 |
| Floor ticket |
| Lineup: The Monkees, Weird Al Yankovich | ||
| Date: July 18, 1987 | Venue: Southern Star Amphitheater (Astroworld) | City: Houston, TX |
| Attendees: Me, Dad, Mom, Adam | ||
| Monkees Setlist: Last Train To Clarksville, A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You, Steppin' Stone, Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow), No Time, Cuddly Toy, Zilch/Randy Scouse Git, Can You Dig It, I'll Be True to You, She, Gettin' In, Sometime in the Morning, Valleri, Your Auntie Grizelda, That Was Then This Is Now, Every Step of the Way, I'll Love You Forever/I Wanna Be Free, Goin' Down, It's Nice to Be with You, For Pete's Sake, Zor and Zam, Daddy's Song, Ditty Diego/Monkees Rap, Don't Bring Me Down, Daydream Believer, Shades of Gray, Listen to the Band, When Love Comes Knockin', Through the Looking Glass, Hold On Girl, Cripple Creek, Pleasant Valley Sunday, I'll Be Back Up on My Feet, Heart and Soul, I'm A Believer | ||
| Notes: I was only 6-years-old, so I don't remember much. Our seats were really good. Adam didn't like the volume, so Dad took him back into the lawn area. Weird Al was hilarious. | ||
| Lineup: The Monkees | ||
| Date: Summer 1989 | Venue: Southern Star Amphitheater (Astroworld) | City: Houston, TX |
| Attendees: Me, Dad, Mom, Adam | ||
| Notes: This time we all sat in the lawn area. According to my folks, this show wasn't as good as the 1987 show. I'll have to take their word for it. I was 8. | ||
| Lineup: Scorpions, King's X | ||||
| Date: March 18, 1994 | Venue: The Summit | City: Houston, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad | ||||
| Notes: 13-years-old. First metal concert. Blew me away. Scorps were promoting Face the Heat, their last great album. Our seats sucked, but my dad had a friend that had floor tickets. For some reason, that guy and his date left early and gave us their tickets. So, we got to see the show's encore from up close. After the show, my dad bought us some shirts in the parking lot. They were flawed, double-printed shirts. But they were cheap, and it made a good memory. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Aerosmith, Collective Soul | |||
| Date: September 30, 1994 | Venue: The Summit | City: Houston, TX | |
| Attendees: Me, House, Ivan Zyla | |||
| Notes: First unsupervised show. Aerosmith was promoting Get a Grip. They were filming a video for their upcoming single "Blind Man." They played the song twice to make sure they got plenty of film, which sucked because nobody knew the song. This was the first time we'd heard of Collective Soul. They put on a really good show. House went out and bought their album afterwards. Sadly, I liked the live performance better than the studio stuff. | |||
| |||
| Lineup: Megadeth, Corrosion of Conformity | |||
| Date: January 20, 1995 | Venue: International Ballroom | City: Houston, TX | |
| Attendees: Me, House | |||
| Notes: First general admission floor show. Megadeth was promoting the Youthanasia album. Between COC and Megadeth, a 30-something-year old biker chick stood up on stage and flashed the crowd. Nothing spectacular by today's standards, but to a 14-year-old, it was special. | |||
| |||
| Lineup: Van Halen, Collective Soul | ||
| Date: March 26, 1995 | Venue: The Summit | City: Houston, TX |
| Attendees: Me, Dad, Mike Shurtleff, Jason Shurtleff | ||
| Notes: VH was promoting Balance. This concert escalated Van Halen from a likable band to an obsession of mine. Eddie's live performance of "Eruption" is the reason I learned to play guitar. | ||
| Lineup: Van Halen, Skid Row | ||||
| Date: September 29, 1995 | Venue: Woodlands Pavillion | City: Houston, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Andrea Prigmore | ||||
| Notes: Still promoting Balance. This was my first concert date. Actually, it was my first date. It went poorly. Before VH hit the stage, Andrea bummed a cigarette from a stranger. Seeing as how she was 14, I wasn't cool with that and made the mistake of telling her. For the rest of the night, she gave me the cold shoulder. Half way through the VH set, she got up and left. I followed her to see if I could salvage the date. I couldn't, and I missed the last half of the show trying. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Bad Religion | |||
| Date: April 6, 1996 | Venue: International Ballroom | City: Houston, TX | |
| Attendees: Me, House, Elric De La Pena, John Patton | |||
| Notes: I really enjoyed this show. A punk show was a completely different experience from a metal show. The average age was much closer to mine. John was crazy with his crowd surfing. I bought a t-shirt that have every Bad Religion song ever written printed on it. All the words ran together, making it very hard to read. Still, my dad found the "F" word on it and never let me wear it. $20 well spent. | |||
| |||
| Lineup: Scorpions, Alice Cooper | ||||
| Date: June 9, 1996 | Venue: Woodlands Pavillion | City: Houston, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad, House? | ||||
| Notes: I know I went to this. But for some reason, I have no memory of it. I guess the show wasn't that great. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: KLOL Fall Jamm 2 featuring G3 (Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai), Adrian Legg, Steppenwolf, Foghat | ||||
| Date: October 9, 1996 | Venue: | City: | ||
| Attendees: Me, House | ||||
| Notes: Very enjoyable all-day fesival. Between sets, we met lots of colorful characters... Like the guy who works at the pavillion that looks like Mark Hammill. We kept calling him that until he finally gave in and agreed that he was indeed Mark Hamill. He then gave me his autograph on the only paper I had available, a one dollar bill. Sitting near us there was a old man with a giant tumor. He kept telling us that Steve Vai was the best guitarist in the world and that you can see a "cat's ass" in the "mir." He joined in with us as we made paper airplanes out of flyers. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Metallica, Corrosion of Conformity | ||||||
| Date: April 28, 1997 | Venue: The Summit | City: Houston, TX | ||||
| Attendees: Me, House, Elric De La Pena | ||||||
| Notes: First time to see Metallica. Promoting the Load album. This was a great show. We had floor tickets. The stage was in the middle of the venue and we were free to walk around the entire stage. This show was a few days before the Fort Worth show, which was filmed for the video Cunning Stunts. Our show was pretty much just like the video. | ||||||
| ||||||
| Lineup: KLOL Fall Jamm 3 featuring Sammy Hagar, Jackyl, ? | ||||
| Date: October 9, 1996 | Venue: Woodlands Pavillion | City: Houston, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, Stephanie Bond | ||||
| Notes: We saw Shirt there, but oddly he was shirt-less. Sammy started the show with "Marching to Mars." He also ended the show with "Marching to Mars." Seemed odd to me. He played the full song each time. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Megadeth, Coal Chamber, Life of Agony | |||
| Date: April 3, 1998 | Venue: International Ballroom | City: Houston, TX | |
| Attendees: Me, House, Elric De La Pena | |||
| Notes: Megadeth was promoting Cryptic Writings. During LOA, we played soccer in the back of the room with a wadded up poster. Coal Chamber was my first introduction to the pit. Their music sucked, but was filled with plenty of ups and downs to keep the pit lively and still give you enough time to catch your breath. | |||
| |||
| Lineup: Van Halen, Kenny Wayne Shephard | |||
| Date: May 13, 1998 | Venue: Woodlands Pavillion | City: Houston, TX | |
| Attendees: Me, Dad, Stephanie Bond, Becky Bond | |||
| Van Halen Setlist: Unchained, Without You, One I Want, Mean Street, When It's Love, Fire In The Hole, Why Can't This Be Love?, Romeo Delight, Drum solo, Dreams, Humans Being, Somebody Get Me A Doctor, Year To The Day, Guitar Solo, Right Now, Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, How Many Say I, Panama, Jump | |||
| Notes: I can't even remember Kenny Wayne Sheperd being there. Maybe we showed up late. This was during the Gary Cherone period, promoting Van Halen 3. It was great to hear some of the earlier VH stuff that they avoided at previous shows because of Sammy. | |||
| |||
| Lineup: Metallica, Jerry Cantrell, Days of the New | ||||||||||||
| Date: August 2, 1998 | Venue: Woodlands Pavillion | City: Houston, TX | ||||||||||
| Attendees: Me, House, Stephanie Bond | ||||||||||||
| Metallica Setlist: Breadfan, Master Of Puppets, Of Wolf And Man, The Thing That Should Not Be, Fuel, The Memory Remains, Bleeding Me, Nothing Else Matters, Until It Sleeps, King Nothing, Wherever I May Roam, One, Fight Fire with Fire, Low Man's Lyric, The Four Horsemen, Last Caress, Sad But True, Enter Sandman, Creeping Death | ||||||||||||
| Notes: As members of the Metallica fan club, House and I picked up very nice 4th row tickets to this show. We had heard that the first 50 Metallica club members to sign in at the club booth would get to to backstage for a meet and greet. We got to the venue about 5 hours before the doors open, just to make sure we were the first in line. After 5 hours of playing canasta outside the gate, we were let it and were the first 2 to sign in. Stephanie wasn't a member of the club, so she wasn't able to come backstage with us. The meet & greet was during Days of the New, so we didn't get to see them. Backstage, we met James Hetfield and Jason Newsted. These guys were heros to us. As they approached, I felt like I was going to puke. But once we were face-to-face and chatting, I felt more relaxed. They were very down-to-earth, friendly guys. The concert that followed was great. Near the end, they did a 3 song acoustic set with "Low Man's Lyric," "The Four Horsement" and "Last Caress." The show ended with "Creeping Death," which isn't my favorite Metallica song, but it is my favorite Metallica song to hear live. | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| Lineup: Tool, Melvins | ||||||
| Date: August 7, 1998 | Venue: Astroarena | City: Houston, TX | ||||
| Attendees: Me, Stephanie Bond | ||||||
| Tool Setlist: Sweat, Eulogy, Prison Sex, Stinkfist, Stranglehold (Ted Nugent cover), 46 & 2, Sober, (-) Ions, Opiate, Flood, Aenema | ||||||
| Notes: I didn't get these tickets until about a week before the concert. Soon after, the tickets were sold out. When we got to the venue, we quickly realized that the show was not entirely general admission. Somehow I had stumbled onto floor tickets. We got wristbands and were able to get pretty close to the stage. Unfortantely, the crowd got rough and for Stephanie's sake, we moved to the back of the floor area. The show was great, though. | ||||||
| ||||||
| Lineup: Page & Plant | ||||
| Date: September 27, 1998 | Venue: Reunion Arena | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House | ||||
| Setlist: The Wanton Song, Bring It On Home, Heartbreaker, What Is and What Should Never Be, Walking into Clarksdale, No Quarter, When the World was Young, Going to California, Tangerine, Gallows Pole, Heart in Your Hand, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, How Many More Times, I Can't Quit You Baby, Most High, Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, Rock 'n Roll | ||||
| Notes: We paid pretty good money to a scalper to get floor tickets. But it was well worth it. This was the closest possible reproduction to a Zeppelin show that has been available in my lifetime. And we were big fans of the Walking into Clarksdale album, too. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Black Sabbath, Pantera, Incubis | ||||
| Date: January 24, 1999 | Venue: Reunion Arena | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, Casthead, RonchQ | ||||
| Black Sabbath Setlist: War Pigs, Basically, NIB, Fairies Wear Boots, After Forever, Electric Funeral, Sweet Leaf, Into the Void, Snowblind, Dirty Women, Black Sabbath, Iron Man, Children of the Grave, Paranoid | ||||
| Pantera Setlist: Domination/Hollow, A New Level, Walk, Becoming, Use My Third Arm, Primal Concerte Sledge, Fucking Hostile, This Love, Cowboys from Hell | ||||
| Notes: Incubis sucked, as expected. Pantera was awesome. This was my first time to see them. Sabbath was a lot of fun. Ozzy was pretty goofy on stage, but was entertaining. There was a lot of flashing going on in the crowd. The camera guys, that were supposed to be filming the band, made sure to catch lots of the flashing and put it on the jumbotron. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Coal Chamber, Machine Head, Slipknot | ||||||||
| Date: August 19, 1999 | Venue: Deep Ellum Live | City: Dallas, TX | ||||||
| Attendees: Me, House, Casthead, RochQ | ||||||||
| Notes: I had just gotten back into Dallas after spending the summer in Houston. I was bored and agreed to go to this club show, even though I didn't care about any of the bands. I'm glad I went though. First off, it was cheap to get in. The music wasn't great, but it was better than watching TV back at the apartment. Also, I notice Dimebag and Vinnie Paul from Pantera up in the VIP section during Machine Head's set. Then, during Coal Chamber, they were gone. I figured I'd go look around and see if I could meet up with them.
Looking out the front door, I saw the guys standing on the street corner waiting for the drivers to pull around. A few fans stood around chatting with them. Since I wasn't impressed with Coal Chamber, I went outside to chat with the guys. When I asked Dimebag for an autograph, he asked if I had a pen. When I pulled out my Waterman pen, a high-school graduation gift, Dime exclaimed, "You've really got your shit together." From then on, that pen was known as "The Dimebag Pen." | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| Lineup: Motley Crue, Scorpions, Laidlaw | ||||
| Date: August 20, 1999 | Venue: Starplex Amphitheatre | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House | ||||
| Notes: My 3rd, final and least impressive Scorpions show. Rudolph was well past his prime and require lots of assistance on solos from their new, much younger guitarist. The Motley Crue show was pretty cool though. I grew up listening to the Dr. Feelgood album, so it was good to eventually see these guys. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Freaker's Ball featuring Megadeth, Sevendust, Coal Chamber, Static X, Chevelle, Loudmouth, Slipknot, Machine Head, Orange 9MM, Dope, Amen | ||||
| Date: October 30, 1999 | Venue: Starplex Amphitheatre | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, RonchQ | ||||
| Notes: We showed up pretty early to see the whole show. We didn't care much about most of the opening acts, but it was fun to see all the freaks in Halloween costumes walking around. It rained mid afternoon and we got pretty soaked. A bunch of people starting sliding down the hill in the mud, so of course we joined in, completely covering ourselves in mud. As evening approached, we were freezing in our soaking wet, muddy clothes. We spent a great deal of time in the rest room sitting under the hand dryer. All the discomfort went away when Megadeth hit the stage. This show included the extended version of "She-Wolf" where Dave and Marty alternated solos for 5 minutes. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Creed, Our Lady Peace | ||||
| Date: November 5, 1999 | Venue: Woodlands Pavillion | City: Houston, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Stephanie Bond | ||||
| Creed Setlist: Are you Ready?, Ode, Torn, Beautiful, Illusion, Say I, My Own Prison, What If, Unforgiven, With Arms Wide Open, Faceless Man, What's This Life For?, One, Higher | ||||
| Notes: Impressive show | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Dream Theater, Star People | ||||
| Date: March 10, 2000 | Venue: Canyon Club | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad, House, RonchQ, Jesse Mace | ||||
| Notes: My first DT show. They played all of Scenes from a Memory followed by other greats, like "Peruvian Skies." Mike was very unhappy to be playing in such a tiny, run-down club. He promised us that the next time we saw them, it would be in a better venue. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Eric Johnson, Trey Gunn | ||||
| Date: April 13, 2000 | Venue: Deep Ellum Live | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Rick, RonchQ | ||||
| Notes: It was good seeing Eric Johnson in a smaller club like this, where he was able to do a more intimate show. He was free to have his own style, unlike the G3 show, where he was required to be a show-off in order to fit in with Satch and Vai. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Testament | ||||
| Date: May 12, 2000 | Venue: Canyon Club | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, RonchQ | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Summer Sanitarium featuring Metallica, Korn, Kid Rock, Powerman 5000, System of a Down | ||
| Date: July 9, 2000 | Venue: Texas Stadium | City: Dallas, TX |
| Attendees: Me, House, Casthead, RonchQ, Kike, Stephanie Bond | ||
| Notes: Korn sucks. Kid Rock sucks. And Powerman 5000 sucks. We were basically going for Metallica and SOAD. We found out the day before the concert that James Hetfield wasn't going to be able to attend due to a back injury and that Metallica would do a makeup show in August. We still went to the show, but many of us left after SOAD. We were able to jump around in the pit for this show, which is the way SOAD should be seen. I'm glad we left afterwards, because I heard that the remaining members of Metallica did a "jam" with Kid Rock. This was the beginning of the downward spiral for Metallica. | ||
| Lineup: Motley Crue, Megadeth, Anthrax | ||||
| Date: July 11, 2000 | Venue: Starplex Amphitheatre | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, Casthead, Stephanie Bond | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Metallica, Corrosion of Conformity | ||||
| Date: August 3, 2000 | Venue: Starplex Amphitheatre | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, Casthead, RonchQ, Kike, Stephanie Bond | ||||
| Metallica Setlist: Creeping Death, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Seek & Destroy, Fade to Black, Sad But True, Fuel, No Leaf Clover, King Nothing, Mastertarium, Battery, Nothing Else Matters, I Disappear, One, Turn the Page, Enter Sandman, Last Caress/So What!/Die Die My Darling | ||||
| Notes: Corrosion of Conformity travelled over on short notice to support Metallica on this make-up show. They played "Who's Got the Fire" from the not-yet-released America's Volume Dealer. This show was on James Hetfield's birthday. During Sandman James got hit in the face with a pie to celebrate. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Ozzfest 2000 featuring Ozzy, Pantera, Godsmack | ||||
| Date: August 18, 2000 | Venue: Starplex Amphitheater | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, RonchQ, Stephanie Bond | ||||
| Notes: There were lots of other bands there, but I won't mention them because we didn't get there until Godsmack was playing. Perhaps we arrived too early. Godsmack sucked. Pantera was awesome. That's pretty much the reason House and I went. Stephanie was a big Ozzy fan, but his set sucked. He was all doped up and confused. We waited around until he played "Dairy of a Madman," which I think is a great song. Then we left early. Stephanie was disillusioned that her favorite rock icon was a blubbering old man. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Dream Theater, Watchtower | ||||
| Date: August 23, 2000 | Venue: Aerial Theater at Bayou Place | City: Houston, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad | ||||
| Dream Theater Setlist: Entire Scenes From a Memory album, The Mirror, Just Let Me Breathe, Acid Rain, Caught in a New Millennium, Pull Me Under, Metropolis Pt. 1, A Change of Seasons | ||||
| Notes: Watchtower was fun to watch. They are pretty talented musicians, but spent a lot of time running around acting goofy. I enjoyed them, but it sucked that Houston and Dallas were the only cities on the DT tour that had Watchtower open instead of Spock's Beard. This was my second time to see the entire Scenes From a Memory album performed live. During "Through Her Eyes," Mikes kids (Max & Melody) helped him do the backing vocals. It was also cool to see the entire 23 minute "A Change of Seasons" performed as the encore. The morning after the concert, I drove back to Dallas to catch the DT show in Dallas... (Continued below) | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Dream Theater, Watchtower | ||||
| Date: August 24, 2000 | Venue: Bronco Bowl | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, Stephanie Bond | ||||
| Dream Theater Setlist: Metropolis Pt. 1, Overture 1928, Strange Deja Vu, Fatal Tragedy, The Mirror, Just Let Me Breathe, Acid Rain, Caught in a New Millennium, Another Day, Home, Erotomania/Voices, The Spirit Carries On, Learning to Live, A Change of Seasons | ||||
| Notes: Traffic was horrible driving back from Houston, so we were almost late. Mike promised a bigger venue the next time he was in Dallas. He did not disappoint. The cool thing about this show was the inclusion of four songs that weren't played at the Houston show. So I got to see something a little different. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Rob Halford | ||||
| Date: September 1, 2000 | Venue: Smirnoff Music Centre | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Casthead, RonchQ | ||||
| Notes: Starplex had just been bought by Smirnoff. Rob Halford put on an acceptible performance. At the time, I was a bigger fan of Queensryche's earlier material, so I was bored with some of their set. Iron Maiden put on a great show. The set was huge with lots of stairs and demons. Bruce was running around like crazy but still sang great. Coincidentally, Stephanie and I mutually broke up after I got home. | ||||
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| Lineup: Creed, Collective Soul | ||||
| Date: October 2, 2000 | Venue: Smirnoff Music Centre | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Beatles Classical Mystery Tour | ||||
| Date: October 20, 2000 | Venue: Bass Performance Hall | City: Fort Worth, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, Casthead | ||||
| Notes: This show was a really impressive Beatles tribute band playing with the Fort Worth Symphony. The band was tight and they played lots of the obscure Beatles songs that feature orchestrial arrangements. Micky Dolenz of The Monkees happened to be in town and stopped by for the show. He got onstage and talked about partying with the Beatles. He then did vocals for the Beatles song "She's Leaving Home" and the Monkees song "Daydream Believer." This concert was our first stop on a weekend road trip. After the show, we unfolded a Texas map on the ground in the parking lot and flipped a penny onto it. We then drove to the state park closest to where the penny landed for a campout. We ended up in Copper Breaks. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, Clearlight, Sixty-watt Shaman | ||||
| Date: November 26, 2000 | Venue: Emos | City: Austin, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, RonchQ, Stan | ||||
| Notes: I was already in the Austin area visiting family for Thanksgiving. RonchQ and Stan drove down to see this show with me. I'd never heard any Sixty-Watt Shaman, but they impressed me. Clearlight was pretty cool too, doing an instumental set. Before COC went on, I notice Pepper Keenan just walking around near the back of the venue. I ran over to him to get an autographed. RonchQ advised him on how to sign it. COC put on a great show. We left before Clutch, as we didn't care much about seeing them. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Corrosion of Conformity, Nickelback | ||
| Date: December 2000 | Venue: Club Clearview | City: Dallas, TX |
| Attendees: Me, House, Casthead, Kike, RonchQ, Stan | ||
| Lineup: Pantera, Soulfly | ||||
| Date: March 23, 2001 | Venue: Fair Park Coliseum | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, Casthead | ||||
| Notes: This show was originally scheduled for December 9, 2000, but had to be postponed because Phil Anselmo broke two ribs. The pit was crazy at this show. It was so difficult to just remain standing that I vowed never to be in another pit at a Pantera show. But this was sadly the last Pantera show I got to see. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Wesley Willis | ||
| Date: March 7, 2001 | Venue: The Pyramid | City: Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Attendees: Me, Casthead, Kike | ||
| Notes: This was our final destination for our spring break road trip, and by far the farthest ever driven for a concert. At the show, they pulled back the curtain to reveal the overweight Wesley sitting at his keyboard. He remained seated for the entire show, singing along to his keyboard jam track. I was bored to tears after a song or two. | ||
| Lineup: G3 featuring Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci | ||||||
| Date: July 5, 2001 | Venue: Bass Performance Hall | City: Fort Worth, TX | ||||
| Attendees: Me, House, RonchQ, Stan | ||||||
| Petrucci Setlist: IBS, Damage Control, Lost Without You, Glasgow Kiss, Paradigm Shift/Erotomania | ||||||
| Notes: As a big fan of Satriani and a bigger fan of Dream Theater, I couldn't miss this opporunity. I was most excited about seeing Dream Theater's John Petrucci performing brand new instrumental with DT drummer Mike Portnoy. House and I had all day to kill, so we drove out to Fort Worth early in the day. Good thing, too. We happened upon Mike Portnoy as he was walking his wife and kids from the venue to his hotel across the street. We waited until he sent them upstairs and then went over to get an autograph and photo. Inside, we met up with RonchQ and Stan. Petrucci played an awesome set. During Vai's set, we decided to go looking around the lobby. This concert was held in a concert hall meant for a symphony, so the building wasn't very secure. We easily found an unlocked door that led to a cleaning room, which led to a dining area, which led to a kitchen, which led backstage. Without passing any security, we found Petrucci's dressing room. When he came out we snapped a photo with him and got autographs. We made sure to let him know how awesome his set was. Mike was back there too, but we decided not to bother him since we had talked to him earlier. Satch put on a great show too, but the highlight was obviously meeting Mike and John. | ||||||
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| ||||||
| Lineup: G3 featuring Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci | ||||
| Date: July 6, 2001 | Venue: Aerial Theater at Bayou Place | City: Houston, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad, Jesse Mace, Bob Barney | ||||
| Notes: The morning after the G3 show in Fort Worth, I headed south to Houston to catch the show with my dad. The setlists were pretty much the same and we were not able to get backstage to meet the guys, but it was still a very enjoyable show. We did try to get backstage, but all we found was the Steve Vai prop closet. We were then escorted back to our seats. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Savatage, Nevermore | ||||
| Date: September 16, 2001 | Venue: Canyon Club | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, Casthead, Dickshack | ||||
| Notes: Before the Nevermore set, Casthead realized that the side storage area/kitchen for the club was unlocked and vacant. He slipped in and grabbed us some free sodas and hard lemonades from the fridge. We were grateful and drank them down. Nevermore put on a very strong show. Between Nevermore and Savatage, Casthead went back into the storage area and grabbed some more beverages. This time, he was caught by an employee. Casthead ran away and tried to hide in the restroom, but they went in after him and kicked him out of the club for stealing. We all felt bad because we had been drinking the stuff he stole for us and we didn't think he should have to wait outside until the end of the show. So we all agreed to leave. Outside, we walked around to the back of the venue and saw Nevermore hanging out by their tour bus. We let them know that we enjoyed the show. About that time, the same security guard that threw Casthead out of the club came over and escorted us off the property. The guys from Nevermore were very confused as to why we weren't allowed to hang out with them. So we never actually saw Savatage at this show. | ||||
| ||||
| Lineup: Megadeth | ||||
| Date: September 23, 2001 | Venue: Deep Ellum Live | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, Casthead | ||||
| Notes: This show allowed fans to choose vote online to choose the setlist. Among the songs chosen was "Anarchy in the UK." Since this concert went on less than 2 weeks after the 9/11 Twin Towers attack, Dave made an executive decision to not play the song, saying, "We don't need anarchy right now." | ||||
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| Lineup: Tool | ||||
| Date: October 24, 2001 | Venue: Reunion Arena | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House, RonchQ, Stan | ||||
| Setlist: Grudge, Stinkfist, Undertow, Parabola, Eulogy, Schism, Disposition, Reflection, Triad, The Patient, Aenema, Lateralus | ||||
| Notes: I felt this show to be pretty weak. Firstly, ticket prices were horrible, so we were stuck in the cheap seats. I prefer a more intimate venue where you can actually see the band. Secondly, between songs there was a lot of "experimental jamming" which might have been interesting... if you were high. They also played expanded versions of some of the already boring tracks from the Lateralus album. | ||||
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| Lineup: System of a Down | ||||
| Date: February 18, 2002 | Venue: Bronco Bowl | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, House | ||||
| Notes: Soon after the Tool concert was another disappointment. Just like Tool, SOAD is the type of band where you need to be in the pit, feeling the pulse of the crowd. Being in large, seated venue forces you to just stand there and realize that these guys might be too doped up to play their instruments properly. | ||||
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| Lineup: Dream Theater | ||||
| Date: March 11, 2002 | Venue: Paramount Theatre | City: Denver, CO | ||
| Attendees: Me, Kristy | ||||
| Setlist: The Glass Prison, 6:00, Beyond This Life, Lines in the Sand, Another Hand/The Killing Hand, Lifting Shadows Off a Dream, Through My Words, Fatal Tragedy, The Great Debate, Take the Time, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Home, The Spirit Carries On, Pull Me Under | ||||
| Notes: This show just happened to be during the week Kristy and I were in Colorado visiting her sister Jenny, who was pregnant with Kayna at the time. One night, we snuck off to see this incredible 3-hour show. | ||||
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| Lineup: Dream Theater | ||||
| Date: March 28, 2002 | Venue: Beacon Theater | City: New York, NY | ||
| Attendees: Me, House | ||||
| Setlist: The Glass Prison, Strange Deja Vu, Through My Words, Fatal Tragedy, Burning My Soul (1996 version, including parts of Hell's Kitchen), Another Hand/The Killing Hand, Misunderstood, Lie, The Spirit Carries On, Take The Time, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Metallica's entire Master of Puppets album, Home, Pulled Me Under (warped version) | ||||
| Notes: When I got back from Denver, I was telling House about how awesome the DT concert was. House and I decided we should take a trip to catch a DT show before the end of the tour. The weren't going to be playing anywhere near us, so we'd have to fly. I read that they would be doing a "special" show on their second night in NY. So we booked the tickets. This would be the farthest I've ever traveled for a concert.
The show was by far the best concert I've ever seen. Some of the songs were repeats from the show I saw in Denver, but some were new. After the first 90 minutes of jamming and a 15 minute intermission, they played the 42-minute "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence." It was the song they played for their second set in Denver. I couldn't see why this was a "special" setlist. I was disappointed, but it was still easy to enjoy the epic song. When it was over, I expected an encore of Pull Me Under and Home like in Dever. What I didn't expect was for them to start up some Metallica. They went on to play the entire 45 minute, 8 song Master of Puppets album. It's probably the most head-banging-est, heaviest metal album ever made... and Dream Theater played it flawlessly. In the 3 times I've seen Metallica, I've yet to see them play anything from Master of Puppets as cleanly and accurately as Dream Theater did that night. And when that was done, Dream Theater still played another 25 minutes of their own music, finishing up with Home and Pull Me Under. The show lasted 4 hours. If you take out the intermission, DT played a total of 3 hours and 45 minutes! Well worth the cost of travel. | ||||
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| Lineup: Iced Earth, In Flames, Jag Panzer | ||||
| Date: May 2, 2002 | Venue: The Back Room | City: Austin, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Casthead | ||||
| Notes: We drove down to Austin shortly after lunch. The club was impressively shoddy. Jag Panzer did little to thrill me. I was quite surprised with In Flames. This was my first exposre to them. Although I wasn't very familiar with their stuff, they were very entertaining. Iced Earth put on a great show too. I'm glad I was able to see this show, because it was my last opportunity to see them with Matt Barlow doing vocals. | ||||
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| Lineup: DayTripper | ||||
| Date: August 8, 2002 | Venue: The New Frontier | City: Las Vegas, NV | ||
| Attendees: Me, Kristy, Dad, Mom, Adam | ||||
| Notes: Technically, this was more of a Las Vegas show than a concert. But it was one band playing for 90 minutes, so it feels like it should count. This Beatles tribute band kept us entertained with jokes and an incredible eye for detail. While this wasn't as magical as the Classical Mystery Tour I'd seen earlier, it was still a lot of fun. | ||||
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| Lineup: Joe Satriani, Dream Theater, King's X | ||||||
| Date: August 16, 2002 | Venue: Nextstage | City: Dallas, TX | ||||
| Attendees: Me, Kristy, House | ||||||
| Dream Theater Setlist: New Millennium, 6:00, Strange Deja Vu, Another Hand/The Killing Hand, Surrounded, Instrumedley (featuring pieces of The Dance of Eternity, Metropolis Pt. 1, Erotomania, A Change of Seasons, Ytse Jam, Paradigm Shift, Universal Mind, Hell's Kitchen), Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence | ||||||
| Notes: It was tough going from the NY DT show to this one. First, the set was trimmed from 225 minutes to 90 minutes. This was to accomodate the fact that they were co-headlining with Satch. Second, we seemed to be sitting in the Satch section, because nobody near us seemed to care that DT was on stage. That's the trouble with co-headlining. Half the seats are filled with people that don't really want to see the band currently performing. Still, the band played great. Before Satch hit the stage, we were walking around the venue and snuck into the upper balcony, which was supposed to be closed off for this show. We stayed up there during the Satriani set. It was nice to get away from the crowd. After the show, we detoured to the tour bus area in the parking lot where Jordan Rudess (DT Keyboards) and John Myung (DT bass) were signing autographs. | ||||||
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| Lineup: In Flames | ||
| Date: August 25, 2002 | Venue: Canyon Club | City: Dallas, TX |
| Attendees: Me, Casthead, House, Dickshack | ||
| Notes: Casthead opened up a credit line at the bar and got completed wasted. We were sitting on some stools against the side wall and Casthead just toppled forward, smacking his head into the ground. We tried to help him up, be he just wanted to lay there. A bouncer came over and told us that he needed to sit up or leave. We tried to get him to sit up, but he fought us on it. Then he got up and walked out of the venue. All this was before In Flames hit the stage. They came out and put on a great, high-energy show. Afterwards, we went outside to find Casthead sleeping on the hood of the car parked next to mine. On the drive back, he stuck his head out of the window and puked on the highway. The wind blew some of it back into the car. You can always count on Casthead to keep it entertaining. | ||
| Lineup: Blind Guardian, Symphony X | ||||
| Date: November 30, 2002 | Venue: Canyon Club | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Casthead | ||||
| Notes: Symphony X blew out their tour gear a few days earlier. Their new setup wasn't great, so the sound was weak. Still a fun show though. Blind Guardian was tight. Casthead yelled at people for cheering on the keyboardist, who played about 4 notes all night. | ||||
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| Lineup: Shadows Fall | ||||
| Date: March 16, 2003 | Venue: Canyon Club | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Casthead | ||||
| Notes: I'd never heard of Shadows Fall before CH told me about this show. These guys put on a great show. Heavy and raw. | ||||
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| Lineup: In Flames | ||
| Date: April 4, 2003 | Venue: Galaxy Club | City: Dallas, TX |
| Attendees: Me, Casthead, Dickshack | ||
| Notes: This was my most memorable In Flames show. I was a solid fan by this point, knowing all their material. They did not disappoint. Dickshack broke his glasses in the pit. | ||
| Lineup: ProgPower USA IV Pre-Party, featuring Prymary, Stride, Kategory V | ||
| Date: September 4, 2003 | Venue: Riviera Club | City: Atlanta, GA |
| Attendees: Me, Casthead | ||
| Notes: I don't remember a whole lot from this show, as I wasn't familiar with any of the bands. Casthead and I had arrived in Atlanta earlier in the day and found a hotel. Having driven all night, we took a nap and then needed an activity for that evening. We thought the pre-party would be a good hangout. Stride is a Houston band. I think they played a mostly-instrumental set. The club had Blade Runner on a projector with the sound off. I vaguely remember meeting the bassist for Secret Sphere. He's Italian and didn't speak any english. I think Casthead helped him with ordering a beer. | ||
| Lineup: ProgPower USA IV featuring Rage, Nightwish, Symphony X, Evergrey, Circle II Circle, Vanden Plas, Secret Sphere, Mercenary, Pagan's Mind, Redemption | ||||||||||
| Date: September 5 - September 6, 2003 | Venue: Earthlink Live | City: Atlanta, GA | ||||||||
| Attendees: Me, Casthead | ||||||||||
| Nightwish Setlist: Bless the Child, Come Cover Me, Dead to the World, End of All Hope, Ever Dream, Crazy Train (Ozzy cover), The Kinslayer, Slaying the Dreamer, Over the Hills and Far Away (Gary Moore cover) | ||||||||||
| Symphony X Setlist: Inferno (Unleash the Fire), Incantations of the Apprentice, Of Sins and Shadows, King of Terrors, Smoke and Mirrors, The Accolade, Accolade II, Wicked, Out of the Ashes, Evolution (The Grand Design), The Odyssey | ||||||||||
| Evergrey Setlist: Blinded, End of Your Days, Rulers of the Mind, State of Paralysis, Encounter, Recreation Day, Fragments, Darkest Hour, Blackened Dawn, Mark of the Triangle, Trilogy of the Damned, I'm Sorry, Nosferatu, The Great Deceiver, Solitude Within, The Masterplan | ||||||||||
| Rage Setlist: Don't Fear the Winter, Paint the Devil on the Wall, Down, Black in Mind, Solitary Man, All I Want, From the Cradle to the Grave, Set this World on Fire, Lunatic, Unity, Sent by the Devil, Firestorm, Dies Irea, Higher than the Sky | ||||||||||
| Notes:
ProgPower is the USA's only progressive metal festival. It's a 2-day concert held once a year, with around 10 bands from around the World. The original ProgPower was held in Illinois. But for the last 3 years, it's been at the Earthlink Live in Atlanta, Georgia.
The venue only holds 1,200 people. So the show sold out very quickly when the tickets went on sale back in May. Many more tickets could have been sold, I'm sure... but this festival is proud of its intimate atmosphere where you are up-close and personal with the bands. First up was the American band Redemption. The band was started by Nick van Dyke, a friend of the band Fate's Warning. They played a fairly forgettable set, but that may be because I was unfamiliar with the material. Ray Alder, vocalist of Fate's Warning, showed up to do a guest performance with the band. Later in the festival, I was able to meet Ray and get a photo with him. Next was Mercenary, from Denmark. They sounded pretty good, as long as you are okay with their growling-style of vocals. Both Casthead and I were impressed with their performance. Thankfully, they played "Screaming from the Heavens", the one song I was hoping to hear by them. The German band Vanden Plas had a very crisp sound. Some refer to this band as the German Dream Theater and I can see why. The music might not be quite as good as Dream Theater material, but they perform very accurately... even if the singer does act like a dork at times. Nightwish, from Finland, was very impressive. Their claim to fame is the operatic style of their female vocalist Tarja Turunen placed over crunchy metal riffs. I had expected them to have an overly theatrical performance.... focusing on being dramatic rather than playing well. But I was wrong. They were musicians and nothing more. And they played very well. Last on Friday night was Symphony X from New Jersey. This was the only band at the festival that I had seen before. I'm a big fan of Symphony X's music, but their live performances are never mixed right. Still, I consider Michael Romeo to be one of the best guitarists out there. Saturday's opening act was Pagan's Mind, from Norway. They played a pretty clean set, but nothing about it stood out. It was a nice warm-up act though. Italy's Secret Sphere was a bit of a shocker for me. The singer was dressed up real fruity. Maybe that's just the way people are in Italy. Nobody in the band knew English very well. But I did enjoy the music. The American band Circle II Circle is the latest project by Zak Stevens, ex-vocalist of Savatage. Most of the songs they performed were from their only release Watching in Silence, but they did a few older Savatage songs. Jon Oliva, the founding member of Savatage, did very interesting guest appearance. Altogether, the set was a very entertaining. Everygrey, from Sweden, then performed an incredible set ranging from their entire 4-album career. This band, along with Nightwish, seemed to be the reason everyone was there. They were able to keep the show very heavy even with a 9 minute keyboard/vocal ballad. I expect to be hearing more from these guys. For some reason, it took 15 minutes too long to setup the stage for the final act, the German power-metal band Rage. And unfortunately, during this time, the venue began to clear out. It quickly became apparent that Rage might not accurately fit the bill at a festival that is supposed to be somewhat progressive. Maybe 1/4 of the audience left. It's not that Rage isn't an awesome band. They just aren't the exact genre that these people were looking for. Their sound was amazing. The guitar solo was jaw-dropping. The drum solo was unique. (Mike sang a Frank Sinatra impersonation while drumming.) I only wish that Rage could have gotten the fan support that they deserve. After 20 years of recording, this was their first show in North America, and I worry that they might not come back. Throughout the show, I was able to collect some memorabilia. I got the setlist from Secret Sphere and a guitar pick from Evergrey. | ||||||||||
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| Lineup: Big Freakin' Deal featuring Damageplan, Drowning Pool, Puddle of Mudd | ||||||||
| Date: April 18, 2004 | Venue: Nokia Theatre | City: Dallas, TX | ||||||
| Attendees: Me, Casthead | ||||||||
| Notes: None of the bands playing interested me except Damageplan. So I spent most of my time wandering around the venue trying to get into places I wasn't supposed to get into. Eventually, CH and I found an unlocked emergency stairway that led to the corporate party rooms. Crappy bands sometimes sound less crappy when you are sitting on a leather sofa drinking free sodas. | ||||||||
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| Lineup: Iced Earth, Children of Bodom, Evergrey | ||||
| Date: May 10, 2004 | Venue: Deep Ellum Live | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Casthead, Dickshack | ||||
| Notes: It was nice to see Evergrey on an American tour. Sadly, the venue made the band start playing about 10 minutes after the doors opened. Due to a long line at the security checkpoint, only 25% of the crowd had gotten in. I was still waiting outside during the first 2 or 3 songs. I got in with just enough time to hear the last 3 songs. Children of Bodom were entertaining, although I'm not really a fan. Iced Earth was great. Tim Owens makes a great front man and did a good job with the older IE material. The show included the epic "Gettysburg," for which the band donned Civil War jackets. | ||||
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| Lineup: Arbor Daze featuring Three Dog Night, Davy Jones, The Boxtops, Sam the Sham | ||
| Date: April 23, 2004 | Venue: Some field | City: Euless, TX |
| Attendees: Me, Kristy | ||
| Notes: We got the tickets for free from the oldies radio station. The weather was so horrible, we kept waiting for the radio station to say the show was rained out. But they said there was a break in the weather and the show would go on. So we hoped in the car and drove to Euless. Traffic was slow because of the weather. We completely missed Sam the Sham and the Boxtops. Davy Jones was halfway through his set by the time we got their. He sounded pretty good though and was clearly having a good time. Three dog night hit the stage. A cloud of marijuana smoke wafted across the field. After about 4 songs, the band jumped to their closer, "Joy to the World," saying that the fire marshall was shutting them down due to the weather. We got soaked walking back to the car. On the ride home, I-35 was shut down for 45 minutes due to an accident. I'm not sure the 40 minutes of music we heard was worth the soaking and 3 hours of driving. | ||
| Lineup: ProgPower USA V featuring Edguy, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Pain of Salvation, Kamelot, Tad Morose, Brainstorm, Dreamscape, Wuthering Heights, Adagio, Into Eternity | ||||||||
| Date: September 17 - September 18, 2004 | Venue: Earthlink Live | City: Atlanta, GA | ||||||
| Attendees: Me, Dad | ||||||||
| Jon Oliva's Pain Setlist: The Dark, People Say, Guardian of Forever, Walk Alone, Father Son Holy Ghost, Nowhere to Run, All the Time | ||||||||
| Weapons of Mass Destruction Setlist: Heal My Soul, When the Crowds are Gone, A Little Too Far, City Beneath the Surface, Dungeons are Calling, Sirens, New York City Don't Mean Nothing, Jesus Saves, Hyde, Thorazine Shuffle, Tonight He Grins Again, Somewhere in Time, Believe, Edge of Thorns, Temptation Revelation, Gutter Ballet, Power of the Night, Hall of the Mountain King | ||||||||
| Edguy Setlist: Under the Moon, Navigator, Land of the Miracle, Chalice of Agony, Key to My Fate, Lavatory Love Machine, Vain Glory Opera, Piper Never Dies, King of Fools, Avantasia (with Rob Rock), Wake Up the King (with Timo Kotipelto), Out of control | ||||||||
| Pain of Salvation Setlist: Undertow, Rope Ends, Used, In the Flesh, Ashes, A Trace of Blood, Inside, !, People Passing By, Idioglossia, Beyond the Pale | ||||||||
| Kamelot Setlist: Center of the Universe, Wings of Despair, Edge of Paradise, Nights of Arabia, Fall from Grace, The Spell, Wander, 3 Ways to Epica, Lost and Damned, Forever, Call of the Sea, Farewell, Karma | ||||||||
| Notes: I lost my tickets. Dad's flight was delayed because of a hurricane. Our hotel was overbooked and we had to stay a couple extra miles from the venue. The hotel fiasco caused us to arrive at the venue late, missing Into Eternity. But then, things got better.
The venue printed me new tickets. We got walked in the door just in time to see Dreamscape put on a great show. They clearly stood out from many other bands at the show. Tad Morose was also a highlight. Their set was very energetic. The crowd was into it. Kamelot sounded pretty tight, except for the vocals. It sounded like the singer might have been sick. Weapons of Mass Destruction (which is essentially made up of guys that were once in Savatage) started with a set of new stuff under the name Jon Oliva's Pain. It slowed down the show, because nobody knew the material. Then they started playing some Savatage stuff and what was left of the crowd really got into it. On day two, I really can't remember much of Adagio, Wuthering Heights and Brainstorm. They all did well, but Dad and I were hanging out up in the seats, saving our energy for the last 2 bands. I jumped down onto the floor for Pain of Salvation. This was the band I was most looking forward to. Before the show, a bunch of us in the crowd starting singing "Second Love" and Daniel stuck his head out from under the curtain to give us a thumbs up. Their set consisted of 90 minutes chosen by he audience on the website. The band clearly was having fun "dusting off" some songs they don't usually play live. Daniel was making jokes about their lack of spandex and the lame concert crowd clapping rituals. We were also looking forward to Edguy. Their set was disappointing though. They hit every bad heavy metal cliché in the first 20 mins. They expanded each song to let the crowd sing along. And between songs, Tobias would goof around for 5 minutes. About half of their 90 minute set was spent screwing around. Buy Edguy's albums, but don't go to their concerts. The highlight was when Timo Kotipelto joined them onstage to sing "Wake Up the King." He sang it like a frontman should sing it. During set changes I was able to get autographs from Dreamscape and Tad Morose, who were hanging out in the lobby. | ||||||||
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| Lineup: Damageplan, Shadows Fall, The Haunted | ||
| Date: November 4, 2004 | Venue: Ridglea Theatre | City: Fort Worth, TX |
| Attendees: Me, Casthead | ||
| The Haunted Setlist: No Compromise, DOA, Dark Intentions/Bury Your Dead, 99, Abysmal, Godpuppet, In Vein, All Against All, Hollow Ground, Hate Song | ||
| Notes: All three bands put on a high-energy show. One month later, at a show on this same tour, Dimebag Darrell Abbott was shot and killed on stage in Ohio. | ||
| Lineup: Gigantour featuring Megadeth, Dream Theater, Fear Factory, Nevermore, Life of Agony, Symphony X, Drykill Logic, Bobaflex | ||||
| Date: August 2, 2005 | Venue: Nokia Theatre | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad | ||||
| Megadeth Setlist: Blackmail the Universe, Set the World Afire, Skin O' My Teeth, The Scorpion, Wake Up Dead, In My Darkest Hour, Die Dead Enough, She-Wolf, Reckoning Day, A Toute Le Monde, Angry Again, Trust, Hangar 18, Sweating Bullets, Tornado of Souls, Kick the Chair, Symphony of Destruction, Peace Sells, Holy Wars | ||||
| Dream Theater Setlist: The Root of All Evil, A Fortune in Lies, Fatal Tragedy, Panic Attack, Just Let Me Breathe, Endless Sacrifice, The Mirror/Lie, As I Am, Pull Me Under, Cemetary Gates (Pantera Cover) | ||||
| Nevermore Setlist: Born, Never Purify, Narcosynthesis, The River Dragon Has Come, Enemies of Reality | ||||
| Symphony X Setlist: Inferno, Evolution, Wicked, Sea of Lies | ||||
| Notes: Picked Dad up at airport around 2pm. Ate pretty good chinese food in grand prairie. We didn't get inside the venue until Bobaflex was walking off the stage, so we completely missed them. We had purchased front row tickets for the upper, upper balcony. The show didn't sell out though, so they decided not to open the balcony. Our tickets were upgraded to first come, first served tickets on the floor. We ended up on the 3rd row from the stage. The seats were really good. But even better was the fact that we could get up and walk into the pit at any time, without a wristband.
I didn't care much for Drykill Logic, but they finished their set with Prong's "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck," which was cool. Symphony X only played 4 songs, but they were very tight. Still, I preferred their 90 minute set at ProgPower IV. After SX, Dad and I went to grab a drink, thinking that Life of Agony would be up next. While in the lobby, I realized that Nevermore was up on stage playing. Sadly, I missed all of "Born" and half of "Never Purify." These guys sounded great though. Incredibly tight. The pit went crazy during "River Dragon." Life of Agony and Fear Factory sucked, so I spent some more time hanging out in the lobby. Then there was Dream Theater. What a show! The whole band was at the top of their game. Petrucci and Rudess nailed all their solos. LaBrie effortlessly hit all the high notes. Even though I'm used to seeing DT play for over 3 hours, I still felt satisfied with the 90 minutes. They were 90 great minutes. For their last song, they did a cover of Pantera's "Cemetary Gates" in honor of Dimebag. This was a rare performance, done only in Dallas, Dimebag's home town. During the song, Russell Allen (Symphony X) and Burton Bell (Fear Factory) joined DT with some vocal parts. Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) stepped onstage for 30 seconds to handle the final solo. Megadeth finished off the show with a very strong 90-minute set. Dave played very well and was very persaonable on stage. I didn't care much for his new backing band. It's hard to replace Ellefson, Friedman and Menza. But regardless of who's on stage with him, Mustaine is Megadeth. | ||||
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| Lineup: Ozzfest featuring Black Sabbath, Velvet Revolver, Mudvayne, Shadows Fall, Black Label Society, Drowning Pool, In Flames, Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Mastodon, A Dozen Furies, Arch Enemy, It Dies Today, Soilwork, Gizmachi, Wicked Wisdom, Bury Your Dead, The Haunted, Black Dehlia Murder | ||||
| Date: August 25, 2005 | Venue: Smirnoff Music Centre | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Tom Regensdorfer | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: HOT! The temperature hit 103. We got out there around 10:30 am. The bands started playing at 9, but I figured it would be okay to be a little late, since I didn't want to see Wicked Wisdom or Gizmachi. I had heard that they would be opening. But sadly, they changed up the schedule. I missed out on Black Dahlia Murder and The Haunted. I was really ticked about The Haunted. That's one of the main reasons I was going to the second stage show.
Soilwork was the first band we saw. They were pretty good. Everything sounded clean. I was impressed. It Dies Today had serious problems. One of their guitarists was replaced by a guitarist from Bury Your Dead. Also, the signer was way off key for all the clean vocal parts. The crowd still got into them pretty good. Event staff were keeping us all hosed down so everyone stayed cool through all the moshing. I thought that Arch Enemy put on a great show. The crowd didn't get into it for some reason. Angela's vocals were studio quality, and it looked like she was having a lot of fun. Trivium was supposed to play next, but for some reason, they were a no-show. Local Dallas band A Dozen Furies took stage next. I wasn't familiar with any of their stuff, but they were very entertaining. They had a great stage presence and the crowd loved them. There was an 8-year-old girl on her dad's shoulders right behind me. She kept the "sign of the devil" salute going the whole time. Mastodon had a tough act to follow. Although I really like studio stuff, they didn't do much to get the crowd interested. During As I Lay Dying, we decided to check out some of the vendors and grab a drink. The best vendor was probably a the body painting tent, where girls were having their chests painted. It was pretty popular. Lots of girls getting painted; lots of guys watching. Killswitch Engage were very tight. The crowd surfing was crazy. For this one, we moved up near the front of the stage. The guy next to me got kicked in the head and had to leave because of all the blood running down his face. Tom moved up to the front railing for Rob Zombie. I'm not much of a fan, so I checked out a couple songs from the back, then went to get a good place for In Flames at the main stage. I brought a bunch of fake wristbands with me so I could get into the pit at the main stage. Unfortunately, I didn't have quite the right shade of yellow. There were 3 security checkpoints to get to the pit. I only got through the first one. The second security guard spotted the fake band. But at least I got up into the seated area and into the shade. In Flames played very well. Unfortunately, everyone was still over at the second stage seeing Rob Zombie, who was playing an extended set. So there was maybe 50 people there. In Flames deserved better. Tom and I met back up for lunch during Drowning Pool. I didn't mind missing these guys at all. You'd think that with all the singers they've gone through, they'd just give up. The probably should. We staked out a nice place in the lawn for Black Label Society. I was a little disappointed. They only did 4 or 5 songs, but they could have done more. Too much time was spent with Zakk show-boating to the crowd with the "let's see how long I can hold this note"-style of soloing. Shadows Fall sounded really good. But this is the kind of band that should be seen in a club, where you can thrash around. Seeing them from 300 feet away didn't seem right. The crowd loved Mudvayne. I'll admit that some of their stuff has grown on me, but it's not really my style. I expected better from Velvet Revolver. Slash and company were on top of it, but Scott was very distracting. His vocals were too loud, and to make it worse, he sang half the songs through a megaphone into the microphone. He put a lot more effort into his goofy dancing than his singing. The highlight of the set was the only Guns N' Roses song they did: Mr. Brownstone. Black Sabbath was an unforseen highlight. Sure, Ozzy is a caricature of himself. You just have to take him for what he is. He was having a great time. It's just hard to dislike him. The rest of the band was at the top of their game. Iommi is as smooth as ever. We counted ten times where Ozzy told us that he loves us all. Perhaps I'm spoiled now, but I find it hard to get into metal music when I'm in a venue like this. I'd have probably enjoyed it more to see any one of these bands at Deep Ellum Live or the Curtain Club. | ||||
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| Lineup: ProgPower USA VI Pre-Party, featuring Dreamscape, DC Cooper, Orphaned Land, Outworld | ||||
| Date: September 15, 2005 | Venue: The Loft | City: Atlanta, GA | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad, Casthead | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: Orphaned Land was playing the pre-party and the main event, so they treated us with a special setlist and did an acoustic show. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but my dad was not interested. The crowd seemed to go crazy for DC Cooper, but I didn't have a clue who he was. I didn't even know he was going to be there. Seemed like some old washed up singer. Dreamscape performed a great show, hitting all the highlights. | ||||
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| Lineup: ProgPower USA VI, featuring Stratovarius, Angra, Therion, Conception, Orphaned Land, Pink Cream 69, Circus Maximus, Symphorce, Stride, Manticora | ||||
| Date: September 16 - September 17, 2005 | Venue: Earthlink Live | City: Atlanta, GA | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad, Casthead | ||||
| Stratovarius Setlist: Maniac Dance, Speed of Light, Kiss of Judas, Legions, Twilight Symphony, Will the Sun Rise, Lauri Porra Bass Solo, The Land of Ice and Snow, United, Against the Wind, Season of Change, Father Time, Coming Home, Destiny, Hunting High and Low, Forever, Black Diamond | ||||
| Pink Cream 69 Setlist: Thunderdome, Do You Like It Like That, Hell's Gone Crazy, Lost In Illusions, Carnaby Road, Talk to the Moon, The Spirit, Seas of Madness, Welcome the Night, Shame, Keep Your Eye on the Twisted | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: | ||||
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| Lineup: Transiberian Orchestra | ||||
| Date: December ??, 2005? | Venue: Nokia Theatre | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Kristy | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: | ||||
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| Lineup: Flower Kings, ?? | ||||
| Date: March ??, 2006 | Venue: | City: Denver, CO | ||
| Attendees: Me, Kristy | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: | ||||
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| Lineup: Dream Theater | ||||
| Date: March ??, 2006 | Venue: | City: Denver, CO | ||
| Attendees: Me, Kristy, Dad | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: | ||||
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| Lineup: Spock's Beard, Rhett Butler | ||||
| Date: May ??, 2006 | Venue: Ridglea Theater | City: Fort Worth, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Kristy | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: | ||||
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| Lineup: Jewel, ?? | ||||
| Date: September ??, 2006 | Venue: Meyerson | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Kristy | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: | ||||
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| Lineup: Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, Kenny and the Kasuals | ||||
| Date: February 3, 2007 | Venue: Nokia Theatre | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Kristy | ||||
| Notes: CCRevisited and the Beach Boys switched spots in the lineup so that the "old folks" could see the show and be home in bed by 11. Kristy and I qualify as old folks now, so that's what we did. Although it's not really the beach boys without the whole gang (the Wilsons were missing), it was still a very fun show. | ||||
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| Lineup: Beatles Classical Mystery Tour | ||||
| Date: May ??, 2007 | Venue: Meyerson | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Kristy | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: | ||||
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| Lineup: Dream Theater, Redemption, Into Eternity | ||||
| Date: August 2, 2007 | Venue: Nokia Theatre | City: Dallas, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: | ||||
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| Lineup: Dream Theater, Redemption, Into Eternity | ||||
| Date: August 3, 2007 | Venue: Verizon Wireless | City: Houston, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: | ||||
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| Lineup: Symphony X, Sanctity, ??Eternity | ||||
| Date: August 4, 2007 | Venue: Meridian | City: Houston, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad, House | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: | ||||
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| Lineup: Kamelot, ?? | ||||
| Date: Sept ??, 2007 | Venue: Ridglea Theater | City: Fort Worth, TX | ||
| Attendees: Me, Dad | ||||
| Setlists: To be added later | ||||
| Notes: | ||||
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