Onslaught and Warlord in Lincoln: April 4

Last night I went to my hometown to see U.K. veteran thrashers Onslaught in concert.  Lately I have been going to any metal concerts around, just because they have been so rare lately.  Last year I only made it to one concert.  So, that means seeing bands that maybe aren't groups I would normally jump at.  The best example is the Savage Master show I saw a month ago.  Now, I do enjoy Onslaught quite a bit, but they are not a band I have listened to a ton.  That might change after this show.

The venue this time around was The Bourbon Theatre.  It is kind of a dive that used to be a movie theater.  It's not a venue I go to frequently, I think this might have been my fourth time there, but they do seem to be getting more and more good acts lately.

I missed the first band, a local group called Fahr, due to having dinner with my wife's family before the show.  So, the first band I saw was a group called Haunter out of California.  Haunter's sound is a mix between black metal and punk and reminded me of Devil Master.  They put on a decent show, and their drummer in particular was really damn good.  I might be interested in checking something out by them, but they have yet to release a full-length, just a few EPs and a split.

Warlord was next to the stage and I did a little digging into their history, which is sort of all over the place.  Warlord has broken up and re-formed half a dozen times or so over the years, almost always with a new singer.  The music was hard-driving 80's metal with killer hooks and catchy choruses.  Their show was a bit longer than one would expect for a support act, especially one with a spotty discography and not much of a following.  They were pretty impressive, and I may have to check some of their stuff out.

Onslaught is another band with kind of an odd history.  They started out as a punk band, then altered their sound to a much more black/thrash metal sound.  They remain criminally underrated and overlooked considering how great their early stuff was, particularly The Force and Power from Hell.  Then they went in a progressive direction with Grim Reaper howler Steve Grimmett before breaking up.  Guitarist Nige Rockett and Power vocalist Sy Keeler brought the band back and released some more killer records since 2004.  

The show last night primarily focused on the early records, along with some songs since the reformation of the band, but was all pummeling thrash metal.  It was one of the best shows I have seen in a long time.  I am definitely going to dive into this band a bit more.  I have those early records and, as much as I love them, I haven't listened to them too much.  That will have to change.  It was a hell of a show. 

Catching Up: 2020 Pt. 10

METAL CHURCH: FROM THE VAULT

My first memory of Metal Church is seeing their albums really close to Metallica's in stores.  I always noted they were also on Elektra Records, so their albums looked very similar.  Yet, I never checked them out, something I wish I would have taken a chance on early on.  Metal Church's sound is much closer to US power metal than thrash metal though, so any similarity to Metallica is superficial.  This release is a compilation of rarities, live songs, covers and other randomness.  It is by no means an essential listen, but there are some pretty strong tracks on it.  Most of the covers and live stuff is skippable, but the first half of unreleased stuff is well worth it for fans of the band.  Metal Church is a massively underrated band, and their abilities are on full display with this release.  It's not a necessary release, but that doesn't mean it is not worth at least checking out. 

VEXING HEX: HAUNT

It is inevitable that when a band strikes it big that there will be copycats.  A lot of bands have looked at the success that Ghost has had and attempted to replicate some part of that.  There's a lot of really shitty bands that have tried the mask and anonymous members approach (looking at you Sleep Token), but I have not heard too many bands try to replicate the sound.  Vexing Hex is one.  While their sound is not exactly metal, they sound like they have tried to capture the same 70's hard rock-isms that Ghost used particularly in their earlier albums.  It is much closer to Blue Oyster Cult than Black Sabbath, not that that is a bad thing.  There are some damn catchy songs here, particularly closing track "Rise From Your Grave".  

COUNTLESS SKIES: GLOW

I am a little bit out of the loop on the trends in metal of late.  I know generally the bands that Liquid Metal is in love with and some of the mainstream crap, but finding the underground stuff has been more difficult over the last few years.  I do still come across stuff.  This is kind of a weird way to get to the fact that it seems to me like melodic death metal of the type that was popular in the mid 2000's (Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Soilwork and the like) seems to be not as common.  And I am speaking more of what those bands sounded like in the mid 2000's, not the Gothenburg sound popularized by Slaughter of the Soul.  This is probably somewhat natural, there are always trends.  So I was kind of surprised when I heard Countless Skies.  This is the second release from the band, and their last one to date.  This one went a little too far in the direction of the aforementioned sound, and I don't like it as much as their previous album New Dawn, but it is still a decent enough release, particularly for anyone who loved that particular mid 2000's melodeath sound, which I really did.

BATUSHKA: CARJU NIEBIESNYJ

Batushka made some pretty big waves with their 2015 debut, which was a rather stunning album where everything went right and sounded like a black metal mass.  And the band had an impressive visual aesthetic, looking like an Orthodox mass gone very very wrong.  But that's where the good times ended as the band splintered with two members forming bands with the same name and claiming they had rights to the name.  I can't remember which iteration created this release, but unfortunately this release comes across as more of a pale imitation of the original band, despite featuring some of the elements that made that band stand out.  It just does not feel as authentic.  The music is decent enough, but it is not as memorable.  It's a shame what has happened with this group, their first release was one of the best black metal albums of the last 20 years. 

VADER: SOLITUDE IN MADNESS

I feel like I have been too negative in this post, so it's time to end things out on a steamroller.  The long-running Polish death/thrash mavens in Vader released their 15th album in 2020.  This thing clocks in at less than half an hour in length and is just a bludgeoning, pummeling experience of the best sort.  With no song exceeding the four-minute mark, there is very little time to waste here, making this one of Vader's tightest and punchiest albums, just a short, sharp shock to the system.  The band is at the top of their game despite their long career.   

Metal "Poser"/"Trendhopper" Bingo

This thing was making the rounds on Twitter (I told you I was not going to call it X) for a few days.  I never did anything with it on the site, but I thought it would be sort of interesting to put it up here.

1.  Think thrash metal is lame.  Obviously this does not apply to me.  Longtime readers know thrash is probably my favorite metal subgenre.  It was the first one I got into, via Metallica, Megadeth and Testament.  Testament is my favorite band.

2.  Get upset at extreme themes in death metal and black metal.  Nope.  I don't love misogynistic lyrics and I prefer to avoid NSBM, but I definitely don't get upset by them.

3.  Only listen to one style of metal.  Definitely not.  I listen to a wide variety of styles of metal and can generally find a band to listen to out of almost everything.

4.  Have a nose ring.  Nope, no piercings here.

5.  Watch or have watched Metal journalist Youtube videos.  What is a metal journalist?  Who is a metal journalist?  I have watched people talk about metal on Youtube, but I have no idea what counts here.

6.  Use Rate Your Music on Last.FM.  I don't use Last.FM.

7.  Watch Anthony Fantano.  I have never watched him.  I am familiar with who he is though.

8.  Found a metal band you like on Tik Tok.  Nope.  Never use Tik Tok.

9.  Haven't seen Slayer live.  I have seen Slayer live twice.

10.  Buy clothes from Hot Topic/Spencer's.  No.  I have bought shirts at Hot Topic in the past, but this is presented in a present tense.  It's been probably 20 years since I have even stepped inside a Hot Topic.  Does that store still exist?

11.  Think all black metal sounds the same.  Definitely not.  Black metal is easily one of the most diverse metal subgenres.

12.  Listen to nu-metal.  So, I do occasionally listen to some nu-metal.  There are some decent albums that I still come back to from time to time.  Bands like Spineshank, Systematic, early Static-X, System of a Down, Deadlights and others are still decent.

13.  Free Space.  Obviously.

14.  Go to hardcore shows a lot.  No.  There have occasionally been hardcore bands playing at shows I have been to, but I have never been to an exclusive hardcore show and certainly not often.

15.  Listen to deathcore and metalcore.  I do listen to bands in both subgenres.  I am trying out a few bands in deathcore, with Carnifex being a particular favorite.  As far as metalcore, I have early Trivium, Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage and several others.  Neither subgenre is a favorite, but I do listen to some.

16.  Re-sell band merch on De-Pop.  I don't even know what that is.  I also don't resell merch.

17.  Don't play an instrument.  I am teaching myself bass.

18.  Call other people posers too often.  I generally don't have an issue with other people's listening habits to the point I call them names.  I do think there are people who need to broaden their horizons to be considered metalheads.

19.  Listen to hipster metal bands like Blood Incantation and Full of Hell.  What makes a metal band hipster?  I would consider Deafheaven to be a better example.  Anyway, I do listen to both of those bands, but I have been listening to Blood Incantation since well before their mainstream notoriety.  

20.  Don't go to shows.  I go to a lot of shows. 

21.  Listen to Maggot Stomp bands.  I had to look up the label, because I am not great at keeping track of what labels are out there these days.  Anyway, yes I do.  Apparently groups like Undeath, Internal Bleeding, 200 Stab Wounds, Coffin Rot, Fulci and Sanguisugabogg are all bands I listen to that are on that label.

22.  Haven't been to a festival.  I don't love festivals, primarily because they tend to be outside in the summer and that can be way too hot, but I have been to two.

23.  Get patches from Amazon.  Nope.

24.  Haven't been to a festival.  Apparently, this is here twice.  

25.  Wear an ushanka.  I had to look that up too.  It's a hat with ear coverings.  No, I do not wear an ushanka.

So, how did I do?

Apparently, I did not get a Bingo.  So, not a poser/trendhopper then?  

Impending Doom: Hellbent (2021)

I am trying to open up my mind a little more to some genres I have not generally been a fan of.  The first one is deathcore.  Deathcore is obviously a hybrid genre of death metal and hardcore, and it is one that I thought would be a short-lived phase from around 2007 to 2015 or so, but it is not going away.  My Twitter (I refuse to call it X) page is often full of deathcore mentions, so I decided to revisit the few deathcore albums I own and see if I can appreciate them more.  Off the top of my head, I own four (one album each by Through the Eyes of the Dead, Carnifex, Despised Icon and this one).  I suppose you could count Infant Annihilator too.  I've only seen All Shall Perish and Fit for an Autopsy in concert, both opening for bands I wanted to see.  Yep, like I said, it was not really a genre I cared much for, so I avoided it.

I can't say I will be making a deep dive into the genre and I am going to stick around the bands that are more on the metal side of things.  So, no Slaughter to Prevail.  I can't stand that fucking band.  Maybe I will try to branch out a bit and check out bands that I have not really explored in the past, such as Job for a Cowboy (still one of the stupider metal band names I have heard of), Whitechapel, and the like.  I fear I am becoming an angry, curmudgeonly metalhead stuck in the past.  Whether I like it or not, the music evolves and deathcore is not going anywhere.  

So, first up is Impending Doom, and this is an EP so it is short enough to listen to all the way through without shutting off right away and giving up on the whole plan.  Now, Impending Doom is notable because they are a Christian deathcore band.  I can't remember how it is that I came into possession of this release.  Maybe I didn't know that when I purchased the album.  Maybe it was sent to me when I was a member of the Monthly Metal Box subscription club.  I don't know.  The band apparently likes to refer to their music as "gorship music", a portmanteau of gore and worship.  The lyrics are definitely Christian-oriented.  The first track "Satanic Panic" features this little gem: "You will feel the wrath of God when the noose drops.  Vengeance is his name."  So, not really your bright and shiny Christianity, more of the fire and brimstone preacher stuff.  It's a bit more heavy-handed in its message than some Christian bands.  

The music is pretty typical for the genre.  It's certainly heavy and more oriented toward the death metal side of things.  The hardcore portions are definitely the heavy use of breakdowns, but they are generally built around actual riffs.  Some of the songs are quite a bit better than others.  The last track "I Must End" should have taken its own advice about four minutes sooner.  The band leans into some nu-metal-esque elements at times, such as eerie guitar noodling and drumming that sounds lifted from Korn.  The aforementioned opening track "Satanic Panic" and the title track are probably the highlights of the album.  Some of the other tracks veer too far from death metal at times for my taste.  

Well, I tried.  I don't know how I will keep going at this and for how long.  I suppose I didn't hate this album, but it did try my patience at times.  I will give it another couple spins and see if it is something I can get into or not.  As I said before, at least it's short.    

Savage Master in Omaha: Feb. 20, 2026

Last week I returned to the Reverb Lounge in Omaha for Kentucky metallers Savage Master.  I am not super familiar with the band, but I do have one of their albums.  It was more about just getting to a concert again since things were so slow last year.

I was late to the show, so I missed the first two bands.  So, I apologize to Phuzz and Phantom Crypt, but I did not get to see those bands.  Ungoliant was the band on stage when I arrived and I have seen them several times now.  It is interesting how much they have improved since the first time I saw them a few years ago.  Nebraska does not have many great metal bands, but Ungoliant is making some big strides lately.  I need to pick up an album by them.  I have a small collection of albums by Nebraska bands, highlighted by Xenomorph, Cellador and Garoted.  

As I said, I was not real familiar with Savage Master other than the one album I have, which I do enjoy quite a bit.  When the singer of Ungoliant said that Savage Master was going to melt our faces off, I kind of chuckled, but holy hell did they put on a great show.  It was a lot more theatrical than I anticipated, not to say it was something like Ghost, but there were aspects of that.  Singer Stacey Savage did a couple of quick wardrobe changes throughout, usually a cape or a leather jacket, and utilized props on a few occasions.  Once she wielded a ritual dagger against the band members' throats.  Which brings me to the band members, all of whom were hooded and masked.  The massive bassist even wore a cape.  Savage Master ripped through their set, about ten songs, with almost no speaking to the crowd.  They just got up there and proceeded to melt the faces off the entire crowd.  It was one hell of a show.

Pyrexia: Unholy (2025)

I picked up this album when I saw Pyrexia in concert in November opening up for Abysmal Dawn and Krisiun.  Pyrexia has been covered a few times on this blog primarily due to their influence on the slam death genre.  They never really were a slam band themselves, but they share some characteristics and are cited as an influence on the genre, much in the way that fellow New York death metal band Suffocation.

I have a few Pyrexia albums, with their debut Sermon of Mockery being a particular favorite.  This one is a pretty straight-forward brutal death metal release.  It's typically heavy and intense with some standout moments.  I was particularly impressed with "Wrath" which starts off with a clip from The Shining, specifically the moment in which Jack Torrance confronts the ghostly Mr. Grady about killing and butchering his wife and daughter.  I haven't been able to find lyrics for the song to determine if the song is about the book/movie.  That song also features guest vocals from Sanguisugabogg growler Devin Swank.

This is a quality release by Pyrexia, but it doesn't reinvent the wheel.  It's short, which helps because it makes it easier to sit down and just listen all the way through.  There are no soft moments, no relenting on the intensity, so the brevity is a relief.  Pyrexia doesn't do anything new, but continues to put out fun, brutal death releases.  The band should also be experienced live.

Catching Up: 2020 Pt. 9

ACCEPT: TOO MEAN TO DIE

I have developed a greater appreciation for Accept over the last several years.  I think they are a highly underrated band that was extremely important not just to the German metal scene, but the metal sound in general.  They should be considered a formative band.  The band is deep in their second life at this point since their return after a 15-year hiatus in 2010.  This is their fifth album since the return, and though Udo Dirkschneider has long since left the band, they still sound just as fresh and vital as they did when they returned.  The formula is mostly the same, but they are still capable of "Balls to the Wall"-style fist-pumping true metal anthems.   

CRYPT DWELLER: THE FORBIDDEN DARK ARTS

I remember being sort of underwhelmed by this release the first couple times I heard it.  This is one I bought because of the album art.  I am not sure what the issue was before because I really got into this when I was listening in preparation for this blurb.  The band this reminds me most of is Acid Witch.  It's death/doom with absolutely disgusting riffs and decayed and rotting vocals.  The horror vibes are loud and clear.  There are samples from various movies that add to the atmosphere.  The songs do tend to sound a little too much the same and it makes it kind of a difficult listen for nearly an hour, but this has grown on me.

CURSE: THE AWAKENING...AND THE OLD

I am a big fan of blackened thrash metal, and so of course I am going to grab something that I come across, especially one from Sweden, the country that brought us Nifelheim.  And that is definitely the starting point for comparison's sake.  This is a fairly short six-song EP.  The band is at its best when they are playing fast, most notably on the title track.  There are a couple of slower tracks which are not nearly as impressive.  I was hoping to hear something more from this band, this is a very promising EP, but they have yet to release anything else.

RUIN LUST: CHOIR OF BABEL

Ruin Lust is the sound of chaos.  The band does an excellent job of building up this atmosphere of complete and utter annihilation.  There is nothing pretty here between the rampaging riffs, thunderous drumming and sepulchral vocals.  These are not songs, they are anthems to violence.  This is not a release for the weak of heart.  It is not a particularly enjoyable listen, but it hits on a primal level.

MIDNIGHT: REBIRTH BY BLASPHEMY

After nearly 20 years toiling in the underground, Midnight managed to achieve attention by Metal Blade Records and Decibel Magazine.  This did not come at the expense of their sound thankfully.  Raised on an unhealthy diet of Venom and Motorhead, Midnight retained their fast as hell, blasphemic style.  And with song titles such as "Fucking Speed and Darkness" and "Devil's Excrement", their rise to the sort-of-big-time hasn't softened their edge either.  Longtime listeners (and I am one) know what to expect from a Midnight album and this absolutely delivers.  

Catching Up: 2020 Pt. 8

Yeah, yeah, been a long time.  Shut up.

COLLISION: THE FINAL KILL

Longtime readers of this blog (I suppose there might still be a few of you out there) know that I generally am not a big fan of metal genres fused with hardcore.  I have never been the biggest metalcore fan, outside of a few bands, even in the mid-2000's.  Very little deathcore has caught my attention.  The only one that I am a big fan of is crossover, and that's mainly because thrash already had a major hardcore influence.  I haven't done a major deep drive into the genre, but I have enjoyed Nuclear Assault, the relevant Corrosion of Conformity material, and the Power Trip.  That brings me to this EP.  The riffs are undeniably more on the metal scale, but played with a punk ferocity.  The only issue is that the shouted vocals are a bit too far on the hardcore side for me.  Occasionally, it gets switched up with more death metal-esque growling, but those moments are not real common.  It's a short EP though, so it doesn't wear out it's welcome. 

BENIGHTED: OBSCENE REPRESSED

This is the French brutal death metal band's ninth release, but the first one that I have heard.  I have been aware of Benighted, I just never really bothered to check them out.  Not sure why.  It's not an anti-French bias.  I enjoy Gojira and Yyrkoon, and particularly the black metal scene.  Yet here we are.  This is a blasphemic and gory good time.  The music easily matches the album art, absolutely grotesque.  There is nothing pretty here and the lyrics are just as grimy and foul.  This one is largely considered one of the band's best, so I am getting in at the right moment.  I will probably look into more of this band's discography.

WITCHY: WITCHY

This is kind of a fascinating, short little EP.  Witchy appears to be a one-man doom metal project with next to no information out there about its sole member.  The sound is traditional, slow-moving doom metal with an occult atmosphere, some heavy use of organs and hypnotic vocals.  Think Pentagram for a reference point.  Witchy doesn't reinvent the wheel here, it's just good, old-fashioned doom metal.  Thus far this is the only release by the band.

RIPPED TO SHREDS: LUAN

Ripped to Shreds is a band I have been in on since the beginning.  They are an old-school-sounding death metal band with an emphasis in Chinese history and folklore.  Their influence is clearly out of the old Swedish death metal scene, groups like Dismember and Entombed.  Most of their album titles appear on the covers written in Chinese.  I will not speculate as to whether it is Cantonese or Mandarin, or possibly something else, that's not an area I have any knowledge in and I don't want to get it wrong.  There are moments the band incorporates Asian melodies into their sound, which is overall an incredibly caustic and violent one.  Ripped to Shreds lives up to their name because that is exactly what they do.  I will be continuing to follow this band.  They should be more well-known by now. 

AFKSY: OFTE JEG DRØMMER MIG DØD

Saving the best for last today. I love this album.  If I ever get my shit together and do Best Albums posts for the last few years, it is likely this album takes the top spot, or maybe second to the Testament album.  Afsky is another one-man band, this time a black metal band from Denmark.  This is one of the most emotional black metal albums I have heard in years.  The riffs and drumming, while thunderous, have a warm feeling to them that conveys a deeply somber atmosphere.  The vocals are intense shrieking wails that are at the same time powerful and forlorn.  This is an absolutely incredible album and I highly recommend it.  

I Listened to the 2026 Metal Grammy Nominees So You Don't Have To

What a stupid fucking move that was.  

Anyway, so my distaste for the Grammys has been pretty crystal clear from day one of this blog.  They have absolutely no idea what to do with heavy music.  Most of the time, if there is a readily identifiable band in the category, that's who wins (Metallica has won seven times).  Sometimes, they make decent decisions, such as last year when Gojira won for the song played at the Olympics.  I understood that one.  Other times, they seemingly throw a dart and go with what comes up (Deftones, Tenacious D, Rage Against the Machine).  That's what happened this year.  First of all, I don't even understand how they came up with these nominees.  For Best Metal Performance, you would think at least a couple of the nominees would be metal songs.  Not this year.  I suppose I will give my thoughts.

1.  Turnstile: "Birds".  This was the winner this year and I am not sure I am listening to the same song.  Turnstile came up through the hardcore and punk scene and then became this weird mix of those genres with alternative rock.  Note, I did not once mention metal.  This is a little bit more of a straight-up hardcore song.  It's fine, but it is not a metal track.

2.  Spiritbox: "Soft Spine".  This band has been jammed down the throats of listeners to Liquid Metal on Sirius XM for years.  I occasionally listen to that in the car and I think I hear a song by them at least once when I do.  This song is fine, I guess.  But again, Spiritbox is not really a metal band, more of an alternative/electronic/industrial rock band.  Heavy, but the metal influences are minimal.  I would say they have more in common with nu-metal.

3.  Sleep Token: "Emergence".  I discussed this band on my Bands I Hate post awhile back.  I listened to this song, and what the fuck?  I know they have rather disparate influences slapped together like an amateur chef trying to be experimental, but this is one of the least metal songs I have ever heard from this band.  There's occasionally some power chords.  That's it.  Otherwise it's a mix of soft rock and R&B and some electronica thrown in.  And then there's a saxophone solo.  What the hell were the people that put together the nominees thinking here?  They're not the most metal of bands most of the time, but this is seriously the farthest away I have ever heard this band.

4.  Ghost: "Lachryma".  I thought this was going to win honestly.  Ghost has won in the past and that is a sure sign of winning again.  Even though they are not really a metal band anymore.  This song comes at least close at times.  This is not a bad song, but again, it's not really metal.  Much more of a straightforward hard rock track.

5.  Dream Theater: "Night Terror".  Here is the only metal track in the category.  I haven't really cared about anything Dream Theater has done since their album Awake back in the mid 1990's.  This is a decent song, but it's almost ten minutes long, which is way too long to expect the people that vote on these things to actually pay attention.  It's not a great song, but at least it's a metal song, something I would think would be the primary qualification for nomination.  I guess Dream Theater has won this before as well.  Still, I didn't think this had a chance at winning.   

I don't think any of these should have won.  Time to listen to something to cleanse the palate.  I am going to put on some Satan's Hallow.

Krisiun at The Reverb Lounge Sometime in November

I waited a very long time to make this post.  Well, waited is not the right word for it.  I have been pretty busy over the last several months.  As usual.  Anyway, that is the last concert I have attended, so I probably better get something out on it.  

Krisiun is a band I haven't spent a lot of time listening to.  I have a few of their albums, and I definitely enjoy them, but they are not a band I usually rush to pick up when a new album is released.  The support bands were Abysmal Dawn, Pyrexia and Gorgatron.  I am about as familiar with Abysmal Dawn and Pyrexia as I am with Krisiun.  Gorgatron was new to me.

Gorgatron is a death metal band out of North Dakota and one of their guitarists was previously in Omaha black metal band Ungoliant.  The drummer is also in Pyrexia, which explains how Gorgatron got on this bill in the first place.  They were a lot of fun live, their singer was very funny, and they seem like a bunch of guys who just love what they do.  That came across well in their set.  I will be seeking out something from them.

Pyrexia is a band I have been semi into for awhile, primarily due to their influence on the slam death metal subgenre.  Their music has always been more closely tied to the brutal death metal genre than slam, but their use of breakdowns helped foster the development of slam.  Their songs were all short and very brutal.  I picked up their new album from their merch stand.  

Up next was Abysmal Dawn, one of the more interesting pure modern death metal bands that have come about in the last quarter century.  It's kind of strange, but they have not released a new album since 2020.  So, it is kind of unusual that they were on the bill.  Maybe something is coming soon.  I was extremely impressed with their set though.  I will definitely have to dig back into some of their stuff again.

Finally, we came to the Brazilian death metal band Krisiun.  Brazil has an impressive history with metal music, starting with Sepultura and Sarcofago and spreading from there.  Krisiun fits in well with the earlier bands.  Their music is sharp and intense and they were firing on all cylinders this night.  

All told, this was a hell of a show.  Unfortunately, this is the only concert I attended all year.  Hopefully I will get to more this year.