In Concert This Week - June 17, 2014

Tonight, Wednesday, June 18, doom/folk band Agalloch from Portland will play Minneapolis at the Triple Rock Social Club in support of their new album The Serpent & The Sphere. Joining them will be psychedelic black metal band Obsidian Tongue from Massachusetts and Blood And Sun. Local brewery HammerHeart (yes, named in honor of the Bathory album!) will also release Serpensblod tomorrow, an ale inspired by Agalloch and described as “a dry, smoked red ale, including beechwood, cherry wood, and oak smoked malts, chocolate malt and a generous portion of rye with a mild hop presence, 8.34% alcohol by volume.” Tickets are $15 at the door, and it’s an 18+ show with doors at 8:00.

Fargo’s Egypt plays the Triple Rock Social Club on Thursday, June 19 with Witchden, Wicked Inquisition, and Flintlock. This is an 18+ show that starts around 8:00, and it’s $8 at the door.

Things then get insane over the weekend with a ton of shows in all manner of heavy musical styles. First, Extreme Noise Records in Minneapolis is celebrating their 20th anniversary with the second of three weekend’s worth of shows. The events start Friday, June 20 with a Twin Cities punk art show at the store, and Teenage Moods, Animal Lover, Miami Dolphins, and Rabbit Holes playing a free show at the Hexagon Bar in Minneapolis. Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22 Extreme Noise takes over Memory Lanes in Minneapolis for record swaps that run from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, followed by all ages shows in the parking lot at 3:00 pm for $5 each day. Playing Saturday afternoon are Los Crudos, Organism (from Japan), Cleveland Bound Death Sentence, Mean Jeans, Banner Pilot, and Kontrasekt, and Sunday afternoon has Iron Lung, Lebenden Toten, Radioactivity, Frozen Teens, and Condominium. Saturday night (10:00 pm), Question, Gas Rag, Pillage, and Varix play a free show in the bowling alley. As if that’s not enough, Extreme Noise also has free shows at the Hexagon Bar Saturday and Sunday with Arms Aloft, Boilerman, The Crash Bandits, and The Okerlunds on Saturday, and Bad Sports, Real Numbers, Joust, and Hot Rash on Sunday.

Friday, June 20 also has Impaler, Exiles, The Regenerators, and Fatal Kaliber playing at the Amsterdam Ball & Hall, Lockgnar, Plagued Insanity, Invidiosus, and Time Destroyer at Big V’s Saloon in St. Paul, The Rope, Maledicere, Prostate, The Funeral And The Twilight, and Begrime Exemious at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, and Mommy Sez No and Jolly Roger Bandits at the Red Carpet Keller Bar in St. Cloud.

On Saturday, June 21, the Terminal Bar in Minneapolis has a night of underground black metal billed as The Devil’s Coven II with Nyogthaeblisz and Hellvetron from Texas along with locals Masshu, Bestial Whore, and Volkeinblucht. This starts around 7:00, and it’s a 21+ show that’s $15 at the door. Also on Saturday, you can catch Nuisance, Dead Horse Trauma, Gabriel And The Apocalypse, and Ghost Hook at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis, and 32Headshots, Left In The Lurch, and Dark Side at the Red Carpet Keller Bar in St. Cloud.

Massive Concert Updates

I've made some major additions to the concert calendar over the last couple of weeks, and it is now fully up to date. Here's a summary of the additions, and I've grouped them into musical styles. This isn't all-inclusive (check out the calendar on the right), but these are the most recent things I've added. There will be a lot of different things posted in the near future. To whet your appetite, I'm nearly finished remastering a complete audio recording of the 1991 Clash Of The Titans tour featuring Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Alice In Chains, as well as a Kiss concert from 1990. These are bootlegs I recorded myself and both are completely uncirculated! On to the upcoming shows:


Local:
Dawn Of Valor, Minos, Eternal Voyager - August 25, St. Paul, MN, Minnesota Music Cafe, free!
Black Flood Diesel, Blue Felix, Nuisance, Screaming Mechanical Brain, Whither The Tide - August 29, Minneapolis, MN, First Ave.
Impaler, Death Row Martyr, Reaping Asmodia, Bury The Martyr, Debbie Does Malice - September 18, Mounds View, MN, Robert's
Epicurean, Dying Euphoria, A Moment Without, Iron Thrones, North Sky - September 25, Mounds View, MN, Robert's
The Magnolias - October 23, Minneapolis, MN, 7th St. Entry


Metal:
Devildriver, Kittie, Kataklysm, Misery, Hostility - September 8, Mounds View, MN, Robert's
Fu Manchu, Black Tusk, It's Casual - September 12, Minneapolis, MN, Triple Rock
Despised Icon, Misery Index, Revocation - September 16, St. Paul, MN, Station 4
Katatonia, Swallow The Sun, Orphaned Land, Cold Colours - September 18, St. Paul, MN, Station 4
Scum Of The Earth, Wrecking Day, Pinwheel, Gabriel And The Apocalypse, Solution 13 - September 21, Mounds View, MN, Robert's
Kamelot, Leaves' Eyes, Blackguard, Dawn Of Valor - September 25, Minneapolis, MN, First Ave.
Black Label Society, Clutch, Children Of Bodom, 2Cents - October 3, St. Paul, MN, Roy Wilkins
High On Fire, Torche, Kylesa - October 5, Minneapolis, MN, Varsity Theater
Immolation, Vader, Abigail Williams, Pathology, Lecherous Nocturne - October 8, St. Paul, MN, Station 4
Triptykon, 1349, Yakuza, Enshrined - October 17, St. Paul, MN, Station 4
Nevermore, Warbringer, Mutiny Within, Hatesphere - October 31, St. Paul, MN, Station 4
Nile, Ex Deo, Psycroptic, Keep Of Kalessin, Pathology - November 9, St. Paul, MN, Station 4
Forbidden, Evile, Gama Bomb, Bonded By Blood - November 29, St. Paul, MN, Station 4
Finntroll, Ensiferum, Barren Earth, Rotten Sound - February 18, St. Paul, MN, Station 4


Classic rock:
Rush - August 27, St. Paul, MN, Minnesota State Fair Grandstand
Kiss - September 4, St. Paul, MN, Minnesota State Fair Grandstand
Steelheart - September 17, Fridley, MN, G.B. Leighton's Pickle Park
Slash, Taddy Porter - September 23, Medina, MN, Medina Entertainment Center
Winger, Blackfoot - October 8, Medina, MN, Medina Entertainment Center
Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience - October 19, Minneapolis, MN, State Theatre
Uriah Heep, Crow - November 5, Medina, MN, Medina Entertainment Center
Great White, Warrant, TNT - November 12, Medina, MN, Medina Entertainment Center
Little River Band, Kurt Jorgensen - November 13, Medina, MN, Medina Entertainment Center


Other/alternative metal:
Melvins, Today Is The Day - August 28, Minneapolis, MN, Grumpy's
Tub Ring - August 29, St. Paul, MN, Station 4
Seether, Hinder, Black Stone Cherry - August 30, St. Paul, MN, Minnesota State Fair Grandstand
Apocalyptica, Dir En Grey - September 2, Minneapolis, MN, First Ave.
Karnivool, Tides Of Man - September 3, St. Paul, MN, Station 4
Tantric, Adema, Burn Halo, Pinwheel - September 15, Mounds View, MN, Robert's
30 Seconds To Mars, Violent Soho - September 16, Minneapolis, MN, First Ave.
Kottonmouth Kings - September 22, Minneapolis, MN, Cabooze
Toadies, Gringo Star - September 23, Minneapolis, MN, Cabooze
Nonpoint, Egypt Central, Abused Romance - September 26, Mounds View, MN, Robert's
Primus, Portugal The Man, Split Lip Rayfield - October 1, Minneapolis, MN, Orpheum Theatre
Silent Civilian, The Autumn Offering, Hate Inc. - October 1, St. Paul, MN, Station 4
Valient Thorr, Junius, Howl, Bitch City - October 2, Minneapolis, MN, Triple Rock
Nomeansno, Ford Pier - October 17, Minneapolis, MN, Triple Rock
36 Crazyfists, Straight Line Stitch, Taking Dawn - October 17, Mounds View, MN, Robert's
Sevendust, 10 Years, Aranda, Anew Revolution - November 5, TBA
cKy, Hour Cast - November 6, Minneapolis, MN, Triple Rock
Soil, The Last Vegas - November 6, Mounds View, MN, Robert's
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - December 27, Minneapolis, MN, Target Center


Punk/hardcore:
Kevin Seconds, Mike Midwestern, Nato Coles - August 25, Minneapolis, MN, Triple Rock
Agnostic Front, Mother Of Mercy, Product Of Waste - October 8, Minneapolis, MN, Triple Rock
Social Distortion, Lucero, Frank Turner - October 19, Minneapolis, MN, First Ave.
D.R.I - November 22, Medina, MN, Medina Entertainment Center

Soilwork And Death Angel Concert Feedback, From The Vault

Who went to the Soilwork and Death Angel show on Saturday, July 24? Post your comments if you went or caught this tour in a different city! Of course, the show was moved to Robert's in Mounds View due to the closing of The Rock (more on this later). I had family in town and was unable to attend this show, which also featured Augury, Mutiny Within, Swashbuckle, and The Crinn. Evidently Robert's didn't know what to expect with a metal crowd since from what I heard the bar was wiped clean of all their beer at this show!

Death Angel was the band I really wanted to see that night and I was really bummed to have missed them on their first Twin Cities appearance since they reformed. The only time I've seen Death Angel was in 1990 in support of the groundbreaking Act III album. I've posted the ticket stub below, and this show took place at Medusa's in Chicago.

 This was a true thrash feast as Forbidden and Realm opened the show, supporting their Twisted Into Form and Suiciety albums, respectively. I was a big fan of all three bands, and I was eager to hear new Realm material since this show took place a month or so before Suiciety was released. Imagine how mad I was when Realm was forced to start their set as the doors opened. I believe Medusa's was sold out that night, so it took a while to get through the door and I only caught the last couple of songs by Realm. Incidentally, Realm bassist Steve Post used to play in St. Paul's instrumental masters of heaviosity, Zebulon Pike. Forbidden was simply amazing as they blazed through most of Twisted Into Form, closing their set with "Chalice Of Blood". The place went absolutely berserk when Death Angel took the stage with "Seemingly Endless Time". They rolled through a large chunk of Act III including the two acoustic numbers "A Room With A View" and "Veil Of Deception". I'm not a fan of Frolic Through The Park so thankfully little was played from that album, although "Bored" started a massive mosh pit. The Ultra-Violence was given due attention with classics like "Voracious Souls", "Thrashers", and "Mistress Of Pain". This was a legendary show, indeed.

Here's a flyer for a Death Angel show in Baltimore from The Ultra-Violence tour in 1987. I picked this up while on a family vacation, but wasn't able to attend.

Lastly, I'll get to posting some live photos of Swarm, a post-Death Angel band, from San Diego around 2000-2001.

Latest Concert News

A numbers of show have been changed and announced since my last general update, so here's the latest concert news around the Twin Cities:

Shining has dropped off the Behemoth tour due to work visa issues and has been replaced with Metal Blade recording artist Lightning Swords Of Death. Septicflesh now moves up into the direct support slot. The Behemoth tour lands in St. Paul on Monday, January 25 at Station 4.

Reunited Christian death metal gods Living Sacrifice will be appearing at The Vault in Buffalo, Minnesota (of all places!) on Valentine's Day.

The next night (Monday, February 15) Winds Of Plague headlines a massive festival-size lineup at Station 4 in St. Paul.

Perhaps the biggest news is that original Iron Maiden singer Paul Di'Anno will be playing at Station 4 in St. Paul on Sunday, February 28. Does anyone even know the last Paul Di'Anno toured the US? Iron Maiden fans will not want to miss this!!

Concert Calendar Is Up!

I finally figured out how to configure Google Calendar to sync with the blog! There's now a running list of metal and hard rock events in the right-hand column. This calendar will be continually updated as new shows are announced. Click on the link for an event to see additional details, including venue and ticket information. Since any aspect of these events is subject to change, it's always a good idea to call the venue before traveling to a show. The information posted is culled from multiple sources, and is as accurate as far as I know. Enjoy!