Concert Reviews - Iced Earth

If you want to destroy your ears, I recommend checking out Iced Earth in concert. I saw them a couple days ago with Kilyakai and Early Man.

So, first things first. We went for dinner before the show and tried to skip as much of the opening as we could. We came in near the end of Kilyakai performing. They were okay, I suppose. The singing wasn’t that great and the singer had ridiculous stage presence. The music wasn’t bad and I have to appreciate that the sound was at least decent for their performance. Nothing special.

I can’t say the same for Early Man. It’s tough to judge when whoever is doing sound for your band has no clue what they’re doing, but even through that, I knew they were, quite blatantly, awful. You couldn’t hear the singer’s voice unless he was screaming, and the screaming alone was incredibly irritating. One of the guitars was far too loud and they were letting the guitars feed back WAY too much. Everything sounded sloppy, like a bad jam session. I wished they had played first so it had been them we missed most of. Such is life though.

Jon Schaffer and Matt Barlow performing Behold the Wicked Child

So out came Iced Earth. My brother asked me to call which songs they would start with, so I went with the intro to The Crucible of Man (In Sacred Flames), followed by Behold the Wicked Child (the first song after the intro) where the band would come onstage and play. I was right! And it was awesome. Frankly though, I didn’t really have any idea what songs they played. After the first two, the next one I knew was Burning Times, Watching Over Me, Dracula, The Coming Curse, and Stormrider (which Jon Schaffer sang for, which was cool). A couple I didn’t know offhand but found out later were Declaration Day (which was rad with Barlow on vocals) and High Water Mark. The encore consisted of Melancholy (The Holy Martyr) and Iced Earth. They played at least one song off Framing Armageddon, which sounded awesome with Barlow on vocals. There were a few others songs I didn’t know that I really liked, but in general it was all good.

Matt Barlow and his beefy arms

I have to say, Matt Barlow has a voice. That man can wail and the first time, I felt that my eardrum throbbing and I had to cover it because I was actually worried. I imagine that it must be hard to do sound for a man with a four-octave vocal range. You have to crank it up because otherwise you can’t hear his low vocals, but as a result, when he goes into those falsetto shrieks, it feels like you’re brain is about to explode in your skull.

Otherwise (not saying it was bad, just kind of intense) musically, the show was great. I think that Iced Earth’s website describes them as a galloping rhythm, not unlike Iron Maiden, but with a bigger, heavier horse. That was more evident at the concert than it ever has been before. You could really hear the influence. Jon Schaffer’s rhythm was loud and intense, and the drummer’s playing, particularly in the intro to one song that I didn’t know (High Water Mark), was quite enjoyable. Musically, aside from some issues with the sound booth and the turmoil in my ears from Barlow’s wailing, it was incredible. I only wished they played more songs I knew, like The Dark Saga, or anything (Dracula aside) off Horror Show.

Jon Schaffer singing Stormrider

One of the cooler parts about this show was that we had VIP tickets, so we got to hang out afterwards and meet the band. Or should I say, hang out afterwards and say hello, get some stuff signed, and then get your picture taken. “Meet” and greet pushes it a bit. I can’t really blame them, they’ve just been rocking and they’re tired. And they were still friendly, which was great. Jon Schaffer in particular seemed really happy to meet everyone who came out and they all really seemed to appreciate everyone’s support on their first show in Calgary (Matt Barlow stated that he thought Montreal was the most metal city in North America but that Calgary might’ve taken their place). I told Matt Barlow that I was glad that he came back and even though I imagine he hears that all the time, he seemed to appreciate the compliment. I gave my hellos and you rocks to everyone and by the time I got to Troy Steele (the other lead guitarist), I had nothing else to say. Regardless, when I got to him, he thanked me for coming to the show, and I thanked him for being awesome. He seemed pretty amused. After that we waited in line for pictures and I got in there, not knowing what to do, and Matt Barlow was laughing at me because apparently I couldn’t decide whether to do the metal horns in the picture and he said they were wussy or something. I was like, aww, I’m sorry, and he just laughed and gave me a pat on the back. They all seem like really nice, friendly, personable, down-to-earth people, and I have a lot of respect for them as musicians and as people.

The full band

All in all, these guys are really just great people. They really put their all into their music and appreciate every person who comes to see them play. For their first time in Calgary, it was a great show. I wished I knew more songs that they played, and I hope one day my ears stop ringing, but I was really impressed and I am glad I got to see them. I’d definitely check them out if they came again.

Iced Earth saying goodnight

Year: November 2008
Opening bands: Kilyakai, Early Man
Who I went with: Michael Widmer, Jeff Wiseman
Location: Calgary - Mac Hall ballroom

Concert Reviews - In Flames

Concert Reviews – In Flames

Well, ever since seeing the video for My Sweet Shadow, I’ve been hoping In Flames would come this way. I know they were here with Gigantour earlier this year but I didn’t want to spend the money if they weren’t headlining. Lucky me, they came back a few months later.

In Flames is touring with All That Remains, a decent (considering) American metal band, and Gogira, another decent band. I think someone else played but we were looking (and unimpressed) at the shirt selection and didn’t catch them at all.

So to start with, Gogira was interesting. My first thought is to say that I didn’t hate them. It says a lot, because I hate most opening bands. These guys weren’t hard to listen to, but at the same time, they didn’t really stand out. They had a bit of thrash, but only in one or two songs and not enough to piss me off, and the singer had moments where he sounded like David Draiman (from Disturbed) but in the end, their music was pretty good and, while the singing was a bit boring, it wasn’t terrible. Definitely not the worst thing you could get stuck listening to on a car ride, that’s for sure. They should probably give their bass player some Ritalin though... he looked like he might lose his head if he doesn’t relax a bit.

Next up was All That Remains. I am pretty outspoken in my dislike for American metal. I classify it as American metal because the metal that comes out of America and that comes out of Europe is an entirely different style of music. With that in mind, again, these guys weren’t terrible. The singer amused me a bit cuz he looked kinda like he should be at a frat party, not in a metal band, but he was alright. His nipple rings were a bit distracting though. No comment on that one. The music wasn’t bad but I wasn’t a huge fan of the singing. But, like I said, it definitely wasn’t terrible, but not really my style.

Anders in the spotlight, talking to the crowd.

Ah, In Flames. I am a big big big fan of Anders Fridén. In the last year and a half, I’ve also become a big big big fan of In Flames. I know a lot of the old school fans will say, “whatever, new In Flames sucks and isn’t what it used to be.” My ex told me that Soundtrack to Your Escape sounded like Linkin Park. But hey, I like Linkin Park and he doesn’t. I really don’t see the similarity either way. I feel that bands should play the music they want to play and be true to themselves. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to listen to it.

One of the guitarists, Björn Gelotte.

They opened with a couple songs off their new album, Sober and Irrelevant, along with Mirror’s Truth. Amongst those, they also played Satellites and Astronauts, Pinball Map, Eraser (a song about forgetting the past and being who you want to be), a combo of either Dead God in Me or Food for the Gods into The Jester Race (which was pretty cool, considering I don’t know much old stuff), System, Trigger, Cloud Connected, The Quiet Place, Touch of Red, Delight and Angers, and Alias, plus a few others, ending with Take This Life.

Mostly everyone.

I got the song I HAD to hear (there’s one at every concert, right?), which was Come Clarity, though I was disappointed that Anders didn’t sing along to the chorus through most of the song, which really is what makes it so amazing, so that kinda sucked. It was still incredible though. A few that I would’ve liked to hear that I missed out on were My Sweet Shadow (probably my second favourite song by them), Clayman, and Only For the Weak (which I’m surprised they didn’t play).

The guitarists.

What I really enjoyed about this show, was that it was just a very well-rounded concert. Anders interacted with the crowd, talked to us, and made us laugh (like when the guitar player was playing little riffs while Anders was asking where they could go party after the show, saying something along the lines of “Hey! I am trying to talk to them about something very important; partying, and you are interrupting me with your guitar. SHUT UP!”). With the number of songs they have, you know you’re going to hear a lot of stuff you want to hear, and a lot of stuff you don’t care about either way. I found at the beginning I wasn’t too impressed with their selection but it got progressively better throughout the show. However, I imagine it encompassed enough of a range of their music to satisfy pretty much everyone, so I can’t complain.

What I mean by well-rounded though, is that it seemed like a concert that almost anyone could really enjoy. It was heavy enough that the hardcores were in the middle moshing to most of it, but it was relaxed enough that we were standing off to the side, rocking out and enjoying the music, and still able to see the show without being pressed up against big sweaty guys. Even the songs, like Eraser, that I’m not particularly fond of, sounded awesome live. As I said, anyone who knows me musically knows that I am a big Anders fan and he did not disappoint live. The music was fantastic, as good or better than it sounds on the albums, and it generally just made me happy, sounded amazing, and had a really good atmosphere, even with the Beer Gardens open (which usually results in at least one obnoxious drunk pissing me off for a minimum of half an hour, and I was spared them for the most part). It was a really good set and I was really impressed with them overall.

Anders and the others.

Disappointments? Aside from the lack of Anders during the Come Clarity choruses, I was really disappointed with their lack of encore. This is the second band now (the first being System of a Down) and I find it to be such a let-down. Your crowd wants you, so give them more! I hate no encore. Hate it. Also, I didn’t find Take This Life to be a good ending song. I think it’d be a better opening song. I mean, I know that oftentimes the goal is to leave your crowd wanting more when you go, but you can’t end with an opening song, it kind of leaves you feeling incomplete. And they had the possibility to do something like Only for the Weak for an encore, which would’ve been awesome. Alas, such is life. And really, without all that, it was an awesome show. The band seemed happy to be there, enthusiastic, and just looked like they were having a good time.

Another group shot.

Anders said he likes Canada better than the US but told us not to boo, which I liked (I really don’t know why people do that, but whatever; I guess people are just competitive by nature), and said he wasn’t just sucking up to us. It’s up to you whether to believe him though. It’s still a nice gesture, either way.

So with all that, I’m really hoping they come back again (like he said they would), with a new set of songs I haven’t heard yet live, and a version of Come Clarity where he sings more in the chorus. I left that concert feeling great and wanting more, and I think that’s a generally good way to leave a show.

The group saying thank you at the end.

Year: November 2008
Opening bands: ???, Gogira, All That Remains
Who I went with: Michael Widmer
Location: Calgary - Mac Hall (main floor)