Who doesn’t love going to a metal show? The sweat, the hair, the ringing ears. Every time I get to go and see great artists ply their craft on the stage, I always consider myself to be extremely fortunate to be a part of such an experience. It’s an even bigger thrill when the artists that I get to scream my lungs out for are from my home state of Kentucky. Continue reading
“What happened to the Metal scene here?” “Man, this sucks! I gotta drive to <pick a town> to see any good shows anymore.” “Nobody is playing around here this weekend.” “There are only a couple of good bands here and I have seen them a million times. Uhhhghh!” “We never get any good shows here anymore.” These are all statements that I constantly see, hear and read just about every day, from folks all over the world. Thankfully, these sentiments do not apply to my home state of Florida. No matter where you live here, there are almost too many shows to choose from on any given evening, especially on the weekends. The more difficult decision usually becomes “Do I go to see ‘X’ or do I see ‘Y’ or drive a little further to see ‘Z’?” We have also seen the rise of legendary bands like Death, Deicide, Obituary, Nonpoint, Trivium, Shinedown, Savatage, Cynic, Iced Earth, Kamelot, Six Feet Under, Molly Hatchet, Alter Bridge, Limp Bizkit, A Day to Remember, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Tide, Creed and many, many others over the years. The pool of talent seems to be bottomless here. All of these bands had to start somewhere and the next generation of bands continue to emerge in Florida at an exponential rate. Such was the case with the Halloween show at The Haven in Winter Park, FL, Saturday, October 29th, 2016 which highlighted some of the premiere Metal acts available from Central and South Florida. Although it is exhilarating to see national and international acts in a large venue, local bands have the fire and talent at a comparable or higher levels in our own back yards.
As a special treat, all pictures are credited to my guest photographer Matthew Degele!
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Louder Than Life came back this year with such an amazing lineup. Last year had more of a southern rock feel and this year was so much heavier. Ranging from some older classic bands to some of music’s fastest up and comers the lineup was filled full talented bands of varying genres. Unfortunately, we can’t see every band, so if we didn’t mention someone here it’s simply that we had a conflicting schedule with their set. If only we could see every band it would be a perfect day. Continue reading
State Theater in St. Petersburg, FL; Saturday, October 1st, 2016. This was the place to be for what is sure to become one of the biggest and memorable historic events for all the Metal fans fortunate to be present. Max and Iggor Cavalera Return to Roots Tour stormed this gulf city with more force than any damned hurricane and left more crushed skulls in its wake than the largest of epic World War II tank battles. Heavy, harsh and rowdy were the rules of the night as these two Metal Masters welcomed three local acts and four national touring acts to grease the skids for their dominant return to what now is considered a classic: “Roots”. Another long show that was well worth my four plus hour drive and eight hour Metal ride of shows. Wouldn’t have missed this event for all the tea in China!
Man, this was a big show! Put on by GoBig Entertainment at the 1904 Music Hall in Jacksonville, FL, eight bands covering about seven hours, making for a great afternoon and night of music! A huge helping of local talent before Michale Graves and freaking Death Angel for those fortunate to get there early and stay late. Walk around and you can have endless conversations with all of the bands as they stand in support of one another. After their sets, this included Michale Graves and Death Angel who both were gracious enough to talk to fans, take pictures and sign whatever audience members brought along. A memorable night with old friends and new!
Ted Nugent
Rock N Roll was alive and well Friday night in Pikeville, Kentucky. The coal mining town doesn’t often see kick ass rock bands like Ted Nugent and Grimsley Rose. The town usually sways more toward country and bluegrass when it comes to music. But not on this faithful night. The crowd was pumped before the first note was struck at the East Kentucky Exposition Center. Ted of course is touring in support of his 2014 release ‘Shut Up And Jam’ which features one of the best rock songs released in quite a while. “She’s Gone” featuring the Red Rocker himself Sammy Hagar. The honor of opening the show went to a rock band that consisted of Kentucky born musicians. The members hailing from various towns around the Bluegrass State like London, Paintsville and Salyersville they pretty much felt at home in Pikeville.
Grimsley Rose
Butcher Babies!
Chicago Open Air was by far the most exciting lineup of bands I had seen in a long time. Danny Wimmer Presents always has a great list of bands at all their festivals like Rock On The Range, Carolina Rebellion, Rocklahoma, Louder Than Life and more. However, this lineup put all the others to shame. All it really took to get me excited was Rammstein. At first that was the only band announced, and it would be their only U.S. date in 2016. They had long been at the top of my must see bucket list. Once the remainder of bands was added I was more than excited. Continue reading
Pop culture. Clean vocals. Movies. Heavy Metal. Television programming. Reggae. Humor. Screaming. Honesty. Weed. Hard Rock. Integrity. A list of seemingly unrelated subjects, right? Nah. With a name based on a Beetlejuice character, one can only expect that Lydia Can’t Breathe embodies everything in the list and so much more.
Scent Of Remains
2016’s Summer Slam in Johnson City, Tennessee got started off with a bang. Promoter Sean Carden and sponsor Roberson’s Tennessee Mellomoon Moonshine put together an amazing line-up of bands from start to finish. If you wasn’t there to witness the onslaught of metal you should be ashamed of yourself.It was a perfect Friday night to throw some horns in the air. The night didn’t get off to a slow start by any means. Scent of Remains took the stage and began their set with speed and authority. The band had recently obtained a new singer, but after practicing with the band for a period of time he left the band leaving them without a singer for this show. However, original singer Michael Yates comes to the rescue and steps up and takes the mic . It shows how much chemistry and brotherhood the band has that he was able to come back play the show with them so they wouldn’t have to cancel. That is something that fans appreciate. The only reason he exited the band is because he relocated a couple hours away. Every note they struck was with complete perfection. The guitarist Jeremy Powers has an amazing playing style. He doesn’t play guitar he caresses it. His hands move in a way that just glues your eyes to him. Their aggressive in your face music style makes them one of Knoxville’s premier metal bands. If you haven’t heard the music look them up and get yourself a big whiff of Scent of Remains. Continue reading
Unlocking the Truth Malcolm Brickhouse
Sunday was the last and final day of Carolina Rebellion. I was able to get a full dose of Unlocking the Truth for breakfast. The band is comprised of 3 teenagers from Brooklyn, New York that was one of the youngest groups to ever play both Coachella and Van’s Warped Tour in 2014. They have been on most tv talk shows like The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon, The View, The Colbert Report and more. The band has been talked about and talked about. Let me go ahead though and tell you now that the hype is real. The band is everything you’ve heard and probably more. Guitarist/Singer Malcolm Brickhouse can shred on his axe like nobody’s business. He requested that the crowd start a mosh pit, and moments later there dust kicking up everywhere from a vicious pit. Unlocking the Truth shared with us their hit song “Monster”, by the time the song ended we were all singing along. The guys in this band are some great musicians, not just for their age but they are better than most musicians twice their age. Continue reading
