Oops, skipped a gig! Opeth

Just realised i forgot about the Opeth gig (mainly because it appears iv lost the ticket - which is rather depressing me right now!) so ill talk about it now as i cant be bothered rearranging what iv already written. Just one thing, the Slipknot gig would have been my third gig. So anyway - Opeth

Venue: ABC, Glasgow
Date: 17/11/08
Support Acts: Cynic, The Ocean


Friends There: Dechlan

So my 2nd gig, i really enjoyed the first one, so i was all hopeful for the 2nd one. This time i went with Dechlan to see a band that id never properly listened to, but what i had heard i quite liked, but i was mainly going on Dechlans word that they were brilliant, and i trust dechlans opinion on music (and if he reads this blog i hope he agrees with most everything i say =P).

So we got to the gig in good time, enough to make it right up close to the stage in what you could call the 3rd row. We got talking to the guy who was standing next to us, mainly about the gig and stuff, pretty sure iv seen him around a few gigs after or he might just have a common face. Cynic and The Ocean were great, i had never heard of them before (as seems to often be the case with support acts and me), and i specifically remember the lead guitarist of The Ocean being absolutely mental, he was jumping all around the place headbanging like mad while playing his guitar with such force he had to re-tune it after almost every song. Great showmanship there, funny as hell too. Cynic i also remember were using headless guitars (ibanez maybe?) which was something entirely new to me and looked so odd. Dechlan agreed that they were definately wierd things and im pretty sure he wasnt too keen on the look at the time but he might have changed his mind now, not sure, he'll have to read this and inform me properly =P

Now it was Opeths time to shine, and they played beautifully. Its the same every time they play, and i remember dechlan saying that he reckons for note-prefect-accuracy, Opeth gigs always come out on top, and id have to agree. Brilliant music there, and Mikes vocal range is impressive with the way he can growl with little more energy than it would take him to talk. And they always impressed me in gigs to come, well done guys.
Ah and it was at this gig where i bought my first bit of band merchandise, £1 poster, and a tshirt with the logo. The logo is a work of art on its own, has to be one of the best band designs out there. And it goes so well with the music they play.

Next up - Slipknot

Venue: SECC, Glasgow
Date: 08/12/08
Support Acts: Children of Bodom, Machine HeadFriends there: Dechlan, Freya (and Freyas Mum?)

I found out about this gig a little later than i would have liked, especially as it meant i ended up getting a seated ticket. Now, being my second gig, i thought seating wouldnt be too bad, but its definately not the same. I was unfortunate enough to be on my own since Freya and Dechlan had got their tickets earlier than me, and that on its own was enough to make me not enjoy the gig nearly as much as i could have. But for bands such as these, you really cant be seated, even if you dont plan on getting a good mosh on the go, standing in the crowd is pretty much essential for getting the best of the experience. Its a lot quieter, you cant see the band nearly as well as on the floor level, and it lacks the intensity of the un-seated. Of course its good if you just want to have a relaxing little listen to music, in that case its on par with lying on the grass at a music festival in a way (though still not entirely). But anyway lets get on with the bands.

As with pretty much every time i have been to the SECC after this gig, we missed just about all of the first band (Children of Bodom), so nothing enlightening to say about them, though i do love their music and would have liked to have caught their performance. Machine head were great, and one upside of being on a raised level is seeing the crowd as you wouldnt when being a part of it. So i did have the pleasure of witnessing the carnage of mosh pits from a better angle. There was at least one person who literally flew through the air during machine head, picked up by the omnipresent "big guy" thats in every mosh pit, and tossed through the air like a sack of potatoes. And the sheer volume of shoes and various other items of clothing getting thrown around was mildly entertaining.

Then Slipknot came on for the headline performance. I had never been a big fan of slipknot at the time, i was only just getting into my more growly/shouty vocals as opposed to the clearer singing of bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica. But Slipknot put on an excellent performance, and quite probably set aside a few of my uncertainties about their kind of music. They also had these AWESOME hydraulic drumkits set on stair lifts which rose and span during the gig. But what was even more incredible was the main drummer being able to play like normal (pretty crazy drumbeats too as far as i know) even when he was raised and flipped upside down! Now that was something id never seen before (though i believe they do it quite often).
So all in all it was a good gig, but it could have easily been better, and from then on iv avoided seating and plan to keep on doing so unless for certain special bands which are more about relaxing and listening

I just remembered this gig was the one where we missed the last train home due to the cloakroom queue being so long, so we ended up getting a bus. And most interesting bit of the journey which sticks in my memory was a conversation that sprung up on the bus. We were all coming from the gig so there was the mutual feeling of slight kinship that comes with being at the same gig, which makes it easier to talk amongst folk who would otherwise be total strangers (and strange is the key word in that!). Basically the conversation was about how the toilet was out of order, but then somehow got to the topic of what people would do if the bus was to become stranded on the way to edinburgh with no hope of rescue for whatever reason. And i remember one guy (who i seen again multiple times in edinburgh afterwards) saying that he was starving, so if it happened he would eat the shit out of the blocked toilet. The most disgustingly strange thing iv ever heard someone say to a group of people theyve never met before, and its forever stuck there in my head. But it made me laugh as well as cringe.

So here we go - DragonForce

Venue: 02 Academy Glasgow
date: 10/10/08
support bands: Turisas
Friends there: Dechlan

So it was my first gig, i chose DragonForce because they were my favourite band of the time, still enjoy them, though not so much as i used to. Me and Dechlan got a lift to glasgow from his mum, and i didnt know what to expect from my first gig. Sure everyone knows what happens at a gig - a bands live performance, its fairly simple, but watching a gig and being at a gig are 2 completely different scenarios, which is hard to comprehend fully until you experience the atmosphere of a gig. As the singer of Skindred put it at Sonisphere 2009: "You can go online, and download all the fucking music in the world yeah, you can go on itunes, kaza, all that bollocks right, and download all the music in the world. But im gonna tell you this much, you see the atmosphere that is created in this place? you will never download that! ok!" Too right my friend, words of wisdom. The atmoshpere is sometimes what makes a gig, if everyones headbanging like mad, then your likely to join in, if your at a small gig where nobodys moving at all, your gonna feel a bit self-conscious being the only guy headbanging and shouting.

So anyway, Turisas were the first band on, id never heard them before but i really enjoyed their music, they actually opened up a whole new genre of music to me - folk metal, with their electric violin and accordion players, and songs of ancient viking battles and such. I now love a variety of folk/viking/pirate metal - korpiklaani, amon amarth, alestorm, tyr, eluviete etc.

Then It was time for DragonForce, we moved a bit further into the crowd, but still not too far in, i was still unsure of what to expect so didnt want to be surprised out at the front. But then as the band started to play i just started to have fun, headbanging where i thought necessary, and all the other usual gig stuff. They played through all the best songs of theirs, with the exception of valley of the damned if i remember correctly. It was also my first glimpse of mosh pits, and it makes me laugh to think about how i wasnt sure about them first time i seen them. There was even a wall of death to through the fire and the flames (guitar hero made sure that one was famous to everyone by then) and what a spectacle that was first time, to see the room split in 2, and then as the music reaches the fast part, the 2 sides charging at one another, crashing into each other and forming one big mosh pit in the aftermath. Of course, it was only at a later gig that i took part in my first mosh pit, and after that iv loved them ever since, theyre just so energetic, they get the adrenaline flowing through you.







After the gig since we didnt have a train or bus to catch, we decided to head to the back of the venue and wait for the bands to come out to their tour-buses. Sure enough after a good little wait (where i presume they were eating pizza as a delivery man got allowed through the barrier) DragonForce came out, and me and Dechlan got autographs from most of the band

And with Dechlans help, i even got a photo taken with my favourite guitarist of the time, Herman Li!!!

So all in all, a very good first experience of gigging, and it started me off on a path which i dont regret, despite the vast amounts of money that gets put into it!

Gig-aholacaust

Well im back, that sleep was gloriously good. And now for a quick list of my gigs to help me keep track (ill probably just update this page everytime i go to a new one too)

10/10/08 - DragonForce, Turisas
17/11/08 - Opeth, The Ocean, Cynic
08/12/08 - Slipknot, Machine Head, Children of Bodom
16/02/09 - Judas Priest, Megadeth, Testament
05/03/09 - Protest the Hero, The Human Abstract, The Chariot, Sacred Betrayal
20/03/09 - Ross Noble (had to have a mention =P)
28/04/09 - Alestorm, Tyr
30/04/09 - Fightstar, In Case of Fire, Laruso
11/05/09 - Reemer, To Catch a theif
14/06/09...16/06/09 - Download
01/08/09...02/08/09 - Sonisphere Knebworth
11/10/09 - Dream Theatre, Bigelf, Unexpect
30/10/09 - Amon Amarth, Entombed, Evile cancelled due to death of bassist
11/02/10 - Fightstar,
13/02/10 - Lamb of God, Job For A Cowboy, August Burns Red, Between the Buried and Me
18/02/10 - Fear Factory, Sylosis, October File
19/02/10 - Mastodon, Totimoshi
23/02/10 - Machine Head, Hatebreed, Bleeding Through, All Shall Perish

So now i plan to write a gig a day on here, until iv caught up with the present, and then ill think of something to fill up the between gigs period

Introduction

Well this is the 2nd blog iv created now, and this one i plan to be all about the gigs i go to and music in general, and hopefully get an idea across to folk just how much music means to me and what i think about it. Theres a few reasons why im making this, firstly iv been thinking alot about music today and what it means to me due to a not very important conversation that sprung up with my friend Neil, who claimed i couldnt actually "love" music, to which i disagreed. But that tied together with the other reasons got me thinking how would i describe why i love music the way i do? sure everyone likes music, but im sure others dont appreciate it nearly as much as some others do for all its various merits (not claiming im one of these people here, im sure i love music nowhere near as much as some of my friends - but i love it enough, and the love grows. Also not claiming Neil doesnt appreciate music enough... yet =P). Then there was the gig i was just at tonight - Machine Head. Its the 3rd time iv seen them live, but tonight, they earned the title of the best gig iv ever been to (not an easy spot to take!). And i hope that this blog will also be a good way for me to remember in future the way that music has made me feel in the past (now) and not forget all these awesome gigs in say 20 years time. 3rd reason: i cant sleep.

So i reckon ill start off with tonight's gig. I made it just in time to catch most of the first band (i believe it was All Shall Perish), who were alright, i stayed on one of the raised levels until they finished so i could find the cloakroom - big jackets are far too warm at a gig in general, let alone if you plan on going in a mosh pit. But after that i set out and found my friends, Freya and her mum were on the middle tier of the lower level (02 academy has this strange tier system, which is quite good for folk at the back to see) but i joined Dechlan and Kris who were at the barrier at the front. And stayed there for the next 2 bands, Really enjoyed Bleeding through, and Hatebreed were brilliant, put on a great show. Also they were quite clever in calling anyone who didnt move a Panic at the Disco fan, of course the place went mental for that song, nobody wants to be associated with them, even if they did like them in the past *cough cough shameful fidgeting* So that gave my head a good warm up for Machine Head. Now as iv said its the 3rd time iv seen them live, but they just seem to get better and better. I first listened to them probably like 2 years ago, and liked their music, so i went to see them supporting slipknot, good gig, machine head were great, seen them next at Sonisphere Knebworth 2009, They were Awesome. Seen them tonight, me and all my friends had our minds blown. They always get a good atmosphere, but tonight the crowd went MENTAL, mosh pit from wall to wall. I joined in for the first 4 or 5 songs going through some of my favourites such as clenching the fists of dissent, or anything off the blackened album really. And they played some never-before-heard material for their new album, which was just awesome being among the first to hear it. Unfortunately i had to leave the gig early to catch my bus (which i almost didnt as i tried to stay as long as possible) and ended up missing them playing Halo, probably my favourite song, and according to Dechlan singularly their best live performance ever. So slightly dissapointed that i missed that, but the rest of the gig was simply unbelievable, and if i missed the best part then you can only imagine that my friends would be even more enthusiastic about just how amazing this gig was. I Decided the best way to get out quickly would be the good ol' crwodsurf, so i turn around to the guy behind me, and made the "go and geez a leg up" hand gesture, and wee! off i went, retiring from the pits in style.

Theres some feeling of freedom you get while crowdsurfing that iv yet to experience in anything else. Youre essentially placing your trust in the people in front of you to not let you fall (which happens and isnt always pleasant), and i think its quite liberating and relaxing. its also really fun =P. And its quite a sight to see sometimes, when a rather large (shall we put it) man manages to crowdsurf, you wouldnt think its possible but physics disagrees!

Other Memorable moments: the previous sentence happening, getting ranted at in the toilet by a drunk christian who didnt like black metal (i wasnt entirely aware Children of Bodom were black metal? maybe im just being silly, i dont know.) getting an entire pints spilt on me just before machine head - i reek of booze and other peoples sweat now, yay!, headbutted in the chin in the moshpit (teeth feel ok now but they felt odd for like an hour after)

So yeah, review of my most recent and new favourite gig over, in the next posts ill probably start catching up on other gigs and memorable moments, most likely ill put a list of gigs up to help me keep track. Going to try to sleep again, good night fellow Metal-heads and all other assorted music lovers.