I attended my first show in about a year and a half on Monday. Opiate for the Masses, Alexisonfire, The Bled, and Avenged Sevenfold were rocking the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis for only $12.50. I decided it was worth a trek down even if I went alone. It all started out when my friend Matt asked me if I was going to the show the night before. I didn’t even know A7X was gonna be in town. So quickly, I checked things out. It was pretty cheap and I was thristing for a good show to go to. Then Matt told me that one of our friends might be able to get us in for free. This was even better and pretty much made me decide to go no matter what. I waited around until about 3 on Monday afternoon before finding out that I wasn’t getting passes for free and that Matt wasn’t going to come with. By the time I finally got on the road it was about 4. A short hour and a half later, I was standing outside the Triple Rock freezing in the 35 degree weather in just a hoodie. They must have been late getting things running because we didn’t get let in til a little after 6. Things got going quickly.
The first band on was Opiate for the Masses. I’d never heard the band before. They were ok, but their lead singer was a little weird. He came out wearing a leather bomber hat and a leather jacket. I’m like ok. Shortly after their first song he ripped off the hat and jacket and his shirt. So you’ve got this little bleached hair dude jumping around humping things. I was standing up front and he came and rubbed his head on me one time. He did it to other people too though, so I didn’t feel so stupid. It was a little hard to hear their music because I was right in front of the guitarist, so I got mostly guitar. Overall, I’d give them a C. The music was ok, and their stage presence was pretty good, but nothing too impressive.
The second band on stage was Alexisonfire. I was actually excited to see them. I’ve heard their CD and I thought it was pretty good. Unfortunately, they failed to impress me in a live setting. I think under different circumstances, I would’ve liked them more. FIrst of all, I had the guitarist right in front of me who was playing at a blisteringly loud volume. I only heard a little vocals and bass. And as for the other guitarists, well forget it. The crowd wasn’t much into them either. There was one kid up front who seemed to know every other song (which I found odd), but other than that, no one else was really interested. They were actually pretty comical. Their lead signer was trying to get some kind of reaction out of the crowd. They even staged this “fight’ between the guitarist and the lead singer. It came off as a desparate attempt for attention though. I really don’t want to give this band a bad wrap though. They are a very good band, but things just didn’t work that night.
After Alexisonfire got done, I turned around to find my high school friend Sean standing 3 feet away from me. Him and I caught up with each other before The Bled came on. I found out my favorite band from home, Redbook Standard, had broken up. Also that one of our friends was in the looney bin for a few days. So much for good news, but Sean was doing well and going to school for music in Minneapolis. I’ll always remember Sean the first time I saw him. He was the “new kid” in 9th grade. He showed up from California with short bleached hair and straight edge crosses on his hands. He listened to a healthy dose of NOFX and Bad Religion, and I can thank him for turning me on to Less Than Jake and Goldfinger. Shortly after he arrived, I became friends with him. He eventually quit being straight edge and we did our fair share of partying around senior year and a little after we graduated. I’m getting a bit off track though. Sean told me he was there just to see The Bled. All I knew about them was that they were a straight up hardcore band with a growing fan base. They actually got invited to go out on Ozzfest this year, but their label can’t afford it, so they’re taking donations from fans on their website. I really wonder if they’re going to raise enough to go. Anyway, they came out blew things up. It was a totally different crowd. People were moshing and crowd surfing. There was a handful of people screaming the lyrics up front (Sean being one of those people). While I had moved from my post in front of the guitarist, I still found the mix to be quite bad up front. The PA speakers were right overhead, so a lot of the sound went over me. I still enjoyed most of their set. At one point the lead singer made the comment, “We’ve got half waters,” as he held up his mini water bottle the venue provided, “I’ve got half a microphone,” as he pointed to the decapitated mic he was holding, “so lets do this one with half shirts,” as he grabs his shirt and folds it up to his chest. It was hilarious.
After a long setup time, A7X was ready to go. Having never seen the band live (not even in video), I didn’t know what to expect. Right away, they filled the stage with smoke as this ominous piano started playing. The band jumped out on stage and kicked right into Eternal Rest. The crowd went nuts. There were people moshing, body’s surfing, pushing, screaming lyrics. It was GREAT! I was sitting there and thinking, why did I wait a year and a half to do this. I had forgotten how much I really love live shows. I love everything about them. The people crammed together, the engergy. I love it all. I will most likely be the 40 year old guy at the rock shows when I’m older. During the first song, Shadow’s mic dropped out, so he was using the guitarists mic for awhile. They did get him back his mic, but the levels were a little off after that. Waking the Fallen/Unholy Confessions were next followed by my favorite song, Chapter Four. M Shadows, the lead singer, was working the crowd really well. He’d run to one side of the stage and let people sing into the mic a lot. In the middle of their set, they really surprised me by playing their most artsy song, I Won’t See You Tonight (parts I and II). In total, the songs is about 11 or 12 minutes long laced with a ton of sweet guitar work. The best was when both guitarists would come to the front of the stage and rip together. One was left handed, so it looked cool as hell. I was surprised they chose to play the song though because its so long and its not heavy at all (at least not part I). I don’t remember much of the rest of the setlist. I think they played 3 more songs, all of which were really good. I do remember they ended things with Second Heartbeat (my 2nd favorite song by the band). After that, they crowd was still buzzing and started chanting encore. Some guy from the club came out and said there is a curfew in town, and that there would be no more music. Everyone booed. About 2 minutes later, the band came back out and played Desecrate Through Reverence. I was already standing near the door, so I just took it all in. It’s strange how different the atmosphere is when you aren’t right up front. The audio mix was much better too. They played the song flawlessly. I realized then, that these guys have a ton of musicianship. They are all very talented at their instruments which is something I didn’t notice while banging my head up front. Their show was everything I thought it would be and more.
One thing is for sure, I was very happy with my choice to go. I really miss that energy you can only find at a good live show. Hopefully it won’t be another year and a half before I go to another show. There’s a Killswitch Engage/In Flames/As I Lay Dying tour coming up that I really want to see. From Autumn to Ashes and Atreyu will also be out on tour this spring. We’ll see if I can afford/make it to any of those shows. I’ll leave things off with some pictures I found on the A7X forums today. They are not mine, so don’t give me credit.
