Headbanger's Ball Tour

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

So me and my girlfriend are dropped off by my dad (neither of us have our license yet) around 6:55, 5 minutes before the doors open. We both smoke a BUTT in the line, and then enter. We stand around for nearly a fucking hour before Unearth decides to come out.

 

But, before Unearth came out, they were introduced by somebody famous. Somebody that has sold out lounges in Las Vegas more times than Frank Sinatra. Somebody that made even Andy Kauffman step back and say "wow" due to his showmanship. This man was Tony Clifton.

 

Tony introduces Unearth, and they're pretty damn good. The end of their set was better than the beginning, as the songs towards the end were more death/thrash than the first songs were (which seemed to try to be a bad Gothenburg cover band). Unearth's set is over, and they plug their new album.

 

Tony then came out before Killswitch Engage, but me and Heather left the floor because I needed to piss and she needed water. About halfway through KSE's set we bought some merchandise (I bought a Shadows Fall hoodie, she bought a Shadows Fall hoodie and beanie {and to let you know, I plan on stealing the beanie one day}), and then went back to the floor after KSE closed their set. The final tune was "My Last Serenade," and the vocalist (I forget the new one's name) didn't feel like singing, so he let the crowd sing the entire song. Fun stuff.

 

Me and Heather got back on the floor when people were leaving en masse to use the bathrooms, buy merchandise, and get drinks. Tony was back onstage, and introduced Lamb Of God.

This set made me a Lamb Of God fan. It was insane, and the music was just perfect. A huge circle pit started halfway through the set, and the vocalist came on stage during the first song wearing this inflatable cowboy costume (which made me laugh, seeing a man dressed in an inflatable cowboy suit growling and all). Brian from Shadows Fall and the vocalist from Today Is The Day came out for a couple of songs, and then Lamb Of God ended the set.

 

And next...THE band everybody came to see.

S H A D O W S F A L L .

I forget the order of the songs, but they played the following tunes:

"Of One Blood," "Fleshold," "Revel In My Loss," "A Fire In Babylon," "Stepping Outside The Circle," "The Idiot Box," "Destroyer Of Senses" (GAH!), and "Crushing Belial." For the encore, they played "Thoughts Without Words" and "I'm Alive" (Motley Crue cover).

A circle pit started during "Idle Hands" and "Crushing Belial," and I joined in both times. GOOD, GOOD, GOOD, GOOD SHOW. Unfortunately, no "First Noble Truth" or "Art Of Balance," which was a downside, but Brian came out dressed like a skeleton king, or something (skull mask with a crown of bones, skull shoulders pads, and a belt with a medallion of a bone and a skull on it; Brian referred to the belt as the "Metal World championship," which made me mark).

 

All in all, out of 10, 9.5/10. And the .5 deducted is just because "The First Noble Truth" and "The Art Of Balance" weren't played. Everything else about the show was INSANE.

 

If any of you get the chance to see this tour...GO, DAMMIT, GO.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Lamb of God effing rules it, as does the one Unearth album I've heard, as does Tony Clifton. In fact, I think I like all three more than Shadows Fall, if I had to pick between them.

 

I'm not feeling KSE, though.

[Guest Choken One]

I dig KSE.

 

SF is god like naturally and I'm indiffernt to Lamb

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

KSE is pretty lame, really. I can't tell most of their songs apart, and the guitarists downright refuse to solo.

 

Oh, and during Unearth's set, people on the side of the stage kept spraying one of the guitarists and the vocalist with silly string. Not as funny as when members of The Damned and The Dickies cracked eggs and poured honey over the vocalist of DI at FiendFest '03, though.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

Killswitch doesn't offend me, guy can sing anyways. Shadows Fall remains on the "cute" list, but some of the stuff is still just WAY too Metallica influenced, I don't mind hearing influences a bit but they might as well have named Art Of Balance a Metallica tribute record.

 

Lamb of God is just good times, period.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I'm not the biggest metal fan around. In fact I'm listening to Rick Springfield right now. But that does sound like a cool show, Corey.

[snuffbox 0]

Im thinking about checkin this show out in Milwaukee. Sounds pretty asskick.

[Steviekick 0]

KSE is pretty lame, really. I can't tell most of their songs apart, and the guitarists downright refuse to solo.

Blaspheme! KsE is equal to shadows fall. I like that they really have no solos. But I do fear what the album with Howard Jones lyrics/vocals will sound like.

[Guest Choken One]

Is Howard Jones (I think its him) Biohazard's lead singer little brother?

 

They look fucking identical.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

KSE's not even in the same ballpark as Shadows Fall, sorry. For one thing, not every Shadows Fall song sounds the same.

[Steviekick 0]

Is Howard Jones (I think its him) Biohazard's lead singer little brother?

 

They look fucking identical.

Howard's a short black guy, and Evan's just short. It's the tatoos and the mean facial expressions that make them look alike.

[Steviekick 0]

KSE's not even in the same ballpark as Shadows Fall, sorry. For one thing, not every Shadows Fall song sounds the same.

I thought some of the stuff on Art of Balance sounded the same. To each their own I guess. I'm not knocking on SF, I really do like them a lot and as much as KsE. The both of them are my favorite American metal band.

[Guest Burrito]

KSE's not even in the same ballpark as Shadows Fall, sorry. For one thing, not every Shadows Fall song sounds the same.

I thought some of the stuff on Art of Balance sounded the same. To each their own I guess. I'm not knocking on SF, I really do like them a lot and as much as KsE. The both of them are my favorite American metal band.

I totally agree with you. They are both on my fav. bands list. I'm definetely checking this tour out when it hits San Antonio.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Too bad you guys don't get the added bonus of it being Halloween, so most of the bands dressed up.

 

One guitarist of Unearth dressed like a mid-80's glam rocker (with HUUUGE feathered mullet wig), and the other guitarist dressed like a witch (complete with hood, hat, broom between legs, and he skated around on a skateboard to look like he was flying).

 

Howard of KSE dressed like a cop, one guitarist dressed like a KKK member, and the other dressed like a witch (which was fun to see headbang). The bassist dressed as something too, but I forget.

 

And I already mentioned Lamb Of God's vocalist in the inflatable cowboy suit (which was VERY cool to see him growling in that), as well as Brian Fair looking like a more metal Skeletor.

[Henry Spencer 0]

I've been meaning to check out Killswitch Engage for a while. I find Shadows Fall to be pretty obnoxious, so, would I likely enjoy or dislike KSE based on that?

[Steviekick 0]

Normally i would say that people who would like KsE would propably like Shadows Fall as well, so i'll try to sell it to you differently. KsE is a great combination of technical and melodic hardcore and metal. Like Corey said, they pretty much stay away from guitar solos. Instead they have a lot of crushing breakdowns and stuff. The singer (Jesse David Leach) who they recorded their two albums with has great vocals; he can grown intensely and sing well cleanly. When their second album Alive or just breathing came out on Roadrunner Records in 2002, Leach left the band, just as they finally got the attention they deserved. He was replaced by Howard Jones of Blood Has Been Shed.

 

I've seen KsE fronted by both Jesse and Howard and they are equally good. Personally, I prefer Jesse's vocal range better. I'm kind of anxious about their next album because I liked the last one so much, and with Howard's influence in the lyrics/songwriting process, I hope it doesn't sound too much like Blood Has Been Shed. It's to early to tell.

 

Anyway, here's what I reccommend. I highly sincerely most recommend Alive or just breathing. It's an amazing album. Their first selftitled album was released by Ferret Records and is ok. However, the growth between the two albums is amazing.

 

Here's tracks off of Alive or just breathing that I reccommend:

 

• My Last Serenade

• Just Barely Breathing

• The Element of One

• Vide Infra

• Self Revolution.

 

Just get yourself this album. You will not be dissappointed.

[A Happy Medium 0]

I believe the tour roles through town on the 24th, so I'd better find a way to get my ass over there. Need to see Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

KsE eats it. They're ten times as samey as Shadows Fall, without all that occassional good riff baggage. If you don't like Shadows Fall (and I'm still riding the fence on my opinion of them), then I'd wager to say you'd probably detest Killswitch. My favorite group out of that area right now is Lamb of God. GREAT breakdowns, catchiness, killer vocals. As The Palaces Burn is a great follow up to New American Gospel, which had some excellent tracks marred by shoddy production.

[Steviekick 0]

I've seen Lamb of God live more times than anyone should have, and I wasn't too impressed with their live performance. As The Palaces Burn was much better than their first album, and it's actually grown on me.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Yeah. I heard Lamb Of God's first album, and wasn't impressed at all. But they played a lot of stuff off of As The Palace Burns, and I loved it. **adds to X-Mas list**

 

A big gripe I have KSE is that they're, like, the most mainstream "acceptable" of the Mass Metal biggies. At times, I think I'm listening to the latest nu-metal album when a track from Alive Or Just Breathing comes on during my playlist.

And the lack of solo's hurts them a lot, since its INEXCUSEABLE for a metal band to have more than one guitarist and no solo's.

[Steviekick 0]

A big gripe I have KSE is that they're, like, the most mainstream "acceptable" of the Mass Metal biggies. At times, I think I'm listening to the latest nu-metal album when a track from Alive Or Just Breathing comes on during my playlist.

And the lack of solo's hurts them a lot, since its INEXCUSEABLE for a metal band to have more than one guitarist and no solo's.

I think one of the reasons why KsE has been so acceptable is that they were the only true metal band to come from Roadrunner Records in a long time. For one of the top indie labels in America that wound up being part of the Island/Def Jam conglomeration and to be cashing in on all kinds of crappy nü metal bands in recent times, it was surprising that they actually signed a quality real metal band.

 

The lack of solos comes from their hardcoreness. Hardcore bands that are similar to them like 18 Visions, Zao, and Norma Jean all kinda stay away from solos.

 

If their guitarists do not want to do solos, I'd rather them not put them into songs and make it sound forced. If they do not know how to write solos, I'd rather not hear them put crappy ones into their songs.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Still, I don't think it's right for a band with more than one guitarist to not solo.