I'm official. Go me.
So Isabel and I set out at about 6 and arrived at maybe 6:30, half an hour before the doors opened. "Oh damn," we thought, "we're early." Then we ran into our comrades Sean & Jamie (HeartCollector & Maharet) and their friend Brendan. They were in the front of the line, possibly because they had been there since TEN-THIRTY IN THE MORNING. Holy Jesus. So yeah, they let us in, and after 45 minutes of watching metalheads mill around, we got into the Great American and got our spots, front and center. Then it was yet another hour before the performances actually started.
Hypocrisy opened the show with "Fractured." While I'm not familiar with the band's material, I was reasonably impressed - simplistic death metal, but with a good sense for song structure and building up atmosphere. Fun 30 minutes. The songs I can remember are "Fire In the Sky," "Destroyed," and closer "Roswell 47" (there were three other songs stuck in there). At the request of my friend Jamie, I will mention that "their bassist was a major hottie." While I wasn't paying much attention, I will say that if I was a woman...or gay...
Ahem. Yeah. Children of Bodom, up next, kicked right into "Needled 24/7" and thrashed furiously through a too-short half-hour set. Alexi Laiho is really short, did you know that? And he wears mascara. But that casts no shadow on his playing (only his eyelids), for his guitarwork was fucking killer. They played "Silent Night, Bodom Night," "Hate Crew Deathroll," and I think "Hatebreeder" as the closer and one other song. The keyboards were tastefully low, and their drummer was excellent. About two songs through, I started getting mashed up into the railing. I think my sister had it worse, but we all managed to push back the overwhelming wall of moshingness somewhat.
Up next was the moment we had REALLY been waiting for - Nevermore. Out came the Distorted Mind hat and the Fruit of the Loomis magnets. Ooooh yeah.
There was a huge roar when the band strode out, and after a short movie-clip intro of some kind, they opened with "Narcosynthesis." I was right in front of Jim, who kept nearly decapitating audience members with his bass. During the song, I passed one of the Fruit of the Loomis magnets to Jeff, who looked at it, groaned (this is like the fourth time someone's confronted him with FOTL merchandise on this tour), and passed it to a crew member before resuming playing.
Next up was "Seven Tongues of God" (with Warrel hitting some impressive high notes that weren't in the original) followed by new tune "Never Purify." During the latter, I put on the Distorted Mind hat, eliciting a hilarious double-take from Mr. Dane. Also during the latter, one of the Faggoth Hippo-Beasts in attendance began ramming his piercings into Sean's back. Security dealt with him swiftly and efficiently, and the space that opened up by his sudden retreat gave me enough room to pull myself up onto the railing. "YES! Now I'm taller than everyone!"
Before introducing "The River Dragon Has Come," Warrel paused to mention that he smelled weed, and remind us "Marijuana is very bad and very illegal! ...Unless I have some." Then came the song, which was amazing with Loomis and Steve doubling on the sweep solo. "The Sound of Silence" followed that, and then Warrel got the crowd to wish Steve a happy birthday. Personally, I thought we should have sang, but then they started playing "I, Voyager" and I forgot all about it. Awesome song. Jim handed his water bottle to a few crowd members, including my (13 year-old) sister; turns out it was not water, but vodka. SHIT. I should have asked for some.
"Engines of Hate" was probably the highlight of the set; an absolutely vicious thrasher and a great performance by Van. It should be noted that Warrel was off from time to time (probably because he had been trashed all day) and Jeff hit a couple ugly notes in the intro to "River Dragon" - and those were about the only flaws. The rest ruled. They closed with "Enemies of Reality," at which point I put the Distorted Mind hat back on. Warrel noticed it again and came closer, and I handed it off to him and he put it on; the official photo girl took a picture of him in it. HAH! I DID WHAT WILL BOZARTH COULDN'T! You owe me fifty dollars in publicity fees, Bozzy.
Er, yeah. So they finished up "Enemies," I got my hat back, and the band left the stage. Security gave my sister one of Steve's picks; between the two of us, we now have three Steve Smyth picks. Probably because he rules. Our little group discussed whether we wanted to stay for Dimmu or go try and meet Nevermore. It didn't take long before we gathered up our stuff (there were like eight or nine shirts, plus my ludicrously big trenchcoat) and shoved our way out.
Jamie bought a beer and passed it to the photo girl, who said "I'll give it to Steve and he'll give it to Warrel." Oddly enough, the beer never arrived. I suspect treachery on the part of Mr. Smyth. But hey, it's his birthday. We wandered up to the balcony, saw a bit of Dimmu (great atmosphere, crappy music), and then walked outside and knocked on the Nevermore tour bus. Steve's wife answered and immediately said "Oh, you must be Jewfro! And you're *points to Isabel* his sister."
At this point, I would like to thank God or whoever for the great blessing I have been given, and take back all the times I have complained about how annoying it is to have tangly curly hair.
So she had Jeff come out, take a few photos, and sign some things, including a couple of the Fruit of the Loomis magnets. As you may have heard recently, Jeff is a very cool guy, even if he kills touring guitarists and bathes in their blood to maintain his disturbing youthfulness. LOOK OUT, STEVE!
We waited around, and eventually Warrel drifted out. We talked to him for a while, got some photos and signatures (including my hat), and I pleaded with him not to tour with Opeth (I dunno if he heard, though). Then Steve came out, and said "Hey, Pyrus! There you are!" Apparently he likes my posts on the official Testament board. Go me. We talked, he signed, it was all good. His Death Angel hoodie rules.
Jamie, Sean and Brendan split to catch BART, so me and Isabel waited for a bit before knocking on the bus again. Steve's wife answered, and sent Jim and Van out to complete our set of Nevermore signatures. Sometimes it pays to have a cute little sister, even if she does hit me with her sweatshirt sleeves constantly.
So yep. That was my concert experience. If Nevermore or Children of Bodom plays in your area anytime soon, I highly recommend that you see them. And Nevermore are very cool guys as well. Buy 'Enemies of Reality,' see the headlining tour this spring, and don't drink from Jim's water bottle unless you're prepared for it.
So Isabel and I set out at about 6 and arrived at maybe 6:30, half an hour before the doors opened. "Oh damn," we thought, "we're early." Then we ran into our comrades Sean & Jamie (HeartCollector & Maharet) and their friend Brendan. They were in the front of the line, possibly because they had been there since TEN-THIRTY IN THE MORNING. Holy Jesus. So yeah, they let us in, and after 45 minutes of watching metalheads mill around, we got into the Great American and got our spots, front and center. Then it was yet another hour before the performances actually started.
Hypocrisy opened the show with "Fractured." While I'm not familiar with the band's material, I was reasonably impressed - simplistic death metal, but with a good sense for song structure and building up atmosphere. Fun 30 minutes. The songs I can remember are "Fire In the Sky," "Destroyed," and closer "Roswell 47" (there were three other songs stuck in there). At the request of my friend Jamie, I will mention that "their bassist was a major hottie." While I wasn't paying much attention, I will say that if I was a woman...or gay...
Ahem. Yeah. Children of Bodom, up next, kicked right into "Needled 24/7" and thrashed furiously through a too-short half-hour set. Alexi Laiho is really short, did you know that? And he wears mascara. But that casts no shadow on his playing (only his eyelids), for his guitarwork was fucking killer. They played "Silent Night, Bodom Night," "Hate Crew Deathroll," and I think "Hatebreeder" as the closer and one other song. The keyboards were tastefully low, and their drummer was excellent. About two songs through, I started getting mashed up into the railing. I think my sister had it worse, but we all managed to push back the overwhelming wall of moshingness somewhat.
Up next was the moment we had REALLY been waiting for - Nevermore. Out came the Distorted Mind hat and the Fruit of the Loomis magnets. Ooooh yeah.
There was a huge roar when the band strode out, and after a short movie-clip intro of some kind, they opened with "Narcosynthesis." I was right in front of Jim, who kept nearly decapitating audience members with his bass. During the song, I passed one of the Fruit of the Loomis magnets to Jeff, who looked at it, groaned (this is like the fourth time someone's confronted him with FOTL merchandise on this tour), and passed it to a crew member before resuming playing.
Next up was "Seven Tongues of God" (with Warrel hitting some impressive high notes that weren't in the original) followed by new tune "Never Purify." During the latter, I put on the Distorted Mind hat, eliciting a hilarious double-take from Mr. Dane. Also during the latter, one of the Faggoth Hippo-Beasts in attendance began ramming his piercings into Sean's back. Security dealt with him swiftly and efficiently, and the space that opened up by his sudden retreat gave me enough room to pull myself up onto the railing. "YES! Now I'm taller than everyone!"
Before introducing "The River Dragon Has Come," Warrel paused to mention that he smelled weed, and remind us "Marijuana is very bad and very illegal! ...Unless I have some." Then came the song, which was amazing with Loomis and Steve doubling on the sweep solo. "The Sound of Silence" followed that, and then Warrel got the crowd to wish Steve a happy birthday. Personally, I thought we should have sang, but then they started playing "I, Voyager" and I forgot all about it. Awesome song. Jim handed his water bottle to a few crowd members, including my (13 year-old) sister; turns out it was not water, but vodka. SHIT. I should have asked for some.
"Engines of Hate" was probably the highlight of the set; an absolutely vicious thrasher and a great performance by Van. It should be noted that Warrel was off from time to time (probably because he had been trashed all day) and Jeff hit a couple ugly notes in the intro to "River Dragon" - and those were about the only flaws. The rest ruled. They closed with "Enemies of Reality," at which point I put the Distorted Mind hat back on. Warrel noticed it again and came closer, and I handed it off to him and he put it on; the official photo girl took a picture of him in it. HAH! I DID WHAT WILL BOZARTH COULDN'T! You owe me fifty dollars in publicity fees, Bozzy.
Er, yeah. So they finished up "Enemies," I got my hat back, and the band left the stage. Security gave my sister one of Steve's picks; between the two of us, we now have three Steve Smyth picks. Probably because he rules. Our little group discussed whether we wanted to stay for Dimmu or go try and meet Nevermore. It didn't take long before we gathered up our stuff (there were like eight or nine shirts, plus my ludicrously big trenchcoat) and shoved our way out.
Jamie bought a beer and passed it to the photo girl, who said "I'll give it to Steve and he'll give it to Warrel." Oddly enough, the beer never arrived. I suspect treachery on the part of Mr. Smyth. But hey, it's his birthday. We wandered up to the balcony, saw a bit of Dimmu (great atmosphere, crappy music), and then walked outside and knocked on the Nevermore tour bus. Steve's wife answered and immediately said "Oh, you must be Jewfro! And you're *points to Isabel* his sister."
At this point, I would like to thank God or whoever for the great blessing I have been given, and take back all the times I have complained about how annoying it is to have tangly curly hair.
So she had Jeff come out, take a few photos, and sign some things, including a couple of the Fruit of the Loomis magnets. As you may have heard recently, Jeff is a very cool guy, even if he kills touring guitarists and bathes in their blood to maintain his disturbing youthfulness. LOOK OUT, STEVE!
We waited around, and eventually Warrel drifted out. We talked to him for a while, got some photos and signatures (including my hat), and I pleaded with him not to tour with Opeth (I dunno if he heard, though). Then Steve came out, and said "Hey, Pyrus! There you are!" Apparently he likes my posts on the official Testament board. Go me. We talked, he signed, it was all good. His Death Angel hoodie rules.
Jamie, Sean and Brendan split to catch BART, so me and Isabel waited for a bit before knocking on the bus again. Steve's wife answered, and sent Jim and Van out to complete our set of Nevermore signatures. Sometimes it pays to have a cute little sister, even if she does hit me with her sweatshirt sleeves constantly.
So yep. That was my concert experience. If Nevermore or Children of Bodom plays in your area anytime soon, I highly recommend that you see them. And Nevermore are very cool guys as well. Buy 'Enemies of Reality,' see the headlining tour this spring, and don't drink from Jim's water bottle unless you're prepared for it.
