I was really excited to finally see Syztem7 live. I had seen pictures that Mike had taken of Jaymez and his head dress from an earlier show and wanted to see it in person. I did not disappoint. This thing is insane!
Syztem7 is an industrial metal band. They have a unique sound that I really enjoyed. It reminded me of my New Wave days but was much heavier. The singer had a good stage presence and the band in general was pleasing to look at with their uniformed look.
Next up was Texas Hippie Coalition. All I can really say is wow. I had never heard of the band and really had no idea what to expect. By their name, I did suspect that they would be a southern rock type of band and I wasn't far off. They were great performers and had the crowd roaring. It's not really not my type of music, but I can always appreciate a good show no matter the style. Check them out of they make their way back our direction!
We knew that Since October was coming to town to bless us with a performance at El Corazon the night before Turkey Day. What we didn't know was if they had any time off for Thanksgiving. So we asked. Sure enough, it was an off day and they had a show on the 26th in Spokane. Not that far away. Mike asked if they'd like to join us at my Aunt's house for a home cooked meal. Needless to say, they were all for it!
So the 24th came along as we met up with the guys at El Corazon. The stage was front loaded so the guys really didn't have much room and we all know that Ben is quite the mover on stage. Add to that the famous pole on El Corazon's stage and he was like a captured animal when he was trying to move around.
I was standing on the left of the stage getting shots of Josh. He was totally entertaining me pouring water on his hair and flinging it at some girls who were a tad prissy to be up in the front.
Their performance was great, as always. This is a high energy band that always keeps the attention of their fans and makes new ones along the way.
Thanksgiving day came and we awaited their arrival in the quaint little town of Sumner. The van arrived and out came 4 rockers and their merch guy Chad. My cousin David took one look at Audie said that guy could eat a whole turkey himself. :)
They got settled inside when we got a surprise and saw that Josh had shaved his head and the long locks he was watering down just last night were gone! In it's place was a stocking cap that he wouldn't remove except the one time to show us the new do.
The guys were very happy with the spread and took a bunch of it with them when they got on the road for Spokane. Little did they know, the snow had been coming down on the pass for a few hours and they ended up having to stay in North Bend for the night as the pass had been closed for avalanche control.
I felt really bad they we may have caused them to miss their show by trying to look out for our friends and give them a good Turkey day on the road. All was good! They made it through the pass on Friday and onto the show that night.
Jeannie and I headed out for the Seahawks game in New Orleans on November 18th. We made our way over to the Hard Rock for dinner the first night.
The next day we started to explore the town. The main thing was to find the House of Blues. We were trying to see Supervillains and B-Foundation. I had a connection trying to get me tickets, but there was a misunderstanding.
We decided to go ahead and buy tickets to the show... but... they had canceled and we didn't realize it. What we bought was tickets to a burlesque show. We had a BLAST though! Fun misunderstanding!
My husband let us know that there were tickets for us into the Foundation Club at the House of Blues for Saturday. The contact didn't realize that B Foundation was a band but got us into the private Foundation Club at the House of Blues for the Iron & Wine show on Saturday night. The club was amazing inside. We got to watch the show from a private deck above the stage. The show was sold out and there weren't any seats on the main floor. This made us even more happy that we had the view we had.
We didn't stay for the entire show as we had planned on a night on Bourbon Street. We headed out from the House of Blues back to our hotel to change from our nice clothes into our Seahawks jerseys for our night out on Bourbon Street with the other Hawks and Saints fans. Such a great time. We got teased some, but we knew that would be coming. Since it was two girls, we weren't picked on too badly.
Hawks lose, but we had so much fun at the game and around the city, the away trip was well worth it!!!
We lucked out and were able to get tickets on the day of the show. Our seats were on the floor about 15 rows back. Mike was back stage networking while I was out watching the opening band N.E.R.D.. I had heard of them, but didn't know their music. Kind of a hip-hop/pop sound. Good performers but I think they would have liked playing to a few more people. It was a late arriving crowd.
The seat to my right was empty, this was Mike's seat. A couple had sat down to my left. Our friend Lisa came out to say hi to the couple next to me and found me there too. I didn't think much of it at the time. Lisa went back stage and I got a text from Mike asking me if I knew I was sitting next to Ryan, Puddle of Mudd's drummer. I showed Ryan the text and he just smiled and said it was him. We chatted a bit between bands and Mike came and said hi to him before he had to get into position to shoot Gorillaz.
The orchestral opening introduced us to the humongous video screen that would distract me the whole show. Do I look at the videos or do I watch the band below it? Do I watch Murdoc or do I watch Damon and Clash icons Mick Jones and Paul Simonon? Too much eye candy!!!!!!
Here's a little piece of trivia... The Gorillaz 'band' had more than 30 members and there were 111 members of the traveling stage crew.. WOW!!
The star of this tour was the the Plastic Beach CD with their previous hits in between. The first song was 'Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach' featuring Snoop Dogg. There were people arguing after the show if he was there or not. He wasn't. It was a video of him with the band playing below.
The show was AWESOME. I just love them. I was by no means disappointed with the live show. I was curious how it would be presented, but it was just fabulous.
Set List: Orchestra Intro/Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach/Last Living Souls (with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)/'19/2000'(Rosie Wilson)/Stylo (with Bobby Womack and Bootie Brown)/On Melancholy Hill/Rhinestone Eyes/Superfast Jellyfish (with De La Soul)/Tomorrow Comes Today/Empire Ants (with Yukimi Nagano)/Broken (with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)/Dirty Harry (with Bootie Brown)/El Mariana/White Flag (with Bashy, Kano & the American.. etc)/To Binge (with Yukimi Nagano)/DARE (with Rosie Wilson)/Glitter Freeze/Punk/Plastic Beach Encore: Cloud of Unknowing (with Bobby Womack)/Feel Good Inc. (with De La Soul)/ Clint Eastwood (with Bashy and Kano)/ Don't Get Lost in Heaven/Demon Days
Thank you to KISW! Mike was shooting the meet and greet before the show and I was able to watch the sound check and get my picture with Slash!!! That was sooo cool!!
The opening band, Bad City, was pretty bad alright. I was not impressed at all. I just wanted to see them get over with.
Love, love, love Slash. Myles Kennedy has a great voice and rocked the covers big time. I had a big crush on the bass player, Todd Kerns. What a cutie!!
They played about 19 songs. Great set!
‘Ghost’, ‘Mean Bone’, ‘Nightrain’, ‘Sucker Train Blues’, ‘Back From Cali’, ‘Civil War’, ‘Rocket Queen’, ‘Doctor Alibi’, ‘We’re All Gonna Die’, ‘Do It For The Kids’, ‘Watch This’, ‘Starlight’, Slash Solo/’Godfather Theme’, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, ‘Rise Today’ and ‘Slither’. The encore was ‘By The Sword’, ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, ‘Paradise City’.
This was a GREAT concert and I’d go again.
Alice In Chains, BlackDiamondSkye Tour - Key Arena, Seattle, October 8, 2010
Mike was at the Vancouver show on the 7th and brought me back my all access pass so I could meet him at the Key after work. We went to the meet and greet so Mike could get some shots for the station.
Mike had a little corner of the production room to keep his equipment and I could sit out of the way waiting for the show to start. When it was time, I made my way to the side of the stage to take in the show.
First up: Mastadon
I’ve never seen them live before. Very dynamic band. They really reminded me of Jethro Tull without the flute. Super nice guys though. Brent is quite the character.
Next up: Deftones
I hadn’t seen Deftones live either. Wow… What energy. Chino jumps around that stage like he’s the Energizer Bunny! They lowered down the biggest disco ball I think I’ve ever seen during one of their ballads. I turned once to see Sean Kinney standing behind me for part of the Deftones set. I really like seeing the headlining band take in their openers.
AIC:
What’s not to love?!?
This was the second time I saw AIC live with William on lead. He really respects Layne’s memory and sings the songs beautifully. I love their new CD. It makes shows better now that it’s not only the songs with Layne being sung.
Jerry is Jerry. The AIC sound was as it should have been. I absolutely love watching Mike Inez play bass. He is such a sweet guy and turns into some rock demon when he gets on stage. The transformation gives me chills.
The light show was spectacular! This show was being filmed in 3D for a DVD. That will be cool to say that I was there for it! If you’ve never seen Alice In Chains live, go. Even better, go in Seattle. They treat the home crowd well.
Lucha VaVoom – Showbox Market, Seattle, October 21, 2010
This isn’t a concert, but deserves a little blurb.
Lucha Vavoom is a combination of Mexican masked wrestling and burlesque dancing put to 1940’s through 60’s music. This was absolutely one of the best times I’ve had EVER.
The wrestlers were super tall, little guys and all heights in between. There were good guys, there were bad guys, there were chickens and there were dancers in between the matches. I had to buy my son a mask and myself a CD of the fabulous music.
The burlesque was really fun. My favorite was the guy that everyone thought was a girl to start with. There were many men in the room checking him out and then getting a little freaked when they realized he was not a she. Too funny.
I can’t wait for this to come back to Seattle. I think it should be at a different venue though. The ceiling was a little low for the flyers. I kept thinking they were going to hit their heads.
Steel Panther – Showbox Sodo, Seattle, October 31, 2010
LOL… Nothing could be finer than Halloween with Steel Panther. They guys were on as always. Total entertainers, musicians and showman.
The costumes in the crowd were interesting. I couldn’t believe there were actually 2 guys dressed up as the shocker.
I love being on stage to watch these guys. They just crack me up. I try to stand on Lexxi’s side. This time Jamie Nova, from Witchburn and formerly of Hells Belles, came up on stage and sang an AC/DC song with the guys.
This was a first for me, I've never seen Queensryche do a full show. I did see their acoustic set with Loaded a year or so ago. I hadn't been to a show at the Fair in many years. I was happy to see improvements to the outdoor venue. Our seats were on the floor so I wasn't able to see if there were improvements in the grandstand seating area.
There was a opening band - Tesla. Now I wasn't really familiar with the band back in the 80's. But I found I did know a couple of the songs more than likely from MTV. My 80's were filled with Wave and Punk for the most part. They were very energetic and I did enjoy seeing them.
When Queensryche took the stage, I was stunned at the size of the drum kit. Holy cow that sucker was big! Cymbols, drums and gongs just over his head too! I'm really unfamiliar with most of their songs but was able to sing along with the masses to ‘Silent Lucidity’. I was really moved when their Native American dancer took the stage. I happen to be 1/3 Native so I'm always affected by those types of performances. Highly recommend seeing them live if you haven't already. It is a good time.
Uproar - Post Falls, Idaho:
We were able to check into our hotel early so we could freshen up a tad from our drive over to the Spokane/Post Falls area. I do have to say that the organization of The Knitting Factory staff at the venue left A LOT to be desired. I'm not sure if this was the first time they put on a show at the old greyhound track or not, but they need to figure things out QUICKLY. We didn't have tickets waiting for us. Ours got lost or dropped along the way. Mike did have one ticket to use to get in and a little while later he came back to give me a ticket. This got us in the door, but it didn't get us backstage to meet up with Halestorm. We did find them at their booth doing meet and greets so they found a couple of extra wristbands for us. Yeah! We could go backstage now.
The second stage had a familiar band playing second - New Medicine. We had seen them play the actual Knitting Factory with Halestorm a few months earlier. Opening the show was a band from Canada called Hail the Villian. We liked them a ton. The lead singer knew how to engage the crowd and keep them engaged their entire set. New Medicine then took the stage. They are kind of a modern twist on Linkin Park/Green Day. Just a fun, fun band. After them came Airborne out of Australia. Holy Cow!! I understand the meaning behind their name. Their lead singer likes to go to the air. He climbs the speaker stacks, he climbs the rigging for the stage, he gets on the shoulders of his crew and walks around the crowd playing his guitar. Pure mayhem! In a good way ;)
Headlining the second stage was Hell Yeah. This band scared me. Well, not the actual band, but the reaction to the band from the crowd. People were really into this band in a drunk and disorderly way. The way that makes me move back and watch from afar. This was when I decided it would be a good think to go backstage and get on the bus with Halestorm.
Time for the main stage!!!! I was able to go on stage for Halestorm and watch from Joe's side of the stage. This was the first time the crowd was calling for the band by name to get on stage. Arejay was so excited! Halestorm killed it of course. But then again, I love them and am totally biased.
After Halestorm was finished, we went back to the bus with them. I missed Stone Sour play but I knew I could just catch them tomorrow in Auburn. There was no way I was going to miss Avenged. I made my way down to the stage. I had to stay back cause they use so much pyro. Their opening song was Nightmare. They have quite the dramatic entrance. One of their stage hands is up on some rigging with a noose around his neck pacing (yes, he has safety gear on as well. He 'jumps' from the gear hanging above the center of the stage when the band comes out and starts the song. He hangs there seemingly lifeless through the whole song, which isn't a short one. A crew of fake EMTs come out and lower him down to a strecher and whisk him away. There were some screams from the crowd when he 'jumped'. I was one. My favorite song is ‘Afterlife’ so I stayed out until after that song before I made my way back to the Halestorm bus. I’m not a fan of Disturbed at all so I didn’t go back out for them.
We visited for a bit more before we headed back to our hotel room to get some sleep. We were leaving early to drive back home then over to the Uproar show at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn.
Video Uproar, Post Falls, ID
Uproar – Auburn, WA
We almost didn’t make it on time. There was a pretty gruesome motorcycle accident on the pass on the way back home.
Same bands today but a different location. Again we were with Halestorm early and I got to watch them from the side stage. Mike was covering this show for KISW and we had good seats. Once Halestorm was done, I made my way to our seats to catch Stone Sour for the first time and Avenged Sevenfold again. I really liked what I saw in Stone Sour. I’m not really familiar with Slipknot other than knowing Corey Taylor sings for both bands.
It was fun seeing the reaction to A7X’s intro now that I knew what it was like. I was looking around the theater to see facial reactions. This band never ever disappoints me. This is the 3rd time that I’ve seen them and I plan to see them even more!!
I’m still not a Disturbed fan (They didn’t convert me overnnight) so I went backstage with Mike and Arejay. Arejay was getting Mike to take promo’s for him. Some turned out amazing!! They are really creative when they get together.
This was an amazing day! I got my own photo pass!!!! I'll put up some photos from the show at the bottom of the blog!
We had to be there by Noon so we could get in and meet up with the KISW staff for instructions. I was going to be able to shoot the first 3 songs of each band and the interviews in the VIP section.
First band for each PITW show is a local act. This year - Post Modern Heroes. They got a pretty decent crown for being first up. I'd guess around 1,500 people had made their way into the show area. PMH killed it and made some new fans!!
Next up - My Darkest Days. You may know them from their song 'Porn Star Dancin'. I liked their look. Sol is just adorable. I know he'll hate that comment, but it's true!!
3rd - Drowning Pool. Hot damn they were awesome. I can't believe I got to shoot these guys!!! Ryan made his way into the crowd for 'Bodies'. Talk about insane. Mike went right in after him to get some killer shots!!! Sadly, this was just a day after Ryan's son had a tragic injury that he will be recovering from for a very long time.
4th - Sevendust!!!!!!!!!!!! I love them. I love Lajon. I love Vinny. I love Morgan. I love Clint. and I love John. They are just great great guys. They played a good set but I had to leave right after my 3 songs in the pit to make it to the VIP area to see PMH doing their on air interview with KISW.
5th - Puddle of Mudd. This band is the reason I even wanted to be at this show. I have a huge crush on Wes. They did not disappoint me at all! I had never seen them live before and I'm so glad I did! I was also lucky enough to get an all access pass from Shinedown so I was able to go backstage for the rest of the show. It made it much easier to stay with Mike and see the remaining shows from the side stage.
6th - Black Label Society: They are a bit harder than I like, but they were entertaining. I liked taking photos of them.
7th - Shinedown: For me, the set was a little too up and then down. They have such a diverse portfolio but I would have lumped the ballads together. I found the crowd was a little down during some up the rockin' tunes. Rockin', ballad, rockin' ballad. It's just too up and down. I didn't watch too much after my 3 songs. We ran in to Vinny backstage and had a great visit. Southern men can be so damn charming!
The 8th and final band of the night were Godsmack. They really aren't my kind of band either. Their lighting was pretty bad so my pictures were not the greatest. Sully is quite the front man though. The crowd was very into it.
