I've posted this elsewhere regarding the Mokena, IL show:
Just a few words on my first trip to The Pearl Room in Mokena, IL for the Sy-X show.
Venue: (The Pearl Room)Good enough for what it is, LOUD sound system, was about ¾ full.
Sacred Dawn – Wasn’t really into them at all
Echoes of Eternity – Hot babe front woman whose vocals seemed to be somewhat out of place, hard to describe, maybe too atmospheric in spots? Best song was the last one they played. Vox sounded GOOD.
Sanctity – Fun Thrashy band.
Sy – X: Same set list they have been playing. Russell Allen has evolved even further into the God of front men everywhere. Great performance by EVERYONE. Ran into a few fellow Sy-X’ers, in some cases, quite literally! (Hi Amanda!) Good to see some familiar faces there!
Moshing: I kind of expected a pit for Sanctity, and we got it. What was somewhat irritating was the moshing during Sy-X. Yeah, I’m fucking old, and even back when I was younger, I always found moshing at these kinds of events pretty pointless & inconsiderate. I had one or two people take two cheap shots on me. I was not in the pit. I was about 7 heads from the front of the stage. We pretty much became the wall for one side of the pit. Do I have to turn my back on the band I paid good money to see to watch out for a few assholes? Maybe I should have! While I don’t particularly like being jostled & shoved around, I’ll tolerate it to a degree. Once people go for doing physical harm to people NOT involved in the pit, it becomes VERY uncool. Do you REALLY need to mosh to a somewhat mellow tune like “The Odyssey”? Are you REALLY that much of a pussy that you have to cheap shot someone when their back is turned to you? Cheap shot #1 – just above the left kidney. Back turned, no idea it was coming. I’m a tough old dog, and all this did was piss me off, and got me into some verbal ugliness with a couple of the moshing assholes. Cheap shot #2 – BULLSEYE! Took a forearm/shoulder/knee to my right kidney. Fell backwards to the floor. Thanks to a couple random dudes and a friend from the Sy-X & Prog Power forums for helping me get to my feet quickly. More ugly exchanges. The rest of Sy-X’s “The Odyssey” went on without incident. Stopped at a highway oasis. Took a painful piss, got some food, dropped a friend off at his home, and drove back to my bomb shelter in Wisconsin. Took another piss. Yay! Blood in my urine! If it continues in the morning, I’m off to the ER. Fuckers!
I now will have a zero tolerance for moshers. Next time something like this happens, BAD things are going to happen. I guarantee it. Mark my words! I’m now on a mission!
Icing on the cake – Friend of mine, who is relatively new to Symphony X enjoyed the show and is 100% into the band, especially after witnessing it live. Wanted to do the right thing, and support this new band he likes, and purchase a cd on his way out. AS we’re cruising home, he opens the factory sealed digipack, and finds not only no booklet, but no cd!!!!!!!! He’s pissed, and I will use what little pull I have to get this resolved for him. He paid $15 for an EMPTY digipack. WTF!
I’m taking a couple Viccodin’s and calling it a night…
EDIT: As mentioned, no pics, which I found ironic...Also, I DID end up in the ER Monday morning..
