MARTY FRIEDMAN, THE FINE CONSTANT, SCALE THE SUMMIT In Baltimore! [Photo Galley]

Marty Friedman

 

Here is a short story. A long time back a young kid growing up in a small hamlet by the Himalayas had chanced upon some guitar/music magazine with Marty Friedman on the cover, on the very same day he had first listened to the opening solo of “Hangar 18”. An article in the magazine had mentioned that Marty Friedman had grown up in a city called Laurel in a certain state called Maryland in the US. The name of this nondescript city of Laurel in a state called Maryland stuck in his head, maybe it was due to the magical solos in “Rust in Piece”. The kid developed into a fan of Megadeth eventually. He had also heard of a city called Baltimore that was in a book of the Tarzan series. When he moved to Maryland from a remote corner in Asia to pursue his studies he had no real clue of how close Maryland was to Washington DC or Baltimore for that matter. And little did he know that one day he was going to cover a show by the man himself Marty Friedman in a venue located in the heart of Baltimore. The boy of course is none other than me.

Megadeth has been my favorite thrash metal band, since I discovered them at the age of 20! At the cost of sounding like a very old guy I must mention in my defense that back in the days before the internet, western music reached the developing world quite late. As an example, disco was huge in the late eighties and early nineties in the Asian subcontinent! Can you imagine that? I regretted not being able to attend the Baltimore show of the Inferno tour, and out of nowhere appeared this Wall of Sound tour. I was not sure if I would be able to attend this show until the very last moment. Thank you very much painkillers! Believe me, they do a phenomenal job of subsiding the pain associated with wisdom teeth extractions. Attending this show came with a lot of emotions and is a very personal story to me. Hence, contrary to my usual style of dedicating individual section of a review for each band, I will let this be a potpourri of personal emotions that I felt at the show. Continue reading

After The Burial, Emmure, Fit For An Autopsy, Artifacts, Fit For A King, Invent Animate In Baltimore!

After The Burial

Monday nights can be a dreadful affair, I despise them. Last Monday night was not just another Monday night, for heavy metal reigned supreme at Baltimore Soundstage. This was my umpteenth concert at the Baltimore Soundstage, and I must admit that I have never seen this venue more crowded on a Monday night. When I reached the venue, over two hundred people (yes, I counted!) were lining up at the door to get in. This is not what I was expecting as only thirty odd people has confirmed “going” to the event page on Facebook, which was surprising to me since this was a night with six strong bands on the bill. I have a love hate relationship with concerts with a long lineup, the plus point being the experience of seeing multiple powerhouse bands on one night, and the major negative being shorter setlists for the bands. On this night, After The Burial was headlining at Baltimore on their Carry The Flame tour, with support from four other excellent touring bands. Continue reading

Deafheaven, Emma Ruth Rundle and This Will Destroy You In Baltimore, Maryland!

Deafheaven

Last Sunday night, the genre defying maestros of Deafheaven enchanted the crowd at Baltimore Soundstage. On this current tour, in support of their excellent last album ‘New Bermuda’, they are joined by Emma Ruth Rundle and This Will Destroy You. This was a night to behold, so let me dive straight in to the review without further ado. Continue reading