Live Review: As I Lay Dying / Demon Hunter
Posted 05/20/2010 08:32AM by Rick Gebhardt as Show Review
It’s always odd going to a show at the local dingy biker bar, The Cabooze. It is an interesting venue in that there is very little space in front of the stage for people to stand, but a ton of space to the left and right of it, which leads to an interesting viewing experience, especially when the place is crammed full of kids.
War of Ages started the show off only a couple of minutes after Jared and I arrived. The show’s doors were at 5:00 pm and music started at 5:30 pm, which meant that since we both have real world jobs, we had to book it over to the venue to catch War of Ages. There’s nothing more frustrating than all ages shows in Minneapolis because they start so early in the evening. Anyhow, War of Ages kicked off the night playing a strong 5 song set. As with all opening bands, you could tell the sound crew was still adjusting levels throughout their set, but it didn’t stop the band from putting on a great show. I really wished the band were given a longer slot to play because they were really hitting a groove towards the end of their set as kids kept piling into the venue. They played a couple of songs from Eternal and then dug into their catalog as well so that even in the limited time they were on stage, new and longtime fans could feel like they got to hear something they wanted to.
After a longer than expected set change, Blessthefall took the stage, and as they did you could hear the blood-curdling screeches coming from every 13 year old girl in the place. I try to give bands a fair chance to impress me, but Blessthefall’s entire performance was nothing more than a 30 minute Hot Topic advertisement. The band’s music is mostly open chord breakdowns with some simple guitar wankery in between all used as an excuse for the lead guitarist and vocalist to step up on the stands they had put on the front of the stage and look pretty. They had their hair done so meticulously, their outfits perfectly picked out, and were in a constant state of flexing while playing or singing. For nearly the entire set the lead guitarist smirked at the audience, bobbed his head, and held his guitar in such a way that he just had to flex his biceps and shoulders. It was laughable and sad all at the same time. This is a band that succeeds solely on their image. Their playing was passable, but far from interesting. It was a gift to my eyes and ears when they finally got off the stage.
I was a little leery waiting for Demon Hunter to start. Having always been a big fan, even after releasing the cringe-worthy Storm the Gates of Hell, I was looking forward to hearing some older tracks, but realized it would probably be mostly newer stuff. As they took the stage, they dove right into a one-two punch of “The World Is a Thorn” and “Lifewar”, which is an interesting way to start their set. Easily two of the worst tracks from their latest album crammed together didn’t get me going. They sounded good performed live, but it doesn’t change the fact that those two songs suck. Thankfully they went to a staple favorite, “Undying,” to get things back on track. After the first two songs and their closer (the horrible “Storm the Gates of Hell”), they stuck mostly to songs that had catchy, sing-a-long choruses and heavy, mosh-a-long verses or breakdowns. This was a good way to keep the crowd happy and everyone got into favorites “Not I” and “Fading Away”. Overall Demon Hunter’s performance was very good, but the song selection left a little bit to be desired.
Capping off the night was As I Lay Dying, who everyone (other than the few tweens who were there only for Blessthefall) was there to check out. Before even diving into the specifics of their performance, I’ll just say that, as usual, they killed it. These guys know how to put on a live performance. There are some weaknesses to their live show, but they’re overshadowed very easily by their strengths. Starting off with an old classic, “94 Hours,” they got the crowd riled up, crowd-surfing, pit-slamming, and screaming along with them. With the band being as tight as they are, the breakdowns are played with precision and give the crowd ample opportunities to go nuts. They played a number of classic heavy tracks such as “Through Struggle,” “Within Destruction,” and “Confined.” They also had their cadre of songs with booming sing-a-long choruses, such as “Nothing Left,” “I Never Wanted,” and “The Sound of Truth.” Hell, they even toss in a bad-ass drum solo in the middle of the set. The crowd was nuts the entire time and for good reason—As I Lay Dying give you a show. The only drawback to their set is that they seem to purposely have Tim Lambesis’ vocals relatively low in the mix. You can hear him when he’s really screaming his lungs out or else he simply fades into the background. Thankfully they had Josh Gilbert’s vocals pretty high in the mix for the melodic portions of the songs. There were really no lulls in the band’s performance; even during the slower “I Never Wanted” the crowd was completely engaged. These guys know how to please an audience, so if you get a chance to see them, definitely do.
All in all this was a pretty solid tour. It’s too bad that Blessthefall had to mire the overall experience, but you can always take their set time to go grab some merch or another beer. Demon Hunter’s song choices were also a little suspect, but for the most part they are very much worth seeing. War of Ages, with their limited stage time, was quite impressive and I’m sure would rock a longer set time. Then there’s As I Lay Dying… they’re just a great live band all around. So if you get a chance to see this tour, definitely do it. And if you can't make it or missed this tour, check out Jared's photos from the tour here.
Demon Hunter set list:
1. The World Is a Thorn
2. Lifewar
3. Undying
4. Fading Away
5. Tie this Around Your Neck
6. Not I
7. Not Ready to Die
8. Collapsing
9. Storm the Gates of Hell
As I Lay Dying set list:
1. 94 Hours
2. An Ocean Between Us
3. Through Struggle
4. Beyond Our Suffering
5. The Sound of Truth
6. Within Destruction
7. Forsaken
8. Drum Solo
9. Vacancy
10. Meaning in Tragedy
11. I Never Wanted
12. Confined
13. Nothing Left
14. Forever
Comments
Minneapolis, MN
I would encourage you to check out War of Ages on a different tour as they're just not getting the opportunity to show what they can do on this tour. I've seen them before at a smaller venue where they were headlining and it was a totally different experience.
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Infinitely Inwards
Saw AILD about 5 years ago right after SAS came out...they were touring with soilwork....it was awesome. Always love me some awesome stage presence.
Ever Forthright - Ever Forthright
Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs
The New Law - The Fifty Year Storm
ERRA - Impulse
Aborted - Global Flatline
Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind)The Crafty Ape
Baton Rouge
Man, I would have loved to have seen Demon Hunter on the Summer of Darkness tour, but they avoided the South like a plague. Good to hear they are still playing well, though, despite the weaker material coming up a bit too often.
Boobs
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