On Black Friday when many people were out binge shopping, and a couple of people were actually getting trampled to death, my daughter and I and her boyfriend Seth decided to go to the Shinedown/Five Finger Death Punch concert. Overall we made a great choice! AS LionThe night started out with a whimper. I think it was me waiting for the first band to get done! The first band up, AS Lion, seemed more like a bar band than an opening band at an arena. In fact, I would go so far as to say that they were the worst opening band I have seen in quite a while! The band is from England, and they really didn't seem to know how to get the crowd going. Their sound system was poor and the only thing I really heard clearly was the lead singer cursing a lot. About half way through their set, I actually started hoping that the lead singer would fall off the stage as he pranced dangerously close to the edge. Unfortunately, he never did, and we suffered through about a half an hour of their nonsense. They have a new album coming out next week. I think I'll skip that one! I think a better name for this band would be Ass Lyin! Sixx A.M.The next band up was Sixx A.M., a group led by Nikki Sixx, the original bassist for Motley Crue. These guys put on a great show, and had the crowd out of their seats early. At one point, the whole arena was lit up with cell phones and lighters as the band sang their biggest hit, Life Is Beautiful. The group has a good stage presence, and rock hard, but at this point only make as a good opening band. I just don't think they have enough solid hits under their belt to be a main headliner yet. ShinedownShinedown put on the set of the night! These guys came out and rocked hard. They have a large number of hits, and they played all of them! I had heard from a number of people that they put on a good show, so I had high expectations. And the band far exceeded them. Although I am a big fan of Five Finger Death Punch, I thought they would have a tough time beating Shinedown's performance... and I was right! Unfortunately, the lead singer for Five Finger Death Punch was very distraught. He had just found out that his mother had died that evening and he was waiting for a plane home. Amazingly, he came out and tried to sing a few songs. The band did a short set and then called it an evening. I give him a lot of credit even coming out on stage after hearing that news. I have seen Five Finger Death Punch in the past, and I know they put on a great show. My condolences to Ivan and his family. Below, are two pictures of Five Finger Death Punch, and then three more from Shinedown. The large picture that opened this blog post is also a picture of Shinedown. For the record, My favorite song of the evening was Simple Man by Shinedown. They did a great job with the old Lynyrd Skynyrd classic. At one point, they had the whole arena singing the chorus and it sounded awesome. All of those people (myself included) connecting with the band on that one song really was something to experience!
Two other songs worth mentioning were Life Is Beautiful by Sixx A.M. (The crowd also tried to sing this one, but it seemed to have a little less feeling behind it) and Cut The Cord by Shinedown. I have short clips up on my Facebook page of Simple Man and Life Is Beautiful, so if you have nothing to do, go to my page. Just search Wayne Nef (I live in New Hampshire, just in case there is more than one person with my name). Enjoy!
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While everyone pushed each other about for the best deals this Black Friday, I ended up at a concert with my Dad and boyfriend. AS Lions, Sixx AM, Shinedown, and FFDP were playing at the DCU Center in Worcester.
I won't include pictures in my post- I'll let my Dad have them for his. It's not like they'd be much different anyway, since I only got a couple of each group. I'd rather take a little time and give you a review of each of the bands. AS Lions is a small band from the UK that's just starting out, and it was easy to see. They were the first group of the night that played and they were HORRIBLE. I have never had such bad second-hand embarrassment for someone. The group tried too hard, and failed to get the crowd moving well- and I'm pretty sure everyone wanted the lead singer to fall off of the stage more than they wanted to hear the next song. All in all? A horrible band who managed to dampen the atmosphere of what could've been a great start to a night. Thankfully, Sixx AM came on directly after and put on an amazing show. While they didn't get as much applause as they should've for their first few songs due to the audience still being in a sour mood from the last band, by the end of their set they had everyone livened up and ready for Shinedown. Sixx AM is a great band in my opinion and I'd recommend them to any rock/metal fan. After that, Shinedown came out and performed and really got the crowd moving. While a good portion of their performance did happen to be talking, the songs they did do were full of emotion and coupled with amazing pyrotechnics. My favorite song done by them was Cut The Cord, followed closely by Simple Man. In both of these songs, the lead singer turned the mic to the audience and had the whole arena singing the chorus in unison. It was truly something to experience. I had heard plenty of good things about Shinedown's live performances prior to seeing them; and I must say that they blew away all expectations I had, surpassing them in a heartbeat. They were the best show of the night and I'd recommend seeing them to anyone, honestly. Finally, Five Finger Death Punch came out... but unfortunately, could not perform much. I don't hold it against the band at all- the lead singer's mother had just passed and the singer had only just found out. He was waiting to catch a plane home and after telling the audience this, the whole arena told him to go home. To his credit, he came out and performed a few songs and then let his drummer finish off with a solo. Having seen FFDP before, I can tell you that they put on an amazing show so despite the misfortune, I would recommend seeing them as well. - maddie Last night Maddie and I went to Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts to see the Return of The Dreads tour featuring Korn, Rob Zombie and In This Moment. This was a great show and I'm glad we went. The picture above shows lighters and phones ablaze for Rob Zombie as the crowd cheered for an encore. We had good seats for the show, and all three bands rocked hard and loud. In This MomentIn This Moment opened the show and did a much better job than they did the last time we saw them. In fact, I jokingly told Maddie "here comes the buzz kill" as the band was just starting to take the stage. I did not say that because of how the band plays their songs... In This Moment is an edgy heavy metal act that rocks hard. The problem is that the lead singer likes to change her outfits between every song. The last time we saw them, they were the second of four bands. From Ashes To New had really gotten the crowd going as the opening act, and In This Moment came out and really killed the momentum by having stops between their songs that sometimes lasted up to three minutes! There was no filler to keep the crowd interested, and the crowd got quiet and sat down. At the end of From Ashes To New's set everyone had been up and out of their seats. Last night, the band did a better job, though. The lull between songs was taken up by taped portions by the band that set the stage for the beginning of the next song. Costume changes were also done quicker so that the stoppages were not as noticeable. Altogether, the band did a better job this time around, although I must admit they remained my least favorite of the three. They were my least favorite out of four bands last time! Rob ZombieI gotta admit I went into the show with high expectations for Rob Zombie. His music is very heavy metal and it usually has bizarre subject matter. His videos are also a bit out there. Well, I must say that he lived up to my expectations! Not only was his show high energy, but he really had a knack for getting the crowd involved with the show! At one point, he walked out into the crowd and made it out to the middle mezzanine area. I think he would have walked out to the grass seats if he could have found his way through. The whole time he was walking around, the lead guitarist, John 5, was doing an awesome solo that ended with him doing a rendition of Jimi Hendrix' rendition of the Star Spangled Banner! John 5 has been lead guitarist for Rob Zombie for more than 10 years. Prior to that he had been lead guitarist for Marilyn Manson and for David Lee Roth. Man, was I impressed with his playing! Maddie had a video of him playing the star spangled banner, but it unfortunately got erased by Snapchat! Thanks a hell of a lot, Snapchat! I would have loved to put that piece up on the blog! One of the highlights of the entire show for me was when the band did their rendition of "We're An American Band" as their first encore song. It's an old Grand Funk Railroad tune, and these guys really rocked it! All said, I went into the show thinking that Korn was going to be my favorite act for the evening, but to be honest, I think Rob Zombie and his band clearly stole the show. Great job guys, I am definitely looking forward to seeing you guys again! KornI want to make it clear here that although I think that Rob Zombie and his band had the best set, in my opinion, Korn still really rocked the house! I have been listening to these guys for years. In fact, I remember Korn was a mainstay at the beach house where Sharon and I first started dating. I went into the show figuring Korn was going to be a shoo-in for my favorite set, and while they did not disappoint, I still can't get John 5's guitar solo out of my head, or We're An American Band. Thus, Korn takes a back seat here. Even so, I recognized a lot of the band's older stuff, and had a great time! Freak On A Leash and Narcissistic Cannibal were both well received by the crowd, while my personal favorites were Falling Away From Me, Twisted Transistor and Shoots And Ladders. Out of the three, Shoots And Ladders was the best! Oh, and Y'All Want A Single also was great. In fact, that song had the whole pavilion singing "Fuck that!" in unison. That was rather unique I must say!
All said, it was a great show and I highly recommend both Rob Zombie and Korn to any true metal heads out there... or anyone who really likes rocking shows! And finally, just looking at some of the freaks in the stands was well worth the price of admission! Literally people were walking around with zombie makeup. And some of the hair colors that we saw would make a rainbow blush. Good times! 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.
This picture is by Maddie Maddie and I went to see The Who last night at TD Garden in Boston. And boy, did they put on a great show! I was a little concerned heading into the show because a friend of mine saw them playing the Superbowl and said they sucked. I decided to go anyway, since I have been listening to The Who for over forty years and I love their music. I am so glad that I did! I thought they did a great show. Both Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend are over seventy years old, and while they have lost a step in old age, and don't move around as much as they once did, they both still sound great. Keith Moon and John Entwistle had both died years ago, so others have taken their place and did a great job as well. This wasn't my first time seeing The Who, so I have some basis for comparison. I saw them rock Giants Stadium back in 1989, when John Entwistle was still the bassist. My history with the band goes back even further though. Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy was one of the first albums I ever bought back in 1976,.The Doors' LA Woman was the other. Both albums had already been out for a few years before I got them, but to be honest, they both came out when I was five, so I wasn't buying anything, let alone music back then! I still have both albums too! These bands and their albums, have been a huge part of the sound track of my life. Tell me, what was playing in the background during important moments during your life? For me, oftentimes it was bands like The Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Jimi Hendrix. In fact, "Thank You" by Led Zeppelin was My Wife & I's wedding song. The singer for our wedding couldn't really get it, so we did not play it at our reception, but we did dance to it before we left the house on the way to the church.
Last night, it felt so good to share such a large part of my life with my daughter. She doesn't know how much it meant to me that she actually enjoyed it. My daughter and I have gone to concerts before, but this was the first one where I likely had a better handle on the music than she did. I caught myself a few times leaning over to tell her something about the song coming up after I heard a note or two of the opening and recognized it. The memories I had while listening to the music, and being able to share some of that with her while she was experiencing it for the first time truly made my night. What's more, one of my daughter's friends also went to the concert with his parents and she ran into him there. Now, she will have her own memories from the show that he too will be able to relate to. He was in a different section than us, but he stopped by to see Maddie, which I think helped to make the night a little more memorable for her as well. There were so many songs I knew and loved played last night that I had a tough time picking just one favorite. I remember singing along to Love Reign O'er Me and Join together, as well as You Better You Bet and Won't Get Fooled Again. Pinball Wizard was done really well and Eminence Front (one of my favorites) was a first for me, since they didn't play it at the show I went to in 1989. Oddly enough, Maddie's favorite song of the night was called The Rock and is a purely instrumental piece. She liked it for what they dedicated it to and for the scenes they flashed up on the screens as they played it. Her next favorite was Baba O Riley. Maddie loved the concert too, by the way. One song that they didn't play that I remember from the 1989 concert was Magic Bus. Before the concert even started, they had a little film on the screen talking about the band and one of the things they mentioned was that John Entwistle used to hate playing that song in concert since he really only got to play one chord and that the song would usually go on for six to eight minutes and he would be really bored. When I read that, I knew we were not going to get Magic Bus... and I was right. Another song that was rightfully absent was Summertime Blues. In 1989, the concert I went to was on the July 4th weekend, and The Who played that song as one of their encores.Well, March is still winter in New England, so there was no Summertime Blues. Well, I think I have rambled long enough. I am happy that I got to share one of my favorite bands with my daughter. These guys were good in 1989. After so many years, I think these guys were GREAT in 2016. Now that they are in their seventies, I am not sure if they will be able to tour much longer. I hope they do. I would love to bring Ashleigh to see them one day when she is old enough. My thanks to The Who ... for making music I could grow up with. What amazing memories. Thank you. Last night was quite possibly one of the most amazing nights I have ever had. For those of you who don't know, I'm turning 14 in 5 days (October 12th). As an early birthday present, my dad took me to an awesome concert. The bands playing were FFDP (Five Finger Death Punch) and Papa Roach, and the opening bands for them were In This Moment and From Ashes To New. I'd like to give a quick run-down of the bands in my opinion. The first band that played was From Ashes To New. I had heard of the group before, but had never bothered to listen to any of their music. I wasn't expecting too much from them since they're a smaller group... needless to say, my mind was changed by the end of their 35-minute performance. As the first show of the night, it was their job to get the crowd going- and they did a great job of it. A highlight of their performance was when their guitarist launched himself into the crowd and then crowd surfed while playing the guitar flawlessly. As the first performers, it was FATN's job to get the crowd revved up for the rest of the show- which they did a great job in doing. However, In This Moment came out and ruined the momentum that FATN had given by stopping every song for a rest and a costume change. They are one of my favorite bands; but they put on a lousy performance that killed the show. So much better to just buy their CD and have the songs to listen to anytime. Thankfully, Papa Roach was next and they DOMINATED the entire show. They had amazing stage presence and brought the show back to life after In This Moment's failure. Twice the lead singer went out into the audience, once being just 5 rows away from Dad and I. They also performed an encore song, "Scars", in the middle of the floor right on the edge of the giant mosh pit taking place. All in all, they put on an amazing show and were definitely the best band of the night. They played for about an hour and 45 minutes and got the crowd psyched up for FFDP, the last performance of the night. After Papa Roach- FFDP kind of disappointed everyone. Did they rock? Yes. Did they put on a good show? Yes. They were awesome and I loved their show. However, after Papa Roach, there was no way they could compete. They closed off the show nicely and had everyone out of their seats cheering, clapping and singing along the whole time. Definitely a great band. Before I go- here were my favorite songs. My Fight - From Ashes To New Blood - In This Moment Big Bad Wolf - In This Moment Last Resort - Papa Roach Gravity - Papa Roach ft. Maria Brink Where Did The Angels Go - Papa Roach Falling Apart - Papa Roach Jekyll and Hyde - FFDP Wrong Side of Heaven - FFDP The Bleeding - FFDP Got Your Six - FFDP ~Maddie
But I digress. We saw four bands tonight, in about five hours. We had great seats, just off to the side of the stage. From Ashes To New started the show and really got the crowd started. I had only heard one of their songs before, so I was pleasantly surprised that they could really rock. The highlight of the set was when the guitarist dove into the crowd and played the guitar as he crowd surfed through the fans. For those of you who don't know, crowd surfing is when a person is held up above the crowd and passed along hand to hand above the crowd. I thought it took a lot of guts for him to do that, and it really got the crowd going. They played for about 35 minutes and did a good job. Next, In This Moment came out to do their set. Although I knew a number of the songs the band played (they are one of Maddie's favorite bands), I didn't like their performance as much as the other bands'. After every song, the lead singer would stop to change costumes and the two minute lull between songs really took momentum away from the show. In fact, by the time the band was done with their forty-five minute set, the crowd seemed flat, and less excited than after the first band. I was a little disappointed given the momentum the first band had built going into their set and given that the group generally has hard-edged music that should resonate with the crowd. The band left with a whimper and it was time to wait for Papa Roach. Papa Roach came out next and floored the crowd! These guys really know how to rock and in my opinion, they put on the best set of the night. Twice the band came out into the crowd. At one point, the lead singer was only five rows away from us, and we were in the mezzanine! (I thought being in a mosh pit wouldn't be a great introduction to rock concerts for Maddie). All of the fans were on their feet for the whole set for Papa Roach compared to the more relaxed atmosphere for the first two bands. A mosh pit opened up in the middle of the floor and security was kept busy as scores of fans crowd surfed to the stage. Papa Roach played for about an hour and a half and did two encores, including the song "Scars" which the singer and the lead guitarists did while off the stage out on the floor near the edge of the mosh pit. My favorite songs were "Last Resort" and "Scars". I have to say that Papa Roach was definitely the highlight of the entire show for me and I would definitely recommend going to see them live if you like their music. They have a great stage presence! The final band of the night was Five Finger Death Punch. These guys came out and rocked hard, but did not beat Papa Roach for the sheer intensity or entertainment value of their set. Maddie felt that their drummer was the best one of the night, although I thought that the drummer for From Ashes To New beat him out. The mosh pit from Papa Roach continued during the Death Punch set, as did the crowd surfing. The band played a number of songs that we knew since both Maddie and I like heavy metal. My favorites were "Wrong Side Of Heaven" and "Remember Everything", while Maddie liked "Jekyll And Hyde" and "Remember Everything". One of the highlights of the show for Maddie was when the lead guitarist of Five Finger Death Punch pointed at her (he is the second guitarist back in this picture). At the time he was up on the little stage where the other guitarist is in this picture. We were close enough to the stage so he could see her and he did seem to have a habit of pointing at girls in the crowd. Anyway, it made her smile and amused me too. In the end, Five Finger Death Punch did a great job, but it just didn't match the performance put on by Papa Roach. With that said, Maddie and I had a great time. And I'd have to call that one of my better birthday presents in quite a while!
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