Concert Reviews

[custom55]

I worked the AC/DC show at Metllife NJ on Wednesday night. I agree with Rick, tooooooo loud. I was flying around the stadium most of the show but I have to tell you... the crowd for AC/DC behave better than the crowd for pre-season Jets and Giants. Very few incidents and the crowd was into it.

 

Oh, and the vendors sold a lot of blinking devil horns.

 

SPOILER VIDEO <--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Edited August 29, 2015 by custom55

[djflex]

Def leppard killed it last nite here in indy. Sounded tight and played hit after hit. They sounded better than last year by far.

Styx put on a good show and sounded good. Im not really a fan , but they were good live. Did not see any of tesla..

[pip65]

I saw King Crimson last night at Aylesbury Waterside. Now, I am not the sort of KC fan who has everything they ever released and knows there entire catalogue in minute detail, but I like what i know and when KC are playing a venue only 20 minutes from home - that's too good an opportunity to miss.. Besides, I was intrigued to see how they would use 3 drummers.

They did not disappoint - top quality musicians. Old classics reinterpreted to use the strengths of the current band but staying true to the spirit of the original songs. Jakko Jakszyk did an excellent job on vocals (and guitar), Mel Collins and Tony Levin are world class and it showed. The 3 drummers also played a large range of other percussion instruments and, in the case of Bill Reiflin, mellotron. They were always perfectly in time with each other although rarely playing in unison and never overpowered the rest of band as I feared they might.

One thing I found slightly odd was that there was no spoken interaction from the band other than a series of pre-recorded talk and interviews old and new. This may be usual for KC, I don't know, but they certainly let the music do the talking.

[djflex]

Saw van halen last night. David lee roth sounded so bad it really kinda wrecked the show. Eddie was tight though...

 

Strong set list.

[djflex]

Saxon was on fire last nite. Everyone was spot on and ready to rock. They did a longer set list to give lemmy some rest.

 

As far as motorhead, felt really bad for lemmy. Looked and sounded rough, barely moved on stage. We didnt stay for the whole motorhead set as i had to work

[Steevo]

Saxon was on fire last nite. Everyone was spot on and ready to rock. They did a longer set list to give lemmy some rest.

 

As far as motorhead, felt really bad for lemmy. Looked and sounded rough, barely moved on stage. We didnt stay for the whole motorhead set as i had to work

 

Thanks for that man, Saxon always deliver.. As for Lem, yeah he needs to give it a rest.

[goose]

Saw Primus last night...I was always sort of a casual fan, a friend that saw them open for Rush years back loaned me some of their stuff, and I liked it so I went and got my own... When they announced this being so close to home, I HAD to go see them, especially since they were doing their whole "Chocolate Factory" album...(and living in Hershey, this was kind of ironic!)

 

Great show! They started with some oldies as a three piece Those Damn Blue Collar Tweakers, Jerry was a Race Car Driver, My Name is Mud, etc... then took an intermission...

 

The curtains were closed and they started with Hello Wonkite's, and played the whole Chocolate Factory album (complete with big Oompa Loompa's during the appropriate tunes) The stage set was like the chocolate factory, and had a big screen that played parts of the movie at the appropriate moment...it reminded me of a Pink Floyd concert! Very cool stuff!!

 

After that they then came back and did an encore with Mr. Knowitall, Southbound Pachyderm (which was freaking amazing, always loved that song!), and Here Come the Bastards!

 

Les is probably one of the most intense bass players I've ever heard...the sounds he gets are amazing, and his fingers are all over the place! A few times he played a bass that looked like a "Dobro" guitar, which was kind of cool! Ler had some great solo's throughout the night, and hearing Herb play on the albums, and a few boots I've heard, I thought he'd be a crazy force behind the kit, but he's VERY conservative and intense! Plays the CRAP out of that wild kit!

 

If you get a chance to see them, you HAVE to go! It's just an great show to see!!!

Sounds similar to my experience. The band is in top form these days, and Chocolate Factory comes across as a magnum opus worthy of comparison to Floyd. Simply brilliant!

[bathory]

I saw AC/DC last night at Gillette Stadium. They opened with Rock or Bust. The last tune was For Those About to Rock. In between, we got treated to Angus playing the guitar with his tie, a surprise track

Shot Down in Flames

and lots of tunes you expect to hear at an AC/DC show.

 

I honestly don't know how they actually "sounded" because they were so loud I couldn't hear a thing. But they were energetic and fun. Stevie Young does a marvelous Malcolm Young impression (looks the same, same Gretsch guitar). Chris Slade seemed a bit off a couple of times, although I wonder if that's an echo/loudness issue. They played Rock or Bust, Play Ball and Baptism by Fire from the new album.

 

AC/DC was my first concert back in 1981. I hadn't seen them in 34 years. I've changed a lot since then. They really haven't. :cheers: AC/DC.

I've seen them once, didn't have earplugs and remember the ringing in my ears for days. One of my friends was so affected by the volume that he got dizzy and almost blacked out.

 

sure he wasn't just wasted?

[bathory]

anyway, saw GWAR last week! got covered in semen and blood.

[PolarizeMe]

Haven't done a concert review in awhile, but I saw Godflesh yesterday with Prurient and Regis as support.

 

Regis' place in the bill was a complete misnomer because we were lead to believe that he (I don't know his real name) would actually go on stage and perform his set of electronic music. But the reality was his music was playing over the PA speakers before Prurient's set. I had a feeling that was the case because you don't open doors at 8:00 and then have the first act show up at 9:45 which was when Prurient went on stage. Nevertheless, I actually thought what I heard of Regis' stuff over the PA was pretty good and would be inclined to check more out.

 

Prurient (real name Dominick) is an industrial noise project, and MAN was this guy ANGRY! He had a table set up with his laptop, a bunch of microphones of different types that were somehow connected to a stack of Marshall amps. Basically his entire set was a wall of noise with him screaming into the microphone incoherently (at least to my plugged ears) while walking on stage flailing around and pulling his microphone cable slack like crazy in a schizophrenic way for 45 minutes (though for some odd reason it felt shorter than 45 minutes to me). I enjoyed his set considering I don't go to these types of shows often so it's sort of new territory for me. I did pick up his latest (double) album, Frozen Niagra Falls on CD (if I end up liking it a lot I might get it on vinyl) at the merchstand which I'll give a listen to later today hopefully.

 

Unfortunately, I was not able to catch all of Godflesh's set because I ran the risk of missing my bus (coming from NJ to Brooklyn) had I stayed for their whole hour set. But I did managed to stay long enough to hear all but 2 songs plus the encore (Like Rats) including two classics off Streetcleaner (the title track and Christbait Rising) before I headed off for the night. I did get an obligatory tour shirt at least which made up for the songs I missed. What's pretty cool was that this shirt was a long sleeve and it had both Godflesh and Prurient's name of it and it even had the tour dates on the left sleeve and a back print of some lyrics I believe. I know Godflesh is just Justin and Ben on guitar and bass with a drum machine played on a Macbook but wow their set was crushing! There was a video projection at the back of them which totally made the live show much better and set the mood of their set. I could recognize several scenes in the video that came from their album covers. If they play in Manhattan as opposed to Brooklyn the next time they tour America (which I prefer cause it's closer to the Port Authority), I would definitely consider seeing them again and hopefully see their full set.

[Self-Indulgence]

Wow! My first AC/DC concert was last night at Dodger Stadium. It was loud and out of control! Just like you'd expect. I have to admit it was my best concert of the year so far. Nobody gets the adrenaline up like AC/DC can. People were losing their minds! It was quite an thing to witness. I had totally obstructed floor seats off to the side. Security was cool with some aisle standing, so I moved closer in and got these shots.

 

 

 

http://cdn.growassets.net/user_files/dweezilzappa/user_images/001/997/962/xlarge.JPG?1443558936

 

http://cdn.growassets.net/user_files/dweezilzappa/user_images/001/997/972/xlarge.JPG?1443558996

 

http://cdn.growassets.net/user_files/dweezilzappa/user_images/001/997/978/xlarge.JPG?1443559038

 

http://cdn.growassets.net/user_files/dweezilzappa/user_images/001/997/980/xlarge.JPG?1443559050

 

If they come back and do an arena tour, I'm on it!

[djflex]

Pink droyd was very meh...

 

They were just ok, honestly we left early.

 

They were not even close to being in the same league as the pink floyd experience. I would see them again, but not pink droyd

[bathory]

ozric tentacles - killer, met the band. their bassist, ed's wife, is as good as geddy

[PolarizeMe]

Opeth's show last night at the Beacon Theater.......holy f***ing shit. Best Opeth show I've seen by far and the best sounding one as well (it's the Beacon Theater so it's bound to be better sounding than a club show). There won't be a "review" from me on this show like I have with my previous concert reviews because I can't put what I experienced and how I felt into words. I don't know when or if that'll ever happen but it's definitely one of the top 5 shows I've seen this year. Edited October 23, 2015 by PolarizeMe

[goose]

Here's a link to my review of the GHOST show and TRF meet-up in Reno, NV. What a blast!!!

 

http://www.therushforum.com/index.php?/topic/95502-ghost-meliora/page__st__440

[Jaminbenb]

Anderson Ponty Band - - Keswick Theater, Glenside, PA

 

I wasn’t planning on going to this one when it was announced, but a friend wanted to go, got tickets, and his wife didn’t want to go…so he called me and I said “sure”! Always wanted to see Jon-Luc Ponty..I remember the first time I really heard any of his stuff, I found out that a drum corps was using New Country as the melody for their drum feature, and thought it was cool… So I borrowed the album from a friend to hear HIS version, and thought it was great! (as was the rest of the album) AS I got into Frank Zappa over the years, I found that he’d played on a few albums, and they did an album together (under Jon-Luc’s name because of a contract issue Frank had at the time) and thought that was another great thing… So this is one of those guys in the back of the mind that I wanted to see…. Jon Anderson from Yes was someone I’d seen with Yes a few times, and solo-wise so I knew that this would be a good match up!

 

I’ve never been to the Keswick, so this was a first..I know they get a lot of decent acts, so seeing where it was I think it might be a good future site to see people…although I wish Hershey would get better bands (another argument for another day)

 

I got the album the week before, and was surprised that they actually had some Yes covers on the album. I figured that they’d do some Yes, and possibly some of Jon’s solo stuff, but I figured primarily that this would have been a new album. Listening to it, some of the arrangements are different, and more of a jazz flavor. Not bad, although the Reggae version of Time and a Word is a little odd…No biggie!

 

I’d say that it was a good bet that the back up band was probably Jon-Luc Ponty’s, those guys seemed to really gel together, and when they played one of Ponty’s solo tunes, they really killed it! (Enigmatic Ocean, Jig or New Country ) Thankfully the players also got a good opportunity to solo, talk about some amazing musicians! The only “odditie” was that The bass, guitar and drummer all looked the “jazz” part, but the piano/keyboard guy (Wally Minko) looked like he belonged in a cubicle, working on “IT” issues…just a little out of place looking, but an amazing musician!

Highlights of the band were each solo spot, but when the bass player (Keith Jones) did his rendition of the beginning of Roundabout, THAT was cool! Also a great highlight were the several solos that Jamie Glaser (guitar player) did as well as the drum solo (Rayford Griffin)

 

Jon is still hitting the notes for a 71 year old, talk about a guy whose voice is still there, I guess his “clean” living, who knows! And Jon-Luc plays with flow and ease, he can make that violin sing like no one else!

 

If you get a chance to see this band, I highly recommend it! Amazing musicians, playing some cool recognizable tunes, as well as some great Jazz fusion!

[pip65]

Over the last couple of weeks I've had the pleasure of seeing 2 excellent bands who, in my opinion, deserve to be much bigger than they are.

1) Riverside - The Marble Factory, Bristol on 21st October

2) Gazpacho - The O2 Academy Islington, London on 1st November

 

Both bands gave faultless performances of excellent music in relatively small venues.

[Self-Indulgence]

Anderson Ponty Band - - Keswick Theater, Glenside, PA

 

I wasn’t planning on going to this one when it was announced, but a friend wanted to go, got tickets, and his wife didn’t want to go…so he called me and I said “sure”! Always wanted to see Jon-Luc Ponty..I remember the first time I really heard any of his stuff, I found out that a drum corps was using New Country as the melody for their drum feature, and thought it was cool… So I borrowed the album from a friend to hear HIS version, and thought it was great! (as was the rest of the album) AS I got into Frank Zappa over the years, I found that he’d played on a few albums, and they did an album together (under Jon-Luc’s name because of a contract issue Frank had at the time) and thought that was another great thing… So this is one of those guys in the back of the mind that I wanted to see…. Jon Anderson from Yes was someone I’d seen with Yes a few times, and solo-wise so I knew that this would be a good match up!

 

I’ve never been to the Keswick, so this was a first..I know they get a lot of decent acts, so seeing where it was I think it might be a good future site to see people…although I wish Hershey would get better bands (another argument for another day)

 

I got the album the week before, and was surprised that they actually had some Yes covers on the album. I figured that they’d do some Yes, and possibly some of Jon’s solo stuff, but I figured primarily that this would have been a new album. Listening to it, some of the arrangements are different, and more of a jazz flavor. Not bad, although the Reggae version of Time and a Word is a little odd…No biggie!

 

I’d say that it was a good bet that the back up band was probably Jon-Luc Ponty’s, those guys seemed to really gel together, and when they played one of Ponty’s solo tunes, they really killed it! (Enigmatic Ocean, Jig or New Country ) Thankfully the players also got a good opportunity to solo, talk about some amazing musicians! The only “odditie” was that The bass, guitar and drummer all looked the “jazz” part, but the piano/keyboard guy (Wally Minko) looked like he belonged in a cubicle, working on “IT” issues…just a little out of place looking, but an amazing musician!

Highlights of the band were each solo spot, but when the bass player (Keith Jones) did his rendition of the beginning of Roundabout, THAT was cool! Also a great highlight were the several solos that Jamie Glaser (guitar player) did as well as the drum solo (Rayford Griffin)

 

Jon is still hitting the notes for a 71 year old, talk about a guy whose voice is still there, I guess his “clean” living, who knows! And Jon-Luc plays with flow and ease, he can make that violin sing like no one else!

 

If you get a chance to see this band, I highly recommend it! Amazing musicians, playing some cool recognizable tunes, as well as some great Jazz fusion!

Nice review. Oh, and it's Jean Luc Ponty....fyi.

[Jaminbenb]

Anderson Ponty Band - - Keswick Theater, Glenside, PA

 

I wasn’t planning on going to this one when it was announced, but a friend wanted to go, got tickets, and his wife didn’t want to go…so he called me and I said “sure”! Always wanted to see Jean-Luc Ponty..I remember the first time I really heard any of his stuff, I found out that a drum corps was using New Country as the melody for their drum feature, and thought it was cool… So I borrowed the album from a friend to hear HIS version, and thought it was great! (as was the rest of the album) AS I got into Frank Zappa over the years, I found that he’d played on a few albums, and they did an album together (under Jean-Luc’s name because of a contract issue Frank had at the time) and thought that was another great thing… So this is one of those guys in the back of the mind that I wanted to see…. Jon Anderson from Yes was someone I’d seen with Yes a few times, and solo-wise so I knew that this would be a good match up!

 

I’ve never been to the Keswick, so this was a first..I know they get a lot of decent acts, so seeing where it was I think it might be a good future site to see people…although I wish Hershey would get better bands (another argument for another day)

 

I got the album the week before, and was surprised that they actually had some Yes covers on the album. I figured that they’d do some Yes, and possibly some of Jon’s solo stuff, but I figured primarily that this would have been a new album. Listening to it, some of the arrangements are different, and more of a jazz flavor. Not bad, although the Reggae version of Time and a Word is a little odd…No biggie!

 

I’d say that it was a good bet that the back up band was probably Jean-Luc Ponty’s, those guys seemed to really gel together, and when they played one of Ponty’s solo tunes, they really killed it! (Enigmatic Ocean, Jig or New Country ) Thankfully the players also got a good opportunity to solo, talk about some amazing musicians! The only “odditie” was that The bass, guitar and drummer all looked the “jazz” part, but the piano/keyboard guy (Wally Minko) looked like he belonged in a cubicle, working on “IT” issues…just a little out of place looking, but an amazing musician!

Highlights of the band were each solo spot, but when the bass player (Keith Jones) did his rendition of the beginning of Roundabout, THAT was cool! Also a great highlight were the several solos that Jamie Glaser (guitar player) did as well as the drum solo (Rayford Griffin)

 

Jon is still hitting the notes for a 71 year old, talk about a guy whose voice is still there, I guess his “clean” living, who knows! And Jean-Luc plays with flow and ease, he can make that violin sing like no one else!

 

If you get a chance to see this band, I highly recommend it! Amazing musicians, playing some cool recognizable tunes, as well as some great Jazz fusion!

Nice review. Oh, and it's Jean Luc Ponty....fyi.

 

Yer right! (shame they don't let you edit) (ok...I edited on your "copy")

[fritz44]

The Virginmarys - The Sugarmill, Stoke-on-Trent

 

Crackin' show by this youngish three piece. Ally's voice raw with emotion, Matt holding it all together with his bass and Danny hitting the be-jesus out of his kit. Roll on 2016 and a full tour. Will get to more shows.

 

The support bands weren't too bad either. No idea who the hell either band were, but decent stuff for £11!

[greyfriar]

Riverside - Substage, Karlsruhe (Germany)

 

I was totally surprised how good these guys sound live. All instruments were so sharp and clear, and the vocals were amazing.

The setlist was very well balanced with a lot of older gems, and 5 songs from the new album. If you get the chance to see them, I highly recommend to do so. Fantastic show.

[Steevo]

Riverside - Substage, Karlsruhe (Germany)

 

I was totally surprised how good these guys sound live. All instruments were so sharp and clear, and the vocals were amazing.

The setlist was very well balanced with a lot of older gems, and 5 songs from the new album. If you get the chance to see them, I highly recommend to do so. Fantastic show.

 

:ebert:

[djflex]

Riverside - Substage, Karlsruhe (Germany)

 

I was totally surprised how good these guys sound live. All instruments were so sharp and clear, and the vocals were amazing.

The setlist was very well balanced with a lot of older gems, and 5 songs from the new album. If you get the chance to see them, I highly recommend to do so. Fantastic show.

 

Super jelly. Duda is one of my favorite vocalists

[greyfriar]

Fish - "Alte Seilerei" Mannheim (Germany)

 

The Alte Seilerei is an old factory building which was used to produce ropes a hundred years ago, so the name of it is best translated with Old Ropeyard. The place was a total flop, since they had only one small bar and 5 (!!!!!) toilets for a few hundred people. What a mess.

 

Place was sold out and I bought my ticket outside on the street, one hour before the show started.

Fish opened with a few songs from his huge solo catalogue, and the whole band sounded pretty lame, to be honest.

After that he held one of his endless speeches and he pointed out that the following 50 minutes would mark the highlight of the evening.

Ladies and Gents the entire Misplaced Childhood.

It was pretty clear that there's no Rothery, Kelly, Mosley or Trewavas on stage, but those guys forgot to do their homework properly. I was very astonished that a concert could have that much ups and downs. The intro was nearly perfect and the following Kayleigh was a dead loss. Hell, the band had a few moments where they could hardly escape some trainwrecks. Torture for my ears.

All of a sudden the mood changed back to perfection with a sweet version of Lavender. It was so strange and hard to believe that it was the same band...and so it went on and on. The band had to fight themselves through some parts, but every once in a while they created the grand illusion and took the listener back to 1986.

So the whole evening was a mixture of pure boredom and some really great goosebump moments during the Childhood performance.

Anyway, I was glad to be there to say Goodbye to one big man in rock, the obscure Scottish poet.

[fraroc]

The Ozzy Osbourne tribute band I saw last night was REALLY good, but the most impressive aspect of it was the fact that the drummer was able to stuff this HUGE double bass kit onto a small bar/theatre stage.