NYS Music 20​16

Tag: Trivium

  • Rock Allegiance Stands Strong Among Competition

    For the second straight year, Chester, PA was home to Rock Allegiance. The Rock Allegiance festival, which is one of the many Danny Wimmer Presents events, returned to Talen Energy Stadium (formerly PPL Park) on Saturday and Sunday September 17 and 18.

    Unlike last year’s festival, Rock Allegiance 2016 was set for 2 full days that included some of the biggest bands today, such as Avenged Sevenfold, Alice In Chains, The Offspring and Slayer. To accompany two full days of music, this year added even more of the festival’s signature Gourmet Man Food and other experiences for fans to check out. Some of this year’s experiences included The Music Experience, The Jack Daniel’s Experience, FYE Experience and Zippo Encore. As always, proud sponsor, Monster, was on site giving away free products and hooking fans up with chances to meet their favorite bands.

    Saturday’s festival lineup featured quite a mix of bands. There were heavy metal bands, cover bands, comedy bands, grunge bands and more. Some of Saturday’s stand-out performances were Skindred, Avatar, and Motionless In White. Each one of these bands brings something unique to the table that not an everyday band does. Skindred had the most unique sound of the day. The Welsh rockers mix heavy metal with reggae and create some insane grooves. Lead singer Benji Webbe certainly knew how to lead his band and give the crowd a set to remember past the weekend.

    Certainly no one was disappointed with headliners Alice In Chains, Breaking Benjamin and The Offspring. Each one of those bands has earned their keep and each had their own die-hard fans in attendance. Alice In Chains was joined by Billy Duffy of The Cult for their song “Rooster.” One band that failed to bring out the special guests that everyone was hoping for was Taylor Hawkins’, Chevy Metal.  Chevy Metal, which is Hawkins’ cover band that rips through classic rock songs with ease, is known for bringing out big names at their shows. Unfortunately, when the band closed out the Liberty Stage, no guests came out to join the band.

    Fans of Sepultura got to hear the legendary album, Roots, in its entirety during Max & Igor Cavalera’s Return To Roots set. This was one of the most bad-ass sets of the day. Seeing the two brothers back on stage doing Sepultura songs was absolutely incredible and the crowd went wild. One band that seemed to sneak its way into a huge main-stage slot was Baroness. These guys have been growing and growing non-stop and have been receiving incredible support from some of the biggest musicians on the planet. The love and support of Baroness landed them a late evening slot and definitely gave the band a chance to reach an audience of plenty of Baroness virgins.

    It’s impossible to not mention Trivium when it comes to kicking ass. The guys in Trivium seem to live on the road and never show any signs of slowing down. Although their last album Silence In The Snow, wasn’t as “heavy” as some old fans would have liked, this monster of an album has been a commercial hit and the tracks are solid. Gone are the signature screams of singer Matt Heafy, but the record showcases Heafy’s ability to actually sing. Together with long time band members Corey Beaulieu and Paolo Gregoletto and new drummer Paul Wandtke, Trivium continues to give festival crowds around the world a brutal, fast and a seemingly too short set.

    Saturday’s top performance didn’t come from any headliner or by any band that played on either stage inside the stadium. The top band of the day took the Liberty Stage at 4:15. That band was letlive. For people who skipped letlive., saying they missed out is a complete understatement. Often times, writers will say a band had “high energy” and all these other generic compliments about a band they thought was pretty good. On Saturday, letlive. could be described to someone who missed them simply as, f*&King insane. Singer Jason Aalon Butler gave Rock Allegiance everything he could, without getting in too much trouble. Butler ended up hanging upside down at the soundboard tent and running throughout the crowd while his team of roadies tried to keep the audience from becoming strangled with this microphone cord. If there’s one thing fans at Rock Allegiance aren’t ever going to forget, it is letlive’s set.

    Out of the 2 day festival, Sunday was definitely the day with the stacked lineup. The day started off with what would be one of the best sets of the day from Death Angel. Singer Mark Osegueda is by far one of the best vocalists in heavy metal. This guy can hit any note imaginable. If there was one bad thing to say about Sunday, it would be Death Angel’s set was too damn short. Next time, Death Angel deserves a mid-day main stage slot to show the crowd what they bring to the table.

    After Death Angel, bands like Devour The Day, Twelve Foot Ninja, Crobot and Kyng were all back to back one after the other. Although none of these bands have hit it big yet, they’re all in the process of knocking down that door. This year was Devour The Day’s second year in a row playing Rock Allegiance and the crowd was definitely excited to see them again. The singer of Kyng wasn’t too happy with them and Crobot playing at almost the same exact time. He went on to say that whoever booked that should be fired.

    From 2:30 onward, many fans may not have even left the two main stages inside Talen Energy Stadium. Unfortunately for bands like Neck Deep, Amity Affliction and Pierce The Veil, the main stages where were the party was at. Although, even though the inside floor was packed in, these bands attracted their own die-hard fans and fans who may have been curious to check out someone new. Pierce The Veil certainly could have played inside due to the crowd and the stage setup they had. The guys in Pierce The Veil are an absolute blast to watch on stage and their spaceship on stage isn’t something every band brings out on the road.

    Sevendust had a huge crowd over at the Bridge Stage for their set. One of those fans at the Bridge Stage was Anthrax singer, Joey Belladonna, who joined Lajon Witherspoon to sing “Face to Face.” Sevendust was another victim of the dreaded short festival set. Only having time for a handful of songs, Sevendust wasted no time between songs and gave fans as much as they could. The band closed out their set with their Grammy nominated track “Thank You.”

    Some other highlights of the day were Hellyeah and Killswitch Engage. Both of these bands are entertaining to watch from start to finish. Hellyeah singer, Chad Gray is one of the most explosive front-men in metal. Hellyeah’s setlist only featured songs off their 2 latest albums Blood for Blood and Unden!able. During the track “Sangre por Sangre,” bassist Kyle Sanders spit fake blood all over Chad’s face. Chad would sport this blood for the rest of the set and it was clear this band meant business. Hellyeah have certainly been working their asses off creating new music and trying to win over the haters of their group.

    Killswitch Engage, on the other hand, doesn’t have to do anything fancy on stage to win over fans. The guys in KSE are purely bad-ass and get the crowd going regardless if they’re fans of their band or not. Certainly one of the rowdiest crowds of the day, Killswitch gave them all the reason to be. Guitarist, Adam Dutkiewicz, did what he does best and got the people of Rock Allegiance in the KSE mood. Dutkiewicz and singer Jesse Leach lead the charge and helped give Killswitch Engage one of Sunday’s best performances.

    The rest of the evening after KSE was great as anyone would have guessed. Chevelle, Anthrax, Volbeat and Slayer were all fantastic. Each band had a giant fan base in each section of the floor. Slayer fans waited all day along the rail of the Bridge Stage to be in front of Kerry King and Tom Araya. Having half of the big “four” on one stage was an easy choice for thrash metal fans on where to set up camp. Getting that front row spot for both Anthrax and Slayer would put any thrash metal fan in heaven, or in this case, hell.

    As expected, Anthrax stuck with their casual festival setlist. This setlist is fine for any casual fan of Anthrax, but the die-hard fans who traveled to see them definitely wanted something a little different. Tracks like, “Got The Time” and “Antisocial” could definitely be replaced by songs off their latest two albums, which were both outstanding. Both Chevelle and Volbeat, on the other hand, picked their setlists well offering a nice balance between new and old material. Slayer was also another band that seemed to surprise the crowd with their setlist choice. Instead of playing mainly tracks of their latest album Repentless, they only chose to play the title track. The rejuvenated Slayer lineup dug into deep cuts as well as playing the fan-favorite classics like “Raining Blood” and “Angel of Death.”

    The two top performances on Sunday belonged to two bands that toured together not too long ago. Those two bands are Ghost and headliner Avenged Sevenfold. Ghost, who just kicked off their Popestar Tour days before, opened their set with their new EP single “Square Hammer.” For fans who hadn’t caught on to Ghost already, were probably walking out of the stadium that night with a shirt or CD from the FYE tent. Ghost definitely had one of the biggest fan bases over the entire weekend. Ghost shirts were seen by the minute on both days of the festival. The stage show wasn’t what fans will see at headlining shows due to time restrictions, but fans weren’t complaining. The Ghouls, complete with their new female bassist, ripped through 6 more songs after “Square Hammer.” Together with Papa Emeritus III, the band flawlessly performed songs such as “From the Pinnacle to the Pit,” “Cirice,” “Year Zero”, and more. Unlike headlining shows where the band closes with “Monstrance Clock,” Ghost changed things up and said their goodbyes with “Mummy Dust.”

    The chance of Avenged Sevenfold disappointing the fans at Rock Allegiance this year was practically 0%. It’s been a while since Avenged Sevenfold has toured and fans were ready for something that was new and fresh. The band went on stage and opened with “Nightmare.” Fans could quickly point out that Avenged no longer had the extensive stage setup like they did on their Mayhem Festival run a few years back. This time, Avenged kept things simple with an empty stage and a giant LED screen. People who thought that was all they brought were definitely mistaken. It didn’t take long for the onslaught of flames to come from the back of the stage song after song. The new tour not only meant a new stage but also a refreshed setlist. This time around, Avenged played tracks like “Planets,” “Acid Rain,” “To End the Rapture,” and “Second Heartbeat.” The weekend ended with “Unholy Confessions,” instead of the typical encore of “A Little Piece of Heaven.”

    At the end of the weekend, it would be hard to say fans were left disappointed. The lineup for both days of the festival was solid and seemed to have something for everyone. It may have been noticed by people at Rock Allegiance that it wasn’t close to a sold-out capacity crowd, but that doesn’t affect the experience negatively. With two other festivals going on over the same weekend, both within reasonable driving distance, Rock Allegiance held its ground and drew a decent size crowd for what it was up against. Hopefully next year, Chester, PA. can once again be the host of Rock Allegiance for the 3rd straight year.

  • Final Night at Rock ‘N Derby Closes With Shinedown, Sixx A.M. and Sevendust

    Rock ‘N Derby closed out its inaugural weekend at the Schaghticoke Fairgrounds on Sunday, May 22. The first two days of the festival were really, really good, and Sunday’s lineup may have been the best of the weekend with the likes of Sevendust, Ghost, Sixx: A.M., Trivium, Megadeth, Collective Soul, Coheed and Cambria and, the headliners of the day, Brent Smith and Shinedown. The only disappointment was Like A Storm not being able to make the show due to its tour bus breaking down.

    Shinedown closed out the first ever Rock ‘N Derby on the Derby Stage. In usual Shinedown fashion after the first couple of songs into the bands set, frontman Brent Smith united the crowd with each other and with the band. As drummer Barry Kerch provided the beat, Smith asked the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, New York, where you at? If this is your very first time seeing Shinedown, then raise your hands please.” Smith then told the people of the crowd to look to their left, then to their right, and said, “You see, there is a reason for this, you see that person standing next to you, you may have never met before tonight’s event. We’re gonna change that, everyone turn to your neighbor right now, I wanna see you shaking each others’ hands, giving each other high fives and tell them how nice it is to see them at the show.”

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    Before the band got into the song “If You Only Knew,” Smith told the fans that he knows it’s been a long weekend, and told the crowd to give a big round of applause for all the other performers who played during the festival, and that he is honored that he gets to share the stage with them. Smith then said “With that being said, we’re not in those bands. We’re in Shinedown. And this is 100% between us, and all of you here tonight. So, did you bring your singing voices tonight? This next song is for all the ladies, where you at? This is dedicated to all the lovers and the ladies.”

    Smith gave an extensive speech before the song “Enemies,” that created a moment that has to be witnessed live. He had everyone at Rock ‘N Derby jumping and going insane when the song kicked off.

    As the rest of the members of Shinedown jammed on stage, Smith started his speech on stage, and then ended up in the middle of the crowd. He started off by saying “Let’s make 100 percent sure, that all of you here tonight are getting exactly what you want. Cause here’s the thing. You see, we only have one boss. It just happens to be everyone in the audience. So, if you’re not happy, no one’s happy, and you ultimately decide who stays and who goes.”

    Smith then had the crowd split in the middle. Once the fans did. Smith left the stage and continued his speech to the fans. Smith then stated “Now listen up, this next song, we guarantee your gonna know the song. What I’m gonna do is this, I’m gonna go back up on stage, I’m gonna count to three. Then I’m gonna say the word go. When I say go, I want every single person that is able, I want you jumping up and down. I wanna see all this dust up in the air. I wanna see every single person in the state of New York bouncing simultaneously up and down. That’s gonna lets us know that we’re at a real rock show.” Smith then returned to the stage and said, “This is all on you. You not at the library, and this ain’t no funeral. Your at a rock & roll revival people.”

    Shinedown was to play “State Of My Head,” but before the song, Smith asked for all the lights to be turned off at the fairgrounds. Smith then asked all the fans to light up their cell phones and lighters. In a beautiful sight, Smith said “It’s good to see the stars of New York State.”

    Smith would be the last artist to acknowledged the 5-year old girl spending her birthday weekend at the festival. After asking her name Smith then said sincerely “Here’s the thing. I have to give her a lot of credit. ‘Cause 5-years old, and she’s been at a Shinedown show on top of the barricade all weekend. Her mother just mouthed it to me, that she’s been here not just for this show, she’s been here the whole weekend. So I think the least we can do is sing “Happy Birthday.” Smith then led the crowd in to sing “Happy Birthday” one more time.

    After the last song in the set “Sound Of Madness,” Smith did his usual concert send off by saying “Our new record is called Threat To Survival. It’s available everywhere. Be good, be good to each other, God bless you all. It’s never goodbye, it’s just ’til next time.” Smith told drummer Barry Kerch to lock it down. Kerch pounded the drums a few times and closed out the set.

    Sevendust showed how it’s done on the Derby Stage. The band walked onto the stage while the intro to the song “Thank You” played. Frontman Lajon Witherspoon took the stage and asked the crowd “Do you know who we are? We are Sevendust. Let me see your hands in the air. Y’all better make some fucking noise.”

    After the song, Witherspoon again asked the crowd if they knew who they were. He then said to the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen in the pit, you guys kick ass. I love it when I see the gentlemen invite the ladies in, and it ain’t nothing but a bunch of fun out there.” He went on and asked “Are you guys happy to see us this evening? Thank you for being here so early. We love you guys, God Bless. Are you ready for some more Sevendust music? I wanna see you dance. Are you with us out there? If you can’t be in the pit, I wanna see you bouncing.” Witherspoon the turned his attention to the fans in the back “How you all doing back there in the VIP, whats up?”

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    After the band performed “Decay,” Witherspoon may have spilled the beans on a future tour. He asked the crowd if the were ready for headliners Shinedown. He then asked what the people in Schaghticoke knew about the band Ghost. Witherspoon then asked the crowd what they thought of a possible Ghost and Sevendust Tour. Fans cheered.

    Witherspoon took the time before the song ‘Praise” to tell fans how close they make him and the band feel to the crowd. Witherspoon first asked fans if they were enjoying themselves. He then said “Can I say something to you? Thank you for making all of our dreams come true. Let me tell you why. And I say this, and I know I fucking say this before anyone else says this. If it wasn’t for each and every one of you guys, none of us would have a fucking  job. So thank you very much. If you don’t know who we are, we are Sevendust. We do not have concerts. We have family fucking reunions. Let me see your hands in the air. Let me see what you all got.”

    As Witherspoon was talking about the next song “Pieces,” He noticed a sign in the crowd that said split the crowd. Baffled by the request he said “Split the crowd? I never had anyone tell me to do that. I don’t know what that means. You guys wanna split the fucking crowd. Let me see you split right here in the middle. I never done this before. You had a fucking sign (points to fan in the crowd), just spread out right here in the middle. You know what I’d like to fucking do. Since he requested a split, let me see you guys walk around in a circle right in the middle of that split.” Sevendust dropped the track, and in a pretty cool site, fans moved in the pit so hard you could see a dirt cloud slowly rise up and get thicker where you could hardly see the band if you hung out in the back to watch the band perform.

    Sixx: A.M. battled a slight rain storm for about 10 minutes, but that didn’t stop them from being one of the day’s, if not one of the weekend’s top performers. They are the total package. The have the look, they have the sound, they have the stage presence and they have the songs. They also sport two female backup singers on stage. Sixx: A.M. started off with “This Is Gonna Hurt,” and “Rise.”

    Frontman James Michael took a break to chat with the crowd after the song “This Is Gonna Hurt,” and said, “What’s up Rock ‘N Derby? How you motherfuckers doing today? Let me ask you something. Who is seeing Sixx: A.M. for the very first time right here, right now?” After about everyone in the packed lawn area watching their set cheered because they seem to never tour in this area, Michael continued “Very good. Keep your hands up in the air, everybody put your fucking hands in the air and make a fist like I’m doing, and every time you hear us say the word rise, I wanna see you throw your motherfucking fists up in the air. Will you do that for me? Are you ready to Rise?

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    After the song “Rise,” the crowd was so hot during the song, Michael yelled to the crowd “Ah Fuck yeah Rock ‘N Derby. He then introduced the next song in set “Everything Went To Hell” by saying “This one goes out to the bitch that ripped my fucking heart out of my chest. You know what I’m fucking talking about, don’t you.

    Once the last song in the set “Life Is Beautiful,” concluded, Michael introduced the band. Nikki Sixx, the band’s bassist (also the bassist of Mötley Crüe) then took the mic and introduced Michael. Amazing live show left everyone wanting more.

    Trivium hit the Derby Stage hard. After two songs in the opening of their set, singer Matt Heafy stopped to talked to the crowd. He asked “How the fuck we doing today? We are Trivium. Is this anyone’s first time seeing Trivium today?” After the first timers responded, Heafy said “Pleasure to meet y’all” and then asked “Is this anyone’s second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth or 10th time seeing Trivium? Alright my friends one very simple rule for a Trivium show my friends. Whatever the fuck we’re doing up here, we need you all to be doing down there. That’s headbanging, singing, screaming, moving your asses, sweating and all that good fucking shit.”

    He then gave a rundown on what crowd on the festival circuit was the best so far. Heafy said the crowd “If you want be the motherfucking best my friends, we all got to step it the fuck up.” Trivium followed Heafy’s speech with the band’s current single “Dead and Gone.”

    Next song in the setlist Heafy told the crowd that they were gonna go back to the fourth album, but needed the fans’ help before they play “Down From The Sky.” He went on to say that on the next song, “Lets make some noise together. I’ll do it with you, but y’all gotta do it with me too.”

    Heafy introduced “Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr.” He introduced the song by saying “This next song is an old motherfucker. This song goes real well with a nice circle pit or two or three or whatever you feel like doing but we need that shit.”

    Heafy then explained how the pit works, “You run and you turn left, if they fall down, pick them the fuck back up. If you ain’t in that circle, you’re banging your head, you’re shaking your ass or you’re fucking moving your bodies.”

    Queensbury native Frank Palangi opened the final day Sunday at Rock ‘N Derby, on the Upstate Concert Hall Arena Stage. Palangi played a good mix of original tunes and cover tunes. Palangi and his band came right out to get noticed, and they did. By the end of his set, most of the fans that were sitting over on the bleachers, made their way to the general standing area to rock out closer to him.

    After his first song, Palangi asked the crowd, “You guys ready to make some noise today?” After the fans’ minimal response, Palangi then asked the crowd louder, “I said, are you ready to make some noise today?” He then went on to explain what the next song in his set is about. Palangi said the next song is about being lied to. he then asked the fans “Who’s ever been lied to?” After a couple shouts from the crowd he replied, “Just a couple of people? I don’t find that true. It’s a song about basically somebody taking your words and twisting them around.”

    Before Palangi performed the song “Driving These Lines,” he gave a quick run-down about the song being about the ups and downs in life and the music industry. He said “You run into stuff that bothers you, but then its like, I can’t do anything about it. But that’s life.” After the song, he thanked one of the sponsors at Rock’N Derby, entertainment retailer f.y.e.. He then thanked the local f.y.e.’s for supporting local artists by selling their music in their stores. He said “f.y.e.’s here in New York support local artist and they are awesome.”

    Drummer Josh Opitz and Palangi showed off some of their skills before they performed their new single “Break These Chains.” Optiz started off teasing a drum solo with Palangi shredding a rift on his guitar.

    Palangi then played a cover by the band Full Devil Jacket. Palangi talked about how the band was a big influence on him since Woodstock 1999 and showed respect to singer Josh Brown. He talked about how he gave Brown his CD and he listened to it. Brown then gave it to his producer and said this is how it all got started for him and he hasn’t stopped since. Palangi then told fans that he met the members of his band on Craigslist, and that they are blessed to do music here the last couple of years. Palangi then played the song “Now You Know.”

    Palangi paid tribute to friend and bandmate TR Remsen who passed away recently from cancer. He said he was right there with them, as he pointed to the empty spot next to him. The band closed with the song “I Am Ready.”

  • Trivium Destroys A Sold Out Lost Horizon

    On Saturday, January 16th, Trivium finally returned to Syracuse for the first time in what seemed like ages. Touring behind their latest album Silence In The Snow, Trivium are showing no signs of slowing down after releasing their 7th album. Even though Trivium decided to release Silence In The Snow without any of their trademark screaming, the album is still doing incredibly well. With the increase in radio play and demands, it’s no wonder why the guys in Trivium sold out The Lost Horizon in advance.

    Prior to Trivium kicking off their winter tour, they went through yet another drummer change. With the announcement of Paul Wandtke taking over as the new drummer, Trivium fans were left asking questions about the new guy. When looking to replace the previous drummer due to creative differences, bassist Paolo Gregoletto and singer Matt Heafy looked to none other than John Petrucci of Dream Theater. Petrucci then brought Dream Theater’s drummer Mike Mangini into the conversation to get some ideas. Mangini recommended Paul who actually studied under him at Berklee. Making his debut at Knotfest in Mexico in early December, Wandtke quickly meshed with the band and has made quite the impact.

    Trivium took the stage at the Lost Horizon after two local bands got the crowd warmed up and ready to go. The night opened up with “Silence In The Snow”, the title track of their latest album. Right off the bat, vocalist/guitar player Matt Heafy experienced issues with his microphone which was echoing every word he sung. After a quick look over to his tech and a laugh the issue was quickly fixed and the night was perfect from that point on. The best thing about seeing a Trivium headlining set is that they’re going deep into their 7 album catalog. The set included 3 songs off their album Ascendancy which were “Like Light to the Flies”, “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr” and “Rain”. Fans responded to Trivium’s choice of songs with nothing but pure energy and madness. Fans who were looking to enjoy the show casually weren’t found on the lower floor because it was a whirlpool of bodies crashing into each other. Those who were trying to stand off to the side were even seeing the side effects of the mosh pits brought upon by songs like “Rain,, “Insurrection” and “Becoming the Dragon.”

    Throughout the night Matt Heafy addressed the crowd, demanding them to be loud and rude. Heafy didn’t want any silence in the venue, even while he was speaking himself. Paolo Gregoletto was busy throughout the evening keeping the bass riffs going, singing backup vocals and getting up close and person with the crowd. With the barrier only a mere foot away, Paolo, Matt and lead guitar player Corey Beaulieu all took turns leaning into the crowd. Being so close to the crowd helped the band absorb the energy from the fans easily, especially those in the first few rows who could reach out and touch them. The new drummer Paul Wandtke was an absolute animal behind the drum kit. For being the new face in the band, Paul seems to fit in perfectly. The 14 song set seemed easy for Paul who nailed all the parts he needed to while adding his own personal touch in just the right places. Hopefully for Trivium and their fans, this is the last drummer that Trivium will ever need.

    After ending the show with “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr” and “In Waves”, Trivium left their fans wanting even more. Hopefully with the response that Trivium got on Saturday night, they realized that they need to come play in Syracuse more often. For fans looking to catch Trivium a few more times this year, they can hit up almost any of the major festivals in May such as Carolina Rebellion and New York’s very own Rock N’ Derby. For all Trivium news including tour dates and music, visit their website at here.

    Setlist: Silence in the Snow, Into the Mouth of Hell We Match, Strife, Rain, Tread the Floods, Built to Fall, Like Light to the Flies, Insurrection, Dead and Gone, Becoming the Dragon, Down from the Sky, Until the World Goes Cold, Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr, In Waves