Unfortunately, the night was a huge disappointment. Due to circumstances beyond our control, my wife and I were late in arriving and missed the first band. That band turned out to be Behemoth, the primary reason I wanted to attend the concert. We had some issues getting to the venue, the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska, due to road work and the fact that we both had to work that day and we live two hours away. And for some inconceivable reason the concert started at 5:30. Plus, my wife insisted on listening to Disney music on the way down, so there was that. I guess I misjudged the popularity of Volbeat, thinking there was no way they would be playing anywhere other than first that night. So, when I figured out that we had in fact missed Behemoth, I was pissed. I seriously considered calling it a night. But, I did not think that was a reasonable response so I tried to make the most of it.
There were some definite things working in favor of enjoying the night. My wife looked amazing first of all. Secondly, we got the tickets for free, and were in the luxury suites, thanks to my dad who got the tickets from his company's lottery. The company he works for built the arena so they have a luxury box. There were free snacks and drinks provided, and I was able to enjoy the high quality meat from the meat and cheese tray provided (I am on a bit of an unusual diet and mostly just eat meat these days). So the seats and snacks were great.
The first band we saw perform was the terrific Gojira. I am not great about checking them out every time they release something new, but the albums I have checked out have been amazing. I was a bit disappointed they did not play "From the Sky", which is still my favorite song from the band, and one of the heaviest riffs ever. But their performance was amazing and with any luck, their exposure on this tour should help increase their popularity.
Next was Volbeat, who I have seen previously when they opened for Megadeth and Rob Zombie a few years back. I like some of their stuff and own one of their albums, but their more recent material has been less than impressive. Their eclectic mix of metal and rockabilly is a lot of fun when it is working. I will say they put on a great performance and definitely got the crowd going. My wife really enjoyed them, even though she kind of hated them the first time we saw them. Although I don't think anyone on Earth enjoys them as much as the guy in front of us did.
Finally, Slipknot took the stage. I do not know if it was because I was annoyed about missing Behemoth, but they just sounded bad. All you could really hear was the percussion, which sort of makes sense since they have three percussionists. But Corey Taylor's voice sounded off, and the riffs could barely be heard. And with nine fucking people running around, you would think the show would be more exciting. I still cannot figure out the official job of the one idiot who spent half the show walking around on a conveyor belt while flailing his arms around. I could not see his mask close enough to identify which one he was. They also sounded a little flat, without much energy. I was annoyed enough that we ended up leaving about three quarters of the way through their show.
Despite the huge disappointment at not seeing Behemoth, the reason I wanted to go to the show, it turned out to be a pretty decent night. Hopefully I will have another opportunity to see Behemoth again soon. My wife suggested going next weekend to see Knotfest in Kansas, but I feel like they got enough of my money Thursday night.
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