By the way, if you missed my last post, I'm a little excited about Dream Theater. And the good folks at OzProg.com are running a comp for free tickets to the show. I'm hoping I win so that I can either;
a.) take Steph to the Melbourne gig
b.) take a flight to Brisbane :)

So, click the logo below and check out the concert details if you so desire...

Labels: Concerts

Yes, it's true, with each day, my life grows slowly more complete. And not just in the literal sense of edging closer to "the end". No, come the end of January 2008, I will have achieved something I've been waiting over 10 years for - to see Dream Theater live in Australia. Today I bought my tickets to both the Melbourne and Sydney shows. And we didn't hold back - Sean and I indulged and have got ourselves "Meet and Greet" packages for the Melbourne show. With this we get;

• One GA PIT ticket (where applicable)
• Exclusive Preshow Meet and Greet with Dream Theater
• Autograph session (includes 8X10 Dream Theater photo)
• Personal Photograph with the band
• Official Dream Theater Meet and Greet VIP Laminate

All for the low, low price of $350 a ticket. A bargain if you ask me :) Only 60 sleeps to go!

Labels: Concerts

Last night I saw Megadeth for the 4th time. I've only seen a handful of international bands this many times (Opeth and NIN are the only other 2 that spring to mind), and Megadeth continue to put on a sterling show time after time. A solid effort from the band, headlining the "festival" they started a few years ago; "Gigantour". Other bands on the bill last night included Lacuna Coil, Devildriver and Static-X. I probably won't get around to writing a review for the concert, so the basics are as follows...

It was a really diverse night. I wasn't exactly sold on the lineup prior to going (they were all good bands, but on the one bill?), but it worked exceptionally well. Lacuna Coil were good - reasonably simple music, the chick's voice is amazing (she ain't too hard to look at either). Devildriver were heavy. Kinda like Lamb of God, sped up... The crowd went apeshit for them. Static X were kinda like Ministry crossed with Rammstein crossed with Soulfly. Really punchy, a little industrial, quite a good show. Megadeth were the highlight though. Again, like last year's Gigantour, I watched all the supports and thought "Well, Megadeth better be pretty damn amazing to top what we've seen so far", and again, they did. Incredible form. Setlist (rough order, order is a bit vague in the middle);

• Sleepwalker
• Take No Prisoners
• Wake Up Dead
• Hangar 18
• Washington Is Next
• In My Darkest Hour
• A Tout Le Monde (with singer from Lacuna Coil)
• Ashes in Your Mouth (surprise - never seen live, it was incredible)
• Gears of War
• Tornado of Souls
• Peace Sells
• ...
• Burnt Ice
• Holy Wars

Will I see them for a 5th time next time? Based on last night, certainly.

Forgot also to blog that I saw Machinehead, Trivium (again) and Arch Enemy (again) 2 weeks ago on "The Black Crusade" tour. Machinehead were definitely the surprise and the best on the night. Plenty more tales to tell (it was Halloween, so there were a few dressed up, including the band), but the even shorter review is; was a good night :)

Labels: Concerts

I just realised I hadn't posted the GnR setlist from the concert I went to a month ago. I don't think I'm going to get to write a proper review, so here's the summarised version; Sebastian Bach was an amazing vocalist (he's still got it), but the new songs were a bit mediocre. Guns N Roses put on a spectacular show. Axl's voice is still great, the new band are consummate professionals (as you would expect). Robin Finck is a great guitarist (much better than I expected). The new songs are quite good - the best probably being "Better". The light show (and pyro / fireworks) was outstanding. Setlist was;

• Welcome To The Jungle
• It's So Easy
• Mr. Brownstone
• Live And Let Die
• Robin Finck Guitar Solo & Jam (with Dizzy Reed & Frank Ferrer)
• Sweet Child O' Mine
• Better
• Knockin' On Heaven's Door
• You Could Be Mine
• Dizzy Reed Piano Solo ("Angie")
• The Blues
• Band Introductions/JamRichard Fortus & Robin Finck Guitar Solo
• Out To Get Me
• Piano Moving Jam
• November Rain
• I.R.S.
• Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal Guitar Solo (Back In Black, Don't Cry)
• My Michelle (with Sebastian Bach)
• Liquor & Whores (with Bubbles)
• Patience
• Nightrain
• ... (Encore)
• Chinese Democracy
• Madagascar
• Paradise City

A good show definitely, and very glad I went

Labels: Concerts

NIN review from a few weeks back is now up here

Suffice to say - a great night :)

Labels: Concerts

Now online here. Suffice to say, was a great night.

Labels: Concerts, Music

Steph, Skogg, Timmy and I saw The Pixies at the Sidney Myer Music bowl on Wednesday night. In short, it was pretty freakin' amazing. The sound was superb (far better than I imagined it would be) - it was near perfect. The weather was great - certainly not too cold for a March night in Melbourne. Our vantage point was insanely good - 2 people back from the barrier that separated seating and standing, and not crushed up against people; plenty of room to move. And finally, the band was incredible. I'd rank it as one of the best gigs I've seen. They were on fire; relentless in their sonic assault, and the setlist reads like a dream. I've nicked this off Skogg's site (saving myself some work - thanks Skogg);

1. Bone Machine - a totally perfect starting song.
2. Caribou Monkey Gone to Heaven
3. Wave of Mutilation

and they stopped mid-song in monkey with Frank Black demanding that a stupid big beach ball was removed. i think most in the crowd agreed with this. there was an amusing few minutes of discussion of where to re-start the song again.

4. U-Mass
5. Head On
6. Caribou
7. No.13 Baby
8. Tame
9. Hey
10. Gouge Away
11. Mr Greives
12. Broken Face
13. I Bleed
14. Here Comes Your Man
15. Planet of Sound
16. Debaser
17. Crackity Jones
18. Something Against You
19. Isla de Encanta
20. Nimrod's Son
21. Vamos
22. Where Is My Mind?

and joey's theatrics were great in Vamos, with the feedback and playing guitar with a drumstick.

encore:
23. La La Love You
24. Gigantic

All in all, it was a gorgeous night, and one that's left me singing Pixies songs for the past few days. Also saw Jarvis Cocker who was quite (unexpectedly) impressive - he's a funny man. The night belonged to the Pixies though.

Labels: Concerts, Music