MUSHROOMHEAD

SHADOWS FALL

HIGH ON FIRE

THE AVENGED SEVENFOLD

THE QUEST in Minneapolis
03.11.2002  

review by Matthew "Newbreed99"  Haumschild

- all pics © by Matthew "Newbreed99"  Haumschild

The public use of these fotos  is strictly prohibited without written permission

I must say to start off my little column that this particular show was a very interesting and one of the most impressive ones I've seen in a while. As a bonus, the ticket price was only $19.55 after tax. I don't know if anyone else has ticketmaster, but everyone and I mean everyone in North America hates them. The original ticket price was $15 and after taxes and shitty ticketmaster fees it comes to $19.55. But, enough griping about ticketmaster prices, and on to the review!

The first band to come on stage to impress the majority of the fans who were under 21, were The Avenged Sevenfold. Don't ask I know it's a weird name for a band. Maybe I'm a bit bias, and maybe I've been bit by a Swedish metal mosquito, so when I saw this band, I just though they were mediocre at best. They weren't bad, but they weren't that great either. I could tell that they were trying their best but all in all they were trying to sound like a nu-metal band. Which isn't bad if you like that kind of music. The crowd seemed to like the band a lot. During their set there were multiple mosh pits, which is usually a very good sign considering it was the first band and usually people just sit back and watch the unknown band. But in my opinion as I stated above, the band was mediocre at best. If the band flies over to Europe, and they come to your town, make sure you don't pay too much to get in, but I would spend most of my time at the bar during their set.

The second band was a bit more interesting. Frankly I was bit off guard with the opening "line" by the singer of High on Fire. "We just want to tell you all, that we don't play nu-metal that we play old metal! We've been yelled at, at other shows and people have thrown shit at us, so this is just for fair warning." Needless to say my eyebrows were raised like, "Wow, I wasn't expecting that". The band sounded like a mixture between Corrosion of Conformity and any other Power metal band. The difference being that this was a three-piece band of which you don't really see anymore. at least for metal. For all you musicians out there, the drummer was playing a 4 piece drum kit or also known as the "John Bonham" style of drumming. The Musicianship of the band was better than average but not "Guitar magazine" worthy of actual technique or skill, but it was better than the average playing. Their sound was more like COC (corrosion of conformity), which is traditionally muddy and dirty, and some sort of North American southern twang to it, while the songs themselves sounded as if Iced Earth or Jag Panzer wrote their lyrics. I personally liked them. If they came through town again, I'd go see them. I would most defiantly recommend seeing this band live, maybe not buy the CD, but to see them live could be very interesting to some.

The whole reason I came to the show was to see this band play, Shadows Fall. The quintet from Massachusetts has finally come back to Minnesota. This will mark the fourth time I've seen this band. Shadows Fall is currently touring to promote their critically acclaimed new CD "The Art of Balance" which has been out for about a month or two. The last time they were in town, they were touring with fellow New Englander's God Forbid, which did draw a very good crowd and before that they were on tour with Kittie. The fans I ran into at the show, I told them that Shadows Fall was playing that night and the people were saying that they saw them with Kittie that many months ago. Shadows Fall hit the stage playing the first track on their new CD "Idle Hands" and surprisingly the crowd reacted very well to it. The majority of songs they played were off their new album. Shadows Fall played a brilliant show. I can't say I am surprised. With duel guitar parts that could send shivers up your spine, it's a wonder why they don't sell more records, but by the way it looks, they are getting more popular by the tour. Also, from what it looks like, their management is doing a marvelous job with them along with their record label promoting them. The last song they played is the fan favorite and from what I could tell, a crowd favorite  "Fleshold". That was probably the largest pit I've seen for Shadows Fall.  I have no idea when they are going off to Europe, but when they do, go out and see them!

The last band was very impressive. On my way into the club that night, there were signs on the way in that read, "High powered strobe lights, CAUTION!!" As I'm reading that I just chuckled asking myself what the difference was between a "regular strobe light" and a "High powered Strobe light." I knew coming into the club that everyone and I mean everyone was in here to see Mushroomhead. About a year ago, this band and Slipknot got into a little tiff (fight) because both bands have at least nine members and they both wear masks. Although two completely different bands from two completely different parts of the country, I just think it's ridiculous. Before the band went on, their roadies put up some tan paper, stretching from one side of the stage to the other. After the intro music hit, the broke down the paper. Don't get me wrong, it isn't as cheesy at is sounds. Behind the paper, those "High powered strobe lights" were going (and they weren't kidding about those lights holy shit!) and it just looked cool as fuck! The band finally broke down the paper, and wow. The band sounded great. A cross between Slipknot's music and Rammstein's live show. Mushroomhead put on one of the best light shows I've seen in a long time. The music wasn't bad either. To be honest, I didn't stay mainly because I got to look out for my ears. The music was great, the show was great, when these guys go to Europe, do yourselves a favor, and go see them, I highly recommend it and e-mail me if you want to.

Matthew Haumschild

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