Mercoledì 25 Feb 2009, 13:23
POINTLESS OPINIONATED RANT WARNING
I like doing reviews once in a while to kill some time and pretend online amateur journalism matters
Tue 24 Feb – Soilwork, Swallow the Sun, Darkane, Warbringer
First of all, bar shows on Tuesday nights are a fail altogether, but especially when one has classes to attend in the next morning. Anywho, let's get to it
theMUSIC
The night kicked off with Finland's Swallow the Sun, who started playing before we got there which is unfortunate because they were the only band on the bill that might have had something unique to offer. From my experience at bar shows, I have found that they don't usually start on time so I was surprised and a little disappointed. Not much to say here since I heard 1 song
The immediate follow-up was Cali's Warbringer. Now I'm not that big on thrash but I appreciate it once in a while. I bought Warbringer's full length a good while ago and it was somewhat enjoyable. I didn't expect much from their set, considering the fact that they do not stray away from their formula very much at all. Not to mention the most uninspired lyrics I've heard in my life; I'm not kidding, I swear they were written by a 12 year old who just discovered metal. If you don't believe me, read em over. It's the dullest, most uninspired, subject matter a metal band can possible tackle. My predictions for the set were proven correct and I ended up being bored for the majority of the set. However, one of the songs from their upcoming full length caught my interest: Pray for Death (I think). Keep an ear out for thatone.
Darkane followed up Warbringer. Now I didn't expect much from this band either but I found their music very uplifting and enjoyed the set to some degree. Although they don't stray far from the average scandanavian metal project, their sound had an infectious effect towards myself and a lot of other people. Good energy in the set, and they didn't sound like a garage-based rock band from the past (fyi I take shots at Cheesebringer for no reason). Nothing amazing, but still fun to move to.
Soilwork was the night's headliner. After taking about 25 minutes to setup they got onstage to some cheesy synthpop (ish) song that I totally forgot. I always love a bit of comedy and it shows that the band has a sense of humor and doesn't need to pretend to be overly-serious. The set kicked off with "Follow The Hollow" which is a simple and uplifting tune but it is one of my favorites by the band. They played lots of favorites and one song that I was really happy to hear - "Chainheart Machine" - which is an oldie of theirs so it was nice to see them play their old material a bit. I'm pretty certain that they played quite a bit from "Figure Number Five" and "Stabbing the Drama" but I don't listen to those albums much so I didn't recognize a number of songs. The set was pretty fun, again, nothing out of the ordinary, but hey.. it's melodic metal from Scandinavia (fun sing-a-longs though).
theCROWD
The crowd was basically the misfits that you would expect to see at the Royal Albert Arms. However from my experience, I saw a handful of people who I didn't expect to see there (some people from the gym/class), so there was a few nice surprises.
I've got two etiquette issues though:
1. I really don't like it when the headliner is admittedly drunk on stage. (like Drowning Pool.. yea NU METAL you basterds)
2. The broken beer glass on the floor of the pit pissed me off and I ended up spending a considerable amount of time kicking it away from the pit. Wouldn't want some drunk fuck to fall and get a nice gash on his hands along with a probable infection (I'm a real angel). If you have any respect for other people at a show don't drop your beer in the pit.
The pit itself was pretty active the whole time so it was a decent time. Good etiquette there on everybody's part, except the drunk who refused to stop falling. I was ready to drop dead after the show, and I did.
I wouldn't put this show past "average" but it was a good time anyway, hope everybody enjoyed
70/100