The Black Dahlia Murder & Guests // Rickshaw Theatre

October 13, 2015 - Oh nothing can stop the metal!  (I swear I listen to more than just metal!  Stay tuned for Florence & The Machine, where I will be shooting for Beatroute this Sunday :) )

Getting straight to it, the first opener is grindcore act Maruta coming all the way from Florida.  Now I have never seen grind live (nor have I really ACTUALLY listened to the genre) but for all you non-metal heads out there, it's probably what you would imagine all of metal is.  The specific genre itself is often labelled as abrasive, contains rather graphic lyrics (their name comes from the experimentation on humans by the Japanese in WWII) and is a relatively underground scene.  This really proved for Maruta as most of the audience decided to flood in for the later acts of the night.  Regardless, the band had fun with it and although not super interactive with the crowd, were immensely in their music.

PS apologizing ahead of time for the poor setlist - grindcore for those who don't know, often have "micro-songs" which can be roughly a few seconds to a minute or so in duration.  I will only include the songs that are known, but there was a total of 16 songs.

Second on the docket are hardcore band Harm's Way from Chicago, Illinois.  Originally a joke/side-project for the boys in straight-edge band Few and the Proud, Harm's Way developed from their powerviolence roots (with hilarity in their lyricism including beating up frat boys) to a more serious, refined hardcore sound that draws influence from bands such as Sepultura to Trapped Under Ice.  As one would expect from a hXc show, the boys were stomping, spinning and slamming themselves across the stage - the red lighting only furthering the atmosphere of intensity.

Their third studio album, Rust, released in early 2015 received much praise from critics.

Crossover thrash megagroup Iron Reagan heralded the stage next - with its members consisting formerly or currently of Municipal Waste, Cannibal Corpse and Darkest Hour.  Their imagery obviously is a satire and a mockery of former US president Ronald Reagan, his Reaganomics and obviously his administration's anti-communist, interventionist foreign policy.  Which of course, can be applied to today's society.

The show in itself was a fucking blast - as the genre itself is a mix between thrash metal and hardcore punk, AKA a total shitfest of bruisery and camaraderie.  They definitely were the rowdiest act of the night and easily the most fun, with the audience begging for more at the end of their act.  

You can check out their bandcamp here.

And finally, one of the most popular contemporary American metal bands, The Black Dahlia Murder. With six out of seven records charting in the Billboard 200, the melo-death act from Waterford, Michigan have established themselves in the metal realm.  

Their name comes from the 1947 unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, also referred to as the Black Dahlia.  (If you value your eyes, please don't look up the crime scene images!)  

Their performance was representative of the genre: high energy exuding from blast beats, fast tempos and growled vocals.  The lighting definitely added to the atmosphere and frontman Brian Eschbach got the crowd riled up into a frenzy.  Unfortunately I couldn't stay due to an early shift the next morning but it was a music to my ears (sorry, bad joke haha) - a fine blend of rhythm and leads, technicality and groove.

Their latest record, Abysmal, was released mid-September.

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Setlists

Maurta

1. Protocol for Self-Immolation
2. Hope Smasher
3. Genocide Interval
4. Minimal Progress
5. March Forward (Into Regression)
6. Stride Endlessly Through Scorched Earth
7. Stand in Defeat
8. Submergence
9. In Perpetual Narcolepsy

Harm's Way

1. Infestation
2. Law of the Land
3. Cancerous Ways
4. Mind Control
5. Amongst the Rust
6. Ease My Mind

Iron Reagan

1. Tyranny of Will (1st half of the song)
2. I Won't Go
3. Insanity Plea(se)?
4. Close to Toast
5. Cycles of Violence
6. Obsolete Man
7. Government Surveillance
8. Tongue Tied
9. The Living Skull
10. Bet On Black
11. Spoiled Identity
12. Zero Gain
13. Miserable Failure
14. Broken Bottles
15. Your Kid's an Asshole
16. In Greed We Trust
17. I Ripped That Testament A New Asshope
18. Eyeball Gore
19. A Skull Full of Maggots (Cannibal Corpse cover)
20. U Lock the Bike Cop
21. Paycheck
22. Eat Shit and Live

The Black Dahlia Murder

1. A Shrine to Madness
2. Moonlight Equilibrium
3. What A Horrible Night to Have a Curse
4. Elder Misanthropy
5. Receipt
6. Vlad, Son of the Dragon
7. On Stirring Seas of Salted Blood
8. Threat Level No. 3
9. Unhallowed
10. Funeral Thirst
11. Everything Went Black
12. A Vulgar Picture
13. I'm Charming
14. Raped in Hatred by Vines of Thorn
15. Miasma
16. Statutory Ape
17. Deathmask Divine
18. I Will Return

We Sold Our Souls to Metal 2015 Tour // Rickshaw Theatre

October 4, 2015 - Ah, more metal at the Rickshaw!  I thought I had learned my lesson from the Vogue but we had some more mishaps with the press list again and I was unable to photograph local act Pyramidion so I apologize ahead of time.  Furthermore, Polish tech-death act Decapitated, was unable to arrive - most likely due to border issues.

Despite this, we had four more bands for the night.  The first being Dead Asylum, a local melo-death/thrash metal band.  Although I felt some of the stage presence was lacking, the technical skill and musicianship definitely made up for it.  I can imagine it'd be hard to move around when your fingers are flying up and down your fretboard!

You can sample some of their music on their facebook page here.

Shattered Sun took the stage next, coming all the way from Alice, Texas with their thrash infused metalcore.  Although different in terms of their style of metal, Shattered Sun held their own making use of their small stage and crowd interaction.  Frontman Marcos Leal constantly got the crowd to form walls of death, circle pits and slamdances.   

Their latest record, Hope Within Hatred, was released earlier this year.

Soilwork, originally Inferior Breed, a melo-death band from Helsingborg, Sweden was next on the roster.  News from another photographer revealed that the normal lighting guy had been shafted and replaced by the band manager which means the set was blacker than the blackest black times infinity (a metalocalypse reference, for those who didn't get the joke.)  Despite this, the energy was high and what you'd expect for a smaller show, nothing outstanding but always with the die-hard fans racing to the front to shout their favourite lines.

Soilwork's tenth studio album, The Ride Majestic, was released in August.

And up next came Soulfly, formed by ex-Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera.  Coming from Phoenix, Arizona, the boys from Soulfly not only integrate elements of groove, thrash and death metal but also Brazilian tribal and world music as well.  It was an understatement to say that the fans lost their shit within seconds of them arriving on stage. To further this statement, although we were able to shoot throughout the prior bands' sets, we were escorted out by the venue security within the first three songs due to the amount of crowdsurfers that had whizzed by our heads!

Their tenth and latest record, Archangel, was also release in August.

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Setlists

Unfortunately there are no setlists for Pyramidion and Dead Asylum.

Shattered Sun

1. Reign
2. Awaken
3. Ultimatum
4. No Sympathy
5. Waging War
6. Dead Set
7. Hope

Soilwork

1. The Ride Majestic
2. Nerve
3. The Crestfallen
4. Death in General
5. Petrichor in Sulphur
6. Alight in the Aftermath
7. Late for the Kill, Early for the Slaughter
8. Stabbing the Drama
9. Spectrum of Eternity

Soulfly

1. We Sold Our Souls to Metal
2. Archangel
3. Ishtar Rising
4. Blood Fire War Hate
5. Carved Inside
6. Refuse/Resist (Sepultura cover)
7. Sodomites
8. Prophecy
9. Seek 'N' Strike
10. Bethlehem's Blood
11. Titans
12. Tribe
13. Arise/Dead Embryonic Cells (Sepultura cover)
14. Frontlines
15. Back to the Primitive
16. Jumpdafuckup/Eye for an Eye

Symphony X & Overkill // Vogue Theatre

October 2, 2015 - Ah, a return to the Vogue.  I'm still a bit salty about not being let in for the last show due to some staff disregarding my email confirmations from BOTH the promoter and record label for the Eluveitie, the Agonist and Marina Edoff (originally Epica) concert as well as my name clearly being labelled on the press list.  Regardless I have returned for more metal and with fewer complications (they have since apologized).

First up on the docket was Symphony X, a progressive metal band hailing from Middletown, New Jersey.  They've been praised among the more technical side of the metal community and have even appeared on the Billboard 200 with 2011's Iconoclast.  Despite being prog at it's core, they're also known for their symphonic and traditional heavy metal influences.  The show in itself was quite theatrical with the lighting, the smoke and the vibe that the band, particularly frontman, Russell Allen, protruded.  It wasn't necessarily high energy but it felt very appropriate for the style of music that they make, almost dream-like and theatre-esque.

Their latest record, Underworld, was released in July.

Co-headlining the tour are thrash icons, Overkill, also from New Jersey.  The band has been headbanging since 1980 and have gone through an onslaught of different guitarists and drummers, with only vocalist Bobby Ellsworth and bassist D.D. Verni being the consistent members.  Overkill has been referred to as one of the pioneers of East Coast thrash alongside legends Anthrax, as well as the "Motorhead of thrash."  Although I couldn't stay for the whole show due to a 4AM shift the next morning, the band put out what you'd expect from thrash: balls-to-the-wall energy, keeping in line with the fast tempo and overall aggression of the genre.

Overkill's latest album, White Devil Armory, was released in 2014.

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Setlist

Symphony X

1. Nevermore
2. Underworld
3. Without You
4. Kiss of Fire
5. Charon
6. To Hell and Back
7. Of Sins and Shadows
8. Serpent's Kiss
9. Eve of Seduction
10. Set the World on Fire (The Lie of Lies)
11. Iconoclast (Encore)
12. The Imperial March (Outro - John Williams/Star Wars)

Overkill

1. Armorist
2. Hammerhead
3. Electric Rattlesnake
4. Powersurge
5. Rotten to the Core
6. Bring Me the Night
7. End of the Line
8. Hello From the Gutter
9. Bitter Pill
10. Overkill
11. Ironbound
12. Playing with Spiders/Skullkrusher (Encore)
13. Elimination (Encore)
14. Fuck You (Encore - The Subhumans cover)

Chris Cornell // Orpheum Theatre

September 30, 2015 - Well, I'm kinda surprised I snagged this one!  I was beyond excited to shoot this until I arrived and learned it was a soundboard shoot...

For those who don't know, you're usually stuck back somewhere in the middle/back of the venue using a telephoto lens (if you have one) and are not in the photo pit in the front where you usually find photographers.  I was using my D7000 (which is a crop factor camera) turning my 70-200 into a 105-300.  And even at 300mm, Cornell was hella far away.  Even after cropping my images, it's hard to create images with a decent resolution.  

Regardless, I'll share the few images I have below.  Especially with an acoustic set, it's hard to get variation between shots.  I wish I could have stayed for the whole set but with certain promoters, you're kicked out after the first three songs and aren't allowed to stay and enjoy the show.  The setlist below was beyond phenomenal and I really wish I had gotten a ticket but it had sold out pretty quickly.

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Setlist (courtesy of setlist.fm)

1. Before We Disappear
2. Can't Change Me
3. Moonchild
4. The Times They Are A-Changin' (Bob Dylan)
5. As Hope & Promise Fade
6. Nearly Forget My Broken Heart
7. Fell on Black Days (Soundgarden)
8. Thank You (Led Zeppelin)
9. Hunger Strike (Temple of the Dog)
10. Wide Awake (Audioslave)
11. Doesn't Remind Me (Audioslave)
12. Blow Up The Outside World (Soundgarden)
13. Let Your Eyes Wander 
14. Call Me a Dog (Temple of the Dog)
15. When I'm Down
16. Worried Moon
17. Rusty Cage (Soundgarden)
18. Sunshower
19. Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)
20. Like A Stoke (Audioslave)
21. Nothing Compares 2 U (Prince)
22. Wooden Jesus (Temple of the Dog)
23. Getaway Car (Audioslave)
24. Imagine (John Lennon)
25. Seasons
26. Josephine (Encore)
27. I Am the Highway (Encore - Audioslave)
28. Higher Truth (Encore)