Tag: sebastian bach

Heavy Montréal Stands Strong With 30,000+ Metalheads

Once again, Montréal brought in thousands upon thousands of the world’s biggest heavy metal fans last weekend. The event known now as Heavy Montréal, was held on August 6 and 7 at the Plaine des Jeux at Parc Jean-Drapeau. The weekend was host to more than 37 bands that played across 3 different stages. Out of the 30,000+ fans that attended, approximately 23 countries were represented. Those countries include fans from, the United States, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Switzerland, France, Great Britain and more.

For those who attended the festival last year, there were two main differences. Those differences were the festival was dropped down to only Saturday and Sunday instead of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The other difference being in the actual festival grounds. This year, the festival moved to the smaller side of the island known as the Plaine des Jeux. Over the same weekend, metal fans may have run across many hipsters wearing their colorful tank tops and board shorts while taking the metro to Heavy Montréal. The reason for the mix of music scenes was because right next door at the old Heavy Montréal festival grounds was the ÎLESONIQ festival which was headlined by artists such as Zedd and Skrillex.

Anyways, back to the metal. Saturday was a busy day for everyone it seemed. Only the most loyal fans to the headlining bands camped along the rail all day to catch that one band they came for. Pop Evil was one of the bands who started off the weekend and they seemed to love Montréal and the crowd loved them. The band opened up with the crunching riff of “Deal With The Devil”. Festival sets are never long, so everyone has to bring their ‘A’ game. The crowd support and reaction at just 1:30 in the afternoon was incredible.

In the middle of the afternoon on Saturday, it seemed to go back and forth from one great artist to the next. Bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Skeletonwitch, Fear Factory and Kataklysm were only some of the options early in the day. Each of those bands all seemed to draw respective crowds which was surprising when some of the sets overlapped. Somehow it seemed like no matter who was playing next, each stage was packed.

Saturdays biggest surprise was Escape The Fate. Playing on the Blabbermouth.net stage, these guys absolutely stole the show. Skeptical on how the crowd would react at a festival dominated by “heavier” bands, Escape The Fate provided that breath of fresh air in the afternoon. The band’s setlist consisted of mainly songs off of their last 2 studio albums, which were both solid from start to finish.

Other bands that played Saturday that put on unforgettable performances were Sabaton, Sebastian Bach and Black Label Society. Sabaton had the best stage set of the entire weekend hands down. The Swedish power metal guys in Sabaton brought both pyro to their stage set and a tank. Yes, you read that correctly, a tank. To go along with the awesome stage show, Sabaton ripped through a 10 song set list that consisted of songs like “Ghost Division,” “To Hell and Back” and “Night Witches.”

Sebastian Bach, who everyone knows as the voice of Skid Row, seemed to surprise the audience with a high energy impressive set. Sebastian came on stage to “Slave to the Grind” and was headbanging while swinging his microphone around him. Sebastian connected with the Montréal crowd by speaking lots of French to them, which brought roars from the packed audience. Fans of the TV show “Trailer Park Boys” were present in the crowd, which is a show Sebastian is commonly featured on. Fans brought in a sign for Sebastian, which he took, not to rip up and throw away like Axl Rose would have done, but instead Sebastian held it up high with laughs and propped it up on stage. It could easily be seen that Sebastian was in high spirits and truly loved performing at Heavy Montréal.

Black Label Society was one band that not a single person in Montréal should have missed. Friday night the band played a headline show in the city and on Saturday once again at Heavy Montréal. Watching Zakk Wylde shred on the guitar is mind-blowing. The man can virtually play anything with his eyes closed. The band was tight and ripped through a quick 8 song setlist, highlighted by “Funeral Bell,” “Bleed for Me,” “Godspeed Hell Bound” and “Stillborn.” The end of the set wasn’t the end of Zakk for the weekend. Everyone knew that Zakk and his band would be back on Sunday for more, but not to perform as Black Label Society, but under Zakk’s name instead for a softer set.

The end of the day 1 for Heavy Montréal was capped off by Mastodon, Nightwish, and last but not least Five Finger Death Punch. Mastodon, who was scheduled to play last year’s Heavy Montréal but was forced to cancel, came back this year and gave fans what they’ve been waiting for. The group from Atlanta, Georgia mixed with tremendous talent all around has been on the round behind their 2014 release of Once More ‘Round the Sun. As many fans hoped, Mastodon focused on that album playing track from it such as “The Motherload” and personal favorite “High Road.” Other fan favorites from the set included “Oblivion”, “Divinations” and “Blood and Thunder.”

Nightwish made its only stop in North America of 2016 at Heavy Montréal. For being a symphonic metal band from Finland, the crowd support for Nightwish was unbelievable. The band opened with “Shudder Before the Beautiful” which was off their 2015 release Endless Forms Most Beautiful. Their latest album seemed to be the focus of the night with 5 songs played off it in total. The band brought in an impressive pyro display wish some fans certainly didn’t expect. Between the frequent pyro blasts right in front of singer Floor Jansen and guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, the C02 cannons going off gave Nightwish the complete production package.

Night 1 of Heavy Montréal was closed out by one of the most bad-ass bands of today, Five Finger Death Punch. These guys have been non-stop with a vicious cycle of releasing albums and touring without taking a break. Work has already begun for their next album after just recently putting out Got Your Six. The road warriors opened their set with “Lift Me Up” which was off Volume 1 of The Wrong Side of Heaven And The Righteous Side of Hell. With a short set and so many tracks to choose from, it’s hard for the band to really dig into their catalog. The guys seemed to try and keep everything balanced by playing at least 1 song off of 6 different albums. The night ended strong with “Got Your Six,” “Under and Over It” and “The Bleeding.” Five Finger Death Punch gave the crowd everything they had and the crowd showed no signs of letting up. Fans at Heavy Montréal were ready for day 2 before they even left the island.

Sunday started off with bands I Prevail and We Came As Romans. Both drew in the younger crowds early in the afternoon. I Prevail played their hit cover song “Blank Space” which was made famous by Taylor Swift. Surprisingly, this rendition was awesome and I Prevail really made it their own.

Guitar genius Tosin Abasi was on site Sunday with his band Animals as Leaders. This instrumental djent band drew in all the guitar nerds in the crowd over to the Scène HEAVY stage to get a glimpse at Tosin doing his thing. Animals as Leaders was definitely one of the standouts of the weekend for their uniqueness.

One of the summer’s biggest metal tours made their stop in Montréal on Sunday. The tour features Saint Asonia, Alter Bridge, Breaking Benjamin and Disturbed. Saint Asonia was the creation of Adam Gontier, formally of Three Days Grace and Mike Mushok of Staind. Joining them in Saint Asonia are Corey Lowery on bass and Rich Beddoe on drums. Basically a “supergroup” these guys have been going strong after their formation in 2014 and touring behind their 2015 self-titled release.

Hatebreed also played on Sunday. Many fans may have missed the fact that Hatebreed was at Heavy Montréal because they were a very late addition for Trivium who had to cancel last minute. For a last minute add-on, Hatebreed came to destroy Parc Jean-Drapeau. Ironically, the band opened up with “Destroy Everything” and then immediately went into “Looking Down The Barrel of Today.” The band a total of 4 songs off of The Concrete Confessional which was a heavy hitting album Hatebreed released last May.

Both Blind Guardian and Zakk Wylde drew big crowds on day 2 of Heavy Montréal. Blind Guardian who just played Wacken Open Air in Germany 2 days before coming to Montréal, had the best sound of the weekend. The German power metal band played a 8 song set that featured tracks from 6 different albums. The most popular album of the setlist for Blind Guardian was Nightfall in Middle-Earth. The tracks featured on that album that were played during the set were “Into the Storm,” “Mirror Mirror,” and “Time Stands Still(At The Iron Hill).”

Zakk Wylde was playing for his 3rd time in 3 days. This time just under the name Zakk Wylde, but still with his BLS bandmates on stage with him. The set started out with “Sold My Soul,” which seemed like a 20 minute guitar solo that features Zakk going nuts by playing behind his head and with his teeth. The band played “In This River” which is a Black Label Society song, but this version definitely had a different spin to it. Watching the band transform and play something completely different than the day before was very cool. There probably aren’t many bands out there that can do what Zakk and his Black Label crew could.

Sometime during the late afternoon the rain finally came down. While it started out as a light shower and then stopped, things changed shortly after with a downpour. The rain didn’t last long but from what fans were saying, it was the first time it had ever rained at Heavy Montréal.

As stated earlier, Alter Bridge was in Montréal and ready to show the city what they’re made of. Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti together make one of the best guitar combos in rock. Together, with the rest of Alter Bridge, the band puts on an incredible live performance. Myles is one of the best vocalist there are today and the band creates some heavy hitting riffs that are hard to get out of your head once you hear them. Songs like “Come To Life,” “Ties That Bind,” “Isolation” and “Addicted to Pain” are just some of what Alter Bridge played during their short set. The only thing that can be said is that Alter Bridge needs to do a headlining tour and come back to Montréal very soon. With a new album The Last Hero due out on October 7, Alter Bridge fans may very well get that headlining tour they’ve been wanting.

One of the best bands of the day if not the best overall was the mighty Killswitch Engage. The guys in Killswitch Engage squeezed in 11 songs into their short set time and showed every other band over the weekend how it’s done. Guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz lead the charge and opened up the set with “My Curse.” Between songs Dutkiewicz made sure the crowd did not calm down. This was definitely the set to see at Heavy Montréal. The crowd was a constant circle pit with crowd surfers and topless chicks. To sum it all up, the word would be chaos. Vocalist Jesse Leach was quite impressive in his ability to not only cover his original songs, but also some of the songs Howard Jones originally sang on. Songs like “Rose of Sharyn,” “The End of Heartache,” and “Holy Diver” sounded incredible with Jesse back in the band. On top of that, their newest material from Incarnate and Disarm the Descent was absolutely killer live. The mix of fast brutal riffs and energy Killswitch Engage brings to the table makes them a hard act to top for the rest of Heavy Montréal.

The 8th Heavy Montréal was closed out with Breaking Benjamin, Volbeat and Disturbed. Breaking Benjamin has been on the road ever since their release of Dark Before Dawn in 2015. With Benjamin Burnley is the only original member left in the band and he’s done a spectacular job filling the spaces next to him on stage. The reformed Breaking Benjamin sounds awesome together, especially Ben. It’s a pleasure to be able to see Ben back out on the road playing songs such as “So Cold,” “Breath,” “I Will Not Bow” and last but not least “The Diary of Jane.” To add to that, the new material off of Dark Before Dawn is also great live and the crowd in Montréal certainly helped Ben out by singing basically every word alongside with him.

Volbeat, who just released Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie came out with “The Devil’s Bleeding Crown.” The highlight of their set was performing “Evelyn” with the Barney from Napalm Death. Volbeat who now features a new bass player, Kaspar Boye Larsen and Rob Caggiano on guitar, still puts on a great live show, but the energy on stage was missing that came from their former bass player Anders, who left the band last year. The band was sure to play hits like “Sad Man’s Tongue,” which was introduced with a little “Ring of Fire” intro by Johnny Cash. The crowd was definitely familiar with Volbeat and their love and respect for Johnny Cash. The night for Volbeat ended with “Still Counting” and just about everyone at the festival could be heard singing, “Counting all the assholes in the room,” even the people waiting across the way waiting for Disturbed.

Back from their hiatus and hitting the road after releasing Immortalized, Disturbed has been destroying every arena, amphitheater and festival it can play at. Heavy Montréal was no exception to that statement. Bringing an onslaught of pyro, just like Nightwish did the evening before, David Draiman and the rest of Disturbed were there to show Montréal they were back and meant business. The set opened with “Ten Thousand Fists,” “The Game” and “The Vengeful One.” For a band that took a long break, one would expect them to be rusty and still not be in the swing of things. Not Disturbed, this band is a well oiled machine that shows no signs of slowing down. The biggest surprise was hearing the band play “Land of Confusion,” a song that hasn’t been featured in their setlist often on tour. The band obviously played it’s insanely popular cover of Simon & Garfunkel, “The Sound of Silence.” Just about every cell phone and lighter was in the air for this song and it was a powerful performance to say the least. The night was full of other hits like “Stupify,” “Inside the Fire,” “Stricken,” “Indestructible” and “Voices.” The night and entire weekend came to a close with the song that just about everyone in the world could have predicted, “Down With the Sickness.” This was the perfect ending for a perfect weekend of metal music at Heavy Montréal.

If anyone has thought about going to Montréal for this festival, it’s highly recommended. The city is beautiful, the people are friendly and getting to and from the festival is easy. On top of that, Heavy Montréal is one of the most organized and put together festivals in North America. Look for a lineup announcement coming to NYS Music for Heavy Montréal 2017 early next year.

August 16, 2016
Heavy Montreal a Close Fix for Capital Region Fans Suffering Festival Withdrawal

Capital region metal heads, are you looking for a music festival shot in the arm after the experience of this year’s Rock ‘N Derby event in the Albany area? Make the short drive across the border for Heavy Montreal in August.

Heavy Montreal‘s eighth annual festival has returned to it’s 2-day format, and will once again take place at the Parc Jean-Drapeau, on the island of Ile Ste-Helene on Aug. 6-7. Like in previous years, horn raisers will see another jam-packed mega lineup that’s sure to satisfy a variety of fans with many different styles of rock scheduled during the event.

Heavy Montreal’s huge lineup of performers will grace five different stages throughout the venue. Metal heads will see some of today’s best in the genre. Saturday’s lineup includes Five Finger Death Punch as the headliner along with Nightwish, Mastodon, Black Label Society, Sebastian Bach and Trivium. Sunday’s lineup is headlined by Disturbed, with a supporting cast of Volbeat, Breaking Benjamin, Killswitch Engage, Alter Bridge and many more. Over 30 bands in all will perform throughout the weekend. Unfortunately, Ghost will not make the festival as originally planned due to scheduling conflicts.

Doors open each day at 11:30am, with performances starting at 12:30 p.m. and ending at 11:00 p.m.

Two bands on the bill, Disturbed and Mastodon, both took part in the inaugural Heavy Montreal in 2008. If you want to get technical, Adam Gontier was also a part of the first ever festival when he fronted Three Days Grace. He returns this year with his new band, the supergroup Saint Asonia.

Disturbed and Five Finger Death Punch have headlined, or are in line to headline almost every rock music festival in 2016. Five Finger Death Punch recently headlined a festival in New York, the first ever Rock ‘N Derby, in Schaghticoke, on May 20.

This year marks Disturbed’s third time playing the festival and Five Finger Death Punch’s first time. Disturbed front man David Draiman, has also appeared at the festival in 2013 with his side project Device.

Albany area fans who want to make the trip can head up I-87N, and about three and half to four hours later, you’re there. Fans can also take I-89N, but add about another hour and over 20 miles.

June 9, 2016
ADTR, Halestorm, Anthrax and Others Rock Day Two at Rock’N Derby

Rock’N Derby continued Saturday at the Schaghticoke Fairgrounds, and saw a comfortable but cloudy day, with a small 10-minute rain shower during Halestorm’s set. The music started at 1:30 p.m. at the Upstate Concert Hall Arena Stage with New York City area band Streetlight Circus.

Saturday’s lineup was jam-packed with bands, and boasted the biggest lineup out of the three days. The turnout of fans looked, considerably larger than Friday’s crowd. Fans who packed the fairgrounds saw the likes of Anthrax, Halestorm, Hollywood Undead, Sebastian Bach, Beartooth, Chevy Metal, All That Remains, Avatar, Cilver and A Day To Remember, who were the headliners for Saturday.

A Day To Remember had the longest set time of any band in the three-day festival, with an hour and a half of playing time. ADTR headlined the Derby Stage, and their set had the most crowd surfing fans of the weekend to that point.

After giving props to the security team for catching fans surfing over the rail all day, frontman and lead vocalist Jeremy McKinnon then asked the crowd if they had ever surfed a crowd surfer. He said to fans, “So during this next song, I’m gonna start this off by saying, you don’t have to participate in this shit cause its wild. We were playing in Wisconsin or some shit, on the Warped Tour one time, and these two guys did something that I will literally never forget. And I dubbed it ‘crowd surfing on top of a crowd surfer.’ Now let me explain this shit to you, somebody crowd surfs on top of the crowd as normal, and then your friend stands on top of you, like your a fucking surf board, and surfs all the way up to the front to the [security]. Please guys don’t do this, but have a fucking good time New York.” The band then played “Better Off This Way.”

As the intro played for “Have Faith In Me,” McKinnon asked where the ladies were in the crowd. After many screams from the ladies in the lawn, the singer then said “Wow, that’s a lot of you.” He then dedicated the next song to them.

In a hilarious moment, ADTR was next to notice the birthday girl in the front before the song “Sometimes You’re the Hammer, Sometimes You’re the Nail” and told the crowd they only had 3 songs left.

McKinnon and lead guitarist Kevin Skaff had fun with the crowd and randomly started playing “Faith,” by George Michael. After two lines of the song, Skaff then joked “That was one song out of three.” The crowd laughed and McKinnon replied, “That’s one song down. What else we got Skaff?”

Skaff started singing “Happy Birthday” to even more laughter. This prompted McKinnon to ask the crowd if anybody had a birthday. As the two’s eyes combed through the crowd, Skaff noticed a fan that said they turned sixteen today. He said back “You just turned sixteen and you already have a beer? That’s weird.” The crowd erupted again with laughter.

McKinnon then noticed the 5-year old girl and asked if she wanted to come up on stage. The frontman then said to the crowd “Everybody out there tonight, this is this girls first show and she turns five years old today.” After cheers from the crowd, he asked the girl her name, then the band and the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to the girl. After they sang to the girl, McKinnon said, “That should work for a first concert.” Skaff then interjected “That’s some good footage, put it in the archives. I was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for my fifth birthday.” That made McKinnon and the crowd laugh. The band got down to business and asked the crowd how many of them checked out their latest album Common Courtesy.

A lot of bands could take note when being a headliner from ADTR when it comes to how many songs a band puts in their set. McKinnon recalled a story that happened from the beginning of their current tour. McKinnon stated, “I gotta to tell you a true story. We started this tour, and we were playing fifteen songs … and this girl got on Twitter and she was like, ‘Yo, I waited eight years to see your band, and you only played fifteen songs?’ And I got to tell you, she was not wrong, and I felt guilty. So we’re gonna play some extra songs for you tonight. Is that cool?” The fans at Rock ‘N Derby went crazy. McKinnon finished by saying, “So if this song right here meant anything at all to you in your life. If this song is your shit…you owe that girl.” ADTR then played “It’s Complicated.”

ADTR closed out with “The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle.” McKinnon introduced the last song by saying “We are A Day to Remember from Central, Florida, and you’ve been fucking amazing tonight. Thank you for sticking around. This is going to be our last song for the night, and this is what I need from you. I wanna see everybody out there jumping up and down with us on this next song. That means everybody across the back, everybody on the fucking sides and especially all my people down fucking front. New York are you with me? I wanna feel the earth fucking shake.” What a way to close out the second night. ADTR’s set was really fun and energetic and wild. Multicolored streamers shot through the sky during the last song in the set. Set Time 9:30-11 p.m.

Anthrax headlined the Rock’N Stage on Saturday night. Huge turnout of fans to take in their set. Joey Belladonna, an upstate New York native and the band’s lead singer, shouted out to the crowd after a couple songs saying, “Oh yeah, how we doing out there? Everybody good? I know we got a lot of people from New York here tonight. Good evening to you. It’s nice to be here. This is the first time I’ve seen this show out this way. It’s nice to see everybody here. You all having a good time? Fuck yeah, lets get this going, alright?” Anthrax then played “Madhouse.”

After a couple more tracks, guitarist Scott Ian had the crowd laughing as he took the time to talk with the crowd about how the name of the town is hard to say and to give Belladonna a small break from singing. Ian stated “Upstate New York, how the fuck are you Rock’N Derby? Someone told me how to pronounce the name and where we are and I all heard was Shitty Coke!” The crowd erupted with laughter and started a “Shitty Coke” chant. Ian then apologized saying “Excuse me if I’m saying it wrong.” He then yelled “Shitty Coke, New York! We have a new album called For All Kings. I got a question, my friends. Do you love thrash metal? You’re welcome. This is ‘Evil Twin’.”

During the intro to “War Dance” drummer Charlie Benante stopped the song making Scott Ian state “Why did you stop? I have to watch Game Of Thrones. You wanna know why he stopped. Cause Charlie is very concerned that some of you aren’t having as much fun as you should be having. Now check it out, don’t take this the wrong way. We love those dudes in Extreme. They were up here earlier. But this ain’t “More Than Words” now. This is some demolition derby shit. Let’s see you fuckers move one more time tonight. Let’s try the ‘War Dance’ again.” Set Time 9-10 p.m.

This was the part of the night where the crowd segregated from one another. Everyone over 35 was there to watch Anthrax, while everyone under was watching A Day To Remember.

Halestorm got the many fans taking in their set right into it by kicking things off with the song “Apocalyptic”. Frontwoman Lzzy Hale yelled to the crowd, ‘Rock ‘N Derby, are you ready?” After cheers from fans, Lzzy pointed to her brother on drums and replied “Arejay, give it to them.” Arejay let out a big “yeah,” then started the intro to “Love Bites.”

After the band finished “Love Bites,” Lzzy took a minute to get acquainted with the crowd, she said “Rock’N Derby.” Then Lzzy shouted the name of the town Schaghticoke, correctly. She asked if she pronounced it right then went on to say “So how many of you are actually from Schaghticoke?” After almost silence from the fans Lzzy said “That’s like ten people.” After some laughs, Lzzy then got serious and introduced who they were and what they are about. She stated “Thank you so much for allowing us to be here tonight. We are Halestorm. My name is Lzzy Hale, and for the next 70 minutes or so I’m gonna be bossing you around alright. So, we got two rules, number one, we are all here to have a fucking fantastic time tonight. And number two Schaghticoke, when I say scream, you fucking scream, alright? Ready?” Halestorm then performed “Scream.”

Lzzy then talked about how she is a a freaky chick. She said there’s some stuff up here that just ain’t right, pointing to her head, then told the crowd to ask any of her ex-boyfriends. She then said to the crowd “I feel like I’m not alone tonight, Schaghticoke, I’m not alone. Sing this one if you know it.” Halestorm then went into “Mz. Hyde.”

If you know the lyrics, Lzzy picked the perfect time to perform the song, “Rock Show.” She noticed the birthday girl and said “Happy fifth birthday darling.” Lzzy then said to the crowd “This is what its all about right here. We have a future leader of rock and roll, right front and center. Young lady’s fifth birthday, first rock concert. I’m gonna be looking for you for lyrics alright.” The frontwoman the went on to sing freestyle asking the fans in attendance if they wanted her, if they loved her, cause she loves them too. Lzzy then asked the crowd “Schaghticoke, are we in church? Schaghticoke, are we in a classroom right now? Hell no. Schaghticoke, are we at a boring dead end job right now? Schaghticoke, give me one more, are we at a fucking rock show tonight?”

After the song, Lzzy asked the crowd if anyone watched the demolition derby that went on earlier in the day. In a funny moment, she then shared her experience with the crowd “So something pretty cool, I was watching the derby over there. Fucking demolition derby. I was watching through the fence and I was like, what does it say on the side of number 33, it said fucking Halestorm, that’s what it said. So I’m rooting for this truck, I’m rooting for it the whole time, I’m like kill him, finish him. And then what do you know? Number 33 Halestorm won the friggin derby today. So this one goes out to all the drivers, this is called “I Like It Heavy.”

After Arejay’s drum solo, Lzzy asked the fans if they could do something for her because she has never been to Schaghticoke. She the said “We decided that there’s only about 10 people actually live here. So I kinda wanna know something. I need to know what you can do. I need to know how crazy you motherfuckers are. I need to know, I need to know what kind of freaks showed up at a rock show in Schaghticoke, New York tonight. Are you ready?” Halestorm played “Freak Like Me.” Set Time 7:45-9 p.m.

Avatar, a Swedish rock group, performed on the Rock’N Stage and put on one hell of a live show. Their costumes and frontman Johannes Michael Gustaf Eckerström’s gestures and mannerisms are silly but fun to watch. He had the whole crowd rocking and laughing at the same time. It’s really a feel-good time watching this band. It’s like a show inside of a show.

As the intro for the band’s song “Hail The Apocalypse,” Eckerström asked the crowd to raise their horns in the sky and join us as we burn the house down. The band had a really good fan turnout ready to take in Avatar’s set. Set Time 3:30-4:10 p.m.

All That Remains followed Avatar on the Rock’N Stage. Singer Philip Labonte stopped after a couple songs to ask the crowd, “You guys got some energy out there, huh?” Not liking the fans’ response, Labonte yelled to the crowd, “C’mon, I know you can do better than that, make some noise. In case you’re not familiar with All That Remains, we’re one of those bands who like to do some heavy stuff and some not-so-heavy stuff. The two songs we just played, they fall under not-so-heavy. And I think you gentlemen out there on the floor, out there in the pit. You guys ready for something heavy? Again not feeling the response from the crowd he wanted, Labonte yelled ‘Bullshit,’ then screamed “Are you ready for something heavy?” ATR then played “No Knock.”

Labonte wanted to bring things back down for a bit. After asking fans if they were having a good time, he sat on the stage and said to the fans, “We don’t have a lot of time left so we’re gonna do a few more, and like I said earlier, we’re one of those bands that likes to play some heavy stuff, and some not-so-heavy stuff. A couple records back we wrote a song, that’s really not heavy at all, and if its cool with you guys, were gonna do it for you, alright? Here’s the deal, now’s the time to cuddle up next to your girlfriend or boyfriend if you expect to get laid tonight. Well you should expect to get laid, you’re at a fucking show, and everyone is drinking and shit. If you know the words, c’mon and sing along. This ones called “What If I Was Nothing?” Set Time 4:30-5:10 p.m.

Hollywood Undead, an L.A. rap and rock group, had fans over at the Derby Stage bouncing and jumping through their whole set. Hollywood Undead has a unique stage show. If every member wearing their own individual masks on stage wasn’t enough, every member of the band plays an instrument and has vocal duties throughout their sets. Band members even rotate singers and musicians during their songs.

Jordan “Charlie Scene” Terrell called up the little girl who was celebrating her fifth birthday at Rock ‘N Derby on stage to introduce the band’s next song. After asking her name, Terrell then asked the girl what her favorite song was. She replied “Let It Go” from the Disney movie Frozen. Terrell replied to the girl “Holy shit, we definitely don’t know that one. How about you introduce this song. Check this out. Let’s have you help me introduce this song. I’m gonna tell you what to say.” Terrell held the mic in front of her and whispered in the girls ear as he held another mic with his back turned. Terrell then said in a little squeaky voice, “This song is called ‘Comin’ in Hot’ motherfucker.”

George “Johnny 3 Tears” Ragan stopped to talk to the crowd before the song “Day Of The Dead.” He made fun of the name of the town by pronouncing it Schnananananacoke.” Terrell replied “Did somebody say coke?” Ragan finished his speech by saying “You guys are fucking awesome. Thanks for having us, thanks for coming and support. It’s our pleasure to be here and do this Derby. We love it so fucking much. We had a record come out last year. We will play a song from it. This song is called ‘Day Of The Dead.’” Set Time 6:30-7:15 p.m.

Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, rocked the Rock ‘N Stage. After the first song in the set “Slave To The Grind,” Bach said to the crowd, “I see you in the back, what the fuck’s going on New York? Lets go back to the first album. What do you say? Bach then played “Big Guns.” Bach played many Skid Row classics, ending the set with “Youth Gone Wild.” Bach really exceeded my expectations of him. It was going around that he was not feeling well, and his meet and greet with RND Vip’s was cancelled. Bach performed pretty good on stage vocally and showed a ton of energy. Set Time 6:35-7:20 p.m.

Beartooth rocked out the Upstate Concert Hall Stage. I was kind of let down here, but it may not have been all their fault. They had bad sound quality, and I actually think they may have been too loud for the building they were in. There seemed to be an echo at times during their set depending on where you stood in the venue.

Singer Caleb Shomo asked the crowd, when he says “1, 2” he wants them to say back, “1, 2, 3 ,4,” before the song “Dead.” He said to fans “We’re gonna do this one more time. When you say one, this whole room, barn, thing, is gonna be one giant mosh pit. Everybody moves. I need mass organized chaos. This ones called ‘Dead.’”

Before the band played their new single “Aggressive,” Shomo said to the crowd “We kind of feel like we’ve been playing the same old shit for a little bit too long. We’re gonna change that one. We have a new record. Were gonna play a new one for you now, is that O.K.? This is the title track of our new album. This song is called “Aggressive,” Let’s go.” Set Time 8:45-9:30 p.m.

May 28, 2016
The Monsters of Rock Cruise: The Best Of and The Big Disappointment

“Basically, I don’t do anything profound at all, all I do is play shapes.” –A humble George Lynch said dressed in a casual jogging suit during his guitar clinic on the third day of this year’s Monsters of Rock Cruise.

This particular expedition was all about the ‘shredder’, the guitarist. Legendary names like Steve Vai, Akira Takahashi, Michael Angelo Batio, Vinnie Moore, George Lynch, Gus G all boarded this boat of mayhem to play, meet fans, provide classes or guitar clinics and rock the hell out.

Many veteran cruisers said this was the favorite out of all five-cruise experiences, the weather was stellar, the vibe was calm and the crowd was smaller and more intimate. From non-stop concerts on 4 stages, guitar clinics/classes, Meet and Greets, Q&A with the Artists, Charity benefits and excursions to Nassau and our private island, how could one have a bad time?

The talent on this year’s cruise was unprecedented, almost all the artists blew my mind, Helloween, Gus G, Y&T, Hellion, Tesla, Extreme, Armored Saint, Hardcore Superstar were all incredible. But alas there are only so many words to go around, here are some highlighted moments that caught my eye and ear, followed by an unfortunate big disappointment.

Best Cathartic Experience: Queensryche

Some call them progressive rock, others say hard rock and yet others peg them as a heavy metal band. It’s hard to sum up their wall of sound, harmonic guitars, tribal drumming and melodic bass lines. They’re signature sound is so unique, so categorizing them seems inane; they are the category for others to follow suit.

Each incendiary performance on the Pearl was a mix of vintage Queensryche and new Queensryche, but always littered with tracks from one of the greatest conceptual albums of all time, “Operation Mindcrime”. However, their new material from “Condition Human” is some of their strongest work to date.

Scott Rockenfield (Drums) and Eddie Jackson (Bass) are the foundation and ground the band firmly, while guitarists Michael Wilton and Parker Lundgren are the spine of Queensryche, the layers upon layers upon layers of melodies and harmonies are masterfully intertwined giving them that signature sound that is Queensryche.

Singer, Todd LaTorre has become such a solid part of the quintet, there are only two words from here, “Geoff Who?” I had the honor to interview Mr. Tate during his last tour and when I asked him, “What do you do to take care of your voice?” He smiled and said, “Nothing” and then proceeded to take a big drag off his cigar. Don’t get me wrong, Tate is an icon, but sometimes icons need to step aside. LaTorre meticulously takes care of his voice to ensure he is in perfect pitch night after night, that being said, his impressive vocal abilities run the spectrum and reaches places that Tate hasn’t been in years.

Queensryche offers a true cathartic experience. Aligned with the ritualistic undertones of the music, one might feel as if taken on a journey through space and time, but left with questions about the world, love and the human condition…and that spin cycling guitar melody you just can’t quite get out of your head.

Best Hardcore Yoga: Metal Church

I asked the bands and fans, who, in your opinion, is the heaviest and hardest band on this cruise? Across the board, Metal Church was the answer.

Metal Church comes to the cruise with a few big announcements right now. One is the return of singer, Mike Howe after 20 years AND a brand new album with Howe called “XI”. All pretty big news…

I expected Metal Church to melt my face off on the pool stage that night and I am pleasantly surprised that my face is still intact. Don’t get me wrong, their music is heavy with political and sociological overtones, it’s melodic, rich, dark and a little evil, but there also exists this calm, like a rumbling thunder or a deep shifting of tectonic plates, I was surprised of the grounded feeling it brought along with that high power and intensity.

In a brief conversation with return vocalist Mike Howe, I tried to explain how it was different than I expected, I wasn’t being very clear and then he summed it all up for me. He said, “It’s meant to be a sort of yoga.” Genius.

Howe’s vocals are as pristine as they were over 20 years ago, if not better with maturity adding a little bit of an edge. Howe has a peaceful, happy go lucky attitude and a contagious bop onstage, but happy or not, his vocals could not only break a glass but slice right through metal. Guitarist, Kurdt Vanderhoof, genius behind the music and backbone of the band, plays warm, calming melodies one minute followed by vibrating, razor edged notes the next. The dichotomy of musical styles and arrangements really lend to an amazing auditory experience not to be missed.

Best Whirling Dervish: Michael Monroe

Upon hearing Michael Monroe was added to this hardcore/thrasher/shredder cruise, my first thought was- interesting choice. Truth be told, regardless of the fact Hanoi Rocks changed the face of rock and roll in the 80’s and inspired bands from the Sunset Strip to the Lower East Side, I hadn’t heard or thought about Michael Monroe since the old days, that seemed like another lifetime ago. And now I can’t stop thinking about him.

When Eddie Trunk (or nicknamed on this cruise, Eddie Drunk) introduced Mr. Monroe, he said Monroe’s last three albums are the best of his whole catalog, including when he was in Hanoi Rocks. Their set, of course, ran the gamut, from the new Monroe material as well as some older Hanoi anthems. New songs like “Goin’ Down with the Ship” (which I’m slightly addicted to it’s looping melody), “Ballad of the Lower East Side” and “Old King’s Road” are fresh, clean, precise, but still possessing that Hanoi/Monroe edge.

Monroe is an incredible performer; onstage he is a whirling dervish with endless exuberance and excitement that cannot be contained. He is a joy to watch and experience and he raised the vibration of the theater that night with his pure, contagious animation.

His band of vagabonds are great musicians as well. Legendary bassist, Sammy Yaffa and drummer, Karl Rockfist have been with Monroe the longest and serve as a grounding cord for Monroe’s spinning energy. Newcomers, Rich Jones and Steve Conte (Guitars) are a perfect fit for this quintet. Cruisers could just not stop talking about Michael Monroe and his band, certainly before out of anticipation and wonderment, but definitely after as well. And for the ones that missed them, you can catch them all over Finland and parts of Europe over the next couple months.

Best Alien Love Songs: Steve Vai

Being face to face in the lounge with Steve Vai for the better part of an hour was like being in the presence of a creative master. He seemed to be the largest pull for all our Meet and Greets on the ship and each person who entered the radius of his being was met with kindness and respect. He is a centered soul and while he methodically made his tea just the way he likes, it didn’t flutter him in the least to take note that forty people were standing by silently witnessing him do this mundane task.

We were and are mesmerized by him; as a mere mortal and an onstage showman.

An 18 year old Vai started his career with Zappa, then David Lee Roth, on to Whitesnake followed by a slew of solo work, including eight studio albums. Some might think watching a Vai show without a ‘David Lee Roth-type’ would be uneventful, quite the contrary, it’s an out of this world experience and Vai is the creator of this journey. He took us to other worlds and even other galaxies, and all with the sounds of one guitar. He was whimsical, he was fun and he was a creative genius. If George Lynch plays shapes, Steve Vai plays alien love songs and is an out of this world master of the guitar.

The Best Divine Connection: Doro

With bands scheduled back-to-back in all four venues all day, sound check happens in the Stardust Theater just minutes before the doors open to the fans. And for those 5-7 minutes, we as Media, get to see the real personalities before the stage personalities are unleashed. Sometimes they are very different, sometimes not. Doro is the same. After the sound check was to her liking, she turned around to the row of photographers patiently waiting and in the sweetest German accent, bright smile and little giggle said, “Ok, I’ll see you in five minutes.”

Onstage she is the Metal Queen, clad in faux-leather (she’s an animal lover) and studs, regardless of her tough onstage persona, she’s still exudes sweetness as if honey were dripping out of her pores. She sticks close to the edge of the stage throughout her performance, pacing from left to right and back, singing with her fans, head banging with her fans, holding their hands, never losing constant close contact with them, almost as if they were her blood supply and she theirs. Her energy and enthusiasm is truly boundless. And they love her for this.

Vocally, she’s stellar, a hard-edged, low rumble with a layer of angelic quality is what makes her voice extremely unique, extremely beautiful and extremely rock and roll.

Since she went solo, the two most constant members of her band over the years are Johnny Dee (Drums) and Nick Douglas (Bass). Dee on drums is a hard hitter and certifiable maniac. Douglas and Dee together ground and stabilize the sound that is Doro. Look for her new single dropping on April 1.

The Big Disappointment: Sebastian Bach

“You’re looking at who put the hair in Hair Metal!” Sebastian Bach said during his Q&A in the Atrium on Day One of the cruise, we all chuckled, but it was only Day One. It seemed as we got farther from the port of Miami, Bach went farther down the wine bottle and farther from reality.

This being his first cruise with the Monsters of Rock, there was a fair share of excitement from the fans, but he was rarely seen out and about like his colleagues. During the MotorBowie Jams in the tiny Spinnaker Lounge, instead of taking the stage like everyone else, he parted the sea of people with security escorting him to the front of the stage. He accosted the photographers as usual, complaining we were shooting up his nose and threw us out of the pit during both his shows. And sadly, he accosted fans too- one woman to tears during the MotorBowie Jams. And it seems he has a new habit of throwing people out of venues- Donald Trump style or even getting thrown out himself.

Bach’s two performances were mostly, if not all Skid Row material, sprinkled with a cover or two, his voice shows the wear and tear of rusty galvanized steel plumbing from 1958. That being said, the aggressive gusto of his voice is there like in “Slave to the Grind”, but his high notes are choppy, uncontrollable and painfully absent. George Lynch happened to cross my path during “18 and Life” right at the moment of the once beautifully, iconic, high-intensity, emotional scream that follows the guitar solo. Lynch had his fingers in his ears.

Lastly, some say, he’s more of an entertainer now. Sadly, his once sexy stage presence has become diminished to a disheveled mess or train wreck you just can’t stop watching.

Bach, what’s got you all twisted up?

And so it is… the end to another amazing Monsters of Rock Cruise. See you all in October for the West cruise, where we finally for the first time get out of the humidity and into the Pacific Ocean.

March 7, 2016