Trust me... I don't remember it (I have a knack of erasing my memory), and I was forced to go.  I THINK I was... shit... 15?  16?  The group home I was at made me go, or be disciplined.  *queue, memory erase*

I also have a few shows coming up. Slayer tomorrow. AC/DC in late August (flying all the way to Winnipeg for this one...of course, I'm not much of a fan so this is really an excuse to see family). And we also got tickets for Obituary, The Berkerzer, Goatwhore, amongst others coming up sometime in September.

So about the Slayer show...

Suicide Silence opened up the 4 act show. Never heard of em' before but they were a half-decent grindcore band:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/_Yr5rn3Sv_4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/_Yr5rn3Sv_4&rel=1</a>

Amazingly, of all the 4 bands that played, they sounded the best. Very crisp vocals (for lack of a better term), great crunching guitars, and the double-bass on the drums really reverberated throughout. A short set as expected, and they already started when we arrived at 6:30 (doors opened at 6:00).

Machine Head came on shortly thereafter, and I was kind of ho-hum about their set. Never really was into their style of metal and it didn't help that the singer either referenced Calgary, or marijuana every few seconds. Of course, from my perspective, they were the ones that got the crowd going the most. A pretty big circle pit opened up at the direction of the singer and was consistent throughout their set. Needless to say I didn't get much headbanging on during their stay.

And the most disappointing aspect of the evening was that Slayer didn't close. Nope. They came on before fucking Megadeth. Oh, and another thorn was that I was outside sipping on my beer and smoking a cig when they came on so I missed their 2 opening songs as I swam through thousands of sweaty, drunk metalheads attempting to reach my seat which seemed like it was halfway across the Saddledome...in reality a 2 minute walk, which took me a good 10-15 minutes due to the cluster of people panicked because Slayer came on shortly after MH much to everyone's surprise.
So, they played all the classic tunes we all know and love (except Adam of course), only one song made after Seasons in the Abyss was played which was off their new album...wasn't bad. Slayer sounded a bit muddy sadly, overmodulated bass and the guitars were not as crisp as I was hoping. Arya was pretty coarse but he's been losing his voice for awhile now. In no time they'll be a death metal band. They were only on for 45 minutes or so and there was very little banter in between songs. Regardless, a good show and they can still rock the shit out of the dome.

And the longest wait was for Megadeth. I'm sure Mustaine was in the dressing room bitching about something or other...or letting us wait for dramatic effect. A fair amount of people left right after Slayer and never returned, which is why Slayer should have closed...but I'm sure for Megadeth and Slayer to be reunited Mustaine insisted they close. Whatever. They sounded a bit muddy too. Nancy and myself left about 40 minutes into their set as neither of us are fans and stayed out of courtesy if anything. At one point Mustaine attempted to speak about the concentration camps that are currently being erected in the States and was pretty much shut down immediately by the crowd. I guess no one felt like being lectured at a metal concert...go figure.

 

That's... sad.

Say 'hi' to the rat tit on Lemmy's face. 

mmmmm... virgins....

I know The Melvins are touring with Down this summer, and Down is coming to Calgary on August 8th, but I'm having a hell of a time finding tour information for The Melvins to confirm whether or not they'll be here. I'll have to wait it out and see because I'm not buying tickets just to see Down.

Most of the above except of course the Ramones which still makes me oh so very sad.  I will have to try and remember more I've been to as most also included way too much booze.