I apologize to all of the bands that played last night. You really didn’t stand a chance. I was on a high from the Coheed & Cambria show on Saturday night and I am really anxious for the Silverstein show on Tuesday. That’s not to say that I wasn’t super excited to be going to another show and to see some friends open up said show, I just knew I was going to be hyper-critical of the bands I had seen before and the bands I hadn’t seen before had an uphill battle to win me over.

My Own Dismay was the first of three locals to open up the show. Although I’m pretty sure they were young enough to be my own children, they completely blew me away. Honestly, they sounded like pretty much every other local band in the metal scene up here (not a diss on any of the bands in the scene!) but they were cleaner than most. Like I said at the beginning, I was hyper-critical of all of the bands last night and even though My Own Dismay completely blew me away musically, they acted super young on stage and that was a complete turnoff.

I want bands that know how to use time in between songs constructively. Local bands typically only get twenty minutes in play on shows like last night’s show. I hate when bands waste that time saying hello to people in the crowd or just bullshitting amongst the other members. I don’t really care that you think it’s cold outside and I don’t care about what your drink of choice is for the night. Stop wasting my time and yours. I want to hear as much music as I can in the short sets that these bands get. That’s the whole point of a concert right? To hear music?

Speaking of short sets and the issues bands deal with on shows like this with 100 bands on the lineup… you are not always given the amount of time you deserve to check your sound and make sure all of your tracks are going to work. The technical difficulties seemed to be frequent last night but all of the bands played through them and if you weren’t paying attention closely enough, or had never seen these bands before, you would have never noticed. I noticed.. of course I noticed because I was just looking for the bad last night.

Royal’z was another opener last night who I felt that the short sound check really affected. I have seen these guys a couple of times now and love them every time. Most recently, I got to attend their headlining show back in January. They sounded great at that show because they were given a full sound check. Last night they were rushed through check and I felt that their music suffered because of this. Now, that’s not a dig on the band or the sound guy, I completely understand that when you do an all ages show like these you are on strict time constraints and you have to push through the bands.

Even though I felt like Royal’z didn’t sound as good as they did at the headlining show, they still killed it. They were the first band to really get the crowd going and you all know that that’s the biggest thing I look for in a band. The crowd was eating it up. There was pushing and shoving and jumping. It was perfect for a local band. I wish I could have had the music from their headlining set mixed with the energy they gave off last night. That would be the most perfect Royal’z show ever.

 

The energy never dropped after Royal’z’s set. It only intensified when Fit For A King took the stage. I had seen these guys before and had an idea of what I was getting into. I saw it coming, I saw people stretching in between the bands and I readied myself to brace for impact. Some poor souls didn’t know what was about to happen and got caught in the crossfire. As soon as the band took the stage, without even playing a note, the pit opened and limbs were flailing. With the first word, the crowd was going insane and people were trying their best to surf their way up to the front. People were getting knocked down left and right but always had at least five people helping them back up.

Their music was brutal and heavy. They have gotten a lot cleaner since I saw them last. Unfortunately, like all of the other bands, they only had about thirty minutes to play but they never stopped during the thirty minute set. There were no long breaks in-between songs and there was no unnecessary talking. They took a crappy situation of having such a short set and made it worth their while and the crowd’s while. They killed it musically and professionally and even though I wanted to hate everything about their set, I couldn’t help but love every single second they spent on stage. They promised to be back in the fall with a new recording. I can only hope that they will be headlining that time and will be given the time they deserve. You best believe I will be there giving them the attention they deserve.

There were many other bands that played last night. Some were okay. Some I could have done without. Regardless, everyone had a great time and it was nice to be back at a show like this surrounded by people and friends who were solely there for the music instead of the big shows like Dropkick Murphy’s and Coheed & Cambria where you are surrounded by people who may or may not be there for the music.

I wanted to hate everything about last night. The show on Saturday was absolutely perfect and I know that Tuesday is going to be a perfect night of nostalgia. Last night wasn’t going to stand a chance… But when it came down to it, I couldn’t hate it. It was yet another great night full of great music and good friends.

Line Up:

My Own Dismay

Royal’z

Villain of the Story

Out Came The Wolves

Fit For A King

The Word Alive

Venue: Skyway Theater- Studio B

Sausage Fest Meter-  11 out of 10

Broken Bones- At least one busted up foot but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more

Average Age- 19

Spotted Flying Through The Sky- Bodies

Level of Moshing- Heavy

Crowd Surfers- 26

Found in the Pit- Glasses, 1 hat, 1 shoe, Paper towels, spilled water and beer

Overheard in the Crowd- “Fuck you and your eyebrows!”

Drink of Choice-Water

Overall Score- 7.8 out of 10

Show On Deck- Blessthefall/ Miss May I/ The Plot in You and many more