Concert Review: Korpiklaani at The Palladium in Worcester, MA

Korpiklaani
The Palladium
Worcester, MA
December 17, 2011
Reviewed by: Brian Cross
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Concert Review: Corey Taylor at Highline Ballroom in NY, NY

Corey Taylor
Highline Ballroom
New York City, NY
December 5, 2011

Reviewed by: Antonio Marino Jr.

Nine years ago, Corey Taylor spent his birthday in Poughkeepsie, NY. on stage with his “new” band Stone Sour. Emerging from the imposing musical shadow of Slipknot, Stone Sour had a raw newness that was exciting to watch. Stone Sour’s sound, although heavy, called on Corey to be much more of a melodic singer and as strange as it was to see two of Slipknot’s members performing unmasked it was even stranger to hear Corey sing! Read more

Concert Review: The Kooks at the House of Blues in Boston, MA

The Kooks
House of Blues
Boston, MA
November 19, 2011

Rating:  

Reviewed by: Holly Kalinski

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Concert Review: Queensryche at the House of Blues in Boston, MA

Queensryche
House of Blues
Boston, MA
October 26, 2011

Rating:  

Reviewed By: Roger Scales

It’s hard to believe Queensryche has been recording and touring for 30 years, seems just like just yesterday I was seeing them open for KISS at the Worcester Centrum in November 1984.  Having seen Queensryche in Hit Paradrer and Circus Magazine I had never even heard one song or watched one video but I recall being amazed at the range of lead singer Geoff Tate.  The energy of the band also impressed me and I went out the next day and bought The Warning on cassette and have been a fan ever since.  Well 30 years later Geoff doesn’t have quite the range he did back then but makes up for it in his stage presence, charisma and basically being the ringleader on stage for Queensryche in 2011. 

What Boston fans were hoping for was a trip down memory lane and a set loaded with “vintage Ryche” and they did get that..sort of.  Trying to touch all the bases in their history the band tried to please everyone by offering at least one selection from each of their 12 studio albums.  For me personally I wanted the bulk of the set to consist of heavy doses of Rage For Order, Operation: Mindcrime and Empire..arguably their three most popular releases.  I got that but the set had no flow to it because it jumped around too much and hearing individual Mindcrime cuts (for example) out of order does not do the album any justice. This is not a “hit single” sort of act..”Silent Lucidity” notwithstanding. Maybe that’s my problem with a “greatest hits” type set list.  My list is so drastically different from what was performed at the House of Blues I left feeling underwhelmed. 

I bought Dedicated to Chaos, this year’s new album out of loyalty to the Ryche tradition.  Although not a bad album I never had a moment where I truly rocked out or got excited over any one track.  So having the set open with “Get Started” from that album didn’t surprise me at all it also didn’t get me all fired up either.  In fact much of the first half of the set consisted mainly of tracks from my least favorite Ryche albums.  Not until 9 songs into the night did my attention get grabbed when they performed “Real World” from the Last Action Hero movie soundtrack from 1993.  Performed brilliantly it was probably Geoff’s best vocal of the night. Geoff has a gift of making the fans feel like one big happy family by frequently acknowledging the crowd and interacting between tracks so that the songs may have a little background or short story to them prior to being performed.   

The second half of the set was more vintage Ryche and included such classics as “NM 156”, “The Lady Wore Black”, “Take Hold of The Flame”, ‘Walk in the Shadows” and “Eyes of a Stranger”.  All some of my favorites and all had an old school metal feel to them something the newer material sorely lacks.  I would like to say that guitarist Parker Lundgren has come a long way in 2 years and seems to be filling in for Chris Degramo better than I thought he would, given his inexperience and young age.  Yet in making that statement NO ONE can really replace Chris in terms of what he brought to the bands song writing, guitar work overall appeal.  The band has never been the same since his departure although one could argue that they have survived in spite of this not because of it.

I’m a huge Queensryche fan and always will be.  I think the best thing for the band to do is play entire albums in their entity and let the fans decide which ones and see what happens.  I read that played Rage for Order in its entirety in NY a few nights after Boston.  This is what the band should strive for in terms of road survival.  Besides Degarmo returning to the lineup seeing Queensryche is like watching a regular season Bruins game.  Yeah it’s hockey and it’s great but there is nothing like the playoffs.  Bringing back Degarmo, playing Rage from beginning to end along with a few other vintage Ryche tracks would be like watching the Bruins win another Stanley Cup.  I’ll drink to that..

Set List
1. Get Started
2. Damaged
3. I Don’t Believe In Love
4. Hit the Black
5. I’m American
6. My Empty Room
7. A Dead Man’s Words
8. Desert Dance
9. Real World
10. NM 156
11. Screaming In Digital
12. The Lady Wore Black
13. Walk In The Shadows
14. The Right Side Of My Mind
15. Around the World
16. Silent Lucidity
17. Take Hold Of The Flame
Encore:
18. Eyes Of A StrangerPlay Video

 

Concert Review: The Sea and Cake at Brighton Music Hall in Allston, MA

The Sea and Cake
Brighton Music Hall
Allston, MA
November 7, 2011

Rating:  

Reviewed by: Holly Kalinski
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Concert Review: Ace Frehley at The Junkyard in Nashua, NH

Ace Frehley
The Junkyard
Nashua, NH
October 23, 2011

Rating:  

Reviewed by:  Roger Scales
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Concert Review: Opeth at the Palladium in Worcester, MA

Opeth
The Palladium
Worcester, MA
September 19, 2011

Rating:  

Reviewed by:  Brian Cross
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Concert Review: Arch Enemy, DevilDriver & Skeletonwitch at the Palladium in Worcester, MA

Arch Enemy, DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch & Chthonic
The Palladium
Worcester, MA
September 9, 2011

Rating:  

Reviewed by:  Brian Cross
Photos by: Diana Guay

Three days into the North American Khaos tour, Arch Enemy and friends hit the Palladium in Worcester, MA, on September 10, 2011.

Kicking off the night was Chthonic. The Taiwanese black metallers are a force to be reckoned with, capturing the crowd’s attention and keeping it throughout their performance. Aside from playing blistering metal influenced by classical Taiwanese music, Chthonic stands out due to their use of the erhu. The instrument is practically unheard of in extreme metal, but Chthonic melds it so well into their music and live performances that it feels like the erhu has always been there. Removing it would gut their sound! It should be noted that most male fans’ eyes were glued to the lovely bassist Doris Yeh during the set. She’s not just a pretty face, though; Yeh’s technical playing is truly impressive.

Skeletonwitch hit the stage next. The Ohio-based band brought their blend of blackened death metal and thrash to the forefront, whipping the pits into a frenzy. Their new record Forever Abomination hits next month, and fans got a taste of it with the new song “Reduced to the Failure of Prayer.” The rest of the cuts were evenly split between their previous albums Beyond the Permafrost and Breathing the Fire, with riffs that likely got stuck in everyone’s ears for days. Skeletonwitch’s energy didn’t waver for a moment, and that’s exactly what the crowd needed. There’s no such thing as a “slow” Skeletonwitch song, but would a crowd of extreme metal fans really want it any other way?

Capping the opening acts was DevilDriver. They were supporting their most recent release, Beast, and that’s a pretty accurate assessment of their live shows. Their hard-edged metalcore resulted in the most violent pits of the night so far, and the band’s earthshaking riffs throbbed through the floor like an army on the march. Frontman Dez Fafara took every opportunity to rile up the crowd, and the floor population swelled to epic proportions in no time. Of course, the real highlight of DevilDriver’s performance was Fafara ripping into the hardcore dancers for ruining others’ fun in the mosh pit. Serves ‘em right.

When Arch Enemy finally made their appearance, the venue was packed to the walls with eager fans ready to do some damage. One of their songs may be titled “No Gods, No Masters,” but Arch Enemy qualify as both in the realm of melodic death metal. Accompanied by a huge video screen displaying wartime footage, calls for revolution, and music video segments, the band absolutely killed. Paired up with complex yet catchy guitar attacks, vocalist Angela Gossow brings a passion to the music that few other growlers can match. Most of the setlist came from Arch Enemy’s latest album Khaos Legions, with standouts like “Bloodstained Cross” and “Yesterday is Dead and Gone.” For longtime fans, plenty of stone cold classics like “Ravenous” and “Dark Insanity” were thrown in for good measure, along with the scorching “Nemesis” as an encore.

Arch Enemy and their unholy trio of openers made this a night to remember. There’s plenty of dates left on the North American Khaos tour, so don’t miss out!

American Khaos Tour Dates:

Sep. 12 – Quebec City, QC – Imperial
Sep. 13 – Montreal, QC – Metropolis
Sep. 14 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix
Sep. 17 – Winnipeg, MB – The Garrick Center
Sep. 19 – Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall
Sep. 20 – Edmonton, AB – Edmonton Events Centre
Sep. 22 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
Sep. 23 – Seattle, WA – Showbox
Sep. 24 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
Sep. 26 – San Francisco, CA – Regency Center
Sep. 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Nokia Theatre
Sep. 29 – Phoenix, AZ – The Marquee
Sep. 30 – Albuquerque, NM – The Sunshine
Oct. 01 – Denver, CO – The Gothic
Oct. 03 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
Oct. 04 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues

 

Concert Review: Jeff Mangum at Harvard’s Sanders Theater in Cambridge, MA

Jeff Mangum
Harvard’s Sanders Theater
Cambridge, MA
September 9, 2011

Rating:  

Reviewed by:  Dorise Gruber
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Concert Review: Sara Bareilles at the BOA Pavilion in Boston, MA

Sara Bareilles
Bank of America Pavilion
Boston, MA
August 30, 2011

Rating:  

Reviewed by:  Holly Kalinski

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