Thirty Seconds To Mars with Queens of the Stone Age, The Foals, Alt. J and Grouplove

Venue: See previous

The show:

Generally: I hate arena shows, but being on the floor makes it a lot better. It feels a lot like somewhere like the Aragon–– Flat, crowed, but still spacious enough that those of us that want to can hang toward the back of the crowd don’t feel crushed. A word to the wise on arena shows: If you are deep in the crowd, you will get crushed and it will be a stronger crush than you’d experience anywhere else. It is the Nature of Arenas. I on the whole loved the show; it had a solid line up with fast enough pacing to be comfortable but not so fast that there wasn’t time for bathroom breaks!

Onward.

I missed group love, so no review there.

Alt-J (2.5/6): Hailing from Liverpool, Alt. J is an indi-rock group with a distinctive sound that stands out in a sea of generic indi rock. I’m not a big fan of their sound ––It’s not my style. However, they do what they do deliberately and with a keen sense of precision. Seemingly intentionally slurred and without particular regard for tonality, the vocals are simultaneously sleep inducing and grating. There was also an odd clicking sound that they brought into play in one of the songs, which pushed their overall sound into something jarring. That being said, the synth work is absolutely wonderful and their sense of composition is surprisingly precise.

 It did not work for me, however, I believe that it would for someone who could stomach that sound.

Foals (3/6) The Foals had a little bit of an an 80s sound, but on the whole not horrible, I found they were really not attention grabbing and had a little of the old school shoe gaze sound in some of their songs. I also noticed that their guitar was slightly out of tune, which is just sloppy. It distracted me quite a bit. That being said, I did really enjoy some of their numbers.

Queens of the Stone Age (4/6-- Probably would have been higher if I knew their stuff) Really fun show. It seemed as though they were there particularly to have fun and give the audience a good time. NO holds bared lyrics, without that hard edged in your face sound.  Queens of the Stone Age were a little retro and bouncy. The guitar work was no frills, but very articulate and it impressed. Or rather it seems impressive until their drummer cut loose. The drum work is nigh unparalleled in its sheer craziness that some how manages to maintain it’s precision. My hat is off to their drummer.

The place they lose points is the lack of interaction with the audience. He was mostly blandly making comments about the beach balls that q87.7 tossed into the audience, if he said anything about the crowd. I really enjoyed the overall sound of Queens of the Stone Age and will be looking into getting a hold of more of their stuff. They seem to mesh really well as a band and keep a laid back, yet still rock and roll atmosphere.

Thirty seconds To Mars (4/6) I was worried going into this show, as last tour it felt like lead singer Jared Leto was straining his voice significantly. And his voice has changed, however, he compensated very well by dropping a lot of the songs into a lower key. , I really think the band is trying to find itself again and the rockiness does show on the album Or at least that’s what the music feels like. All three of the members of Thirty Seconds To Mars have an incredible amount of passion and talent. It is very clear that they have a passion for what they do. However, Leto is definitively the force behind the band. Attention grabbing in both his looks and presence Leto brings a still strong voice a powerhouse of charisma and poise with a hint of well-deserved arrogance.

The amount of audience participation he encouraged was an absolute delight. The amount of conscious effort he’s put into being gracious, especially toward his fans is very clear. When I first saw him, he had a lot of the aloofness that he is criticized for and part of that will always be there, however, touring he’s picked up a degree of sincere, grace that I do hope sticks around. It very much becomes him.

While he a presence all unto himself, Leto is not the only talented member of the band. Younger Brother Shannon Leto keeps a thunderous, vibrant pulse on the drums and the guitar work from Tomo Miličević gave the music a brilliant edge.

The overall sound was very investing from a critical standpoint. I had a lot of curiosity going into this show, as their newest album is chaotic and not very cohesive. While the sense that the band itself is coming out of a rugged period and trying to find itself again, they are as cohesive as ever. It was actually difficult to pick out from the sound which instrument was which. The show was also a lot more produced than their previous works and I’m not sure how I feel about that.

On the whole, it was a wonderful show and I am anxious for their next evolution.

Hail To the King (Tour): Avenged Sevenfold with The Deftones at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL

Venue: I’ve reviewed the Allstate Arena before and it hasn't changed

The Deftones (2/6): I enjoyed the show immensely. There is always a pleasure in a band that takes you back into you childhood. Sadly, the front man’s voice has not aged well. Between  his voice cutting out and breaking on every high note and their needing to do the sound check on the fly, the show was lackluster. Once “My Summer (Shove It)” played. they woke up a lot, however they never got really good.

The vocals were downright bad. Twenty years of screaming into the microphone has not been kind to lead vocalists Chino Moreno’s vocal cords and it really shows. He had a lot of trouble with the whispery high notes he’s known for and definitely needed the autotune that is so common on the albums. In their case, autotune is a good thing and really first their song.

TO give credit where it is due, the guitar work was solid, but that was effectively the highlight.

Avenged Sevenfold(4.5/6): Avenged Sevenfold was utterly fantastic on stage.  They have really evolved as a band in the past five years. I feel like the death of their drummer James “The rev” Sullivan in ’09 really woke up their passion. They've  risen  from a good, if generic , alt-metal band to a band with fire and a brilliant command of the audience that will no doubt have staying power for many years to come

Front man, M. Shadows, has an intense presence and drive that commands attention. While not the most articulate of vocalist, his powerful, well-coordinated growl is both distinctive and surprisingly versatile. It felt right in both the slower song and the thrashing fast ones.  Shadows never stopped moving for the entire show. It wasn't the breathless running around many artists do. Fists pumping, Shadows strode from one side of the stage to the other the embodiment of power.

His versatile was highlighted when performing “Fiction,” in tribute to their late drummer. There is something about hear a hardened, fearless man’s voice shaking and crack during a song about losing a friend that really hits the listener’s heart. The performance really spoke well of Shadows as both an artist and a person.

Dueling guitarists, Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates, were both absolute powerhouses turning out  both brilliant solos and finger tearing duets they tore up the stage like wild animals with  devilish skill.

Drummer Arin Elljay was flawless. Two full drum sets is a lot to manage and Elljay had huge shoes to fill stepping in for Rev. But Elljay was a delicious madman on that stage with a wonderful sense of when to throw down an insane solo and when to keep the beat subtle.

I could not leave the review without commenting the screen work and the pyro. The effects have come a very long way over my lifetime and they were used with perfect sync to the music. Deafening explosions with frequent but not overdone blasts of exquisitely timed pyro from multiple sources on the stage, several set changes that happened without interruption and judicious use of cinematic but not distracting screen work made for a quite a show. 

Overall these guys killed it. 

In Praise of "Bad" Music: Nickelback w/ bush, Seether (not reviewed) and My Darkest Days(not reviewed) at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Il

Venue: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL-- (3/6) I’ve never been a big fan of arena shows, but sometimes my bands get popular enough to need them, which makes me happy for them. The Allstate Arena is one of the only really big arenas in the Chicagoland area and it’s really more of a sports arena than an arena meant for concerts. The audio system is basically just a PA system and as a result is flat, has lots of noise and is generally not the best system save for the fact that its loud. Its also one of the dirtier arenas I’ve seen and the concessions and merch are hard to access and shoddy. They are also highly disorganized.

The only real pluses are the pyro and the size. The Allstate Arena can comfortably fit 17,500 people and is laid out well enough that it’s pretty easy to see most places.

And the pyro, oh the pyro. I admit I am a sucker for good pyro. The Allstate has a great pyro and visual effects team, which, while not necessary, adds a certain flare to a rock show.

Speaking of which…

Bush (3.5/6): I came in part way through the set on this one, but my gods it was fun. I have to admit that a large chunk of what contributed to my enjoyment of the show was the nostalgia factor. I hadn’t heard anything new from bush in eleven years. I’d assumed they’d gone the way of many 90s grunge stars. They apparently have a new album, which from what little I’ve heard of it is much in keeping with their old stuff-- grunge with ragged, low fi guitar work and slurred vocals. As someone who grew up when it was in its heyday, I have a big soft spot for grunge. While the instrumentation is not thin to write home about, and Rosedale’s voice is not traditionally a good voice, I found they put on a good show and kept in sprit with their music. There is also something to be said when an artist who hasn’t been big in over a decade can walk into the crowd and still get mobbed. Rosedale owned what he wrote and preformed with a dignity that is not seen in a lot of faded stars.

I feel like this is how my parent’s generation feels when they see bands from the 60s on stage.

Nickelback: (4/6) This is my third Nickelback show, and it always feels like a gigantic party. I find that Nickelback reputation is undeserved. There are far worse artists. Sex, booze and rock and roll are the dominant themes of their music. (A friend of mine compared them justly to AC/DC) Crass, dirty, with a devil may care attitude; Chad Kroger knows how to throw a party. He knows his audience and while far from the emotionally intense leap-into-the-crowd style of many artists, he knows what to say to get the crowd cheering and singing along. He also has a wonderful dynamic with his band-mates. There were multiple occasions where I could see the laughter in guitarist Ryan
Peake's face when he and Kroger played off each other. It is a wonderful thing to see a band with a bond. With how cocky he can be, it is difficult to imagine Kroger deferring to anyone, except maybe to go get more alcohol. However, he was more than willing to let both his guitarists and his drummer have their spot in the limelight.

The think that impressed me at this particular show was that Nickleback has grown up as a band. While the days of carousing booze and sex songs are far from gone, there were a few songs that had a level of thoughtfulness that was distinctly lacking in previous work. I never in my life would have expected piano work to appear on a Nickleback album, let alone in an anti-suicide song. I’m pleased to see Nickelback keeping their swagger but adding a little more depth.

Overall, a great show.

Rammstein and Combichirst at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont

Venue: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL (4/6) I prefer the Allstate to the United Center. That being said, I’m not a fan of arenas, they’re too big and it puts a lot of distance between you and the artist. The energy is never very strong once it reaches the third tier.


The crowd (3/6): Something just wasn’t working in my section of the arena. The difficulty with such a big place is that it could have been a completely different experience elsewhere. But where I was there seemed to be this disconnect. I think part of it is a function of the language barrier. I sincerely doubt that many of the audience spoke any German (I don’t) and I think that makes connecting to the abundance a lot more difficult. It warmed back up significantly once Rammstin Played “Du Hast,” their biggest hit in the US. But the audience didn’t have the kind of energy I’d expect from such a vibrant show. I also think this was partly because they seemed to be paying more attention to recording the show than to enjoying it.


Opening act: Combichirst (4/6) I’m not really a big fan of Agrotech-- I find it tends to be shallow and repetitive as a genera. The sound is very cool, but I find the lyrics dull after a while. That being said, I found Combichirst to be an interesting act, very showy-- one of the drummers was playing with a pair of mourning stars. There weren’t very many instruments involved, but that’s partly the genera. The way the set was set up was also interesting as they had two percussionists and a synth. player set up to stay in sync roughly.

While I though the energy was very strong I don’t think the band itself has as much talent, it strikes me as the sort of music that teenagers listen to before they understand what industrial can really sound like. The front man was surprisingly articulate for a genre that favors grunts and screams over audible lyrics.

Having listened to them recorded and live now I find they are good lives but reordered they are quite off putting, they sound like Marylyn Manson’s kid brothers.


Main Act, Rammstein (3.5/6): Interesting show. Until last night I’d only heard about the kinds of things that go on at Rammstein show, including onstage simulated sodomy. I truthful was expecting ”worse“ than what I saw, but given that it was an all ages’ show I think they must have toned things down. The pyrotencics were unlike anything I’d ever seen. Most pyro heavy shows to see some explosions from the ceiling and floor, maybe the odd rocket, but nothing like this. People were set on fire both literally and figuratively by the theatrical, over the top style of the band. According to Wikipedia it’s partly to keep the fans engaged despite the language barrier.


While I felt there were some problems earlier in the show with the energy and connection to the audience I felt this tactic effective, because Rammstin is also a talented band within their genera. Industrial is not a genre known for its talent, so it is a very pleasant surprise to see a band that is articulate. Their precision wasn’t perfect on the guitar work, however I think that is partly the effect they were going for. The synthesizer work was very nice and the vocals were crystalline in their clarity.

The thing I missed was that the band was so caught up in the theatrical element, which is reason enough to see them perform, that there wasn’t a lot of effort put into working the crowd or connecting, there was too much reliance on the pyro. That being said an interesting thing happened.

The crowd was off, involved but something wasn’t quite catching until they played “Du Hast.” Suddenly there was a connection and the crowd woke like a sleeping giant. Most people knew something of the lyrics. I’m sure none of us knew exactly what we were saying but we knew the words. That seemed to be what both the band and the crowd needed to get themselves really moving.


That dissonance aside, the encore alone was worth the ticket price. I don’t think I’ll ever forget seeing “Engle” live. “Engle” is (if the translated lyrics are right) a song about not wanting to be an angel. Front man Till Lindemann appears in easily 10 foot long steel angle wings which shoot flames from their ends. It is phenomenal to see live. And that was just “Engle”. The show overall was gorgeous but could have used a little better energy.