Public Commander Keen Forum

I've been to a few pretty grouse The Animators gigs, and Ministry of Plenty is sweet af. I also really enjoyed Tired Lion, Gypsy & The Cat's farewell tour, and probably a few other good ones I've forgotten.

Your planned gigs sound pretty exciting! Have you seen any of those bands before?

Got to see Kansas when they were in a nearby town recently

The Musical Box is coming to California this February. I might dip into savings for that.

Oh, I just remembered I might be seeing one of the Car Seat Headrest Laneway sideshows with my girlfriend while the band's in Melbourne. That should be super neat.

I saw Pinegrove over the summer when they were in Chicago.
That was a road trip well worth it for me.

Went to see Saxon (supported by Sweet Savage) in Dublin at the weekend. Fantastic NWOBHM extravaganza with exemplary showmanship... Saxon's 72 year old frontman delivered more energy than most a third of his age. The opening act Sweet Savage, from Belfast, were also a huge amount of fun... metal aficionados who've dug deep enough will know of them from a certain Metallica B-side (before the wholesome San Francisco act sanitised it, the original contained some, uhm, questionable lyrics...). But Saxon, the main event, were incredible entertainers and drew a huge amount of enthusiasm from a crowd which truly spanned the generations (boomers headbanging alongside gen-Z-ers, who would have thought). They're touring Europe right now, catch them if they pass through your town!

Last weekend I went and saw Alter Bridge. They put on a damn good show, and they sounded great. They may play a more condensed setlist than some of the other bands I see, but that's OK, because they change up what songs they play pretty often. Their show lasted about an hour and a half to 2 hours, and played about 15 songs. I was kind of bummed they didn't play anything from their 5th record The Last Hero, or the 6th one Walk The Sky, but I guess maybe because those records had different styles/themes to them. Since it was general admission, tickets were only like $60, and I got up to about 4 or 5 rows from the stage. I had heard a few complaints online about the venue, and I get what they're saying. The inside of the venue was so dark, so poorly lit, and has so many dark color choices for the floor and the walls, combined with the wall texture and interior design, that it literally looks like a level in Quake. I can look past that, my only complaint is that there was very little if any A/C.

I was also introduced to 2 new bands: MJT and Sevendust, who opened for the show. Both sounded great, and I got to meet a member of the former after the show.

Anyway, I'm glad I finally got to see Alter Bridge live, and just in time as this was the last leg of the tour. If you get a chance, I recommend checking these guys out. They put on a great show!

Last Friday I went to see The Vapors (early 80s New Wave legends famous for the one-hit-wonder "Turning Japanese"). Their studio albums from the start of the 80s are of an incredibly high standard and should be listened to hy anyone who likes that era of music (Joy Division, Cure, Squeeze etc etc etc). It's a travesty that their career did not continue at that time. They have been enthusiastically back in action in recent years. I saw them in an unexpectedly intimate venue located amongst the crass commerce of Oxford Street. There must have only been about 150 people there.

Another excellent show I went to recently was Slowdive, also playing in London. They are of course a classic early 90s band with highly enthralling, well honed melodic dreamscapes that earned them the controversial label "shoegaze" and left them vulnerable to being swept aside by the advent of Blur and Oasis et al. Their performance was of an exceptiknally good quality and I felt really immersed in the music, hanging on to every note (really difficult to do now that I'm not seven years old). I had seen them before, opening for the more modern day "War on Drugs". I didn't enjoy that show half as much because it was in a huge venue and had all the downplaying that opening acts usually suffer. I had also got the tickets in order to see Slowdive so naturally sitting through the set of a band in whom I am not all that interested was mildly deflating.

The next big concert fixture for me is a big one, over in Dublin I will be seeing the NWOBHM extravaganza that will be Judas Priest, Saxon (again!!) and Uriah Heap. This promises to be hugely fun. Metal gigs in Dublin are always great fun too.

Also to come is Orbital. I need to make the effort to see the big UK dance legends while they're still on the go. Saw Fatboy Slim but have yet to see the Prodigy or Underworld.

troublesomekeen wrote: ↑Sat Dec 17, 2016 23:23 The Musical Box is coming to California this February. I might dip into savings for that.

7 years later I actually gone and done it.



Got to see them in December, 2023
:panting flower

Benvolio wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:02 Also to come is Orbital.

!!

I went to see Madhouse Express yesterday, a popular local psychedelic synth rock kinda band. Don't tell them I said this but they're fairly reminiscent of old Tame Impala (before Kevin got bored of playing guitar), which is really pleasing to my ears... I'm friends with the band through members of my own band so it's a must of course, but yesterday's concert especially was a blast. Afterwards I even felt inspired to record a bass cover of one of their songs.

Keening_Product wrote:!!

I am very excited.

Nospike wrote:Madhouse Express

Must check them out. I should also listen to your band!

This evening I saw Enter Shikari. Had not listened to them before. An intriguing mix, with at least 25% of the show consisting of the heavy kind of 2000s rock I was hoping to hear. But a lot of more Ed Sheeran-esque stuff in the mix which was not as appealing. Will endeavour to listen to their earlier material again soon.

I always conflated their name with "Shikadi" but apparently there's little or no connection.

Double post... anyway the NWOBHM show has come to pass and was highly enjoyable.

Uriah Heep, the outfit I've listened to the least, were okay, but played a short set (as expected as the first act) and seemed slightly bitter about this fact (citing how they're the seniormost of the bands with the earliest career peak). I do feel that the sound engineering for them was poor, something I'm aware is often imposed on opening acts but if so is a shame given the classic nature of the band and presumed influence on the other two acts.

Then Saxon (whom I saw last year) who again were amazing, with solid rocking music and a well-balanced setlist, juggling new material (which is pretty good) with old. Of note all three bands had new albums out in the last year or less. Biff, the frontman, is an exceptional entertainer who really knows how to make a show fun.

And of course the main event, Judas Priest. They were fantastic - costumes that epitomised cool, exquisite performances and some great fun audience engagement. Rob was less chatty than Biff but did some hilarious scat singing with the crowd and was overall a lot of fun. Priest were of course the band who have made the most impact on metal as a whole and whose songwriting is of the most in-depth merit. It was therefore somewhat of a disappointment how the setlist missed out on quite a few classic tracks that would have been great to hear. They have put an emphasis on their newest record, Invincible Shield. This is understandable given that they have continued to have their output taken seriously but it frustrated me slightly. Some of their best known songs such as "United" and "Take On The World" as well as the legendary "Dissident Aggressor" surprised me by their omission. But overall I can't complain too much as we did get "Saints in Hell" and "The Green Manalishi". (Sadly I missed both of Peter Green's shows in Dublin before he died).

If this line-up or similar tours your local city, i recommend you attend!

I just got back from seeing Art Of Anarchy tonight, and WHAT AND AMAZING SHOW!!!

Art Of Anarchy just released their 3rd album, Let There Be Anarchy, last month, and they're currently on a small tour playing small venues, sort of to test the waters for their future plans. They've had bad luck getting off the ground, as they had problems with their previous 2 singers Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver) and Scott Stapp (Creed), so they now have a new singer, Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie Malmsteen, Sons Of Apollo and Trans Siberian Orchestra), whom the band seems to be happy with.

Anyway, they played a venue near me that holds a maximum occupancy of about 300 people. I got their super early, because the first 50 people in the door got a complimentary meet and greet. I waited probably about 2 hours outside in the cold with about 5 other people. When they let us in, I bought a poster with all the members on it, got to meet the entire band, get a fully signed poster, and get a group photo with the band. Surprisingly, and disappointingly, I don't think even 100 people showed up to this concert. The opening act was a band called Siin, who were excellent, and then Art Of Anarchy hit the stage, playing 15 songs: 2 from the first record, 4 from the second, and 9 from the third. They sounded great, and it was a really intimate show.

After the show, I and a few other fans got to talk to the Votta brothers and Bumblefoot and get additional autographs. During this discussion, Vince Votta mentioned that there's still 2 more music videos in the works, and they're working on touring with a second band, and possibly playing Summerfest, but at the moment the future of the band is uncertain. As Vince said, merchandise is the only real money maker with the current state of the industry. I also hit it off with Bumblefoot, who's funny, energetic and has a lot of great stories. I asked him about a few different projects he worked on in the past, as well as his experience/writing material in Guns N' Roses. He also signed my copy of Chinese Democracy. We also really hit it off being that he's also a Godzilla fan like me (as are the Votta brothers). I also got a t shirt there, which I can now say is the most vulgar article of clothing I own, showing a hand giving the finger and saying F*****G ANARCHY.

I really hope these guys succeed, and can finally get off the ground this time, because they've made some great music, and everyone in the band is so fan friendly. Fingers crossed for more shows!