So yeah, I spent most of my Friday at Summer Slaughter 2009. For those not in the know, it's one of the better known annual heavy metal concerts along with the likes of Ozzfest, Mayhemfest, etc. It was an alright day on the whole.
I started the day by setting my alarm clock to get me up at 11 AM, since the concert started at 2 PM and I wanted to get there an hour early. Anyways, I slept in. Not by much though. When I did finally get up, I did my usual morning routine, then I printed some crap my mom wanted for work and I ate brunch. Then I did some laundry... more accurately, I washed my favorite death metal shirt (The Faceless one, the one with the pussy on it). It smelled up a little, and while metal shows tend to smell like BO and ass I felt I didn't need to contribute to that unpleasantness. After my shirt kinda sorta finished (it was still damp) I printed out my Google Map and set out on my journey to find the King Cat Theater around 12:45 PM.
Deathcore-a-blarin' from my car stereo, I hit the highway and made my way downtown. Took the 165B exit, same as for the Convention Center, then hung a right onto 6th Ave. and drove straight for a while. Lo-and-behold, I knew exactly where the fuck the stupid venue was from driving by it so many times but having never realized what the hell it or its parking lot were.
So I got to the King Cat Theater and parked in what I thought was a free lot... Christ, was I ever fucking wrong. Went to pay for my parking but the Goddamn machine was broken. Had to go over to another machine and get my parking. 10 fucking dollars for all-day parking. Well, I really had no choice so I paid. Then I realized... I parked in the wrong fucking lot. So I walked back to my car parked in "Lot 28" and sped my ass over to "Lot 24." Shit sucked. Once that was out of the way, I walked on back to the front entrance.
At the entrance I basically loitered around, staring at the scenefags and laughing inside at a particular group of metalheads who had been dropped off by one of their mothers. After a while though, I realized there were two Goddamn lines; one at the front of the building and another at the side. I had no idea which was the one I wanted. In the end, I went to the side line. Having waited probably a good 20 minutes outside, security finally came by and said my line was the under 20 line and everyone 21 and over had to move to the other line. Yay! Take that you old farts!! Os so I thought.... Turns out the 21 & over crowd were let into the show shortly after being told to switch lines. Meanwhile, I stood in line for another fucking 10 minutes. All the while, the first motherfucking band started playing while my line remained at a standstill. Eventually we were let in, but not before having to empty our pockets and get patted down. I ended up catching flack for a fucking nail-clipper I have on my Goddamn keyring. In the end, I was allowed to enter, nail-clippers intact.
Once I got in, much to my annoyance, the first band, Culling the Weak, was playing their last damned song. They're a local band I guess. And while I didn't necessarily know who they were nor was I all too interested in hearing them, I will say they sounded pretty good from what little I heard of them.
After they finished their set and the sound guys got onto setting up for the next band, my attention turned to the crowd. I couldn't help but notice that the venue wasn't even half full. Not even a third full really. There must have been 150 people, 200 tops. Literally half the floor was empty (this isn't even taking into consideration the fact that their stadium-seating-esque chairs were not in use in any form). This show was supposed to sell out and I couldn't help but wonder, "Is this seriously everyone?" Apparently, it was....
Well, after my dumbfounding realization, the next band, another local one, came on stage. This time it was Immiserate. Their vocalist sounded oddly akin to Wayne Static of Static X. At any rate, they sucked. I appreciate their effort, but no, they sucked. They tried to get a pit going; 4 people obliged. They tried to get people to throw the horns; 2 people did. In the end, their exit from the stage was a welcome one.
Next up was BlackGuard. I had never heard of them before, but they had a chick drummer which was cool beans by me (she was pretty damn good too).... That and she looked like someone I know who goes by the name of Heather, which kinda weirded me out a little. Anyways, these guys weren't too bad. Their vocalist certainly knew how to get the crowd going. That said, having had Immiserate try and form a failed pit and then having had these guys try to form a failed circle pit (twice), I was beginning to conclude that the crowd was either stupid or didn't know what the hell a circle pit was as the scenefags were busy doing that screamo bullshitterry. Anyways, they managed to pique my interest after their interesting set.
So next up was this band known as Decrepit Birth, which I had heard a little of before. Their lead vocalist looked like a Rastfarian hippie though. Aside from that, they managed to get the first semi-successful pit going... even though it was still that screamo bullshit. Their music wasn't too bad, though there wasn't really anything special about it. As another concert-goer put it, "They're alright, but there''s nothing that jumps out about them." I pretty well agree with that sentiment.
After that came After the Burial, which was alright I guess. They kinda reminded me of Adema, but without the mediocre goodness. They sucked to be honest. Not much else to say there really. At least after them was one of the bands I really wanted to see.
Beneath the Massacre came on and they did not dissappoint. They were as brutal, technical, and as French-speaking as I had anticipated. And by this point I had made my way to the front of the stage, where my ears were absolutely assaulted (in a good way) by the speakers. Fuckin' A. The concert was getting better now.
Following BtM, Origin was up. Finally, the quality acts were coming on out. I headbanged my ass off to their shit until their set was complete, but not before getting a low-five from their guitarist/vocalist, Paul Ryan.
And then, the band I came to see first and foremost, Born of Osiris took the stage. They opened up with Empires Erased and the pit opened the fuck up. They played some of their new shit, including Now Arise and Exist, all whilst I filmed with my cell phone, before getting to the end of their unfortunately short set which could be summed up in three words... FUCKING BOW DOWN!! Yeah, the last song they played was Bow Down and the crowd, including myself, yelled out that very phrase. Meanwhile, I growled along as I had memorized nigh all the lyrics from said song. When they eventually left the stage, I got the chance to shake Lee McKinney's hand (guitarist) which was pretty fuckwin.
So after BoO, Dying Fetus played. They were as great as ever. By this point, the pit was near full-effect. Not much else to say really. A solid performance all around, which I very much enjoyed.
The next band to play was Winds of Plague... and Goddamn do they suck balls. Or maybe I should say their keyboardist likes to suck balls. Damn, she was hot... the things I would do... uh... I digress. Seriously though, this crap sucked. The one thing I can say about them is that they at least know how to play to the crowd. They also managed to get the first successful circle pit going. That's about where their skill ended. Another annoying thing was the pit, as it was fully inhabited by scenefags which translates into dipshit moshers. This fucktard came into the outer bounds and started slamming into people outside of the pit, including me. I was pissed and turned around to smack him full force. I'm not sure if it connected with my intended target, but I sure as fuck hit someone. Anyways, I was a happy fucker when they finished their set because it was Necrophagist time... or so I thought.
Much to my dismay, I came to the depressing realization that there were still at least 3 more bands until Necro time. I found this out when I overheard a conversation behind me. I was both tired and annoyed at this point, as I literally stayed in the Winds of Plague pit for the sole reason of having a front row spot for Necrophagist. I ultimately decided to leave the pit so I could buy an overpriced-as-fuck-$3-tiny-ass-bottle-of-water and find somewhere to rest my aching feet.
Water bottle in-hand, I made my way over and up to the perplexingly empty seated area. Not 30 seconds after I sat down I got kicked the fuck out by security because the seated area was apparently closed. In the end I had to lean against a wall because what few seats that actually existed for the public were reserved. I was pretty grouchy at this juncture.
All the while my journey to find a seat was occurring, Darkest Hour played on-stage. They were pretty meh from what I heard, but I also spaced out on their entire performace while trying to figure out a way to rest my feet.
During the intermission I decided to go buy me some merch. While I did this, I couldn't help but be caught off guard by the utterance of a foreign language coming from the stage. I turned around and there, standing atop the stage, were a 5-piece group clad in kilts and war paint. I was intrigued. As it turns out, this was Ensiferum, a Finnish band. I had no idea who they were, but it seemed as though a great deal of people in the crowd did; one audience member even brandished a band flag, oddly enough. Well, they began playing and what I heard was freakin' awesome. It sounded like a mix between Suidakra and Amon Amarth. Whatever it was, I liked it. Their set was seriously great and ranked amongst one of the best performances of the night.
Second to last was one of the two headliners, Suffocation. God. Fucking. Damn. They were absolutely amazing. Everyone went fucking nuts with what little energy they had left. Everything about their performace was so fuckin' brootal. Hell, they even managed to crack a couple jokes in reference to Back to the Future. All win in my book.
And so, at the end of the night, the best was saved for last: Necrophagist. Amazing. Their shit was fuckin' perfect (their performance, not the venue). I only wish they had played earlier, because by the end of the night almost none of us in the crowd had the energy left to do anything. Not even headbang. That was pretty damn regretable actually. But yeah, Necrophagist was great. Plain and simple. And no, they did not break into any crazy ass 20 minute solo, before I get asked.
All in all though, the concert was alright though it was probably one of the worst I've seen. The sound quality was shit. There were a number of technical problems. The crowd was tame for the most part. There wasnt even a full audience. Water was exorbitantly priced and they guaranteed you couldn't bring any in by patting you down. There were no seats. "Saving the best for last" is bullshit in an all-day concert. Parking killed my wallet. Scenefags galore. The only upshot, really, was I got a pretty badass bang for my buck at $25 for 13 bands. I think a guy summed up the show pretty well on our way out of the venue: "That concert was gay." I fucking agree.
As an aside, I did get a fuckton of awesome merch. Got myself a Summer Slaughter shirt in addition to Beneath the Massacre, Necrophagist, and Suffocation T's. Also grabbed my sister Beneath the Massacre and Born of Osiris T's (bastards didn't have any BoO shirts in my size). So yeah, not a total bust.
Anyways, time for me to get some sleep. My neck and feet are gonna kill me tomorrow morning....
I started the day by setting my alarm clock to get me up at 11 AM, since the concert started at 2 PM and I wanted to get there an hour early. Anyways, I slept in. Not by much though. When I did finally get up, I did my usual morning routine, then I printed some crap my mom wanted for work and I ate brunch. Then I did some laundry... more accurately, I washed my favorite death metal shirt (The Faceless one, the one with the pussy on it). It smelled up a little, and while metal shows tend to smell like BO and ass I felt I didn't need to contribute to that unpleasantness. After my shirt kinda sorta finished (it was still damp) I printed out my Google Map and set out on my journey to find the King Cat Theater around 12:45 PM.
Deathcore-a-blarin' from my car stereo, I hit the highway and made my way downtown. Took the 165B exit, same as for the Convention Center, then hung a right onto 6th Ave. and drove straight for a while. Lo-and-behold, I knew exactly where the fuck the stupid venue was from driving by it so many times but having never realized what the hell it or its parking lot were.
So I got to the King Cat Theater and parked in what I thought was a free lot... Christ, was I ever fucking wrong. Went to pay for my parking but the Goddamn machine was broken. Had to go over to another machine and get my parking. 10 fucking dollars for all-day parking. Well, I really had no choice so I paid. Then I realized... I parked in the wrong fucking lot. So I walked back to my car parked in "Lot 28" and sped my ass over to "Lot 24." Shit sucked. Once that was out of the way, I walked on back to the front entrance.
At the entrance I basically loitered around, staring at the scenefags and laughing inside at a particular group of metalheads who had been dropped off by one of their mothers. After a while though, I realized there were two Goddamn lines; one at the front of the building and another at the side. I had no idea which was the one I wanted. In the end, I went to the side line. Having waited probably a good 20 minutes outside, security finally came by and said my line was the under 20 line and everyone 21 and over had to move to the other line. Yay! Take that you old farts!! Os so I thought.... Turns out the 21 & over crowd were let into the show shortly after being told to switch lines. Meanwhile, I stood in line for another fucking 10 minutes. All the while, the first motherfucking band started playing while my line remained at a standstill. Eventually we were let in, but not before having to empty our pockets and get patted down. I ended up catching flack for a fucking nail-clipper I have on my Goddamn keyring. In the end, I was allowed to enter, nail-clippers intact.
Once I got in, much to my annoyance, the first band, Culling the Weak, was playing their last damned song. They're a local band I guess. And while I didn't necessarily know who they were nor was I all too interested in hearing them, I will say they sounded pretty good from what little I heard of them.
After they finished their set and the sound guys got onto setting up for the next band, my attention turned to the crowd. I couldn't help but notice that the venue wasn't even half full. Not even a third full really. There must have been 150 people, 200 tops. Literally half the floor was empty (this isn't even taking into consideration the fact that their stadium-seating-esque chairs were not in use in any form). This show was supposed to sell out and I couldn't help but wonder, "Is this seriously everyone?" Apparently, it was....
Well, after my dumbfounding realization, the next band, another local one, came on stage. This time it was Immiserate. Their vocalist sounded oddly akin to Wayne Static of Static X. At any rate, they sucked. I appreciate their effort, but no, they sucked. They tried to get a pit going; 4 people obliged. They tried to get people to throw the horns; 2 people did. In the end, their exit from the stage was a welcome one.
Next up was BlackGuard. I had never heard of them before, but they had a chick drummer which was cool beans by me (she was pretty damn good too).... That and she looked like someone I know who goes by the name of Heather, which kinda weirded me out a little. Anyways, these guys weren't too bad. Their vocalist certainly knew how to get the crowd going. That said, having had Immiserate try and form a failed pit and then having had these guys try to form a failed circle pit (twice), I was beginning to conclude that the crowd was either stupid or didn't know what the hell a circle pit was as the scenefags were busy doing that screamo bullshitterry. Anyways, they managed to pique my interest after their interesting set.
So next up was this band known as Decrepit Birth, which I had heard a little of before. Their lead vocalist looked like a Rastfarian hippie though. Aside from that, they managed to get the first semi-successful pit going... even though it was still that screamo bullshit. Their music wasn't too bad, though there wasn't really anything special about it. As another concert-goer put it, "They're alright, but there''s nothing that jumps out about them." I pretty well agree with that sentiment.
After that came After the Burial, which was alright I guess. They kinda reminded me of Adema, but without the mediocre goodness. They sucked to be honest. Not much else to say there really. At least after them was one of the bands I really wanted to see.
Beneath the Massacre came on and they did not dissappoint. They were as brutal, technical, and as French-speaking as I had anticipated. And by this point I had made my way to the front of the stage, where my ears were absolutely assaulted (in a good way) by the speakers. Fuckin' A. The concert was getting better now.
Following BtM, Origin was up. Finally, the quality acts were coming on out. I headbanged my ass off to their shit until their set was complete, but not before getting a low-five from their guitarist/vocalist, Paul Ryan.
And then, the band I came to see first and foremost, Born of Osiris took the stage. They opened up with Empires Erased and the pit opened the fuck up. They played some of their new shit, including Now Arise and Exist, all whilst I filmed with my cell phone, before getting to the end of their unfortunately short set which could be summed up in three words... FUCKING BOW DOWN!! Yeah, the last song they played was Bow Down and the crowd, including myself, yelled out that very phrase. Meanwhile, I growled along as I had memorized nigh all the lyrics from said song. When they eventually left the stage, I got the chance to shake Lee McKinney's hand (guitarist) which was pretty fuckwin.
So after BoO, Dying Fetus played. They were as great as ever. By this point, the pit was near full-effect. Not much else to say really. A solid performance all around, which I very much enjoyed.
The next band to play was Winds of Plague... and Goddamn do they suck balls. Or maybe I should say their keyboardist likes to suck balls. Damn, she was hot... the things I would do... uh... I digress. Seriously though, this crap sucked. The one thing I can say about them is that they at least know how to play to the crowd. They also managed to get the first successful circle pit going. That's about where their skill ended. Another annoying thing was the pit, as it was fully inhabited by scenefags which translates into dipshit moshers. This fucktard came into the outer bounds and started slamming into people outside of the pit, including me. I was pissed and turned around to smack him full force. I'm not sure if it connected with my intended target, but I sure as fuck hit someone. Anyways, I was a happy fucker when they finished their set because it was Necrophagist time... or so I thought.
Much to my dismay, I came to the depressing realization that there were still at least 3 more bands until Necro time. I found this out when I overheard a conversation behind me. I was both tired and annoyed at this point, as I literally stayed in the Winds of Plague pit for the sole reason of having a front row spot for Necrophagist. I ultimately decided to leave the pit so I could buy an overpriced-as-fuck-$3-tiny-ass-bottle-of-water and find somewhere to rest my aching feet.
Water bottle in-hand, I made my way over and up to the perplexingly empty seated area. Not 30 seconds after I sat down I got kicked the fuck out by security because the seated area was apparently closed. In the end I had to lean against a wall because what few seats that actually existed for the public were reserved. I was pretty grouchy at this juncture.
All the while my journey to find a seat was occurring, Darkest Hour played on-stage. They were pretty meh from what I heard, but I also spaced out on their entire performace while trying to figure out a way to rest my feet.
During the intermission I decided to go buy me some merch. While I did this, I couldn't help but be caught off guard by the utterance of a foreign language coming from the stage. I turned around and there, standing atop the stage, were a 5-piece group clad in kilts and war paint. I was intrigued. As it turns out, this was Ensiferum, a Finnish band. I had no idea who they were, but it seemed as though a great deal of people in the crowd did; one audience member even brandished a band flag, oddly enough. Well, they began playing and what I heard was freakin' awesome. It sounded like a mix between Suidakra and Amon Amarth. Whatever it was, I liked it. Their set was seriously great and ranked amongst one of the best performances of the night.
Second to last was one of the two headliners, Suffocation. God. Fucking. Damn. They were absolutely amazing. Everyone went fucking nuts with what little energy they had left. Everything about their performace was so fuckin' brootal. Hell, they even managed to crack a couple jokes in reference to Back to the Future. All win in my book.
And so, at the end of the night, the best was saved for last: Necrophagist. Amazing. Their shit was fuckin' perfect (their performance, not the venue). I only wish they had played earlier, because by the end of the night almost none of us in the crowd had the energy left to do anything. Not even headbang. That was pretty damn regretable actually. But yeah, Necrophagist was great. Plain and simple. And no, they did not break into any crazy ass 20 minute solo, before I get asked.
All in all though, the concert was alright though it was probably one of the worst I've seen. The sound quality was shit. There were a number of technical problems. The crowd was tame for the most part. There wasnt even a full audience. Water was exorbitantly priced and they guaranteed you couldn't bring any in by patting you down. There were no seats. "Saving the best for last" is bullshit in an all-day concert. Parking killed my wallet. Scenefags galore. The only upshot, really, was I got a pretty badass bang for my buck at $25 for 13 bands. I think a guy summed up the show pretty well on our way out of the venue: "That concert was gay." I fucking agree.
As an aside, I did get a fuckton of awesome merch. Got myself a Summer Slaughter shirt in addition to Beneath the Massacre, Necrophagist, and Suffocation T's. Also grabbed my sister Beneath the Massacre and Born of Osiris T's (bastards didn't have any BoO shirts in my size). So yeah, not a total bust.
Anyways, time for me to get some sleep. My neck and feet are gonna kill me tomorrow morning....
