ended by the Fire Marshall. I remembered by the time I got into the venue the Dixie Dregs were already playing and I do not need to repeat the fiasco of pulling the plug on Dream Theater.
Well, I decided to arrive very early but I encountered the same slow process that The Palace uses to let people in. By the time I finally got in Lamb of God was well into their set. What I did manage to see of their set was very impressive. Their singer has a lot of stage presence and he definitely has a great voice. The music was very good. Lamb of God has shades of technicality but not too much. Mainly, they are a very brutal and exciting new band. I must now get their latest release New American Gospel.
So after their set, I managed to get as close as possible to the stage to get ready for The Haunted. The Haunted Made Me Do It, their last album, was one of the best releases of 2000 and I was very excited to finally seeing them live. Well, to simply sum it up: The Haunted were awesome!! They played with a lot of energy, passion and were totally into the show and the fans. Singer Marco Aro was constantly smiling and having a great time as was the entire band. I was closest to guitarist Jensen and he made a lot of eye contact with the fans. I actually was able to meet him and congratulate him on the great job they did. They played a lot of songs from both their albums like "Hollow Ground", "Hate Song", "Chokehold" and "Leech". It was funny to hear that during the time between songs many people were yelling for The Haunted to play At the Gates songs. The most popular request I heard was "Blinded by Fear". Ultimately, they never played anything from At the Gates (and they shouldnt) but never the less everyone was happy to have seen The Haunted. When it was time to wrap up their set the crowd collectively screamed "NO!!".
So the time came for Dimmu Borgir to take the stage. I had moved closer to the stage but I wasnt the only one. Soon, the whole area by me began to get crowded and people began to sway and push each other even before Dimmu Borgir started playing. As soon as they did, all hell broke loose! The mosh pit grew and it got very violent. For the sake of not breaking my eyeglasses I decided to get away and just enjoy the show from the back. Next time I plan to bring a glasses case.
The first thing I immediately noticed about the band is that Siemen (bassist) is incredibly tall. He has such a commanding presence but it was a shame that his bass did not sound very well in the mix of the show. Throughout the show, I noticed that Nick Barker (drums) was not really into it. He was constantly looking to the side and not really towards the crowd. He still played great but he did not show a lot of emotion. Mustis (keyboards) on the other hand was really involved, despite the fact that he was in the back. I really like what he adds to the bands sound. Both of the guitarists Silenoz and Garm were very involved in getting the crowd going, especially Garm. Their playing was excellent. Finally, Shagrath (vocals) was perfect in his duties. Dimmu Borgir played a lot from their new album Purtianical Euphoric Misanthropia (one of the best releases of the year) like the excellent song "Kings of the Carnival Creation and "Blessings Upon the Throne of Tyranny". By the end of their show, Dimmu Borgir managed to absolutely tire everyone out. A lot of people went to the bar and bought Gatorade and waters and sat down. (I would like to point out here how rude the bartender treated me at this time. The guy before me got 2 Gatorades and 1 beer and he was charged $9, I bought 1 Gatorade and got charged $5! A lot of good tipping her did to me. Another reason why The Palace totally sucks!)
I was amazed by the fact of how many people left after Dimmu Borgir ended. I thought the majority was there to see Cannibal Corpse but that was clearly not the case. I stuck around to watch Cannibal Corpse but in the end their show really did nothing for me. I think that a lot of people were really tired (including me) and it was just real hard for any band to go after Dimmu Borgir on that night.
Overall, this was a fantastic night of metal. I am very interested in acquiring the Lamb of God CD and I hope to see both The Haunted and Dimmu Borgir again sometime in the future. Finally, I hope that people realize what a horrible place The Palace is and for bands to not use that venue. There are plenty of other better venues in the Hollywood area.
EC 17, 2002
