I took a flight to Houston on Saturday afternoon and caught them that night. My girlfriend accompanied me to the show. It was fucking packed from wall to wall in there. I'm pretty sure it was soled out. The first thing we did was go to the merchandise stand in the back. My girlfriend was happy to see that they were carrying Iced Earth baby dolls and purchased one with some sort of symbol which we think is the symbol of the club we were at. I got the greenface shirt, which kicks ass. I also purchased a Children Of Bodom "Finland" shirt.
During Evergrey's set we stood at the back. I didn't really feel like being squished at that point. Evergrey was OK to me, nothing spectacular but they did put a lot of energy into their set. To me they sounded like COB or Kalmah but without the harsh vocals. Their lead singer looked like The Undertaker to me, hehe. Anyway they were a good band but I also could hardly hear them. The crowd was behind them though so they got a good response afterward.
Then came COB so me and my girlfriend moved to the front but on the side of the stage. This was a good spot and we could clearly see everything. COB came out less than 15 minutes after Evergrey came out. They opened up with "hate me" which kicked ass. The crowd loved COB, even the people only there to see Iced Earth. I was singing along the whole time. Even though COB only did stuff from Follow The Reaper and Hate Crew it was still a badass set. They did Angels Don't Kill, Everytime I Die, Needled, and Sixpounder among others. The floor would open up a few times but the older people there would get mad it would quickly stop. Most of the slam took place on the opposite side of the stage. It was a pretty good pit with some good energy. COB put on an awesome show, more than I could have expected.
Finally it was time for the gods themselves. The damn crew took forever to fix the lights or some shit so it took quite awhile for Iced Earth to actually come out. Finally I saw Richard Christy step out and sit behind the drum kit. At that point we heard The Star Spangled Banner play and the crowd erupted. They kicked right into Declaration Day. Ripper was amazing live and every bit as good as when I saw him with Judas Priest. Up next was Violate and I was a little worried as to how Ripper would handle Barlow's vocals but he did great. Lots of head banging in this one. I believe next was Burning Times and once again Ripper was amazing on this one. I was singing every word to this one giving the horns to Ripper and he even pointed at me. The next highlight for me was My Own Savior and Melancholy. I love those songs and we were singing along to both of them. Greenface and Red Baron/Blue Max were both great as well. When Something Wicked started I was already tired from the heat but I stayed and sang along. When Gettysburg started I moved to the back to go get some water and watch the rest of the show. They finally closed with Iced Earth.
My only complaints were how damn hot it was. Im not used to the humidity in Houston and it made it feel worse. The other things which annoyed me were these drunk fat girls moving back and forth and never picking a damn spot. I elbowed one in the back once for being stupid though. Hehehe. Also some guys who were crowd surfing fell over the rail right to the floor, that was hilarious. All in all, it was an awesome show.
During Evergrey's set we stood at the back. I didn't really feel like being squished at that point. Evergrey was OK to me, nothing spectacular but they did put a lot of energy into their set. To me they sounded like COB or Kalmah but without the harsh vocals. Their lead singer looked like The Undertaker to me, hehe. Anyway they were a good band but I also could hardly hear them. The crowd was behind them though so they got a good response afterward.
Then came COB so me and my girlfriend moved to the front but on the side of the stage. This was a good spot and we could clearly see everything. COB came out less than 15 minutes after Evergrey came out. They opened up with "hate me" which kicked ass. The crowd loved COB, even the people only there to see Iced Earth. I was singing along the whole time. Even though COB only did stuff from Follow The Reaper and Hate Crew it was still a badass set. They did Angels Don't Kill, Everytime I Die, Needled, and Sixpounder among others. The floor would open up a few times but the older people there would get mad it would quickly stop. Most of the slam took place on the opposite side of the stage. It was a pretty good pit with some good energy. COB put on an awesome show, more than I could have expected.
Finally it was time for the gods themselves. The damn crew took forever to fix the lights or some shit so it took quite awhile for Iced Earth to actually come out. Finally I saw Richard Christy step out and sit behind the drum kit. At that point we heard The Star Spangled Banner play and the crowd erupted. They kicked right into Declaration Day. Ripper was amazing live and every bit as good as when I saw him with Judas Priest. Up next was Violate and I was a little worried as to how Ripper would handle Barlow's vocals but he did great. Lots of head banging in this one. I believe next was Burning Times and once again Ripper was amazing on this one. I was singing every word to this one giving the horns to Ripper and he even pointed at me. The next highlight for me was My Own Savior and Melancholy. I love those songs and we were singing along to both of them. Greenface and Red Baron/Blue Max were both great as well. When Something Wicked started I was already tired from the heat but I stayed and sang along. When Gettysburg started I moved to the back to go get some water and watch the rest of the show. They finally closed with Iced Earth.
My only complaints were how damn hot it was. Im not used to the humidity in Houston and it made it feel worse. The other things which annoyed me were these drunk fat girls moving back and forth and never picking a damn spot. I elbowed one in the back once for being stupid though. Hehehe. Also some guys who were crowd surfing fell over the rail right to the floor, that was hilarious. All in all, it was an awesome show.
