Concert Review: Avenged Sevenfold

Recently, The Music Pill got the chance to sneak up to Ft. Wayne, IN on a Tuesday night to check out a fantastic show at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The show featured four really solid bands. Swedish Metal band Avatar opened and were followed by Killswitch Engage and Volbeat. Filling out the bill was the explosive Avenged Sevenfold.

The review below compares Avatar and Killswitch to recent shows that I’ve already reviewed, and then dives a bit deeper on Volbeat and Avenged Sevenfold. Hope you enjoy!

Festival Review: Chicago Open Air 2016 Day 3

After two fantastic days of Chicago Open Air 2016, we woke up on Sunday with sore muscles and slight sunburns. However, none of that would stop the excitement surrounding a wild and crazy lineup of bands that was set to play that day. Some aspirin, a big breakfast, and the blackest coffee we could find, and we were off to Toyota Park for Day 3.

The first two days could be considered nothing but a wild success, and no doubt Day 3 would be more of the same. This was the first annual Chicago Open Air festival, and yet typical first-year snafus were noticeably absent at this festival. Logistically, Toyota Park was really well set up. Entrance to the festival was quick and easy thanks to a cloth wrist band that lasted all weekend. Restrooms and food vendors were plentiful and located in great spots. The side stage was extremely well built, and oriented in a way that could support a huge audience. In fact, in talking with countless other fans, the biggest complaint I heard was that fans had to traverse the venue stairs countless times as they went between the main stage and the side stage. Trust me – if that’s the biggest challenge that a first year festival like this has, it’s a raving success.

Musically, the venue was also a home run. So far, we’d been treated to fantastic shows over the first two days, including many shows that would stick with us for years to come. Day 3 also featured an incredible lineup, with We Came as Romans, Letlive, Babymetal, Killswitch Engage, and Five Finger Death Punch all slated to play. In addition to all those shows, festival headliner Slipknot would close out the weekend.

On a day that threatened thunderstorms, I couldn’t wait to get started. Chicago Open Air Day 3 – bring this thing home.

Festival Review: Rock on the Range 2014 – Day 1

Another year, another great Rock on the Range. Last week, a group of us headed to Columbus, OH for our sixth consecutive Rock on the Range – North America’s biggest rock festival, and an epic three day event featuring 3 stages, over 30,000 fans a day, and some of the most incredible performances I can remember. The thing that makes ROTR great is it’s variety – there’s hard rock, old school metal, metalcore, and everything in between, and it’s all on stage at the most well-planned, well-executed, and affordable festival in North America.

This is the first of a series of posts that I’ll write about the weekend – because of the number of bands, the nature of the three day festival, and the amount of awesome that they cram into one weekend, one post simply won’t cut it. This one in particular will focus on Friday and the bands that kicked off the weekend strong. Keep in mind that I can only write about the bands I chose to see at the festival – set times do overlap, so there are bands that I missed, but I like to think I make pretty good decisions on which way to head. 🙂

The Music Pill’s Bucket List – 2014

So, I’ve been to hundreds of shows and seen hundreds and hundreds of bands play. While some might think that’s crazy, I think it’s very cool that I’ve been able to follow my passion so closely for so many years.

However, even after all the late nights in loud venues and sweltering days at summer festivals I’ve spent listening to live music, there’s still some bands that I just haven’t really seen yet. I think about these bands…my proverbial “bucket list”….in my head all the time, and get very, VERY excited when I get to check something off. So, I figured I’d jot down some bucket list shows so I don’t forget any of them. Plus, this gives me a list, and if you know anything about me, you know that crossing things off of a list is very satisfying to me. 🙂

Jesse vs. Howard – Killswitch Engage

Disarm the Descent Tour
Bogarts – Cincinnati, OH
6/16/2013

I love Killswitch Engage. I flat out think they are amazing. Not only do they put on really great shows, but I believe they were instrumental in bringing clean vocals into the world of metalcore, which helped create and refine my favorite style of music. So, needless to say, I’m a big fan, and I always have been.

…..BUT. In my head, a BIG part of what made KSE so great was the aforementioned clean vocals by Howard Jones. His booming, powerful vocals just really drew me to their music, and when I found out that he was leaving the band in 2012, I was really bummed. They brought in original lead singer Jesse Leach, and so I was intrigued to find out how he would do. There were several early signs that he might be great – first was a side project called Times of Grace, where he released an album with Adam D that was really good. Next came the latest KSE release, called Disarm the Descent, which came out this April. But the tell all would be their live show. I had to know – was KSE better or worse off by swapping tried and true Howard for the original, refined Jesse. As always, Bogarts got a bid on the Disarm the Descent tour. KSE – lets do this.

Music Pill Update – June 2012

Hello all! Now that I’m finally caught up on concert blogs, I have a ton of exciting music news to pass along. I have been so busy lately that I have been going nuts trying to keep up with everything, so I’m excited to finally be getting this out.

I’m certainly not a news blog, so this isn’t an all inclusive list, but more a list of hand picked facts about bands that I really like and want to share. Included below are new albums and music, other interesting band news, and summer tours that have been announced. Check it out ! (For those that don’t like the variety like I do, skim the red font for bands you like! 🙂 Hope you find something interesting that you didn’t already know!