Blah

It's Friday night, I'm bored as fuck with nothing to do, and it's been a pretty crappy day overall. I want to get out some other things I've been feeling since I have nothing else to do.

Recently, I've been wishing that I were born in a different time, specifically in the 1960s. I could be growing up in the hippie movement, the evolution of classic rock, and witness the birth of heavy metal. That's what I want most out of being my age in the late 1970s through the 1980s, to grow up with old school metalheads, the people that I actually fit in most with.

With people today, it's all about what they want out of you. They have standards, and if you want to be friends with them, you have to meet those standards so they won't be embarrassed to be with you. These kind of people are fucking retarded. I'm very glad my friends aren't like that, because they know that they don't have to meet anyone's standards, and I don't either. Back then, I'm sure it was all about being yourself. Hell, I can say that safely after seeing pictures of the metal scene in the 1980s. These people dressed in leather and jeans because it was what they wanted to wear and what expressed them the most, not because they have to. I wouldn't go that far to wearing leather and jeans because I personally don't like it, but even with the way I dress now, which is usually a band shirt and mostly basketball shorts, but jeans at shows, I'd definitely fit in with them. I want the experience to discover Death or Sepultura for the first time back when they first came out in the 1980s. I want to see broken up bands like Death or Coroner live. All music is now is pop or rap garbage, like Miley Cyrus or Lil Wayne. It's atrocious and I wish I wouldn't be growing up with this garbage.

Another important difference is technology. Of course, I have it made now. I have a laptop and a cell phone. Back then none of those were made a necessity. I want the experience to go out and not have a cell phone with me. I can just imagine this world without social networking sites. People wouldn't be freaking out about the stupidest of things, such as who's dating or who's fucking each other, especially when it's online in the public. People today are too dependent on technology. I'm on my laptop a lot, but I can definitely live without it, especially when I could be spending my time at the local record store or concert.

That brings me to my next point, record stores. All it is now is downloading music. I admit, I do it a lot as well, but I don't have the money for these records because all the money I make is going towards college. If I had a job that I was happy with and made a decent living off of, I wouldn't be going to college right now, but I am to find that kind of job. If not, I'd be spending all my money on housing, concerts, and music. And even then, there are no record stores around here. It's all in big stores such as Best Buy, and even then, there are very few metal records there. Again, it's all pop or rap garbage that plagues the music scene here.

Maybe it's where I live. I'm usually the only person around my town to be playing metal out of my car and not give a fuck about what people think of me. It's definitely obvious that this place is not for me and when I'm finished with school, I'm moving out of here as fast as possible to a place that's just right for me. Of course I'll be judged no matter where I go, but I'd rather find a place where I can actually have something in common with more people than no one at all. Thinking about it, I definitely would've had a much better experience if I were a teenager in the 1980s, and I would do anything to go back in time and experience it with all the benefits.

Now Playing:
Artist: Napalm Death
Song: Puritanical Punishment Beating
Album: Smear Campaign

Concert Review - The Resurrection Macabre Tour 2010

Date: Monday, June 14th, 2010

Venue: Reggie's Rock Club, Chicago, IL. Despite so many shows being here, and them being at the most inconvenient times for me, this was my first time seeing one at this venue, and it's a pretty good venue. It's not too small, but not big, a little bigger than the Bottom Lounge. The sound was decent and it could hold a lot more people than who was there that night.

Possibly one of the most bullshit moments of my life happened when going in, though. I had ordered a ticket online the day they went on sale at enterthevault.com, so it gave me a number to show at the door, so it was basically will call. I showed them the number and they were confused to what it was, and I wasn't even on the will call list. So I had to pay the $20 I was going to use for merch to get into the show. It was fucking stupid. That's the last time I use will call for Reggie's. I may as well buy at the door there from now on, the place is in the ghetto, and no one wants to be there!

Bands (from opener to headliner): Sacrificial Slaughter, Enfold Darkness, Vital Remains, Warbringer, Pestilence

Sacrificial Slaughter: I had never heard of these guys before, but they were pretty good. They had lots of energy on stage and performed well. The one thing that bugged me though was that their drummer was god awful. It was just a slow double bass beat with no special tom or cymbal work, despite him having a decent sized kit. He used his entire arm to blast, so his technique was shit as well. Other than him, the rest of the band played great. They were giving out stickers for free so I took one on the way out. I may put it on my car, I'm not sure though.

Enfold Darkness: This was my second time seeing them, the first being at Chicago Deathfest back in November. Because of so many bands being at Deathfest, and me not even hearing of Enfold Darkness then, I couldn't remember what they sounded like, all I knew was that the singer had an epic mustache. Seeing them now with only 4 other bands, they were really good. They play a blackened death metal type of music, with clean interludes in the songs, which sound amazing. I'm definitely looking up more of their music soon and hoping to see them again sometime soon. And as opposed to Sacrificial Slaughter, their drummer is a fucking beast!

Vital Remains: Like Enfold Darkness, this was my second time seeing them, the first being at Deathfest, except this time, I knew of them back then. Like last time, they were amazing! Incredible stage presence, brutal sound, and the singer knew how to get the people moving. There were a ton of stage divers and crowd surfers halfway into their set, and security was getting pissed. Like last time, they played about 4 to 5 songs, but each one was five to seven minutes long. I'm looking forward to seeing these guys at Summer Slaughter in August, despite that they're only gonna be playing a 25 minute set because they're opening, and I still don't know how that happened, considering they're the oldest band on the lineup.

Warbringer: They weren't even headlining and everyone was there to see them, some not even for Pestilence! This was my third time seeing them, and like the past two times, they prove more why they are the best band I've seen live. Incredible energy and stage presence is an understatement, and getting the crowd moving is an easy task for them. They opened up with Jackal, Living in a Whirlwind, Severed Reality, and Total War, like the other two times I saw them, and played some different ones after. I can't remember the order for sure, but they played Prey for Death, Systematic Genocide, At the Crack of Doom, Beneath the Waves, and closed with Combat Shock. Before they played At the Crack of Doom, they decided to get a wall of death going! There had to be at least 50 people in that, because it was crazy! At the Crack of Doom was a very good song to have a wall of death going on. For 45 minutes straight, I was moshing, headbanging like crazy, or catching a breath from the stomach cramp I got by the time Severed Reality came on. It was basically my second workout of the day. After they finished, a significant amount of people left. Warbringer really needs to do a headlining tour, possibly with Gama Bomb or Evile. I really want to see these guys again when they come back with Nevermore, not just because they are incredible live, but because after this tour, they're going to be working on their third album, and are gonna play some new songs in the fall. Unfortunately, they are coming to Chicago on October 29th, my dad's 50th birthday, so there's a very good chance I'm not going to be able to go. Oh well, there's always the next tour, hopefully a headlining show.

Pestilence: I had heard that they were awful at Maryland Deathfest, but when they played here, they weren't bad at all. I was up front for the first half of their set list, before getting shoved against the front railing and nearly getting my rib cage crushed. Their sound was good, and their stage presence wasn't bad at all. One thing I really liked was that the bass guitar was turned up very high, because Jeroen Paul Thesseling is a monster on that 6-string fretless. Mother of God, that amazed me. There's not much more to say about them, other than they were better than I thought they would be. It was good to see them back in the states after nearly 20 years, and it'd be cool if they came back again.

Overall, it was a great show. I hung out with cool people the whole night, got a Warbringer sticker to put on my car, and had a very fun time. Too bad that this is the only show in June that I'm going to.

Next show: Municipal Waste on July 10th? It's a huge maybe. If not, then Iron Maiden on July 18th for sure!