Event: Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Music Festival(3/6) I’ve been to several music festivals ranging in size to small local events to one of the world’s largest. Uproar was mediocre. My thoughts on the show may have been colored by my active dislike for the venue. The line up was phenomenal, however, I found the whole thing disorganized and the staff unhelpful.
For example, they alleged that there was a signing. I personally saw no indicators as to the location or any potential time changes. I didn’t even see my usual indicator (a line). I checked both sides of the stage just to be sure. I’m not sure if this is the fault of the horrid venue or the festival organization.
Venue: (2/6)—Honestly, the only reason I end up going to the First Midwest Amphitheater is the talent it brings. I find it a dirty, unorganized, venue with staff that isn’t knowledgeable and often is more likely to stand around looking bored than actually help. They will, however, be very insistent about looking in your purse and patting you down in the poring rain. More than once I walked straight past the people who were supposed to check my ticket. I had mine in my hand, mind you, but once I was past the gates I could have gone anywhere but the pit (which requires a wristband, so I’m not sure how good security was down there) Now, I had the best tickets next to the pit so it didn’t matter. (I may be a seasoned concert go-er, but I’m not about to put myself in the pit for “Riot” or anything Avenged Sevenfold plays. I doubt I’d survive.)
Every time I’ve been to this venue the staff has been unfriendly and useless. They seem to have very little knowledge of the venue and the events therein. Moreover, they don’t seem to care to find out. The concessions are overpriced even by festival standards and the verity of concessions is piss-poor at best.
The sound system is also awful, bass heavy to a fault and constantly distorted.
The there are a few things that keep the venue from completely losing me.
First, it is a permanent venue. There are real bathrooms (not portable ones) and there is a decent covered section and the tickets are often not very expensive. Also this place tends to draw a phenomenal line up, and artists who come to Tinley Park often don’t come to Chicago itself. It also seats more people than the Charter One Pavilion, making it a prime target for rising artists and larger artists who don’t want to play arenas or aren’t quite big enough to fill an arena.
Escape The Fate (3/6): Escape The Fate is a traditional screamo/ heavy metal band with a young sound and some obvious roots in the 80s hair metal sound. Heavy metal is very easy to do badly. While far from terrible this band lacked a certain spark. Even recorded they are just slightly uncoordinated. Not enough to truly bother the listener but enough that it puts them behind the pack from a sound stand point. Lyrically, they are traditional dark metal. When opening for bands like “Bullet for My Valentine” and “Avenged Sevenfold” you need a little more kick than they had. Put forth the effort to produce energy however, they fell short. Overall they were nothing to write home about good or bad. As the first of four acts they were certainly in the right spot. They felt very green and forgettable.
Bullet for My Valentine (4/6): I’d heard their first two albums a few years back and while I enjoyed a few of the songs I largely forgot about them. I liked them enough that I was interested in the show, however, I had low expectations, I admit.
While I would hardly call Bullet For My Valentine brilliant, I’ve always been enamored with their ability to change from melody to screams and back. Musically they too have their roots in 80s metal, but there is clarity to their work that makes them stand out as well as a degree of coordination that is often lacking in scremo especially. In a genre that can easily devolve into noise, Bullet took the effort to make their sound unique and sharp.
Live they also had a primal metal energy that is rare outside of harder metal.
Bullet for My Valentine had that live. The adrenaline was fantastic. On a technical level, they were also very solid, a surprise in their genera. The guitarist was especially on top of his game.
Another thing that made Bullet for My Valentine interesting is that the vocals were split. The lead handled the melodies and the guitarist picked up the grunts and screams. This illustrated their lovely coordination further and let the guitarist and front man play off each other very nicely.
Bullet for My Valentine also showed passion, which was a nice way to start an evening full of it.
Bullet for My Valentine also made the abundance start moving and after Escape the Fate, this was no easy thing. However, from opening cord to ending progression the crowd was on its feet. I think they even got a mosh pit started, which doesn’t happen often with openers.
Three Days Grace (5/6): I didn’t think I could be any more impressed with Three Days Grace than I already was. However, they did something that I haven’t seen in any other band. Most bands that I’ve seen several times lose some of their sparkle, not often enough of it to mater, but the shows get familiar and predictable. Not so with Three Days Grace. Even the parts I’ve seen several times had little pieces of variation that make a show just that much more engaging. I did not think they could top their last show, with its unbridled energy and raw emotion.
I underestimated Adam Gointer. Heavily.
There is a raw honesty that comes forward in their music that is only a glimmer in most other bands’ music. Every band I’ve seen live has songs they’ve written just to put something out there. It is the unfortunate nature of the industry. Most also have at least one song that is straight from the raw nerve. Any fan who’s seen a good live show knows that song, it’s the one that taps into your own heart because it is palpable that every word rings true.
That is everything Three Days Grace has ever created. Their live performances have a powerful charge that rivals no other show I’ve seen in its emotional intensity. I confes that I lose a degree of professionalism when I’m at their shows, something in what he writes taps my own nerves.
And that usual redundancy I talked about? Even the songs that they’ve been performing for their entire career are different each time they perform them.
In addition to having energy and emotion Three Days Grace also have an incredible amount of talent. Their coordination is flawless and seasoned. Are they the most technical band on the planate? No. I think that is one of the things that make them so powerful. They are raw, torn, emotional and utterly wonderful live.
Avenged Sevenfold (4/6): Avenged Sevenfold is another band that I had kicking around my computer for a while. I liked what I’d heard but not enough to actively seek it out. I expected to have my earplugs in and head bob, but not really engage in the show. Then it happened, somewhere during “Beast and the Harlot” the raw, primal energy that metal is known for kicked in. The crowd was alive, and I was on. While they certainly don’t have the emotional content of Three Days Grace, they certainly put on a great show. I don’t think emotional content is the point of their particular flavor of metal; its music to cut loose to, rather than music for catharsis. The general tone of an Avenged Sevenfold show is one of defiant, almost flippant dismissal. Despite this tone, front man M. Shadows engaged the fans often enough to keep them interested but not so often that it became tedious or interrupted the flow of the concert. He was sincere when he needed to be, encouraged the fans when they needed to be encouraged and generally put on a good rock show. However, something happened about half way through the show and I’m still thinking over exactly what caused it. There was a distinct energy lull. Part of it, I’m sure, was the solemnity of “so far away” dedicated to their former drummer who passed on around this time of year two years back.
I’ve never seen a band lose a member and fully recover, while the new drummer is very good, I’d imagine there would always be a hole in the band. However, while I can’t see a talent difference (I’m not very familiar with their older works) I noticed that the songs from the newest album displayed a degree of emotion that others did not. I’m wondering if this is a new turn for the band or if they are simply coming to terms with a friend’s death. Time will tell. I certainly appreciated the emotional elements however; it is not what most people come to an Avenged Sevenfold show for. I can see that affecting their fan base heavily.
I’ve talked a lot about Shadows’ performance but he is far from the most talented of the band. In fact, I’d say he’s the least talented of them. Not that he isn’t talented, he is. However, their guitarist and drummer are both phenomenal. I was particularly impressed with the drummer, given that he is a very recent addition to the band. While I’m confidant that no one will ever replace “The Rev,” I have faith in this his or her new drummer.
On the whole, I was impressed with these people and while their performance will never make my top ten lists, it was certainly good.
