I cannot believe the years steady rollin' to a close and I finally (FINALLY!) got to a metal show. First and foremost living in Fairfax County doesn't get me any closer to good venues but every now and then someone good comes to George Mason University's very own Patriot Center. Last Sunday I got to see Mastodon, Deftones, and the new revamped Alice In Chains. Titled Black Diamond Skye in reference to the three bands latest album titles. Absolutely blown away at the performances. These guys can flat out play, especially when you are in to metal as much as I am. First up was openers Mastodon, who I have been totally in to since I first heard last year's Crack The Skye. Having missed their Halloween Patriot Center performance last year due to work I was not going to miss out. The band played great songs from their last three albums including "Oblivion", "The Crystal Skull", and closed out with "Blood And Thunder". Very metal and it was great to finally see them live. After a short break Deftones took the stage opening with "Rocket Skates" off their new album "Diamond Eyes". I can honestly say that I have never heard a bad Deftones album nor been to a bad show. They have a great stage presence as lead singer Chino Moreno was all over the stage sweating like he just ran a race. They cranked out my favorite songs from every album and right as the flow was continuing I saw a fan hand Chino a piece of paper during a song that he looked over and after the song was over called for lights and did something totally unexpected. The note was from a guy that had a question from his friend that Chino read: "Will you marry me?" At a Deftones show, a marriage proposal. Never seen one. Ever. I live near the Nation's Capital and I have never seen someone get down on one knee at a monument or a sporting event or at a park but at the Deftones show? Whatever man, and I've been told that I'm not romantic! Anyway, they followed that up with "Change" and the crowd was ecstatic again. After their set we hung out some more and Alice In Chains hit the much larger stage layout. They had a hanging curtain that was lowered as they opened with "Them Bones". These guys came back with a new singer/guitarist that sounds somewhat like the late great Layne Staley. My buddy Palmer said he saw them when it was just Jerry Cantrell fronting the band a few years ago and said they were great then so I was excited. They actually sounded good and they played the two new songs I liked and the rest were songs in their catalog that really defined the bands original early '90s grunge sound. Great way to end the weekend and got home early with my ears still ringing! Long live metal!
No comments:
Post a Comment