Upcoming Gigs!

[AMBR]

So what's on your metal calendar?

So far I have

*Loudness, April 4, Starland Ballroom, Sayerville, NJ

*Chicago Powerfest, April 7 & 8 with:
Morgan Lefay
Nocturnal Rites
Eldritch
Biomechanical
Agent Steel
Ion Vein
Grace Point
Whithering Soul
Mirror Black
Twefth Gate

*Sweden Rock June 8-10, Sölvesborg, Sweden
Check out this list (!) (Bands I'm interested in are red; MUST not miss bolded :
DEF LEPPARD (UK)
WHITESNAKE (UK)
DEEP PURPLE (UK)
ALICE COOPER (US)
VENOM (UK)
TED NUGENT (US)
JOURNEY (US)
W.A.S.P. (US)
QUEENSRYCHE (US)
SYMPHONY X (US)
(not yet confirmed according to an inside source)
EDGUY (D)
ASIA (UK)
GAMMA RAY (D)
JEFF HEALEY BAND
CELTIC FROST (CH)
MOLLY HATCHET (CAN) (US)

NEVERMORE (US)
DORO (D)
GEORGE THOROGOOD & The Destroyers (US)
CACTUS (US)
PORCUPINE TREE
THE SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND
METAL CHURCH
CATHEDRAL (UK)
THE SWEET (UK)
OBITUARY (US)
DRAGONFORCE (UK)
EASY ACTION (S)
KROKUS (CH)
ANVIL (CAN)
EVERGREY (S)
ARCH ENEMY (S)

VICTORY (D)
FROM BEHIND
ONSLAUGHT (UK)
VANDEN PLAS (D)
JADED HEART (D)
BONFIRE (D)
BLITZKRIEG (UK)
NASTY IDOLS (S)
THE QUILL (S)
NEIL TURBIN'S DEATHRIDERS (US)
LORD BELIAL (S)
TIGERTAILZ (UK)
FIREWIND (S)
RAISE HELL (S)
HOUSE OF SHAKIRA
THE STORYTELLER (S/UK/US)

*Myötätuuli Rock
(translated "Backwind Rock", go figure)
June 17, (only interested in first day), Vantaa Hakunila, Finland:
Lordi
Viikate
Altaria
Charon
Amorphis
TAROT!!!
STRATOVARIUS!!!

*ProgPower VII Earth Link Live, Atlanta, GA Sept. 13th-16th
Evergrey
Mercenary (Yea!!!!!)
Freak Kitchen
Savage Circus
Pyramaze
Wastefall
Vision Divine
Thunderstone
Epica (Sponsoring!!!!)
Jörn ("fixed" my keyboard )

Also the pre-party with:
Leatherwolf
Theocracy
Circus Maximus
Circle II Circle
and the pre-pre party which is just karoke (or however you spell it) but Urband Breed will most likely be there and I'm hoping we get lucky like last year.

(Am I turning into a festival junky? OH YEA! :Smokedev: )


*Kamelot/Epica/Operakica, Sept. 20th, B.B. Kings, NYC

Well, that oughta keep me busy and satisfy my metal addiction, but just in case it doesn't...

Tentative shows I'd like to add:
Joe Satriani, April 18th, Starland Ballroom
Gamma Ray, May 1st, B.B. Kings, NYC (Shit! On a Monday? )
Dragon Force, May 2nd, (ummm, somewhere in NYC, gotta check which club. This is the Tuesday following Gamma Ray. Not sure I can pull this off.
Anyone else wanna try with me?)

 

[LadyWoreBlack]

WOW!!!! What a lineup! When do you find time to work?? Those overseas festivals sound especially exciting. Hope you plan to take lots of cool pictures for those of us stuck in places without much of a metal scene!

 

[AMBR]

heh heh, I have the best job. I'm a journalist and work from home and they don't care if I take time off. Then again, I'm the "second income" in the family. My husband works his ass off and this is the first time he's going to Europe with me. He's always working. (Yes, I'm a spoiled brat.)

I'm going to try to get a photo pass for the Myötätuuli Rock festival. I'm dying to see Tarot up close. Considering it for Sweden Rock but it's a major hassle of paperwork and procedures, so I dunno. Anyway, I'll be sure to take lots no matter what and they will all be posted on our concert page for sure!!!

Edit: Oh, you're in Colorado? I sure hope you ski. I'm an avid skier and am stuck on the icy East Coast slopes. You one up me with snow for sure!

 

[LadyWoreBlack]

Yes, I certainly am in Colorado, but I don't ski because it is still quite expensive even if you live here and hell, I'd rather spend my meager disposable income on import CD's and concerts! Unfortunately, unlike you, I'm also the only income in my castle so I can't really take a lot of trips, even to New York or somewhere else in the US that DOES get more of these lesser known acts. Speaking of the snow - we're supposed to get a foot or more tonight in Denver alone, so you can imagine how great the ski slopes are right about now!

 

[Snowy Owl]

My next gigs?

This Friday-March 24th: Odin's Court CD release party/DVD filming (!) with support acts Division (hear them on BEC radio), Unbroken, Unit 53 and another act who's name escapes me at Jaxx' Nightclub in W. Springfield, VA.

The best part? Interviewed the boys in Odin's Court last Thursday (they were so funny and friendly) and I'll be interviewing them in an interview which will be ON THEIR DVD! Can't beat that with a stick! I am happy to help contribute to their rise to the top...today Jaxx, tomorrow ProgPower! www.odinscourtband.com for more info if you wanna make the trip!

Gamma Ray (hopefully) in NYC

Emperor in July in NYC

Celtic Frost in NYC

Slayer, Children Of Bodom and Lamb Of God this summer.

Should be a great year for metal and for me! I am so riding high after my first interview and ready to take on the world of hungry, unsigned metal acts. If I help them get a deal or more fans, it's all worth it.

Keep an eye for my website when it comes out. Also, keep supporting our friends here!

 

[AMBR]

So how was the Odin's Court release party? How'd the interview go? Inquireing (nosy) minds want to know!

 

[Snowy Owl]

So how was the Odin's Court release party? How'd the interview go? Inquireing (nosy) minds want to know!

It rocked like a ton of bricks. The fans were CRAAAAZZZZYYYY!!! Odin's Court took it to the next level last night. This band is now a force to be reckoned with in the American prog scene.

Met some great people and all the bands were kick ass and very friendly. Made some new connections, talked hockey with Nick (lead vocals) of Division...Andrea and I were making our presence known, and everyone was so cool!

The interviews went well, unfortunately I am not on camera, but I asked them the questions and they answered them. I knew my role and I was just happy to help. They were super nice.

Part 1 of my interview with Odin's Court on 3-16-06 is on their forum and you can read it there.

You need a copy of their CD so you can add them to your playlist.

 

[AMBR]

Awesome! Will check out the interview now. I'll tell Zane to get that cd in.

 

[Snowy Owl]

No need. I can shoot an e-mail or make a phone call to Matt or Rick, and they will take care of you

 

[AMBR]

This is basically my review that I pm'ed to DX:

Wasn't real thrilled with the new venue. Was bigger, real high ceiling and much higher stage, but lacking in atmosphere and places to mingle. Not much in the way of food. Location was crappy and we had to drive 4 miles from the hotels. No big deal on the way out; a pain in the ass on the way back. Some problems with the local element in the area too and no bars/pubs for food before the event. Just fast food and pancake houses.

The mix was pretty bad Friday. It was too loud and sounded muddy, especially for the first band, Withering Soul. Got a little better as the night went on, but it was uneven all weekend.

Withering Soul - Black metal is not my thing so it was hard for me to get into them. Since their sound mix was the worst, it made it even harder. I huddled in the back with my buds and tried to talk.

Gracepoint - These guys really impressed me. Melodic, yet edgy. A little rough around the edges, but a lot of potential. As someone on the UM board said, they reminded a bit of early Fates Warning.

Agent Steel - They rocked. Lots of energy. They sounded great and looked like they were having a blast.

Biomechanical - Another band I just wasn't into. I had high hopes for them since so many people were pumping them up. For me, they were a leaned a little too close to nu-metal, all their songs sounded very similar and the vocals got on my nerves after a bit. They put on a good show though.

Eldritch - Liked them a lot. They weren't quite as high energy as Biomechanical or Agent Steel, but their music was more to my liking i.e. power/melodic with some black edginess.

Saturday the mix was much better and the volume was decent. As a result, all of the bands sounded better on Sat. than on Fri..

Mirror Black - Got there late for this one and wished I'd been their earlier. A lot of musical variety, strong guitars and they really had it together for a new band.

Twelfth Gate - I really loved them last year, but they had a new, fill in singer this year. He was very hard/growly, modern Amercian/MTV in style to me. Weird hearing thier old stuff with this kind of vox. He was very good for that style and really worked well with the crowd, but I just couldn't adjust.

Nocturnal Rites - Nocturnal Rites was AWESOME! One of the best performances I've seen anywhere in the past couple of years. Here's the set list, though they threw in a couple of surprises:

They blew everyone away!!! Hope Glenn gets them for PPVIII. Absolutley the best of this bunch.

Morgana Lefay - I was beat by this one after excessive headbanging for NR. Still, I like this band last year and tried to stick it out. They had some technical difficulties in the first song and had to pause before the second to fix it. Once they got their shit together, they did an admirable job and put on a great show. I don't think if I were a festival organizer, I would bring a band back two years in a row when they don't have any new release. I really did enjoy them, though, but had to leave early due to exhaustion.

Took lots of picts. Should have them up soon. Overall, it really was a great event! Just gotta nit pick a little, hopefully constructively.
AM

 

[DemonXeno]

<--- needs to see Nocturnal Rites pics anytime soon

 

[AMBR]

Got tons of those. Dave will most likely post them this weekend.
Here's a teaser for you. Now THAT'S a close up!

 

[OdinsCourt]

So how was the Odin's Court release party? How'd the interview go? Inquireing (nosy) minds want to know!

Hey! Good to see some interest in our show here. Looks like Matt included a nice account of the night.

Anyway, I posted this in our forum (folks here, feel free to stop by! ), but just in case anyone here is interested on the DVD progress...

I have made me first pass through the entire audio setting levels, panning, eq, effects, etc. Now I just need to listen another 100 times and tweak. So the audio mix is coming along, and I hope to have it done within a month or so.

I also watched 50% of the video footage. We have some great shots - Creative Edge Studios did an excellent job! Anyway, I am really looking forward to jumping into the video editing aspect. We should have a nice product when we're done.

The show itself was about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Haven't decided if it will all go on there or not. If anything is cut, first will be the 2 covers (Maiden, Floyd, and Metallica). However, we'd like to keep the entire show in tact.

We also want to put some bonus footage. Some ideas are a select song with multiple shoots/views. We'll definitely have the interviews on there (thanks, Matt Bankes!). There is also some nice various after footage, and I'm sure we'll include some of that.

I'm also batting around the idea of including an audio CD with it (I've seen this packaging before - like Journey's Escape: Live in Houston DVD).

Anyway, there is a lot of work to do. I'd like to have something by early/mid summer, but no promises!

 

[AMBR]

Hey! Good to see some interest in our show here. Looks like Matt included a nice account of the night.

Anyway, I posted this in our forum (folks here, feel free to stop by! ), but just in case anyone here is interested on the DVD progress...

Hey, Matt. Great to hear the news on the DVD. Wish we could catch your show May 6, but I'll be in Vermont for the Evergrey/Nevermore show. Keep us posted on your progress and hope you make it up the the NYC area soon.

 

[Snowy Owl]

Great to see good ol' Matt made it here to say hello! Odin's Court rocks the freakin' house! He's a great guy and becoming a very good friend.

I'll also keep you all posted on the status of Rising Forces USA! Odin's Court will be our featured band in our first installment and there will be tons of pics, an interview, CD reviews, and more quality stuff on the Mid-Atlantic's up and coming prog metal force!

You and Dave just gotta make the trip down for a show! We can all hang out and have a good time. Trust me, they are worth the drive!

 

[AMBR]

Anyone going to the Into Eternity/Gammaray gig May 1st? We'll be there in NYC!

 

[Snowy Owl]

Money keeps me away

 

[str8edgepunker]

Anyone going to the Into Eternity/Gammaray gig May 1st? We'll be there in NYC!

I'll be there. I am not missing that show.

 

[AMBR]

Had a great time at the show. Gamma Ray surpised me with how good they were live. Into Eternity always kicks ass, but I really missed Rob. Hopefully his absence is temporary.

Next up, Evergrey, Nevermore and In Flames! May have an interview from that one for you soon. Will definitely have mucho photos! Who'd of thought Burlington, VT was a metal town?

 

[Snowy Owl]

My saga in following the up and coming metal stars Odin's Court continues this month when the RFUSA crew makes the trek to Baltimore, MD for a gig at Dick's Halfway Inn.

Come on down, people! Tell 'em I sent you! For more info go to the band's website or for info on the club go to www.marylandparty.com

Support independent metal!

As for bigger gigs, I do not know when my next one will be...I am so engrossed with making the trek to out of the way places to see smaller bands that I may not get the time to go to a big one. I hope we will cross paths again!