Concert Review: In Flames and More

Last night as part of my Valentine's Day gift from my wife, we went to the Bourbon Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska to see In Flames with some other bands.  I did not expect to make in on time, but we did actually get to see all four bands, which is very good for reasons I will get into soon.

This was actually a fairly decent concert experience.  Typically I have been to concerts jammed into some small stage area with very little room to move around and no seating.  The Bourbon actually has kind of a nice set up with some seating room and a decent sized area in front of the stage for a pit.  I usually stick near the back and sit since my wife has no interest in being in the pit.

BATTLECROSS
This was the surprise of the night.  Battlecross plays melodic death metal in a Slaughter of the Soul vein with more brutality.  They sounded great and really interacted well with the crowd.  They had the presence of a band that has been going for a very long time.  Not bad for one who has only put out two albums to this point.  I will be picking up the CD and I did get a t-shirt.

ALL SHALL PERISH
Chugga-chugga-breakdown-ree-ree-chugga-chugga-breakdown-breakdown-ree-breakdown.  Ridiculous.

DEMON HUNTER
I almost fell asleep a couple of times.  This band is apparently inexplicably popular in Lincoln.  A ton of people rushed in from the bar area to see them.  I do not get it.

IN FLAMES
They exceeded my expectations playing a number of older songs mixed in with three or four from their newest album.  They played songs from Whoracle, Clayman, and even Colony, three of my favorite albums from the band.  Most of their material was from Reroute to Remain and Soundtrack to Your Escape, but I love both of those as well, so I had no problem with it.  I was a little annoyed with the lighting which would often shine brightly right in my eyes, but it was not intolerable.

Overall the band sounded pretty good.  They have softened the edges of some of their harder material as their music has become less metallic.  But they definitely know how to move the crowd.  And they do acknowledge the popularity of their older material, though they do stick more to the last five albums.

The blurry photo is my fault.

Concert Tonight

My wife has been pretty good to me on Valentine's Day over the years.  Last year she gave me the most recent CDs from Vektor and Disma, two fantastic albums.  The year before that she gave me a Napalm Death 3 CD set.  This year, she bought tickets to a concert in Lincoln.  The concert will feature four bands, though we will most likely not see all of them.

BATTLECROSS
I have not heard of this band before, but they seem like they would be up my alley.  Unfortunately with a two hour drive there and back and lots of things to take care of at home, we don't really want to be gone too long.  So we will likely miss Battlecross.

ALL SHALL PERISH
They are one of the more interesting deathcore bands, but that is akin to saying something is the best-tasting piece of animal feces.  It may be true but in the end you're still eating shit.

DEMON HUNTER
I could not give less of a fuck about Demon Hunter.  Their nu-metal-tinged metalcore has never struck a chord with me, even when I did not mind those genres.

IN FLAMES
This is why we are going.  I did not even check out their last album after disliking A Sense of Purpose.  But I enjoyed all of their other stuff.  I guess I am hoping for an even-distributed concert since it has been two years since the last release.  In Flames was vital in my metal experience during law school and shortly afterwards.  They were once one of my favorite bands.

I missed a concert a couple of weeks ago.  Hatebreed, Shadows Fall, Dying Fetus, and The Contortionist were in Omaha, but it was on a Monday night and things have been incredibly hectic at work lately.  Also I don't care for Hatebreed, Shadows Fall was once mildly interesting and I have never heard of The Contortionist.  Still Dying Fetus would have been worth it.  And I would have loved to pick up a t-shirt and wear it around town here.