Last night Maddie and I went to the Disturbed/Breaking Benjamin/Alter Bridge concert at Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, New Hampshire. We had a great time! We left in the early afternoon so that we wouldn't have to rush during the 2-plus hour trip to get there. After reaching our seats, we got a pleasant surprise. At first, we were a little disappointed with our seats since they did not match up with the seating chart that we used to buy them. They were further back than we anticipated. The map we used did not have a mosh pit, so all of the seats looked like they were one section closer than they really were. We decided to make the best of it and sat down at our seats about thirty minutes before the show was to begin. No one had sat in our row yet and there were only a few others sitting in the section around us. We just chatted for a bit, and watched people walk up the aisle and look for their seats. It was at this point that a man walked up to us and asked if we wanted better seats. He said two of his friends couldn't make the show and so he was just giving the tickets away. He said that the seats were better than what we had and that we could just have them. He gave me the tickets, and then walked away, he didn't wait to see if I would offer him any cash or anything. Well, Maddie and I took the tickets and started walking forward. At that point I hadn't really looked to see where the tickets were located... I figured I would just ask the usher. When we got to the usher, he looked up really excited and said, wow, you got great seats, these are the second row! I was stunned. We walked up to the second row, and the guy who gave us the tickets was there sitting in the seats he had given us. He looked up and said, "oh" I'm sorry, I gave you the wrong ones." Here are yours, and he handed me two other tickets. They were front row tickets! I said "these are for the front row, are you sure you don't want them? He looked at his friend and said "No, you guys take them and enjoy them!" And so we did! The tickets he gave us were the first row of seats above the mosh pit. (where people have standing room only). We were elevated a bit so that we could sit and our view was in line with the stage and we were above everyone's heads who were standing in the mosh pit. I just want to give a shout out to the generous man who literally made our night about one hundred times better than it was already setting up to be! Maddie has twice said that this was the best concert she had ever been to. The man seemed very happy that he had made us happy. After settling into our seats, I walked back to the man and offered to give him some cash for the tickets. He just smiled and said, "no, just enjoy your night. No money necessary." In the future, I hope that I can pay this act of generosity forward and give someone else a seat upgrade. I will likely never have front row tickets to give to someone, but I am sure I will have good seats, that will provide an upgrade for someone at some point. Alter BridgeThe opening band for the concert was Alter Bridge, a group I didn't know, but should have! Alter Bridge is made up of the three original members of Creed (two guitarists and the drummer) and Miles Kennedy as the lead singer. I love Creed, and was unaware that they had broken up, since they still tour on occasion. Alter Bridge has a harder, edgier sound than Creed, and Miles Kennedy definitely brings a lot of energy to the vocals (that's him in the red T-shirt). His voice actually reminds me of a young Bruce Dickinson, the leader singer for Iron Maiden. Needless to say, Alter Bridge really rocked, and I am really into the band. In fact, I am listening to them while I write this post. If you like heavy metal... or you like Creed, then you really need to go see this band! Moreover, for those of you who don't know, Miles Kennedy often works as the lead singer for Slash's group Slash.and the Conspirators. Breaking BenjaminAlthough better known than Alter Bridge, I did not think Breaking Benjamin did as good a set as the opening band! There were a couple of problems. To start, for the first couple of songs, you could barely hear the lead singer. The mike didn't seem to be working properly and the music overwhelmed the vocals. The second problem is that when you hear a number of their songs in succession, it becomes painfully obvious that they use the same beat and similar guitar riffs in nearly all of their songs! While what they played was okay, it seemed like they were a band that had gone stale. In fact, about halfway through their set, they did a cover of an old Nirvana song. While they did a good job with it, they did nothing to make the song their own. It was almost like they were trying to play it exactly like Nirvana played it, with no changes to make it unique. A very far cry from what Disturbed has done with Sound of Silence! DisturbedWhen Disturbed hit the stage, they brought down the house! These guys have been playing together for twenty years, and it shows. They play their songs with fervor, and really seem to enjoy what they are doing. The show we went to was their twentieth anniversary show to the day! They celebrated by playing the first song they ever recorded together. It ended up being the only song I didn't know out of all of the songs they played! Down With The Sickness, Sound of Silence, and Indestructible, were my three favorites from the set. When Disturbed did their version of Sound of Silence, they truly showed the difference between playing a cover and truly making the song their own. While the words remained the same, and the tempo was similar, that was about it, Lead singer David Draiman has such a powerful voice that he makes the original version sound as if it is being sung by two school girls. Don't get me wrong, I still like the original version too, it's just that side by side the meaning of the songs seems to get altered. And that is what doing a cover is all about. Taking something that is well known, and making it your own. Disturbed was successful with its cover, while Breaking Benjamin was not. All said, I believe the total show was well worth the money, and that if you are into heavy metal, then you will definitely enjoy seeing Disturbed and Alter Bridge. Breaking Benjamin... not so much unless they really begin to pick up their pace. The next show for us is Rob Zombie and Korn at the end of the month. In This Moment will be the opening act. I hope they can pick up their pace as well. They have good music and should be a great show, but the lead singer spends so much time on changing outfits that it throws off the tempo of the set. I was disappointed with them last time... I am hoping they fix it this time through.
1 Comment
Michelle
8/10/2016 12:38:41 pm
Hey! Sounds like a great time. You don't have to give a seat upgrade to pay it forward! Just do something that is unexpected that will give someone a lift or unexpected joy. I like to do things like that...makes me feel as good as the person on the receiving end.
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