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Queensryche; 05/14/14, Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH

5/15/2014

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"I remember now..."

I remember now why Queensryche is one of my favorite bands and why I consider Operation: Mindcrime to be one of the best metal albums of all time. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Mindcrime, Geoff Tate's version of Queensryche treated a near capacity crowd at Bogart's to a front-to-back live rendition of the now-classic progressive metal masterpiece last night.

Regardless of where you stand on Tate and his role in the breakup of the classic Queensryche lineup, you have to admit that he's a hall of fame frontman. He doesn't have the range that he once possessed, but he's still able to deliver the goods and it was awesome watching him ham it up on stage and interact with the crowd throughout the set. His voice has shifted down a pitch or two, but it still fits seamlessly with the music. Speaking of which, the backing band that Tate is touring with handled the Mindcrime tunes admirably. Unless you're a DeGarmo fanatic or a guitar aficionado, you probably wouldn't have been able to tell that these were a bunch of fill-ins. Also, it was fun watching Rudy Sarzo do Rudy Sarzo things. I felt that the classic Queensryche tone was missing just a bit, but let's face it, we're there to see Tate.

After a miserable set from openers Hurricane, who couldn't have shown less enthusiasm to be there, the curtain was drawn as the anticipation built. I didn't do any research prior to the show so I had no idea that the 'Ryche would be playing Mindcrime in its entirety until the piped-in intercom paged Dr. Blair and Dr. J. Hamilton. What followed was a glorious hour of classic metal with very little interruption, save for a boner drum solo and a misguided rant from Tate on terrorism or some such nonsense. As I mentioned, Tate sounded fantastic and the band was on point. They even had a female backup singer who stepped forward to play the role of Sister Mary when necessary. All of the quirky interludes were included and the crowd didn't stop singing along and pumping fists until the last strains of "Eyes of a Stranger" were drowned out by the sinister, robotic "Mindcrime" voice that closes out the album. Well worth the price of admission.

The 'Ryche came back out and played five more songs, all of the subsequent album Empire. "Silent Lucidity" is probably a requirement at this point, and it went over well enough. "Best I Can" could've been skipped, but the trio of "Another Rainy Night", "Jet City Woman" and "Empire" was a pretty damn strong closer. I guess I'll have to check out the other version of Queensryche to hear some of the older tunes, but I was glad Tate's band stuck to those two albums and didn't try to force any new material on the audience. I definitely recommend that you check out what's left of this tour if you get a chance. Tate will no longer be allowed to use the Queensryche moniker after August, so this is kind of the end of an era. If you're an old 'Ryche fan like me, you won't be disappointed.



Editor's Note: Thanks for indulging my two day Queensryche bender. Back to the heavy stuff later today. -JO
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Paganfest America, Columbus, OH 05/02/14

5/4/2014

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The mead was flowing and the violins were humming Friday night at the famous Alrosa Villa in Columbus, OH as Paganfest America rolled into town, presumably on a well-oared Viking ship. I made the quick trip up I-71 from Blog of Doom headquarters to take in what turned out to be my favorite concert in a long time. Pagan metal, folk metal, Viking metal...call it whatever you like. There's nothing quite like it and it's pretty fucking fun.

A local band called
Kingsblood got the festivities started at 6:00. They didn't have any folk instruments, so they didn't fit in perfectly, but they had Viking imagery, so we'll give them a pass. Kingsblood played a half hour of melodic death metal and it all sounded pretty good. Their stage presence was a little lacking, though. They didn't really know what to do between songs and it was a little awkward. They had a handful of killer riffs, though, and the Phil Anselmo lookalike singer had a pretty decent voice, as far as screamers go. They're worth keeping an eye on.

Winterhymn was up next. Despite being from the same city, I've never actually had the opportunity to catch a Winterhymn show, so I was pretty excited to finally see them on stage. Talk about stage presence; these kids have it in spades, especially the frontman/guitarist. The songs stood on their own, but the band's performance took the show to another level. Winterhymn slayed the crowd for 30 minutes with heavy, thrashy folk metal, complete with electric violin and some other keyboard-coaxed folk instruments. The crowd was singing along with their arms in the air for the majority of the set, which is pretty rare for early set bands. The between song banter was excellent and entertaining, which is also rare. I was really impressed with these kids and I think they're on their way to international acclaim. The lone complaint was the volume level of the violin really drowned out the guitars. Small complaint, but worth noting.

Next up was
Varg, a blackened melodeath band out of Germany. Their performance was absolutely ferocious. The guitar parts were incredibly melodic while still staying heavy. This singer was an imposing force and he commanded attention throughout the set. There was no bass player on stage, but there were a few moments when the guitars dropped out and the bass was audible. I'm not really down with those kind of shenanigans, so I'm deducting a few points there. Also, I kind of wonder about the nearsighted decision to name your band Varg when one of the biggest dickheads in metal history goes by the same name. I imagine that's costing the band a few potential listeners here and there, but I'm glad they were on this bill so I had a chance to check them out. I'm a fan and I'll be checking out some albums when I get a chance. Very solid live show.

Heading into the show, I knew pretty much nothing about the next band,
Chthonic. They're a black/melodeath band from Taiwan and they were pretty interesting, if not memorable. The singer plays some wild Taiwanese stringed instrument that looks like a ball with a stick and sounds like a violin. The bass player is quite attractive, but she's also a killer bassist. Their set was really powerful sounding, but the only moment that sticks out is when the singer said something along the lines of, "We're all from different countries, but tonight we all belong to the Republic of Metal". Cheesy stuff, but cool as shit. The crowd, including myself, ate that up.

Finland's
Turisas took the stage next, and from the number of folks in the crowd with red/black face paint, I'd say they were the top attraction for a good chunk of the crowd. (Varg also does the red/black scheme, but it's a little different.) I was super impressed with these dudes. They're like a better version of Manowar, singing tales of battle and glory. The violin was a major part of their sound, but it worked perfectly. I was mesmerized for their whole set and I was completely sober. They don't take themselves too seriously, which is a breath of fresh air in the metal community, where everyone usually tries to act tough for some reason. Turisas just kicked ass, no scowls necessary. They were the first band of the night to feature exclusive clean singing and the whole set was catchy as hell. Add another band to the download list.

After the longest break of the night, the evening's headliners,
Korpiklaani, finally took the stage. This is the band I was most familiar with heading into the evening and I'm happy to report that the live show just blows the albums out of the water. They look like a band of roving gypsies or something, not like a metal band at all. In addition to the required violin, Korpiklaani also features an accordion, which proves the age old adage that accordions are, indeed, metal as fuck. The songs were all extremely catchy and the folk elements were amazing. There were actually people doing jigs in the crowd outside of the mosh pit. I've never experienced anything like it. Korpiklaani played for well over an hour and the crowd was digging it the whole time. Highly recommended.

I never knew that folk metal was big enough in this country to support an event like Paganfest, so the whole evening was a huge success for metal. Every band on the tour is amazing in their own way and the camaraderie between bands and fans was palpable. Usually after 6+ hours at a show, I'm ready to roll, but I could've handled another 6 hours of killer folk metal on Friday night. Incredible show all around; insanely fun. I'll absolutely check out future editions of this tour and I implore all of you to check out the 2014 version when it hits your closest city. Bring a drinking horn for the mead.


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