I listen to heavy metal….a lot of it.

A little while back I wrote a blog about heavy metal and nostalgia and I think this was the post with the most replies out of all the blogs I’ve posted. I’m assuming that means there’s a lot of metalheads on TL so I thought this would be something fun to write about…a nice departure from what I usually write.

I’m somewhat obsessed and I try to attend as many live shows as I can. This year I went to thirteen concerts:

1. Revocation and Children of Bodom at Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, NY
   
2. Suicide Silence at the Buffalo Town Ballroom in Buffalo, NY (there was a storm and I missed Darkest Hour’s set because of the weather)
   
3. Converge at Lost Horizons in Syracuse, NY
   
4. Iron Maiden’s Maiden England Tour at Klipsch Music Center in Indianapolis, IN
   
5. Summer Slaughter Festival 2012 Edition (Between the Buried and Me, Goatwhore, Job for a Cowboy, Veil of Maya, Periphery, the Faceless) at Expo Five in Louisville, KY
   
6. Born of Osiris and Norma Jean at Madison Theater in Covington, KY
   
7. All Shall Perish at the Vernon Club in Louisville, KY
   
8. Enabler at Blind Bob’s in Dayton, OH
   
9. Converge and Kvelertak at Skully’s in Columbus, OH
   
10. Every Time I Die and the Chariot at Headliner’s in Louisville, KY
    
11. Megadeth at LC Pavilion in Columbus, OH
    
12. As I Lay Dying at Madison Theater in Covington, KY
    
13. Acacia Strain and Born Low at Bogies in Albany, NY.
    

So obviously there’s gotta be a best one right? I’m lazy…and I like themes. I’m going for another top 3.

#3) Iron Maiden

I almost put Summer Slaughter here just because it had the sickest, most consistent lineup of any festival ever. I don’t think there was a sleeper that entire show and I was dead tired from like seven straight hours of amazing bands. But then I remembered that I finally saw my holy grail of Maiden songs: The Trooper and Aces High. I’ve seen them twice before and both times I didn’t get to hear The Trooper. First time I saw them, it was that unfortunate tour where the played all of A Matter of Life and Death from cover to cover. It was such a bummer…Then in 2010 I saw them play Madison Square Garden with Dream Theater. That playlist was way better and included a tribute to Dio before playing Blood Brothers. Oh and Wrathchild happened hehe. But finally I saw a classic Maiden tour like when they did their World Slavery Tour/Somewhere Back in Time Tour in 2008, which I missed. This year they played a setlist based on the 7th tour of a 7th tour, or songs from the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son cd. I got to hear some winners like Moonchild, Phantom of the Opera, and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. But more importantly, I got to see the Trooper and Aces High! My poor poor voice was decimated during Aces High. Totally worth it. Finally I had done it and seen them play a classic tour setlist AND The Trooper AND Aces High.

#2) Every Time I Die

These guys are always putting on a party. When I saw them at Warped Tour they played the classic 80’s montage song “You’re the Best Around” as an intro and then launched into a burner of a setlist. When I saw them at their hometown Christmas show last year, security didn’t like the stage dives. After enough, the band said they’d probably never get booked at the venue again. So the crowd started tearing down the Christmas decorations around and threw trash cans everywhere. Good times. Needless to say, I go see ETID as much as I can.

Apparently they were on tour in Europe for the last year and the Louisville show was their first in the US after the Europe tour. I’m not really sure what happened over there but they really polished their set. Finally the setlist was awesome and performance was really clean but they still retained their hilarious banter and onstage presence. Keith Buckley, the vocalist, invited us to party with them after the show. The special guest DJ was Andy Williams, their guitarist. Apparently he’s also DJ First Four Metallica Albums (Honestly though, what else do you need?). Their music is so much fun and you could see the kids going ape shit. Oh, and they played a cover of Pantera’s Walk instead of the ending to No Son of Mine. Fucking crazy. I heard Rex’s bass.

#1) Converge and Kvelertak

I’ve seen Converge three times in the last two years. I really love their live shows and music. Jacob Bannon is so soft spoken and quiet between songs because he has to be. His delivery and the band’s backing are just so ferocious. He’s like the Energizer bunny; he never stops during that show. And the crowds who show up are always the most diehard fans. But there was something special about this show…I haven’t see chaos like that at a show in ages. Previously I thought Ohio crowds were lethargic but the Columbus crowd made me think twice. I haven’t seen that many stage dives since Protest the Hero in Montreal (Stage Dive Capital of the World?). I haven’t seen that many people in the crowd who knew all the words in a long time. Reminded me of some of the shows I’ve seen at the Palladium.

Runner Up) Enabler

I found out about these guys and their CD All Hail the Void about two weeks before I saw them in person. Thanks to MetalSucks who said in September that this album would appear on the year end list, I took a listen and was instantly hooked. I’d say the CD could be this year’s party album since it’s so energetic but it’s too dark for that. Anyways, they played this dive bar which had the world’s smallest stage. I think it was literally enough room for the drum set, and the guitarists/bassist to stand shoulder-to-shoulder. And yet they killed it, I haven’t seen a show that tight or that well-laid out in a long time. The setlist was setup real nice, the banter was hilarious, the energy was even higher than advertised by the CD, and they sound good in person. There’s something to be said about a tight, well run set. No bullshit, just straight-up thirty minutes of ass-kicking. The article title was so right; missing their tour was not advisable. And who doesn’t like synchronized head banging? Gotta love the classics.

Side note, I don’t think it’s a mistake that two of the bands listed here (Converge and ETID) both use Orange amps. Music sounds better when played through those badboys.

The logos are from the bands. Youtube credits are listed in the videos. Wikipedia credits are listed in the articles. Thanks to MetalSucks for their awesome writing.