EPTDay 1
Unexpect was delightfully amazing. They delivered a fantastic opening act. I had never heard of these guys before but they were easily one of my favorites for this weekend. Big thumbs up from me.
Lauren Harris...I know she's the daughter of the bassist for Iron Maiden, so that MAY have influenced why she was allowed to play in the first place. Needless to say it wasn't interesting enough to keep me around.
Overkill was insane. I had a surprise mosh start right around me, and being the dolt I am and bringing a bag to this event, I had to get out. I kept getting tossed back in so I had to deck my way through a couple guys before I could make it out. Yay, my first mosh experience! Other than that these guys were super fast paced and hardcore and they were pretty enjoyable.
Three Inches of Blood, like Lauren Harris, failed to keep me interested in listening to them.
Symphony X was basically the reason I even came to this concert. These guys are my current favorite band after listening to their 25-minute long song "The Odyssey", which is in itself an incredible masterpiece for anyone to enjoy. They did not fail to disappoint, and while they stuck to their more hardcore material rather than bust out the melodics and orchestras, they still put on a grand show. Big big thumbs up. Fun fact, I got a free autographed signed poster from them too and they seemed like really cool guys.
Hatebreed attracted the best concentration of the violent crowd, so I tended to stick to the outskirts of the masses. However, they were pretty damn good at what they did, which was pump people up. These guys did some real hardcore shit and I am definitely going to get some of their music if I need to be pumped.
Hammerfall was like Dragonforce Junior with crappy sound quality, so I put myself a good distance away from these guys. And Mastadon sucked too.
Type O Negative was probably the worst performance of the weekend. It sounded like a couple of stoned monkeys bashing instruments together hoping it sounded good. I have no idea how these guys could even begin to have some sort of fanbase. The lead singer even said "Are you guys prepared to be disappointed?" which I thought was clever, but I didn't know he was speaking the truth.
Dethklok (yes, the metal band from that cartoon Metalocalypse) was probably the best performance of the weekend, quality wise. These guys didn't even try cheesy things like "WHAT'S UP MONTREAL! RAISE YOUR FUCKIN' HANDS IN THE AIR!", they just straight up went from one song to the other. These guys meant business. I don't think the lead singer even moved. And they were top-notch; they sounded exactly like they do from their album / the cartoon. They has some funky cartoon effects on the jumbo screen for some added humor as well. If you ever get a chance to see Dethklok live, jump on it.
Iron Maiden was the most hyped event of the weekend, with their "Somewhere Back in Time" tour and all. Me and my friend waited 3 hours near the front of the stage for Iron Maiden, despite me preferring Dethklok I decided to fork over the good position now for the good one later. That did not last long, however, for when Dethklok ended everyone just PILEDRIVED into our crowd. It was a huge wave of people just collapsing on me, and the only thing keeping me alive (and standing) was the fact that other people behind me were trying to push back. The thing basically turned into a mosh pit before they even made any appearance. When Iron Maiden finally appeared it became too much. Some guy gave me a headlock and tried getting lifted over the top of the audience, so people on the other side pushed too hard and he landed on top of me. I was basically crouching down in a gigantic mosh pit...try it, it's one of the worst things you will experience. I still had my fucking bag with me to. I somehow managed to crawl my way out after lots of pushing and jerking, and made it into the clearing where I could breath again. The show was nuts with lots of effects and flamethrowers...Iron Maiden really knows how to put on a good show.
Day 2
I felt like shit. My neck, arm, and left leg was killing me, my throat hurt, and my ears were still goddamn ringing. I stayed at a friend's place too and the sleeping area I had was VERY uncomfortable. Oh well, the show must go on...
Death Boat wasn't anything special, just sounded like a generic thrash metal band to me. Might have been because of how nuts the day before was though. They did dress up funny though, like pirates, trannies, and a guy in a (pre-pooped) diaper. They're like the village people of thrash.
Your Favorite Enemies was a big disappointment. They sounded amazing until the singers opened their fucking mouths. It turned from awesome hardcore metal into shitty emo looking / sounding metal. Really unfortunate.
Priestess was some pretty hardcore rock. Was working out the cramps in my neck during this period.
Warrant was more old-school hard glam rock, so it wasn't really my style. I decided to save my energy for bands I wanted to enjoy later.
Drowning Pool was pretty cool, I don't remember any of it now but some songs sounded real nice.
Shadows Fall fucking rocked! They got life back into me and really got the audience moving. They sounded fantastic.
Voivod is apparently revolutionary, but it wasn't anything special to me. Some sort of big band reunion for the first time in 8 years is what drove the hype. I had never heard of these guys and don't care to hear about them later on.
Anthrax...oh my god. Fucking hype. REALLY hype! These guys were fantastic and knew how to get the crowd moving. They were hardcore, loud, thrash, and overall just rocked the house.
Three Days Grace was the biggest disappointment of the weekend for me. I love these guys as they are one of my favorite artists, but their entire performance SUCKED. It was AWFUL. The singer did not sound like he should have at all...in fact he barely sang he just tried to make up for it by screaming a bunch instead. And every time he did sing it was off key. They did not sound even close to what they normally sound like...maybe because it was a metal concert that they tried to change their style up, but it was terrible. I wish they listened to themselves before they actually performed. I wasn't the only one who thought this: every face shown on the jumbo screen was plastered with disappointment, I actually laughed watching the screen while they performed. Go back to the recording studio guys. Never watch them live.
Disturbed was the LOUDEST performance I could have possibly imagined! They were twice as loud as any of the other bands, and they were clear too. The crowd was SUPER excited...they were the best performance that day, by a huge margin. ESPECIALLY since Three Days Suck was before them. Their special effects were on cue and synched perfectly, the musicians were full of personality, the singer was so badass...and the bass drum was so loud and clear it could knock people over. It was seriously obliteration. I lost myself to "Land of Confusion", wow. Incredible...do go see these guys if you get the chance!
I skipped Motley Crue because I'm not a big fan of them and I wanted to get home. Probably had flames and stuff too, whatever.
Yeah, that's my weekend in a nutshell. My ears still hurt and I got a crazy sunburn.
