Tag Archives: house of blues

Cradle of Filth House of Blue 2/16/2016

 

Cradle of Filth had finally made their way back to America for their Witches of Hammer Tour. For those of you who do not know, the last time that Cradle was set to have an American tour they were not able to because America would not grant them visa's which is very confusing because their on stage performance does nothing that is offensive. Anyways the wait was well worth it, with an added date to Vegas it was quite a performance.

This was by far one of the barest sets I have seen, the only thing that was on stage was the very intense drum set, the amps that come with the venue, a rounded keyboard, a ramp underneath the banner and the banner itself. This is not to say that the stage was not full of entertainment, it just was not about the antics that the band could provide the audience but rather it was about what the band was playing. When you are listening to Cradle of Filth there is a certain type of expectation to hear the famous scream, much like Courtney Love, one expects to hear it and Filth did not let anyone down. In fact his vocals was so much better then any album he had put out. The fact that he can hit such high notes is amazing but to have the moment to check it off of a personal bucket list is always amazing. It is not only Filth that can those lovely notes but female vocalist and keyboard player Lindsay Schoolcraft. The two of them singing together for songs like “Nymphetamine”. This might have been an encore song but it by far stole the show. It is one thing to hear it on a record but another to hear it in person and the band had SLAYED this song. I was getting snapchats of this song from friends who went to other shows.

Aside from playing such classic the band had also played new songs off their album. For me one of the things I like is when the set seamless flows into one another, new and old, which is the case for the Cradle set. The way that it had flowed together was intertwining the old with the new which helps fans who have not had a chance to purchase the new album know what they are missing out on and that they need to go out and buy it 5 minutes ago. One of the nice thing about the guitarist and bass players is how they perform on stage. They did some of the head banging but they also played in a straight line stiffly but with creepy stares and smiles embodying the melody and lyrics of the song. It was pretty cool to see something different but something that had worked well with the flow of the music. It sets them apart from other bands who do nothing but head-bang.

The show was a great one to attend and it hurts my soul that this was not a sold out concert because by all means it should have been. Hearing songs like “Malice Through The Looking Glass” and “Gilded Cunt” where amazing and more people should have been there to witness such an event. On a side note I did buy the Jesus is a Cunt shirt and I will proudly wear that to various function and laugh at the gasp that it will receive.

 

 

 

cradle7 cradle8
cradle6 cradle2
cradle5 cradle3
   
   
   

 

Korn featuring Suicide Silence 10/23

Korn_Suicide_Silence_tour

 

 

 

Suicide Silence was the second band to play before Korn at the House of Blues on October 23rd. The stage was set up for Korn so there was not a lot of space to be had for the fairly large band but that did not stop them from keeping up a high energy. The band all moved all over the small HOB stage with the many amps that had accompanied the stage. They played a fairly large selections of songs from their discography including new ones like “You Can't Stop Me”. Probably the most energetic on stage was lead singer Eddie Hermida. He moved around everywhere and it some times it seemed rather spastic but not in a negative way, more in the sense that he was correlating how he felt with the music.

Death Metal has some of the best riffs and to see the various guitarists play them and hear it in person is quite amazing. During song “Inherit the Crown”, these plays were very apparent. It is always nice to hear things in person because it demonstrates the technical skill that is require for such bands. Some people get held up by how hard it is to hear what the band is singing and they forget to listen to the music. Death Metal has such a technical play that is listening to the music is as important as listening to the lyrics. As a standard theme of the night was how low the bass player could get onto the ground before they were simply laying there playing. It is amazing how far a player can get and still play. That in itself is some skill. This was a sold out show on the bottom so it was wall to wall people who were excited to be there and the band was equally excited to be playing on stage.

After Suicide Silence had finished there set, Korn came on to play. This was not some ordinary tour, this was the celebration of the 20th anniversary of their first album so for their main set it was just 15 songs that made us love Korn. It was amazing to see play. There was a lot of excitement from the crowd and despite the dumb ass next to me who came only to hear hits, Korn was playing to a very happy crowd. The walls literally vibrated with their set. Since it was a packed show it was hard for me to see much of the set since I am 5'4 and I hate being in the middle of a crowd. (which seems odd being a concert journalist). Despite that the little things I could see inbetween people shoulders were that of a band that was playing an album in pure gratitude of the fans that had gotten them to this 20th land mark.

The song that seemed to have every railed up, myself included was when Jonathon Davis came out playing the bag pipes for “Shoots and Ladders”. This was a song that I was wondering how it was going to be done, was he going to come out and play? What was going to happen? Once Davis hit the stage with the first notes of the bag pipes, the crowd went completely wild. Everyone around was freaking out because this was one of those moments that we all knew would be a rarity. This is the first time I have seen Korn so I don't know how often he plays this song but it does not matter, the fact is that is a hard instrument to play and we all got to be a witness to it.

After the amazing full length album set, Korn came out for their encore and played some of their hits which people want to see when they hear Korn is playing. It is appreciative that they added these songs on to an already long set list. There was no slacking when these songs played but rather the same amount of love and consideration was given to these songs much like the ones that had gotten them this far. Over all it was a great show for the bands that had taken the stage that night.