Bullet For My Valentine - 9/25/2008

Bullet For My Valentine, with Bleding Through & Black Tide
9/25/2008 - The Warfield - San Francisco, CA



I almost don't have the words. This was by far my best concert since Arch Enemy & Dark Tranquillity back in May. Kickass music, awesome audience, some pleasant surprises - just a great night overall. This is the kind of live show that i live for.

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(Be forewarned, this may be long-winded; feel free to skim and/or just look at the photos (but do click on the little images to see their larger counterparts)).

So i've been hitting a lot of concerts this year, and right now i'm in the middle of a 6-week marathon with one show after another - fun but tiring. I felt like i was running out of steam last week at Children of Bodom/Black Dahlia Murder. Great bands, and they both played really well, but the show just felt par to me; i wondered if i'd taken on too much. But Bullet & co completely fired me back up! I did everything right, i think, and a lot of factors just came together nicely.

I managed to arrive at the venue exactly on time (instead of way early) - i walked through the door just as Black Tide was starting up. I saw them open up for All That Remains back in February and was only whelmed by these kids (yes, kids - their ages range from 14 to 19); i mean their guitarwork was great, but the vocals just bugged me.

So pleasant surprise #1 of the evening - i really enjoyed Black Tide's set! Maybe it was low expectations, or maybe Gabriel's voice has developed after 8 more months of puberty. And again, their music always has been good - solid tunes in the vein of old-school thrash. Whatever it was, i'll take it; good show, guys!





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Fun sidebar: There's always pre-recorded music played between sets as the crews teardown/setup the stage for the next band. The tunes (chosen by the crew, i'd assume, or maybe the band) tend to run in same genre as the bands on the bill. At my shows this means a healthy mix of metal (both old and new) with maybe some Alice In Chains or AC/DC thrown in.

Tonight there was something different. After Black Tide's set, i heard something oddly familiar start up...the unmistakable intro of the song i made my own in the world of social dance. It was Michael Jackson's "Thriller". And there i was with nobody to lindy with :-( Even so, i had to fight the impulse to bust out some dance moves (it helped that the floor was concrete and thus no good for moonwalking). After "Thriller" came "Billy Jean" - turned out to be one of his singles collections; fortunately the soundchecks drowned out some of the lame ballads, and the crew was done by "Pretty Young Thing".

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Bleeding Through was next. I've always liked their singles (and i saw them play in 2004 with Arch Enemy and Cradle of Filth), but they never caught my attention enough to buy a cd. I was a little anxious that their hardcore style would attract hardcore fans who would proceed to mosh improperly and ruin the floor for the rest of us (this happens at a lot of my shows).

Pleasant surprise #2 - i thoroughly enjoyed Bleeding Through as well! Their songs really fired me up, and the mosh was quite acceptable (i stayed out of the pit, mostly, except to use it as a travel conduit).





Midway through their set, Brandan announced that there would be a special guest joining on vocals for their next song...Robb from Machine Head! (Robb is from Oakland; i'm guessing he still lives here & is friends with the band). Nice!


Two screamers, no waiting!

So straight hardcore acts do nothing for me, but these guys also bleed (pun intended) thrash metal and even some industrial into their sound which makes for some interesting music. These elements translate really nicely into their live show; high-energy, aggressive, heavy rhythms, strong stage presence anchored by Brandan (screamer), Brian (lefty lead guitarist), and Marta (cute keyboard player).





Also, i think Jona (their other guitar player) looks a lot like Charlie from Lost. Anyone else see the resemblance?


"You All Everybody!"


Awesome set from Bleeding Through. Congrats, guys - you've been promoted to tier2 solid.

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Finally it was time for Bullet For My Valentine! I've been wanting to see these guys for a looong time. I almost saw them back in 2005 at Rob Zombie & Lacuna Coil, but they were kicked off the tour before the Chicago date. I wasn't familiar with them at the time but the band caught my attention shortly thereafter and slowly grew into one of my tier1 favorites. I missed a few of their subsequent tours because of logistics (namely the 3+ hour drive to Chicago from Champaign). They did come right into San Jose this spring, but it was as part of an 8-band emofest which i decided wasn't worth the overhead.

So i was buzzing with anticipation when the house lights finally went down. The intro music started up, the guys slipped onto the stage one by one, then launched into the title track from their latest, "Scream Aim Fire". The floor exploded into motion, and i found out how good the night was about to get.






I absolutely loved their set. My favorite shows are the ones where i know most (if not all) of songs on the setlist, and this was definitely the case here. I knew they'd play most of my favorites, but the one song i *really* wanted to hear was "Hand of Blood" which they rocked towards the end of the night, to my elation. The setlist (not quite in this order) included:

- Scream Aim Fire
- 4 Words To Choke Upon (the four words, btw, are "Look...at...me...NOOWWW!")
- Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow (one of my absolute favorites!)
- Eye Of The Storm
- Disappear
- Tears Don't Fall (wonderful singalong)
- Hit The Floor
- Waking The Demon
- Deliver Us From Evil (which Matthew wrote when he was going through some personal issues and trouble with his vocals (had to cancel shows and go through surgery))
- Hearts Burst Info Fire (such a wonderful warm song; i was surprised at how quickly it hooked me the first time i heard it).
- Hand Of Blood (yay!)
- Creeping Death (!)

Yes, that's right. For their final song of the night they covered "Creeping Death" by Metallica. Oh hell yeah! I couldn't have asked for a better closer! All of Metallica's old stuff rules, but "Creeping Death" is one of my personal favorites. It really does warm the heart to see so many new bands embracing (and paying tribute to) old Metallica - Trivium with "Master of Puppets", Black Tide with "Hit The Lights", Bullet with "Sanitarium" and "Creeping Death". And even more important that the next generation is keeping thrash alive. Death to nu-metal! Long live *good* metal!



(i love the shoulder-to-shoulder jam)
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I enjoyed (and participated in) the mosh for the first time in a long while. Why? Because these kids are awesome. A far cry from the usual big shirtless assholes who seem to use concerts as an excuse to wail on each other. I mean really, if all you want to do is hurt people, join a fight club or enter into the bloody UFC. But Bullet clearly draws a much different audience. I hate to use the term "Hot Topic crowd", but i haven't seen this many young kids at a show before, all prettied up and amped for the band the way only teenagers can be.

And really, that's what it's all about. I felt these amazing surges of energy as song after song washed over me, and looking around i saw that my peers were feeling the same thing. It was *so* *much* that it just had to be expressed physically. I don't even want to call it moshing - it was old school, thrashing at its finest. Not three guys hitting each other and pissing off everyone around them, but the entire front of the floor jumping, bouncing, crashing through waves of movement, feeding off of the music and each other, loving every minute of it.





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A few thoughts on the band's style. Bullet For My Valentine are sometimes classified as "emo" or "metalcore". This is quite inaccurate. Sure, maybe they have a few emo qualities. And maybe they do employ the some of the smooth riffing and catchy hooks of metalcore. But there's so much more to this band. I mean successfully rocking old Metallica is a proving ground all its own, but their metal underpinnings flow through all of their songs. Guitar solos. Good balance between clean vocals and screaming. Delicious melodies. And great songwriting, charged with emotion.

I heart this band. Every time i play one of their albums, it hits me all over again. And finally seeing them live has cranked them up yet another notch. Maybe even another candidate for my white-tag list.





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My night belonged to Bullet, of course, but the bill was still 3 for 3 which is a rare gift (and even better as a surprise). This show has revitalized me; prepared me to take on my concert calendar for the next few weeks and, indeed, through the rest of 2008. Rock! \m/

Nightwish - 9/12/2008 - The Fillmore - San Francisco

For once, i actually don't have a whole lot to say, so i'll just mention a few things before getting to the pretty pictures.

There were two bands on the bill, both from Finland. First up was Sonata Arctica. I wasn't familiar with these guys, aside from a run through the songs on their myspace page. They weren't bad, but their set sounded kindof stock - decent riffs and melodies, but seemed to lack the spark that really lights up a live show. But i did enjoy watching their keyboard player from my vantage point up front near stage left. He was definitely feeling the music; if only more of that energy had translated to the audience. Or maybe it was just me.

Quick history lesson: After growing personal tensions hit a breaking point, Nightwish fired their original vocalist, Tarja Turunen, in 2005 and started auditioning for her replacement. They finally hired Anette Olzon in 2007 who made her debut on their next album "Dark Passion Play".

I, like many music fans, tend to resist change. When one of my bands changes key members (especially their vocalist), the new lineup then has to prove themselves to me. Some bands fail (e.g. Evanescence). Nightwish, however, succeeded and then some; i actually like Anette a lot more than Tarja. I mean, i wouldn't presume to devalue Tarja's 10 years of excellent work with the band, nor fail to recognize her stunning soprano stylings. But i feel that Anette's singing is just warmer & richer somehow; maybe it's because she's an alto.

Anyway, Nightwish rocked the house. I have to admit it wasn't the most fired up i've ever been, but their performance was highly enjoyable. They played a fairly comprehensive set, and i think Anette did a lovely job with their older material (i daresay i liked her renditions better, but don't tell Tarja i said that). New singles, old favorites; a great set start-to-finish.

With that, on to the photos!

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Sonata Arctica:







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Nightwish:

Sunday Sunday Sunday

I renewed my lease today. Hard to believe i'm already coming up on 12 months in the bay area. It was wonderfully appropriate that my boy James was working the leasing office when i went in today, because he was the one who set me up last fall (he showed me the apartment, ran all of my paperwork, etc). Even better, he'd started working here right before i moved in, and i was his first new lease. And even *he* said that he feels like the past year has really blown by.

But on the other hand...last summer feels like it was a lifetime ago. And in a way, it really was, with so much that happened so quickly. If you were to take a snapshot of mid-September, 2007, and deliver it to Past-Neilam three months prior, he would have taken one look and said "No fucking way. Never happen. Who the bloody hell are you, anyway?" Poor bastard had no idea what was coming.

But before i delve too deeply into the past (i'll save the 1-year retrospective for later), how about a new topic.

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I logged into Ticketwanker at exactly 10am today to snag my ticket for In Flames & All That Remains in November - yeah! \m/ And i went ahead and sucked up the inconvenience fees for the Bullet For My Valentine show as well; i was hoping to save a ton of money by driving up to SF to buy directly from the venue, but my last attempt was foiled because i didn't know the Warfield was closed for renovations. And now their box office apparantly isn't open on weekends (suk).

Anyway, Ticketbastard has OH SO GENEROUSLY been "giving" me a "free" iTunes download with each ticket. I don't use iTunes nor the iTunes store (fuck DRM), so i've been giving away the download codes to friends. So if you're reading this and would like a free iTunes download, drop me an email. First-come first-served; i have two up for grabs now and more to come, i'm sure.

I know TM's assholery is a well-known rant, but here's a data point anyway: The face value of my In Flames ticket was $22. The fees added another $13.25 (60%). And no, it's NOT going to help when Live Nation breaks off next year; i'm afraid they'll only make things worse. Like when Microsoft "saved" us from IBM back in the 80s.

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I repaired my ReplayTV yesterday! It died about a year ago; i packed it up and brought it to Cali with me - too apathetic to debug it, but unwilling to dispose of it. Finally yesterday i decided to have a look; turned out to be a hard drive failure which was really bloody easy to fix. The hardest part, actually, was building up enough motivation to dig out my desktop PC and set it up. This required reorganizing my desk area, messing with a rat's nest of cables, and clearing up enough space for the behemoth 21" CRT which i haven't gotten around to replacing yet.





The rest was cake. I didn't even bother buying a new drive - with 4 hard drives in my PC (aka archive box), it wasn't hard to free up the smallest one (120 GB - remember the days when that was a lot of space? Man.). I downloaded a clean factory image for the Replay and used RTVPatch to image the drive. Open up the Replay case, pop out the dead drive, and mount the fresh one:



Then just reinitialize, and voila! If i'd known it was this easy, i would have hacked the thing years ago - back when i watched enough tv to have need for more storage space. Or at least before the Olympics. Ah, well; better now than never. And it was nice to see that i still know my way around the inside of an ATX case; i even reorg'd my hard drive cluster (cleaner layout; less tangle with the ribbon cable).

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Finally, i went out to buy a shredder this afternoon but (even after having done some research) couldn't decide how much shredder i wanted. A smaller model which would take up less space and be more portable? Or the grunt-worthy monster which can pulverize cds, credit cards, and floppy disks with its mighty jaws! Hmm, suddenly it doesn't seem like so hard a choice. But at the time i was torn, so i gave up and went to Kohls instead and - to my surprise - FOUND PANTS THAT FIT ME! But more on that later; right now it's time for bed.

"I saw three angles...of that i'm sure"

While pulling up videos on youtube to feed my James Blunt obsession, i came across this hilarious parody from his appearance on Sesame Street:




This triggered memories of other SS parody songs from my childhood. Since i didn't really start listening to music until high school, i had no idea at the time that they were parodies. A few favorites that come to mind:

Billy Idol - Rebel L ("The little rebel L, he cried 'Luh, luh, luh!")




Madonna - Cereal Girl




And maybe the best one of all - even when i finally heard the original, i *still* thought the Beatles were singing about the letter B:




Ok, now it's your turn - what are your favorite Sesame Street parodies? Bonus points if you can find them on youtube.

James Blunt - 8/27/2008 - The Fillmore - San Francisco

James Blunt is such a wonderful & talented songerwriter, singer, and performer.

I have to admit, i wasn't a huge fan when he first broke a few years ago. I quickly grew tired of hearing "You're Beautiful" on the radio every five minutes (actually, that's still my least favorite song of his, but seeing it played live made me like it a little more). I unfortunately wrote him off based on the one song (yeah i know, i hate that & i know i shouldn't do it).

But at the end of last summer, something happened which sent me searching for some mellow, heartfelt tunes that might express what i was going through. In other words, i was looking for whiney boy music. And i got it in my head that James could provide something along those lines.

Well he did give me that (one tune in particular expressed EXACTLY, almost word-for-word what i was thinking & feeling). But he also showed me so much more. Some of his songs are sad, yes, but his lyrics are also insightful, well-written, a little weird at times, and just *good*.

I fell in love with his first album,"Back To Bedlam"; i played it over and over in the car and at home. And as fortune would have it, his new album "All The Lost Souls" was released right at that time. In fact, it hit the stores ON MY BIRTHDAY - how awesome is that?

In the year that has passed between then and now, my musical journey (as always) has meandered quite a bit, leading me through various realms of music. I found myself coming back to James often and liking his songs even more as time went on.

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Needless to say, i was very excited about seeing him play live. I'd missed his previous run through town, and didn't get tickets for his current tour with Sheryl Crow (i was iffy on the bill & venue, and it sold out while i was trying to decide). So when i found out that he'd added a headlining one-off in San Francisco, i logged in and bought my ticket the minute they went on sale.

This was my first visit to the Fillmore, so i allowed a ridiculous buffer to allow for traffic and parking. It turned out to be easy enough to find the place and park, so i ended up through the doors a good 45 minutes early. After wandering for a few minutes (the Fillmore is a great venue, btw; wonderful mid-size theater (larger than Slim's, smaller than the Aragon in Chicago), walls covered with photos of bands who have played there over the years) i finally perched at the back of the hall (a dark corner next to the sound booth) and resigned myself to wait.

After a few minutes some guy approached me (older than me; i'd guess 40s) and said in a friendly voice & Scottish accent "Best seat in the house, eh?" I cautiously engaged in some smalltalk; i had my guard up at first because i wasn't sure what his deal was, but then i found out that he was one of the security guys. I think he just wanted someone to talk to until the show started, just like i did. So that was cool. We talked a little about music; he's a metal fan too, although of the old school (Maiden, Priest, Motorhead, Testament, etc). And from working security he'd met a lot of bands as well (the original lineup of Anthrax, for example). He also told me about some of his travels, and about his tattoos; he has a full bodysuit in progress, inked by numerous artists from places he's been.

So that was a fun random encounter; his name is Allister (or maybe Hollister; i couldn't hear too clearly in the crowded theater). Maybe i'll see him again when i go back to the Fillmore in a few weeks to see Nightwish.

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Tift Merritt opened up the evening with a good set. I wasn't familiar with her music, aside from a few songs on her myspace page. I think i could really enjoy her stuff if i'm in the right mood. She's clearly a talented artist, and i have an immense amount of respect for her as a performer. Especially her singing voice! Struggling with my own singing efforts has raised my appreciation for musicians who can actually sing with clarity and control, especially with little or no accompanyment. She played her set by herself - just her voice and her acoustic guitar or piano.

Next up was my boy! The house lights went down, his band members slipped onto the stage one by one (all styling in jackets & ties) and started up the first song. A few seconds later James himself burst onto the stage, struck a few rock star poses with his guitar, then settled into the song. I actually didn't recognize the opener; i don't know if it's new or if my memory just sucks.



The only other song i didn't recognize was this wonderful piano-driven mystery tune called "Cause I Love You". It seems to be part of his usual live set but nobody knows anything about it (i'm hoping it'll be on his next album - maybe maybe?"). It was a great audience-participation number, as the band broke into an interim jam and James led us in singing along (after he jumped off the stage and high-five'd & hugged his way along the front of the audience). Fun! Here's someone's bootleg i found on youtube:




So, most of the shows i attend are metal, which typically have 3 volumes: Loud, Very Loud, and Even Louder. Which i love and wouldn't trade for anything (of course, i wouldn't trade my ear plugs for anything either). But i also really enjoyed that James & co's set spanned a wide range of intensity. At one end of the spectrum was the full-band driven rocking out; his band members play quite well, and they really look like they're having fun up there which always makes the performance feel good.




The other extreme was James at his piano, performing a few songs by himself. "Goodbye My Lover" was particularly amazing (and not just because it's "my" song).




Pretty much a perfect set from James & the boys; with only two albums so far, they were able to include most of his recorded material and thus play all of the songs i was hoping to hear. Also fun were the live embellishments - a jam session thrown into a song, some varied guitar solos, a handful of singalongs. James did mention that this was their first headlining one-off of the tour, which i'm guessing allowed more freedom as far as the set goes (maybe a few extra songs, and a kickass encore). And i'd expect there was a higher energy level as well, since everyone in the house was there to see *him*, as opposed to a mix of fans of Sheryl Crow and whomever else was on the bill. I can't imagine my first James Blunt concert being any better than this one <3







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Once the show was over, i found my Scottish friend and said goodbye before heading out. It really was nice to have some company before the show; otherwise it would have been just like The Birthday Massacre last fall - standing around by myself for an hour (suk). On my way out the door i found that they were handing out posters made specifically for this show - bonus! It's nice to have a memento from the night (in addition to my ticket stub, of course). Some venues have promo posters on the walls, but i usually forget to gank one, or they're all gone by the end of the night.

As usual, i drove home with the radio off, replaying the highlights of the evening in my mind. I also upheld my new tradition of stopping by In-N-Out on the way home for some much-needed food; good times.

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James Blunt is now a candidate to be promoted to white-tag status in my music collection. For those who don't know what the bloody hell that means, it's an elite title reserved for a select few artists who have had a significant impact on me. I have a lot of love for a lot of bands, but the white tag represents something extra-special beyond even the top tier. There are only eight such artists in my music collection (with two more in the running). Stay tuned for more details (if you care).

Sleepwalking

I finished reading "The Algebraist" a few days ago, but haven't made it to the library yet to pick up something new. Last night, desperation drove me to pull "A Tale Of Two Cities" from my bookshelf (we read it in 11th grade English class; i saved my copy). After the first page i realized that i was too tired and distracted to be able to focus on Dickins, so i gave up; set the book on my nightstand, and turned on NPR to let the BBC News lull me to sleep instead.

Overslept this morning; finally dragged myself out of bed around 9:30 (been watching the Olympics every night; my body isn't used to staying up so consistently late anymore) and started my morning routine. When i logged in to check my email and facebook, i noticed "A Tale Of Two Cities" sitting on my coffee table. The book which i know i left on my nightstand is now in the living room, and i have no memory of moving it.

I vaguely remember other instances of sleepwalking over the years - waking up and finding my pillow in the hallway, for example, or other objects moved.

One time in particular (when i was living in Urbana) i was having an intense dream in which i was being chased through a forest by something big & scary. I realized that i couldn't outrun it, so i finally decided to turn and face the creature. I crouched behind a tree, hoping to take it by surprise. Right as it approached, i woke up...crouched behind the chair in my living room, soaked in sweat, heart pounding, gasping for breath. It took me several minutes to realize what was going on as the eerily-lit woods faded and my dark living room materialized.

On a related note, this seems to be happening more and more of late: I'll half-wake up in the morning, realize that i need to get going, fall asleep again, and then dream my attempts to get out of bed. My physical body's inability to move is translated into the dream where i'll struggle to move (and fail). It'll feel like i'm trying to swim through molasses, or suffocating under an invisible force. Not very pleasant; usually i'll give up on trying to move and finally wake up a few minutes later. But occasionally i'll be able to wrench myself awake - into a nice bit of sleep paralysis :-/

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I've watched more tv in a week and a half than i have in the past year combined. And since my ReplayTV is dead, i have to actually sit here and *watch* live (which i haven't done at all in a good 4-5 years).

But i really have been enjoying the Olympics. All of the events have been fun to watch (or at least the ones that NBC is airing), but gymnastics have been my favorite summer game for a long time - ever since Barcelona in 1992 when i first discovered the sport (and developed a bit of a crush on Kim Zmeskal, heh). Even in the complicated world of start values, age controversy, etc, the strength, agility, and pure skill of these young athletes is just spectacular.

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As a final note, i realized this afternoon that i don't know what day it is today. I didn't bother checking, as it doesn't really matter right now, and i'm getting an odd bit of satisfiction out of not knowing.

A few great films, and some other stuff

I watched "10 Things I Hate About You" again on Saturday afternoon, and found myself liking the film even *more* than i already did. For one thing, i somehow forgot or failed to realize that it's set and filmed in Seattle (my favorite city in the US). I guess it's been a long time since i've watched 10 Things all the way through, because i was amazed at how many scenes i recognized from having seen the places with my own eyes. The opening sequence with the city skyline and Mt. Rainier in the background - i've taken that classic photo myself. The paintball scene, i believe, was at Gasworks Park. Taking a boat out onto Lake Union - done that. And the best of all - the troll under the bridge (with the VW bug under his giant stone hand); Shawn & Becky took me there when i was in town last summer. Awesome.

Then Saturday night i went over to hang with some friends, and we ended up watching Batman Begins (i'm itching to see the second one but haven't made it out yet). Man. I hadn't seen it in a few years (rented it with Laurie & Shannon a few summers ago), and the impact of this viewing was just as intense as the first time around. Fucking amazing film in so many ways.

Today was Nefaur's bbq, which was good; met/caught up with various people and ate way too much food - as it should be.

So it seems that this weekend had its highlights, despite how bad Friday night was, and the mindset it placed me into. As an update on that, i eventually did manage to pack away those photo albums (along with many other key items). And in a real box this time (not just shoved into a cabinet); labeled it "Shards Of Neilam's Heart" and stowed it away.

This morning i secured my ticket to see James Blunt perform in San Francisco in August (only 2 days before the 29th, which is a delicious coincidence). Good thing i logged in the minute tickets went on sale; looks like the date sold out pretty quickly. So now i have 5 shows (and counting) to look forward to in the next two months:

7/25/2008 - Stone Temple Pilots
9/27/2008 - James Blunt
9/12/2008 - Nightwish
9/21/2008 - Children of Bodom
9/25/2008 - Bullet For My Valentine

(Latest up-to-date concert calendar can always be found on my facebook profile; let me know if you're interested in any of the shows & want to come with).

You know, i really enjoy having James Blunt in my otherwise metal-dominated concert list. It's kindof like when people find Avril Lavigne on my cd shelf. Anyway, unlike James, most of my metal shows don't sell out right away, so i haven't picked up tickets for Nightwish, Bodom, or Bullet yet. I'm thinking about making a trip up to the city to hit the box offices directly. This would save me $30-40 of handling fees, which would more than pay for gas or Caltrain, and give me the satisfaction of keeping my money away from Ticketwanker.

So in review: Yay for good films, social gatherings, and concerts. Boo for falling off the wagon and regressing emotionally back to late-2007. Last week was a bust; i'm looking to make this week at least a little better.

Oh, and one last thing - Dr. Horrible will be online for another 2 hours, so anybody who hasn't already seen Joss Whedon's bloody brilliant web musical should head over to drhorrible.com straight away.