A friend had flown in from California. I had wanted to go camping but I was not able to get 2 tickets to Sunday’s Jagermeister Music Tour so I scratched that idea and decided to go to Saturday’s show up in Cleveland. Since I was not going camping I decided to check out some local bands on Friday night.
We arrived at the Alrosa Villa and proceeded to hang out in the parking lot talk to a couple members of Ukane, Fred of Soundtrack To A Beating.
The first band called Darby Refuge went on. This melodic rock band features songs Fade Away, Lost, My Purpose, and End of The world. They get a rhythmic flow going during Escape. Darby Refuge slows down the set with a slower ballad type song called Run. The hardest of the songs being Could It Be with singer Chris Orcutt challenging his soft vocals with harsh screams. All of these songs are on their self titled demo.
Next band was Counteract. From what I’ve read it was their first show but you couldn’t really tell. These guys already have a decent following have lots of potential. The drummer Branden is mean on the double bass. They are all under 18 years old. They combine melodic singing with the hardcore growling vocals and music counteract features the following downloadable demo mp3’s on their website Fill The Void, Walk Away, and Dysfunction.
The next band was 13th Borne. After a couple songs I went outside to get some air and mingle. I did happen to check out their website which is an excellent example of a great flash site.
Finally the two bands I went to see. Soundtrack To A Beating featuring former members of Rivin and Assuming The Negative. This was the hardest of all the bands. This metal band was shredding through all their songs getting a pit during most of the set. Head banging was a necessity during the set as the vocals are constantly screaming and growling. If you were standing still you were out of place. Even I who does they typical head bang/bob was stomping my feet to the beat. I don’t listen to a whole lot of this type of music but they give me the same feel that I have for Hemlock with the harsh vocals and fast, fun, sometimes catchy music. The music is really good. I will check them out again. Set List consisted of:
- Dirty Bitch
- Since 1979
- Mayline
- This Is Murder
- Raw Meat
- Buried Alive
The headliners I had seen several times before Ukane. They never seem to let me down. Ukane describes themelves as a melting pot of old styles and new colors such as the 80’s metal era to the 90’s alternative scene and today’s new metal sounds. They combine all these great aspects of rock music into one massive melodic, kickin-ass, burn the house down style. I describe them as a great band period. Ukane interacted very well with the crowd throwing out merchandise, having them sing along and having a good time. They even played a couple new songs called Thinking and Correcting. We watched them from backstage behind the speakers and they still sounded great. Set List consisted of
- Killing Spree
- Noise
- Torn
- Clover 3
- Night Crawler
- Fit Of Rage
- Thinking
- Correcting
- T.B.
- Magic
The night was fun. There were not very many people there which is a shame because most of the bands did well.
Saturday we had planned to wake up at 8am but ended up waking up at about noon. After leaving late and a friendly reminder to slow down from the state patrol we get to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame about 4:45pm. The box office tells us the museum is closing in 45 minutes and recommends us not to buy the tickets as there is too much to see in that little time. So we hung out on the pier for a little bit and drove over the Tower City Amphitheater.
The venue is outside with a tent covering most of the venue. We stood behind a VIP area in the smoking area which is right on the lake. The stage was huge and had monitors on each side that had silver flames on the top.
Lizardman opens the show with a shot or two of Jagermeister. Lizardman has a Mohawk and is very tattooed. Throughout the show between the acts he performed stunts such as having darts thrown into his back, shoving a condom up his nose and out his mouth and then in the mouth out the nose and blew up the condom through his nose, Shoved a drill up his nose, lifted cinder blocks from chains attached to the piercings in his ears. He also brought out another guy who lifted a small keg from his eye lids. Lizardman was also passed around crowd surfing during the Chimaira set.
We went inside the tent for the opening band 40 Below Summer. I have seen this band several times before. A great choice for the opening band. The crowd was into them although they only played five songs: Falling Down, Step Into The Sideshow, Better Life, Taxi Cab Confessions closing with F.E. The last song was dedicated to the Darkness as they led as chant of Fuck the Darkness.
In between the sets Lizardman started throwing stuff into the crowd. This started the crowd throwing bottles, shoes and anything else they could think of. I have never seen that much stuff being thrown. It was pretty crazy.
All in all the Cleveland show was OK. Having the show outside provided a loud environment and a neat environment being right on the lake. We did get a chance to stop into Denny’s and grab a bite to eat. I have not seen a Denny’s since my 2300 mile drive here to Ohio almost two years ago. The food was pretty damn good. I used to love Denny’s eggs and I still do. Two hours later we got home and crashed.
The next day I went again to the Jagermeister show but this time it was at The Promowest Pavillion in Columbus, OH. I was able to only get one ticket through the good people at Unearthed.Com and Roadrunner Records, so I had to drop my friend off with her uncle not too far away from the venue. I thought I was told to be at the venue at 3pm for an interview with Mark Hunter of Chimaira. I arrived a half an hour early to avoid delay if there were any issues. I went to the back gate and spoke with a member of security who had someone go and get the tour manager. The tour manager told me to come back at 4pm. I get a bite to eat at the bar next door, come back at 4pm, and spoke to someone at the box office. They call to the back and let me in the back gate. We walk to the back to again look for the tour manager. Walking passed The Lizard Man, and 40 Below Summer I kept my composure trying not to act like a fan but politely saying hi. After a walk around and then standing in the corner they found the tour manager and took me to him. He tells me they have nothing for me. He said my passes should be at the door. So I’m a bit frustrated but I didn’t let it show. I went outside and found some people in Abject Fear and Soundtrack to a Beating and proceeded to chat, recite Dave Chapelle lines, and drool over this gorgeous girl until I found out she was 17 (she didn’t look anywhere near 17). I also went to Ben and Jerry’s around the corner to grab a coke (or pop as they say here in Ohio). I had decided to stay sober this show as the last few nights had been full of libations. I met some people from Cleveland also waiting for the box office to receive the guest lists. Their names were Sasha, Penny and … (I forget the 2nd guy’s name.) We had a discussion of many subjects; Porn, Genitortures, Corey Taylor, Mushroomhead, Freak Shows, and many other interesting topics. Finally about 6pm the box office had opened and I got a ticket and a blue wristband. I asked if the wristband was a photo pass and they said no it was for after show. So frustrated again I take my camera back to the truck cause they wouldn’t let me inside with the camera.
The Promowest Pavillion show was inside although it was a beautiful day outside. The inside has two stories. It is similar to the Newport Music Hall but maybe smaller. The pit area is in front of the stage and behind the pit area is a raised area dived by a railing. The sound booth is also in this area. The upstairs follows the building in a U shape. There were seats, a bar and an area with food. It was blocked off for Jagermeister VIP. There were screens hanging from the ceiling as well as the Jagermeister TV screens in front of the stage.
Lizardman came out opening the show in the same fashion as the previous day, with a shot of Jager and some freak show antics.
40 Below Summer received a warm response from the crowd getting the pit started right away. The Columbus crowd was singing along to all the songs. Same set list as the night before. Another awesome performance by the New Jersey based quintet. One thing that I have noticed before but never mentioned is the facial expressions made by guitarist Joe D’Amico. He is a character to watch play at every show.
- Implements intro
- Power Trip
- Cleansation
- Impossibilty of Reason
- Silence Intro/Severed
- *Drum solo*
- Dehumanization Process
- Overlooked
- Pure Hatred
- Shock
- Edgecrusher
- Zero Signal
- Demanufacture
- Martyr
- Scumgrief (Deep Dub Trauma mix)
- Slave Labor
- Cyberwaste
- Replica
- Circles intro
- 742617000027
- (SIC)
- The Blister Exists
- Eyeless
- Three Nil
- Duality
- Disaster piece
- Purity
- Pulse Of The Maggots
- The Virus Of Life
- Iowa
- Herectic Anthem
- Spit It Out
- Wait And Bleed
- encore
- (515)
- People=Shit
- Surfacing
After the show I spoke with seven people before I was told that people with the wrist bands and VIP passes were to sit along the wall. Then they seperated us by band and then by gender. They told all the ladies to sit down and all the guys to leave. Pissed off I go back to my truck but I decided to get my camera and see if I could get any pictures since I should have had a photo pass. I went back to my truck and get the camera. I took a couple photos and went and picked up my friend.
Monday comes. Time for show number four in four days. I’m not a huge fan but I wanted to see a band that helped pave the way for so many other metal bands. I have also heard a lot about Crush Efekt. The bassist Mike Lare posts on a message board that I live on. He is known for his witty professor like character as he corrects spelling, usually replying in paragraph form. He knows a plethora of metal knowledge and is a member of several metal bands in the area. So I wanted to go check out his band and see if I was worthy and could hang. I knew tonight would be a challenge as I was not nearly metal enough for this show.
I go to look for my palm pilot and can’t find it. I turned my house upside down, took everything out of my truck, went back to Promowest and the parking lot and it was nowhere to be found. Three days worth of data completely gone. I was so pissed I nearly didn’t go to the 4th show. I decided to go because what would not going help? It wouldn’t. So my palm either was dropped or pick pocketed. The thing that totally sucks is I stayed completely sober for the show so I wouldn’t be an ass in front of Chimaira. So my day got screwed not meeting Chimaira and I lost my Palm Pilot. It was also the 2 year anniversary of getting beat down by a bunch of “hardcore” kids at the Showcase Theater in Corona, Ca. at a Chimaira show. What a lousy day. So now you get to read some reviews from memory which is as good as a 1 legged man in an ass kicking contest. Special thanks go out to Full On Metal m/ m/ Correspondeant Fred “Myrr” Russell and Nick Engle for helping me out with set lists. I also used metabolic666.com as a resource.
Anywho show 4. The friend and I met up with her uncle and his girlfriend to grab some grub at Applebee’s (best happy hour ever) and head on over to the Alrosa Villa. We got there quite early as the show ended up starting at 8pm not 7pm. So everyone started what was to be a drunken debauchery of a night. I was good as I only had 1 beer because I had completely stuffed myself full of half price appetizers at Applebee’s.
Opening band was Splitt. A brutal local band from Columbus, Ohio. I thought this band was really good but I didn’t care for the death metal style vocals. Not bad just not my taste. I like vocals you can understand even if they are screaming. The sound was louder then any other show I have seen at the Alrosa Villa. A bit too loud (and I like loud). There was one song that I didn’t catch the name of (next to last song I believe) that had a melodic Killswitch Engage feel to it that stood out being really good. I’ll probably check these guys out again.
We went outside for a breather to give our eardrums a break. I ended up meeting quite a few people from the Alrosa Villa message board that I frequent. It’s pretty interesting to meet people you sling insults at from behind a keyboard LOL.
Next band was Vile. More abrasive and aggressive vocals that were not to my taste. We stayed outside for pretty much all of their set. I was into to the music while outside though. One song that stood out was about smoking but I didn’t catch the name of it. This band hosts its own festival called Vilefest that puts together a weekend of camping and a variety of styles of music that I will likely check out this year. See the bands website for more details.
Next was the main reason I went to this show. Crush Efekt . (Can efekt be used in a game of Scrabble?) They opened with the first song off their latest release Torrential Dementia called Perish The Dream. Brutal vocals with some awesome double bass, guitar work, and a nice melodic chorus I really liked. Crush Efekt have been around since 1995. This was the first show they played with original guitarist Nate Miller since 1996. He was positioned off to the left with bassist Mike Lare next to him and guitarist/vocalist Jesse Blankenship on the far right. Drummer Mark Evans was between Jesse and Mike in the background. Highlights of the night for me were Polluted and Thinning The Heard both sang by Mike Lare. His style of vocals is more of a scream rather then a growl like Jesse‘s. I prefer a scream that is understandable combined with the fast aggressive shredding. Crush Efekt implements that into some of their music. Other songs played were Forced Democracy and My Own Voice. All in all Crush Efekt was my favorite act of the night.
I’m not a fan of Exodus. All I know about Exodus is Kirk Hammett used to be in the band and that they were instrumental part in the 80’s heavy metal scene. If I’ve heard any of their music I didn’t know it. I went to the show to support Crush Efekt and to check out a band that helped pave the way. Exodus disappointed me. I was not into the music at all. Now given this was my 4th show in four days and I was tired as hell.
Exodus came out to Taps (the military call of lights out or death) and bursted into Scar Spangled Banner from their latest release Tempo Of The Damned. They followed up with a song from their debut album Bonded By Blood from 1985 called Deliver Us To Evil. The bay area thrashers followed with another track from the new cd Blacklist. They plugged the new cd quite a bit. Piranha, Fabulous Disaster and Shroud Of Urine were other tracks that were played while I was there. They kept saying they wish they had the time to play every song from all the cd’s. Per smnnews.com the set list (in no particular order) was:
- Bonded By Blood
- And Then There Were None
- Piranha
- Deliver Us To Evil
- Strike Of The Beast
- Til Death Do Us Part
- Fabulous Disaster
- Toxic Waltz
- Only Death Decides
- Scar Spangled Banner
- War Is My Shepherd
- Blacklist
- Shroud Of Urine
- Forward March
- Culling The Herd
- Tempo Of The Damned
If there hasn’t been enough drama, we decided to go but my party wanted to finish their beers. So I watched the Lakers game and then started talking to a member of the message board. So I’m waiting for my party to finish their beers mind you I’m sober and they are trashed. I’m talking away and one of the people rudely asked who I came with. She was mad cause I was ignoring their drunken asses when I said lets go 3 times before. So we finally left but not before I was pissed off and tired.
So there it is the drama of the life of BADDIST1. Thanks to Crush Efekt bassist, Scrabble champion and all knowing metal guru Mike Lare for his contributions to the last review.
This review was posted very late by me, Metalboy, so for that I am sorry. Also, the Images from the Jagermeister show were from the 5/11/04 show, which you can view the images for SiX , Chimaira, Fear Factory and Slipknot. – MB
