Review your last concertMusic

[Joel]

KISS



Kiss played the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto on September 10th, I went to the show with a few friends. It was absolutely incredible! I wasn't really the biggest KISS fan before the show, and was somewhat skeptical, but they sure as hell know how to put on a show, and they certainly won me over. Two bands which I've never heard of opened for them, one was called the Envy, and one was called The Academy Is. I wasn't fond of either really, whiny "omfg my girlfriend broke up with me and my parents don't understand my style" crap. They certainly made KISS look better . I was just blown away by the show, all the theatrics were top notch, the music was great, and Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons did a great job at getting the crowd involved in the show. All in all, just a great show.




EDIT: Found the video of the opening song.

 

[kanyewest_tml]

I saw the Gorillaz in Toronto Thursday...amazing concert! Loved the mixture of genre's and cultures all within the music. The crowd was hyped up which made for a way better concert. Couldn't of asked for a better concert.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I just got back from seeing The Aquabats and Reel Big Fish. If there's two bands you can guarantee to put on an awesome show, it would be these two. They were opened by a Melbourne-based band, called The Resignators, my friends band opened for them earlier this year and I wasn't impressed by them then and I wasn't impressed by them this time, they were kind of similar in sound to an Australian band called Area 7 (who I'm also not too fond of). A very mediocre band.

After a short break from the opening band, The Aquabats came out and just blew me away with a great setlist. They're great with interacting with the crowd, with The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs", frequently hopping off the stage and getting amongst the crowd members. Usually their shows would involve the band fighting super villains, such as "The Time Sprinkler" or "The Floating Eye of Death", unfortunately not this time. However, they did have short videos to go with each song playing on a big screen and also a mock TV ad for some sort of foot cream... but yeah, awesome show. The second time I've seen them and I surely hope it wont be the last!

The Aquabats left the stage, unfortunately without an encore (the crowd gave up asking for more pretty quickly too ), with another short break in place I thought I would take advantage of it and buy another beer. Reel Big Fish didn't quite give me enough time to finish my beer, so I quickly chugged it down and jumped into the pit. This would end up being the 5th time I've seen them play and it was definitely the best. They pretty much played all their fan favourites (Sell Out, Trendy, Take On Me, S.R, She's Got a Girlfriend Now) along with some other great additions. I was pleasantly surprised by them playing 241 from their breakthrough album Turn the Radio Off, that one being my personal favourite song for the night. The set just kept going on and almost seemed like they played their whole discography, not that I'm complaining, I didn't want the night to end.

I think the best way I could sum up a Reel Big Fish and Aquabats gig would be these two videos:

Language warning.​

An awesome night out and now for the long wait for Soundwave Festival, featuring two more favourite bands of mine, Millencolin and the Mad Caddies!

 

[driftin]

Melt Banana @ Rock City, Nottingham
Wow. Just wow. Probably the greatest, loudest, most energetic rock gig I've ever been to. And I've seen The Stooges.

Doors were supposed to open at 6:30, my friend and I arrived at 6:15 and nobody was there so we wandered about. We came back fifteen minutes later and it was just as empty. We were told by one of the staff that doors were now opening at 7:00 so we took off again and got ourselves a drink from a bar down the road. When we got back just after 7:00 the place was packed.

Guilty Parents came onto the stage at 7:30, a scruffy looking bunch with beards that'd put bikers to shame. They launched into a song that physically assaulted the crowd, not because it was a raucous song but because it was so damn loud it actually hurt. After a while the sound engineers turned the volume down slightly and you could actually start to hear what the music was, generic standard hard rock. Nothing to upstage what was to come but nothing memorable either.

After a twenty minute break, at 8:45, Melt-Banana came onto the stage to set up their gear and once they had finished they basically started to play unannounced, launching into a swirling bunch of electronic noises that reminded me of the climax to Coil's 'Red Birds Will Fly Out of the East'. Yasuko Onuki, in her odd straight jacket looking number, started yapping while an electronic bunch of breaks soared through the speakers and Ichirou Agata, with a surgical mask taped to his face, danced between various effects pedals and randomly hit and twisted an effects box like a DJ scratching vinyl, creating all manner of strange psychedelic noises.

I wouldn't have minded if the whole gig was like this but after ten minutes the bassist Rika Hamamoto entered the stage, her bass guitar almost bigger than her, Agata picked up his guitar and an unknown drummer sat behind his kit while some of the noises that were produced before on the pedals and box looped over and over as they readied themselves to launch into a full song. And damn, did they ever.

The rest of the night was a mixture of material. Some of it I recognised, such as 'Dog Song', 'Tapir's Flown Away', 'Chainshot to Have Some Fun', while others kind of blurred together, not that it's a bad thing. This is Melt-Banana after all. The speed, the loudness, the massive and colourful dynamics between the vocals, effects, drumming and guitars and the sheer energy of their stage presence was intoxicating and the middle of the crowd got very rowdy. It was great fun pogoing around and being bounced off the others doing exactly the same thing and none of us minded that we were elbowing and falling onto each other, except for one girl in the front who kept turning around and punching and pushing people with an extremely pissed of look on her face. My advice is if you go to a Melt-Banana gig and don't want to be pushed, stay the **** away from the main crowd.

The band left and after the crowd chanted 'Melt-Banana! Melt-Banana!' for a while (which I instigated ) they came back on 30 seconds later to play some 'short songs', literally 5 second bursts of guitar riffery and yelling, with the odd bit of silence here and there. It was hilarious seeing people trying to dance to that. They then played a bit more of their normal stuff and finished. When the lights came up the band came out to greet their fans and sign stuff. I shook Yasuko and Ichirou's hand and complimented them on a superb gig while my friend got his Converses signed by them both as well as Rika, the bassist.

Leftfield @ Brixton Academy, London
Good, not great. Well okay, it was very good. They're great performers but the whole thing would've been better if there weren't any idiots in the audience (my main gripe - people pushing me deliberately, pilled up people asking me for e in the toilets - do I look like a drug dealer?! - this Cillian Murphy looking guy who was high as a kite and kept stumbling into everyone and spilling their drinks, some annoying guy who kept grabbing my shoulder even after I told him to get lost [although later he provided about 5 seconds of entertainment by rushing the stage and being thrown out], these extremely obnoxious students with faces that looked extremely smug and punchable. My second gripe was the volume. I love loud but this was too loud in some parts. I couldn't hear the girl's words singing 'Original' because the mix didn't have any dynamics although I suppose it didn't matter because she wore a skin tight tiny bikini thing with nothing underneath and danced extremely... exotically. 'Phat Planet' was more of an endurance test than a good dance tune with the bass ripping through my guts. 'Release the Pressure' was easily the highlight of the show though with the performers really getting the audience dancing. Overall, I would go see them again but I'd rather stand near the back away from the speakers and pilled up annnoying people.

 

[slayer91]

The last concet I saw was the Styx Grand Illusion/Pieces of Eight Tour. It was the third time I had seen Styx, but the first time they were by themselves. It was definitely the best of the three shows I saw. They played many songs that they had never played before. This year I was fortunate enough to have seen Styx twice, Megadeth twice, Anthrax, Slayer, Testament, Exodus, Kansas, Foreigner, and probably the best show I've ever seen, Iron Maiden with Dream Theater opening in Pittsburgh!

 

[CaptianChili]

Last concert i attended was the blackdiamondskye tour (Alice in Chains, Deftones, and Mastodon).

I was really entertained by Mastodon. They played really great and I am now a fan of their music.

Alice in Chains i really did not enjoy, possibly because I do not like their music. But for some reason they were boring to watch.

Deftones really stole the show in my opinion. They played some of their new album ( three songs) but the rest were from Adrenaline, Around the Fur, and White Pony (played Be Quiet and Drive, made me ecstatic ) Also they played like they did from the festivals they played in the 90s. Was awesome to watch:tup:

Sorry about the bias, but as you can tell I am a huge deftones fan.

 

[F1GTR]

Godspeed You! Black Emperor at The Troxy, London, Dec 14th

Getting to the venue took ages, didn't realise that it was so far from Whitechapel, anyway once we got in we were surprised at how such a lovely venue (it was an old Art Deco cinema complete with all the fittings) could be in such a neighbourhood, however it did fit the apocalyptic aesthetic that GY!BE seem to have been branded with.The support was very interesting, didn't know who they were but they sounded like GY!BE on a smaller scale and with a more Celtic twinge to them. They used a quite a few objects as unothordox instruments as well (an axe and a plank of wood and an old record player spring to mind).

Now on to the main act, the legendary GY!BE who have reformed this year after a seven year hiatus. They're regarded as one of the finest post-rock acts around, and after seeing them on Tuesday I'd have to say they're also one of the finest live acts I've seen (and I've seen Jack White, Sigur Ros and Muse). At around 8:40 a deep drone filled the venue, and one by one each of the band's current members took to the stage and added layer upon layer of ambience until all we could hear was a stunning (literally) wall of sound that would put Phil Spector to shame. Throughout the set they projected various abstract film loops which synced with the music both rhythmically and thematically. The music itself was breathtaking, as each of their songs are about 15 minutes long, so listening to gently picked, reverb drenched guitars; wailing violins and steady drums slowly escalate into crescendos the size of Everest was quite a thrilling experience. One thing that their records don't quite capture is how deafeningly heavy they sound live, which adds to the grand nature of their music immeasurably. Setlist wise I thought it was their best out of their London dates as they played their best tracks such as Moya, Storm and The Sad Mafioso (which was used in 28 Days Later). They get a 10/10 from me.

Setlist:
Hope Drone
Albanian
Gathering Storm
Moya
Chart #3
Gamelan
Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls
Slow Moving Trains
The Cowboy
The Sad Mafioso

And a sample for those who don't know what they sound like:

 

[blackblade]

Vampire Weekend at Blackpool.............Considerably better than I expected.

Recommended

 

[PatrickYEAH]

Roger Waters / The Wall 2010.

Absolutely amazing show. I'm a Floyd fanatic so I was expecting it to be so. Sounded amazing, looked amazing, and left me feeling very hopeful of the worlds situation. If you don't have tickets and you live in Europe, do yourself a favor and get some. You won't regret it, I promise.

Together we stand, divided we fall.

 

[Jdmyo93]

Roger Waters / The Wall 2010.

Absolutely amazing show. I'm a Floyd fanatic so I was expecting it to be so. Sounded amazing, looked amazing, and left me feeling very hopeful of the worlds situation. If you don't have tickets and you live in Europe, do yourself a favor and get some. You won't regret it, I promise.

Together we stand, divided we fall.

I hate you I really do...
jk but man I'd love to go see Floyd

Well here was my last show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbVHGx53R-s

Fun! except kicked in the face by those hardcore dancers and small wall of death

 

[Danoff]

Kylie Minogue at the Hollywood Bowl

She's coming back to the Hollywood Bowl

...and so am I. Looking forward to the Aphrodite tour. Got my tickets today.

 

[AlexGTV]

Scorpions.
Summer of 2010.
They had us waiting for 4-5 hours with guest acts playing.
Then they played for an amazing 4 hours or so.
Meine was CD quality and the band rock solid.
Complete with guitar (Jabs simply ROCKS) and drums solos.
Then they left without playing flagship songs like Wind of Change and Hurricane.
Guess what.
They returned after a few minutes to play them to an ecstatic crowd.
Best concert I've been.

 

[Dance Commander]

Went to see The Bravery on Monday evening in Portsmouth.

The Bravery are a band I've really gotten into recently. They only ever released one album over here due to some disagreement with their record label but it's a fantastic album. I've listened to the others after acquiring them in a different manner, and they're just as good. Went along with a couple of mates who are fans of the band too.

Wasn't a very big venue but sound quality was excellent. There were two support bands: Londoners Flash Fiktion and Transfer whom I recall said they were from San Diego.

Flash Fiktion were surprisingly good, actually. Their songs were quite similar to The Bravery and were catchy enough, especially one that to quote their front man "was about orange juice..." They were enthusiastic and I thought their drummer was very good. They were handing out free copies of their latest single which sounded fairly good when I played it at home.

Transfer were alright - they couldn't seem to decide what sort of genre they were in, but a couple of their faster songs were fairly good. They did have stage presence going for them coupled with plenty of energy which kept the crowd entertained for the half an hour they were on stage.

Finally, after a long wait and some technical issues The Bravery came on stage. They immediately launched into a couple of songs from their first album which is fairly familiar in the UK. They sounded really good and energetic, plus front man Sam Endicott had plenty of stage presence. They rattled off a number of new songs, some of which were weaker than others although they seemed very versatile as they were swapping instruments with ease. They finished off the night by playing "An Honest Mistake" which is probably their best-known song, and put an entertaining twist on it by playing a drum solo and in double time for the last part of the song which was different. 👍

All in all it was an enjoyable night, but getting home at 1:30am on a college night didn't go down too well the next day!

 

[Touring Mars]

Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo​

Went to see Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals frontman) last night, promoting his new album 'Hotel Shampoo' which came out on Monday. Backed by 'surf-rock' group Y Nwil for most of the show, he also performed several solo songs. Highlights included a stonking rendition of an older song, 'Gwn Mi Wn', where Gruff Rhys records live multi-tracks vocals and plays bizarre instruments (last night it was a pair of electronic drumsticks complete with red lights on the end). 'Sensations In The Dark' and 'Shark Ridden Waters' are singles from the new album, and sounded fantastic live last night... one or two of the new songs fell a bit flat, but the rest of the show was a feast of creativity and brilliance from a uniquely talented musician...

​

 

[RollingThunder]

My last show was in Worcester Mass. to see The Devin Townsend Project back in November. Hate to say it but it was a disappointing show. They held it upstairs in the small club room which translated into a horrible sound. The guy running the sound board was half wasted and nuked the mixing settings. The guitar was all washed out, couldn't hear the bass, the drums were almost nonexistent, and the cymbals were way too overpowering. It was just a terrible wall of noise. Piss me off too considering that was my last show until mid-summer...if I'm lucky. I'm having surgery in March to have 2 off my vertebra in my neck fused because of a herniated disc and osteoarthritis which resulted in a pinched nerve root right at the spinal cord. On the plus side tho, I'll have a piece of titanium in my neck!! Score.

 

[Dance Commander]

Headed up to Brixton Academy on Saturday to see Yellowcard (well, technically All Time Low as they were the headliners, but went for Yellowcard). The line-up also included an up-and-coming British band, Young Guns.

My mate is possibly the biggest Yellowcard fan in Britain, but after listening to their albums a few times, they really began to grow on me, so agreed to go along with a couple of other friends. This was apparently their first British tour for 5 years so the crowd seemed very enthusiastic and many learnt the songs.

First off, the queue to get in the venue was absolutely huge. Compared to my other experience of a large venue (Pendulum at Wembley Arena) this was a nightmare, as they had one door compared to Wembley's six. The queue stretched the whole way around the building and down the road, and we were in it for over a hour!

Unfortunately this meant we missed all but the last song Young Guns played. I had listened to some of their songs and was looking forward to seeing what they had to offer, but the queue put paid to that. Shame really as they sounded fairly good from what we did hear.

Next we readied ourselves for Yellowcard (although in the break between Young Guns and Yellowcard they played some terrible chart stuff through the speakers...). Got ourselves pretty far forward in the standing crowd with a good view. Straight away they launched into an excellent rendition of "Lights and Sounds" (a personal favourite) which set the tone for the set. Other highlights included "Way Away", new song "For You, and Your Denial" and the closer "Ocean Avenue" all of which sounded excellent due to the band's energy and the hall's acoustics. The band were very receptive of the crowd, and violinist Sean Mackin quickly became a fan favourite for his antics! All in all Yellowcard had lived up to my friend's hype and I'd definitely go and see them again.

Same can't be said of All Time Low, however. Their music was lacklustre and humour immature (like their fans, who consisted mainly of 14 year old girls...) and we quickly left after 2 songs, deafened by the screeching of the crowd and the pretty poor music the band were putting out!

Still, a good evening in all

 

[Touring Mars]

Rush - Time Machine Tour​

I saw Rush last night in Glasgow, as part of their Time Machine Tour, which has been running since the middle of last year. It's the first (and hopefully not the last) time I have seen Rush live, and they lived up to their reputation as a supreme live act. They played for around 3 hours, in two sets split by an intermission, and bookended with 5-10 minute films made specially for the tour. The 'Time Machine' took the crowd back to different eras in Rush history, but they didn't indulge in too much nostalgia.... the set was interesting - packed with classics, but also a fair few lesser-known tracks. The biggest surprise (and treat) of the night was undoubtedly the first half of the second half of the show - the complete 'Moving Pictures' album (1981) played from beginning to end. To see a classic band like Rush is one thing, but to see them play their most iconic album in its entirety is quite another... and for that performance to make up only around 1/4 of the gig, well, you can see that I got my money's worth

Rush played the whole Moving Pictures album ​

Contrary to my expectations, they didn't play much from their forthcoming album, limiting the brand new material to just two tracks, both of which were mightily impressive - again, I didn't expect to like the new stuff as much as that. Other highlights of the night: '2112: Overture/The Temples of Syrinx' (from '2112'), 'Freewill' (from 'Permanent Waves'), 'La Villa Strangiato' (from 'Hemispheres'), 'YYZ' (from 'Moving Pictures')* and 'Closer To The Heart' (from 'A Farewell To Kings').

I think it is safe to say that Geddy Lee's voice is not what it was, and he did struggle with some songs, notably the opener (and my favourite Rush song of all time), 'The Spirit of Radio' (from 'Permanent Waves') - however, it was clear that the crowd couldn't care less! But, regardless of Geddy's admirable efforts at the mic, the show would always be dominated by the instrumental prowess of the finest rock trio in the business - and Messrs. Lee, Lifeson and Peart were simply flawless, and at times, awe-inspiring. Best gig ever.

* (Had to laugh at the crowd 'singing' along to YYZ, which is instrumental, and the guy in the row infront of me playing air everything...)

 

[Nicksfix]

^

You lucky dog. I bet that was one hell of a show. 👍
It's been years since I've seen Rush.It was back in the 80's.Ironically - it was The Moving Pictures Tour.It was great back then and I'm sure it was just as good now,even with an aging Geddy Lee.

Congrats on seeing a great show TM.

 

[Touring Mars]

Thanks 👍

It was something really special, and I remember thinking that I may not get to see Rush again... but, given their incredible energy and their obvious love for what they do, I would be surprised if they didn't come back to the UK soon. I'll definitely book again if they do.

 

[huskeR32]

Flogging Molly at Red Rocks, Sept. 2010

Absolutely amazing show. Couldn't have asked for better weather: 70 degrees and a clear, star-filled mountain sky. One of the better concerts I've ever been to. I've been a longtime listener of theirs, but was still blown away by how much fun I had. They play with a lot of energy, somehow making you feel like you're in a small crowded pub with your best friends instead of outside with 10,000 other people. I've been to several shows there, and this one was the best.

 

[jmsbrydon]

Last Friday I went to see Kings of Leon at Sunderlands Stadium of Light (S**** if your a Boro fan like me.). Wasn't expecting much as a few friends how had seen them previously said they were pretty rubbish live, not this time. One of the best bands i have ever seen live. Absolutely amazing. As expected alot of "fans" left after Sex On Fire but at least they knew this and left it till 2nd last. For the real fans who stayed they treated us with Black Thumbnail to close. Caleb didn't want to leave. Thanked us for being great fans when they have had so much crap lately. Was a great set with lots of old material. Only lacked Spiral Staircase and Red Morning Light.

 

[Alex.]

Slash and Miles Kennedy at the o2 Academy. I don't need to explain more. Just watch this.
[youtubehd]w5UrgwH-c_w[/youtubehd]

 

[Solo]

Muse at wembley stadium in September 2010.

Could there be a better song to get the crowd going at the beginning of a gig than knights of cydonia? I don't think so. The stage the set, the music everything about it was amazing. They are real show men and a great band. Feeling good being sung by the whole stadium full of people was a pretty amazing moment.

And Muse's 2007 gig at wembley was voted best ever wembley event. Just says something about their music doesn't it that it surpasses all other events taken place there all the other gigs and sporting events, even Englands 1966 world cup win

 

[McRoflSandwich]

Saw Iron Maiden at Sheffield Arena last night. They were absolutely amazing! I can't believe how Bruce can still hit the notes. Genuinely one of the best live bands I've seen. Everybody went a bit mental during The Trooper, which was awesome. Plus, they played The Wicker Man, which is like my favourite Maiden song ever. It was an incredible gig

^ I saw Muse in Sheffield in 2009. They are epic live. Put on a really good show. I think they opened on Uprising when I saw them.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Just saw Elbow at The Enmore in Sydney 👍

Great music and the band was well at ease with each other and the crowd. Curious choice of tracks though, with a lot of ballads, which kind of suppressed the energy in the room until the anthems came back.

I'll post some vids soon.

 

[OmniBreaker]

Does EDC 2011 count?


Because I blew my brains out. Literally.

 

[ChaosStar79]

Last night I saw A Perfect Circle at RiverBend in Cincinnati. They put on one hell of a show, playing most of EMotive and songs off the other two albums to a backdrop of a chain mail covered outdoor stage and a lightning storm in the sky. Maynard was amazing. Simply amazing. Hiding in the shadows and never in the spotlight with a long black wig and dark glasses, and often dancing kinda like a monkey, he rocked the house. They played most everything that I wanted to hear except 3 Libras and Orestes, but the performance they gave with The Package makes up for it all. I recommend seeing them if given the chance.

Also the Japanese all girl punk/screamo band Red Bacteria Vacuum opened for them and was very...interesting. Kinda like a live anime show in a way. lol

 

[Prosthetic]

Last night I saw A Perfect Circle at RiverBend in Cincinnati. They put on one hell of a show, playing most of EMotive and songs off the other two albums to a backdrop of a chain mail covered outdoor stage and a lightning storm in the sky. Maynard was amazing. Simply amazing. Hiding in the shadows and never in the spotlight with a long black wig and dark glasses, and often dancing kinda like a monkey, he rocked the house. They played most everything that I wanted to hear except 3 Libras and Orestes, but the performance they gave with The Package makes up for it all. I recommend seeing them if given the chance.

Also the Japanese all girl punk/screamo band Red Bacteria Vacuum opened for them and was very...interesting. Kinda like a live anime show in a way. lol

You lucky bastard. eMotive is probably my favorite of all of APCs work.

 

[ChaosStar79]

You lucky bastard. eMotive is probably my favorite of all of APCs work.

I feel like one too! eMotive live was amazing and seemed so appropriate given the state of the nation. and Maynard was so intense! I mean just every bit was great and they even played a secret new song. My highlight was the Fiddle and the Drum, it was an experience that I will not soon forget. It was nice to feel like you are in a room full of people that just want peace.

 

[WeShallNverStop]

I saw U2 2 weeks ago, it was fantastic. Glad i saw them on their last concert of their 360 Tour, it was great stuff, the crowd loved it, had great spots, great show, probably the best i'll ever experience! 👍