Date: Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
Venue: Canopy Club, Urbana, IL. I had never been here before, and it was 2 1/2 hours away, but it was a pretty decent venue. The sound wasn't top notch, but decent enough to enjoy the bands. All shows here are 18 years of age and over, so that's a plus on my part. There was a big screen in the background where bands would have album artwork, band logos, or a movie playing.
Bands (from opener to headliner): Valient Thorr, Baroness, Between the Buried and Me, Mastodon
Valient Thorr - They came on at 6:30, the time it was supposed to start (A metal show starting on time, no fucking way!) They're not a metal band, more hard rock, but still very good! I had started listening to them only a couple of months before this show. Their stage presence was amazing and their execution of the songs was nearly flawless. The frontman of VT was really into the show and pulled a Trevor Strnad by taking off his shirt 2 songs into the set. I met the singer at the merch booth after the show and he was a very nice guy. Unfortunately they didn't have any small patches, just back patches. I definitely would've used them as the back patch for my jacket if I didn't have my Atheist one already. I'm hoping VT comes back on their next tour, I'd love to see them again!
Baroness - I had never listened to these guys before the show, but they put on a nice set. They're more of Mastodon's style, which is sludge/progressive metal. Like Mastodon, they didn't interact with the crowd at all and made their songs lead into one another until the end when they thanked everyone. I started listening to them just yesterday and I'm impressed by their studio efforts as well. Maybe they'll come back as another supporting act or even headlining. Either way, I'd like to see these guys again.
Between the Buried and Me - This was my second time seeing BTBAM, and once again, they put on one hell of a show! Compared to their headlining show, the sound wasn't as good this time, but it's hard to top the House of Blues' sound system, but the sound wasn't bad this time. The one thing I was very happy about was that because the show was 18+, there would more than likely not be any hardcore dancers, unlike last time. And what do you know? I was right! People started mosh pits when they came on, and people were getting pushed to the front, which is a big no no at shows. Mosh pits should be kept in just one area, and it is usually like that for most shows. But here, there were morons pushing people up front, getting people pissed off. Aside from the crowd, BTBAM overall was amazing! Their set list was pretty strange in my opinion, consisting of Fossil Genera - A Feed from Cloud Mountain, Prequel to the Sequel, Backwards Marathon, Disease, Injury, Madness, and Mordecai. It was great to see them playing something from The Silent Circus, so I was very happy with them. Unfortunately the next tour they have is The Cool Tour, which isn't very cool because 80% of the lineup are screamo garbage bands. Hopefully they'll be back on another good tour, headlining or supporting.
Mastodon - The moment everyone was waiting for! This was my third time seeing Mastodon, the first time being at Mayhem Festival 2008, where their sound was awful. I couldn't comprehend anything that was going on. The second time was with Dethklok back in October of 2009, and they were much better there. The Aragon Ballroom's sound isn't very good, but they managed to sound decent. This time, the sound was more clear than the second time, and with a much longer set because they were headlining. Like the last time, they had a trippy movie going on in the screen behind them to go with Crack the Skye, which they played in it's entirety (again). I love that album, and in my opinion, it's one of the best albums, if not the best album of 2009. To see it played live is one hell of an experience. After they finished that, they took a small break and came back with a second set consisting of their older works. In order, they played Crusher Destroyer, Crystal Skull, I Am Ahab, Circle of Cysquatch, Aqua Dementia, Capillarian Crest, Iron Tusk, March of the Fire Ants, and closed with Blood and Thunder. This is one hell of a set list if you ask me.
Overall, the show was worth the longer drive and I had an amazing time! I only picked up a small Mastodon patch since I already have a Mastodon shirt and Between the Buried and Me shirt and they didn't have any other patches for me to get. This is one of those shows where all the bands performed great, and I hope all of them come back sometime in the near future!
I did see Gorod at a small club the next day, but it was such a small show that I'm not going to bother writing about it.
Next show: Dying Fetus on May 26th!
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