Review: 36 Crazyfists 10.18.2008

#30
Saturday, October 18, 2008
36 Crazyfists
The Human Abstract
All That Remains
Trivium
The National, Richmond VA

Who would have thought there would be a smoke-free venue blocks away from Philip Morris HQ? Plus the bathrooms were so nice they would calm even the most complainy of our theater subscribers.
I got there plenty early because I had no idea what time 36CF would actually play. The Human Abstract played first - coming on promptly at 8. Usually I like screaming and such but this - not so much. Also, if your bass has 50% more strings than the average bass, shouldn't you at least be playing it some of the time? Whatevs.
36 Crazyfists is amazing - actually, we'll revive groin-grabbingly good for them (and in honor of Oli from ATR who kept grabbing his groin during the ATR set). Unfortunately 36CF only got to play for 30 minutes but it was a perfect set in my opinion. Also: wall of death. Love. AK.
Can you believe this is the sixth time I've seen All That Remains? There was not nearly the level of sexitime going on at this show as last night - which is why Phil's various advice and admonitions from the stage were pretty weird. I thought they put on a good set, but they didn't get an encore even though they were direct support.
Between these sets I saw my future as a 50-year old mom with a mullet taking my fat annoying child to a metal show and rocking out to Juke Box Hero (as the only person old enough to know Foreginer). Sigh.
I figured I would go ahead and stick around for Trivium since I hadn't seen them in a while. Plus it was way cheaper than seeing Metallica, even though I did drive all the way to Richmond (1 tank of gas). Not sure why they were all wearing their own band's shirts on stage - maybe they save money that way (36CF shirts were $20). My friend who now lives in the UK always thinks it's funny when she sees kids wearing Trivium shirts since we saw them back on their first national tour at Jaxx. MH: Rogaine - look into it. I thought they put on a good show, though I think all the bands expected the crowd to be more rowdy on a Saturday night but most people were pretty subdued. Maybe they just feel old after watching all of these guys.

Review: Protest the Hero/All That Remains 09.16.07

#25
Sunday September 16 2007
All That Remains
Protest the Hero
The Showdown
Jaxx

Not sure how I feel about the name 'The Showdown' - couldn't it just be 'Showdown'? Anyway, they're from TN and probably the only metal band I've heard use the term 'bible belt' in a song. Some of it was a little too Southern Rock for me, but overall I thought they were pretty good. Some of you may be interested to know that their primary merch consisted of sleeveless t-shirts (which the singer was wearing on stage...otherwise I would have forgotten their name, so I guess in this case it's acceptable).

Protest the Hero is going to be my new favorite band. These Torontonians seriously have it everything I'm looking for in a band - shredding, humour, beards. Plus they had former Threat Signal hottie/guitarist Marco filling in for their regular guitarist who is not allowed to work in the US. I hope they'll be back soon or I may have to take off to the great white north again...

This was my make-or-break viewing (the 5th) of All That Remains. I enjoy them but I still haven't purchased (or even illegally downloaded) any of their albums. The singer is still pretty hot when shirtless. For about a 1/3 of a song there was a pretty good circle pit going, but it fizzled out because people apparently have trouble with the concept of 'circle'. One of the worthless (shining a flashlight on someone helps nothing) Jaxx security guys has the keywork tattooed on his neck (in red for some reason).

Shadows Fall was the headliner but I didn't stick around for them because I had laundry to do. I hope their singer dispensed some advice to the numerous white-guys-with-dreds in the audience - such as: 1) dreds don't cover up a receeding hairline and 2) dandruff shampoo is still applicable. This was their last date on this tour - they're out in October with 3 Inches of Blood. Not sure if I'm going to drive up to Philly for that show or not (it's the closest one).

Review: All That Remains 2.23.2007

#6
Friday February 23 2007
All That Remains
Misery Signals
The Human Abstract
Cellador
Jaxx

So I was pretty excited when I got there in time for Cellador, since I'd heard one of their songs on a Metal Hammer comp and I really liked it. They're from Omaha and are pretty young, but they sound like 80's Euro metal. Awesome. I don't know how one could not like it (I feel the same way about 3IoB).
I'd never heard (of) The Human Abstract before and frankly I would have been much happier not knowing. They had a great light show but the music was definitely not for me. Until the last song, and even then I didn't know if it was a better song or if I had just become more tolerant of them. Hmmm....
Misery Signals is not to be confused with Baltimore death metal heroes Misery Index. Still good though. I would watch them again.
Now, All That Remains has made an appearance in this blog three times in the past yet made very little impression on me. However, I really like their song on the free cd with the Cellador song on it and since I have nothing better to do on a Friday night, I figured I would check out the show. What's-his-name has a fantastic singing voice and he growls and screams to boot. The show itself was sold out (there was even a hopeful overflow line outside when I arrived) and it the most packed I've seen Jaxx since that Dragonforce show last May. So it's pretty typical metalcore stuff, but they put on a good show. I probably couldn't pick any of their songs out of a lineup (except the one on the free cd that I've listened to many times) but it was certainly a perfectly good Friday night at Jaxx.

Review: 3 Inches of Blood

Weekend of Blood, part II
#26
August 14, 2005
Chimaira
Six Feet Under
All That Remains
3 Inches of Blood
The Recher Theatre, Towson MD
Photos!!!

Mmmm, oh baby....OK, I think I'm OK now...or possibly not

Due to yesterday's traffic nightmare and the fact that I really had nothing else to do all day, I headed up to Towson early and explored their giant air-conditioned mall for a couple hours. I got some nice booty jeans and a cute top that's kind of pirate-wench looking. I also had an excellent cheeseburger at the Rec Room next door to the Recher and chatted with a couple of PA people who had come down for the show (we were all there for different bands).

So anyway, 3 Inches of Blood are fuckin awesome. I was right up front and took over 100 photos (quite a few are stalker-wall-worthy). Their new drummer is amazing too AND he's got neck tattoos. I'm not sure how I managed to keep myself together...beards, a cute redhead, neck tattoos, they're foreign...mmmm. Oh yeah, they played for a decent amount of time, even though they were the first of four bands. Included of course were my two favorites 'Premonition of Pain' and 'Wykydtron' and even 'Ride Darkhorse Ride' from Battlecry Under a Winter Sun. Oh and 'Crazy Nights' which was also awesome because I love that song too. OK I love all their songs, so what?
5/5

All That Remains were pretty much the same as last time. Oli is an awesome guitarist and what's-his-name looks good shirtless. That one other one is cute too. It was funny watching him check out some chick when he was sitting at the merch table - ah, booty shorts...
4/5

Six Feet Under...not my thing, so I decline to comment. They were cool to their fans though - taking pictures with people and stuff.

My second viewing of Chimaira and I think I was just about as tired of standing as the first time. They really put on a great show though, playing old old stuff, in-between stuff, and brand new songs. The entire set must have been over an hour. Those fog/smoke machine things really bother my eyes and lungs though. Ugh. They were also super-nice to the fans.
4.2/5

After chatting with Justin at the merch table and going to 7-11 with Jamie, Shane, and Brian, I finally found Cam to give him the 'Real Men Hit the High Notes' shirt that I made for him. I did not follow through on my threat to kidnap one of them and take him back to my basement lair, though. I was trying to figure out when I became THAT GIRL that hangs around even though I'm not like an FOB or anything (I'm still not one of THOSE GIRLS, though, thank god). I blame Coheed...
I forgot to ask any of 3IoB THE QUESTION and I forgot all about the pirate pick-up lines too. And I had a good steel-cage match question and I forgot about that too. I get all distracted by their hotness, dammit. Nothing can ever cure my thirst except for more 3IoB.

Random Stuff:
-Don't forget about Talk Like a Pirate Day (we plan to do it all day at work)

Review: As I Lay Dying/Throwdown/All That Remains/Winter Solstice, 4/18/05

#13
April 18, 2005
As I Lay Dying
Throwdown
All That Remains
Winter Solstice
The Ottobar, Baltimore MD

It's so hard to get to shows on Monday night, especially with the traffic and the need to watch my tape of 24 when I get home. Ugh...

Anyway, I missed Winter Solstice because of the traffic and the line outside. They're from VA and I think I might have seen them once at Jaxx or something. They sounded OK from outside.

This was my first time seeing/hearing (of) All That Remains. They were pretty good - their record company calls them metalcore, so I'm going with that too. My notes say they have excellent guitarists and guitar harmonies. Somebody was yelling at the singer to take off his shirt and he finally did. I don't know if it really added anything to their performance (not that it was a bad thing). Since 'hardcore kids and metal kids hate each other' there was a fight during their set and they stopped and waited until it was all cleared up before they kept playing, which was nice. I liked that they had a variety of vocal stylings even though it all sounded pretty much the same. I would definitely check them out again. Special thanks to their metal-dude guitarist Oli, who answered my one ridiculous question: MOS: Who would you like to see in a steel-cage match against Throwdown? Oli: Hatebreed
4/5

Next up was Throwdown. The last time (#28) I saw them I was sooo excited because I love their album Haymaker and short, angry, tattooed men but then came the bitter disappointment of the live show. I don't know how to explain my reaction but this time was a little better because I was expecting nothing. I blame Trustkill Records (I feel almost exactly the same about Poison the Well). Maybe it would help if they were all shirtless...
2.7941/5

[Two guys in front of me were having a conversation about shoes - one has a photo of his shoe collection as his cell phone wallpaper. WTF?]

Finally the big headliners, CA's As I Lay Dying. The first time I 'saw' AILD was with In Flames and somebody I didn't stick around to watch (Killswitch Engage?) at the 9:30 Club. It was a sold-out show and so I couldn't actually see AILD, although I enjoyed listening to their set. Since The Ottobar is about 1/5 the size of the 9:30 Club, this time I actually got to watch the band (when I wasn't watching out for crowd surfers/stage divers) so it was pretty exciting. Anyway, As I Lay Dying is so awesome and I would highly recommend them to anyone who likes any genre of heavy music. Unfortunately I didn't stick around to try and talk to them, although I had some excellent questions since I recently read the book. My mother is a fish!
5/5