Dimmu Borgir Concert
Last night was the Kataklysm/Unearth/Dimmu Borgir show. I had been under the impression that Devil Driver would also be there, but apparently they couldn't make that tour date despite being on most of the others. Boo.
xany and I started by driving for about 1.5 hours to Orlando to have dinner at the House of Blues before the show. It was OK. The best part was the cornbread. Mmm... Yummy! And I managed to resist the Raspberry & Apple Bread Pudding for dessert. I'm very proud of that fact.
Then we waited outside in line to get into the venue. The concert area itself is actually damned cool. There was a fully-stocked bar, cocktail service upstairs, bar food available, bathroom attendants, and a generally sweet ambiance. xany and I were situated near the upstairs bar against the railing looking down at the crowd and stage. We could clearly see everything going on with the bands which was quite a novelty. The best part of our location was the family standing next to us. A mother, father, and their 7-year old son. The kid had seen the Dimmu Borgir DVD and wanted to see them live. His first metal show. Awww... I was helping his mother teach him how to throw the horns. Though I think he got scared when we started head-banging. Teehee!
The first group, Kataklysm, was fairly decent. xany got very into them and ended up getting one of their shirts at the end of the night. Their drummer, in particular, was nuts. He never broke a sweat through the whole show - acting as if all of it was just sorta there. Their stage presence was good and they got me moving a little (tapping feet and swaying a bit), but I wasn't super-impressed.
Unearth was next and were pretty much shite. It's generic metal. Scream into the mic, play guitars loud, do nothing out of the ordinary. I'd like to support the Boston Metal scene, but not through them. They didn't have much in the way of stage presence and the songs were not at all catchy. The best part about them was that one of the guitarists (possibly the bassist, though I could be mis-remembering) was fucking around with the crew. One of the mic cords got wrapped around an amp on the front of the stage so a roadie came out to fix it. While he was doing so, the guitarist kicked him and pointed to his mic stand, which was on the ground. The roadie finished what he was doing, went over and picked up the mic stand, shoved the guitarist on his way by, and exited the stage. The guitarist then balked and gently put the mic stand back on the ground. It was good for a laugh.
Finally it was Dimmu. They set up behind a curtain and were standing on a tiered platform in the middle of the stage with up-lighting when the curtains opened. I giggled that the lighting was perfect to emphasize Shagrath's belly. They immediately got me head-banging. It was a great set and they have ZOMG stage presence. They might as well have been standing three feet from me and pointing specifically at me instructing me to screw up my neck. Just as good, if not better than the last time I saw them (Ozzfest 2004). I got a shirt.
Today my neck is screaming. And it can keep right on doing that. I'm going to keep ignoring it except to think, "Must have been a great show."
xany and I started by driving for about 1.5 hours to Orlando to have dinner at the House of Blues before the show. It was OK. The best part was the cornbread. Mmm... Yummy! And I managed to resist the Raspberry & Apple Bread Pudding for dessert. I'm very proud of that fact.
Then we waited outside in line to get into the venue. The concert area itself is actually damned cool. There was a fully-stocked bar, cocktail service upstairs, bar food available, bathroom attendants, and a generally sweet ambiance. xany and I were situated near the upstairs bar against the railing looking down at the crowd and stage. We could clearly see everything going on with the bands which was quite a novelty. The best part of our location was the family standing next to us. A mother, father, and their 7-year old son. The kid had seen the Dimmu Borgir DVD and wanted to see them live. His first metal show. Awww... I was helping his mother teach him how to throw the horns. Though I think he got scared when we started head-banging. Teehee!
The first group, Kataklysm, was fairly decent. xany got very into them and ended up getting one of their shirts at the end of the night. Their drummer, in particular, was nuts. He never broke a sweat through the whole show - acting as if all of it was just sorta there. Their stage presence was good and they got me moving a little (tapping feet and swaying a bit), but I wasn't super-impressed.
Unearth was next and were pretty much shite. It's generic metal. Scream into the mic, play guitars loud, do nothing out of the ordinary. I'd like to support the Boston Metal scene, but not through them. They didn't have much in the way of stage presence and the songs were not at all catchy. The best part about them was that one of the guitarists (possibly the bassist, though I could be mis-remembering) was fucking around with the crew. One of the mic cords got wrapped around an amp on the front of the stage so a roadie came out to fix it. While he was doing so, the guitarist kicked him and pointed to his mic stand, which was on the ground. The roadie finished what he was doing, went over and picked up the mic stand, shoved the guitarist on his way by, and exited the stage. The guitarist then balked and gently put the mic stand back on the ground. It was good for a laugh.
Finally it was Dimmu. They set up behind a curtain and were standing on a tiered platform in the middle of the stage with up-lighting when the curtains opened. I giggled that the lighting was perfect to emphasize Shagrath's belly. They immediately got me head-banging. It was a great set and they have ZOMG stage presence. They might as well have been standing three feet from me and pointing specifically at me instructing me to screw up my neck. Just as good, if not better than the last time I saw them (Ozzfest 2004). I got a shirt.
Today my neck is screaming. And it can keep right on doing that. I'm going to keep ignoring it except to think, "Must have been a great show."