Peter Frampton
Peoria Civic Center Theater, Peoria, Illinois
I went to worship at the alter of the legend, Peter Frampton. Although his legendary locks have been gone a while, he still has a wonderful stage presence with an amazing band backing him up on this solo tour. This short solo tour started in Peoria, Illinois. For old fans and new, you must see this awe-inspiring guitarist at a show. At a spry 67, almost 68, Peter Frampton looks like the antithesis of the Seventies rock star. He appears to be healthy, interacts with the audience in an engaged manner and still puts on very intimate shows. Peter Frampton has duel citizenship with the U.K. and the U.S. and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also a vegetarian. His current lifestyle must lend to his healthy appearance and down to earth demeanor.
The show was in the smaller Peoria Civic Center Theater that holds about 2200. Prior to the band coming on stage, you hear Peter’s voice through the P.A. system advising everyone to take as many pictures and videos during the first three songs. He then requests you put away your digital devices and just enjoy the show. Most patrons complied although it was hard to when he was performing his well-known songs. The older fans were happy to comply and the crowd did lean to the AARP discount group.
Peter played the rediscovered Gibson Les Paul that he told the story of it being missing for 31 years. Everyone thought it was destroyed in a plane crash but it came back to him after 31 years and it was found on the island of Curaçao. The same guitar was played on his solo album “Frampton Comes Alive”. The guitar was beat up but it played beautifully.
The show lasted a little over two hours and it was a testament to the timeless legend of Peter Frampton and also his band. The talent of his band is definitive proof of rock thriving in current times.
The full setlist included:
Something’s Happening
Lying
Lines on My Face
Show Me The Way
I Saved a Bird Today
Boot It Up
Double Nickels
Float
I Wanna Go To The Sun
I Got The Same Old Blues (JJ Cale cover)
Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
I’ll Give You Money
Oh Baby I Love Your Way
Do You We Feel Like We Do
Encore:
Four Day Creep (Ida Cox cover)
I Don’t Need No Doctor (Ray Charles cover)
He has a few more solo shows, then goes out with Steve Miller Band in North America. For more about Peter Frampton, his band and the upcoming dates go to: http://frampton.com/
The Stage World Tour Avenged Sevenfold with Breaking Benjamin and Bullet For My Valentine
Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois
The Stage World Tour sold out the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Illinois. Just when I think that I cannot be any more impressed with a live show, Avenged Sevenfold sets the bar even higher. The stage was set with a storybook led screens staggered across the stage projecting video of the band and other videos coordinated with the music. The stage also extended with a catwalk. They consulted with Cirque Du Soleil directors for the stage presentation.
Avenged Sevenfold released their seventh studio The Stage in October 2016. They were nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Song for “The Stage”. They are not attending the awards show in protest since the presentation for Rock is only shown online instead of during the televised ceremony. Rock fans do not understand the Grammy Awards for excluding a huge population from interest in watching the Grammys.
The night began with Bullet For My Valentine is from Wales. They are known for their breakup rock songs. Their Metalcore style is punctuated by searing rock riffs from guitarist, Michael “Padge” Paget and poetic lyrics sung or screamed by Matt Tuck. Bullet For My Valentine fans showed up early to see the band. They performed an abbreviated set including new song “No Way Out” from their latest album Venom. Their full setlist:
Your Betrayal
No Way Out
The Last Fight
4 Words (To Choke Upon)
Worthless
Tears Don’t Fall
Waking the Demon
Don’t Need You
For more about Bullet For My Valentine: BMFV Website
Bullet For My Valentine
Breaking Benjamin returned to the central Illinois area for the third time since their return after re-configuring.
They have just released the song “Red Cold River” which they performed at the show. Their new album Emberset for release on April 13, 2018. From the songs released so far, it will be a harder album than Dark Before Dawn. Breaking Benjamin has a simple stage set up with lighted boxes with the Celtic knot symbol they are known for on each side of the stage. Ben Burnley, lead vocalist, was more energetic than usual.
So Cold
Angels Fall
Sooner or Later
Blow Me Away
Red Cold River
Never Again
Failure
Breath
The Imperial March/Schism/Smells Like Teen Spirit/Walk/ Drum Solo
I Will Not Bow
Intro
The Diary of Jane
The crowd sang along to “Breath” and it was a great version. Breaking Benjamin dedicated “I Will Not Bow” to the military and first responders. They brought up young kids to show the future of rock is alive. The lucky kids got to sing along to “The Diary of Jane” and take selfies with Ben Burnley.
The band everyone stayed up to see was Avenged Sevenfold. The band came close to disbanding when their drummer, Jimmy “The Rev Sullivan” died of an accidental prescription drug overdose in 2009. A7X persevered and grew their fanbase by putting on phenomenal live shows and drawing on their influences for their music. Their albums always have a theme and are interesting. Their sound is signature to them. This tour is an amazing display of videos coordinated with the music and lights.
Their setlist:
The Stage
Afterlife
Hail To The King
Paradigm
Beast and The Harlot
Buried Alive
So Far Away
Nightmare
God Damn
Burn It Down
Exist
Higher
Wish You Were Here
Bat Country
Critical Acclaim
A Little Piece of Heaven
Unholy Confessions
I know that I was not the only person to get a little teary eyed when the screens lit up with video of The Rev talking about the band. He talked about the band and what it meant to him. The side screens showed the iconic photo of the band huddled together. Then the band sang “So Far Away” the song that Brian aka Synyster Gates wrote as a tribute to him.
Avenged Sevenfold
During the song “Higher” a huge astronaut was raised from the stage in front of screens showing scenes from space.
Avenged Sevenfold
During the encore, the video for A Little Piece of Heaven played on the screens and it is a morose song and video in cartoon. Overall, the live performance was breathtaking with two hours of entertaining, skillfull and amazing metal music.
Red Sun Rising Concert Review with Greta Van Fleet, Through Fire and Deadset Society
Nutcracker 20
Limelight Eventplex, Peoria, Illinois
Nutcracker 2017 was the twentieth year for the holiday rock show from radio station 105.7 the X in Peoria, Illinois. In the age of rock radio getting shut down over the years, it is nice to see rock radio actually doing well. The powerhouse radio station has had much of the same staff over the past time and put up a slideshow of the bands that have been at Nutcracker through the years. We have to love any radio station that brings rock shows to the area. Some of the bands were Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Chevelle, Sevendust, Pop Evil, Highly Suspect and so many others through the years.
The evening started with Deadset Society. Deadset Society, formerly known as Never Say Die is a Canadian rock band that consists of members Reid Henry and Brendan McMillan of My Darkest Days. This is where they have landed when My Darkest Days vocalist Matt Walst went to front Three Days Grace. The former Three Days Grace vocalist, Adam Gontier, has formed Saint Asonia with Mike Mushok, formerly of Staind. Keeping up with the changes of bands members in the scene can something require a spreadsheet. Deadset Society’s biggest hit, “Like a Nightmare” is off their album Destroy + Rebuild has had tremendous success. Their live set was short but energy filled. They performed their songs and also snuck in “Porn Star Dancing” (My Darkest Days Cover).
Deadset Society
Through Fire is a rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. Their biggest hits “Stronger” and “Breathe” have had active rock radio play on over the air stations and also satellite radio. Through Fire’s vocalist, Grant Joshua Kendrick, donned some Bowie Ziggy Stardust inspired makeup and came onstage in a black stocking cap but released his hair later to head bang. The crowd knew their hits and their current single, “Where You Lie” about deception.
Through Fire
Next up was Greta Van Fleet. The band is known for sounding a lot like Led Zeppelin. Everyone there wanted to see if these boys had the goods to go with the hype that they are the next Led Zeppelin. If you only listen to the band and do not realize it is Greta Van Fleet, you might mistake their songs for new Led Zeppelin songs. They have the blues rock sound that Led Zeppelin so successfully produced. Now to see if they reference Tolkien in their lyrics or maybe they might go with Harry Potter references. They might lose some of their coolness unless they reference something a little less popular and I have to suggest the A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin.
The band comes from Frankemuth, Michigan and is named after a woman in the town and uses the name with her permission. The band consists of three brothers, Josh (vocalist), Sam (bassist) and Jake (guitarist) Kiszka and Danny Wagner (drummer). Josh and Jake are twins, aged 21 and Sam is 18 and Danny is 18 also. Turns out the band is the real thing and seeing them is something special as they will be the next biggest artist to start selling out arenas. Everyone who was there knows they witnessed seeing the band before they were huge.
Josh Kiszka they delivered a mature performance and is a true tenor which reiterates his similarity to Robert Plant. We all wondered if the band could really deliver the same quality live as their double EP, From The Fires. Jake Kiszka, guitarist, wowed the crowd by playing behind his head. Their stage wear was exactly like something out of the seventies and eighties with Josh wearing a dashiki ensemble. Sam had the leather bomber from the eighties with flags of different countries. In their merch, they were selling the essential jersey shirt and also a velvet black light poster.
The band performed a cover and it was not Led Zeppelin. “Evil(Is Goin’ On)” by Howlin’ Wolf as a tribute to the great blues artist. Their full setlist:
Talk on the Streets
Black Smoke Rising
Edge of Darkness
When the Cold Wind Blows
Flower Power
You’re the One
Evil(Is Goin’ On) (Howlin’ Wolf cover)
Mountain of the Sun
Lover Leaver Taker Believer
Highway Tune
Click to view Greta Van Fleet Photo Gallery
Red Sun Rising is another band that is the future of the resurgence of rock. The band comes from Akron, Ohio. Their singles, “The Otherside” and “Emotionless” went to No. 1 on the Billboard rock charts. Their cover of “Uninvited” by Alanis Morrissette puts vocalist Mike Protich’s vocals on display. Their style is basic hard rock such Audioslave, Pop Evil, or Shinedown. I believe their vocalist has the natural ability to be as good as Chris Cornell.
The band has been in Peoria four times in the past couple of years including Nutcracker 2016 with Pop Evil. Their set started with sound issues that caused echoing during the first two songs. They performed a new song initially but it was hard to hear it and of course the band was distracted by the sound issues. Later, the echoing sound issues were rectified but the levels were still not up to par with vocals being drowned out by the instruments during some songs.
The band members were almost unrecognizable as all their long, beautiful hair was cut short with the exception of guitarist, Ryan Williams who still had shoulder length hair. The band says their next album is written and the final touches are being put on it. Red Sun Rising performed another new song called “Veins”. It had an upbeat tempo and reminded me of Foo Fighters. Their fans are anxious to hear their sophomore album. There were no sound issues during their cover “Uninvited” by Alanis Morrissette and Mike Protich’s voice sounded amazing. Their set only lasted about an hour. The band ended the night with an encore of “Emotionless”.
Foo Fighters with The Struts Concert Review
State Farm Center
Champaign, Illinois
Wednesday night in Champaign, Illinois was chilly but the Foo Fighters fans were out in droves to see the band who has been performing for twenty years. State Farm Center which is the renamed Assembly Hall, had hosted the band before seventeen years ago along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Needless to say, it was the first time for a lot of fans to see Foo Fighters live.
They only have one opening band because their catalog is twenty years deep. They have had three albums come out in the last five years including Sonic Highways, along with their HBO special that spanned the United States in famous studios, Saint Cecelia, an EP which was offered for free after the tragedy massacre at Le Bataclan, and Concrete and Gold released September 15, 2017.
Openers were The Struts. Never heard of The Struts? You probably have heard their rock anthem hit “Could Have Been Me” and sung along without even realizing it. The track is one of the timeless songs that every person can relate to. The story of living a life without regrets. The Struts hail from England and look like they stepped right out of the golden age of rock, the seventies. Luke Spiller, the vocalist, looks like the child of Freddie Mercury and Mick Jagger.
Their hit song “Could Have Been Me” is not a one-hit wonder. Their debut album Everybody Wants has hits all over including “Kiss This”, “Put Your Money On Me” and “Dirty Sexy Money” This year, they released the Queen-sounding ballad, “One Night Only” and we are eagerly awaiting their second release anticipated in early 2018.
Their setlist:
Put Your Hands Up
These Times Are Changing
One Night Only
Primadonna Like Me
Kiss This
Put Your Money on Me
Could Have Been Me
Where Did She Go
You can learn more about The Struts at their website: www.thestruts.com
Click to view Struts Photo Gallery
Foo Fighters have a fairly simple stage setup. The main feature of the stage is a large led screen set on a diagonal and cameras featuring the band members. When Taylor Hawkins performed his drum solo, the drum kit lifted to about twenty feet in the air. It also could move back and forth when sitting on the stage. The night began with Concrete and Gold curtain covering the stage. They began singing, “Run” before the curtain came down. Concrete and Gold is a departure from their normal formulaic sound with contributions from heavy hitters like Justin Timberlake and Paul McCartney.
The Foo started the set with high energy and maintained it for a long time. Their set could be paired down from two and half hours to ninety minutes with an encore. Some songs like “Monkey Wrench” just needs to be dropped from their set. The vocals on it were poor and no one has enthusiasm performing the song anymore. In addition, they brought fan, Mike Carpenter to sing “Tom Sawyer” by Rush. While the guy was really good, a five minute performance for the fan to sing is great. The song went on for fifteen minutes. I think everyone would be satisfied as long as they hear “My Hero”, “Walk” and “The Best Of You”. Everyone liked the new songs “Run” and “The Sky Is A Neighborhood”.
Foo Fighters setlist:
Run
All My Life
Learn to Fly
The Pretender
The Sky Is a Neighborhood
Rope
Drum Solo
(Taylor Hawkins’ stage lifted)
Sunday Rain
My Hero
These Days
Walk
White Limo
Arlandria
Jump
(Van Halen cover) (snippet)
Tom Sawyer
(Rush cover) (with fan Mike Carpenter on vocals)
Here at BestRockList.com we are now doing something new for you our loyal followers. Every month we will be compiling a list of the monthly hard rock and metal album releases and sending them to you via email. All you have to do is sign up and click the subscribe button below. That’s it, its that easy. So without further ado here is the list of this months album releases. Enjoy my fellow rockers and metal heads.
Pre-order or buy the albums direct or pick them up at your local record store.
October 6, 2017 August Burns Red –Phantom Anthem(Fearless) Autograph – Get Off Your Ass (EMP) The Black Dahlia Murder – Nightbringers (Metal Blade) The Darkness – Pinewood Smile (Cooking Vinyl)
Dreadnought – A Wake In Sacred Waves (Sailor)
Fireball Ministry – Remember The Story (Cleopatra)
Haemorrhage – We Are The Gore (Relapse)
House Of Broken Promises – <emTwisted EP (Heavy Psych Sounds)
Lord Of The Lost – Swan Songs II (Napalm)
Marilyn Manson – Heaven Upside Down (Loma Vista)
Nocturnal Rites – Phoenix (AFM)
Panzer – Fatal Command (Nuclear Blast)
Primitive Man – Caustic (Relapse)
Shine Bright – More Wild Than The Wind EP (Standby)
Spirit Adrift – Curse Of Conception (20 Buck Spin)
Spotlights – Seismic (Ipecac)
Thousand Below – The Love You Let Too Close (Rise)
Zaius – Of Adoration (Prosthetic)
October 13, 2017
Altarage – Endinghent (Season Of Mist)
Ancient VVisdom – 33 (Magic Bullet)
Antisect – The Rising Of The Lights (Rise Above)
Bigfoot – Bigfoot (Frontiers)
Daniel Cavanagh – Monochrome (Kscope)
Enslaved – E (Nuclear Blast) Fozzy – Judas (Century Media)
The Fright – Canto V (SPV/Steamhammer)
Godsticks – Faced With Rage (Kscope)
Gothminister – The Other Side (AFM)
Hallatar – No Stars Upon The Bridge (Svart) The Haxans – Party Monsters (Another Century)
Jason Kui – Absence Of Words (Prosthetic)
L.A. Guns – The Missing Peace (Frontiers)
Mychildren Mybride – Vicious World (eOne/Good Fight)
Narcotic Wasteland – Delirium Tremens (Megaforce/MRI)
Power Quest – Sixth Dimension (Inner Wound) Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters – Carry Fire (Nonesuch)
Samael – Hegemony (Napalm)
Sparzanza – Announcing The End (Despotz)
Spectral Voice – Eroded Corridors Of Unbeing (Dark Descent)
Stick To Your Guns-True View (Pure Noise)
Terror Universal – Make Them Bleed (Minus Head)
Through The Eyes Of The Dead – Disomus (eOne/Good Fight)
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – Vol. 1 Reissue (Metal Blade)
Vassafor – Malediction (Debemur Morti)
William Patrick Corgan – Ogilala (BMG)
Wo Fat – Live Juju: Freak Valley…And Beyond! (Ripple)
October 20, 2017
Amenra – Mass VI (Neurot)
Bell Witch – Mirror Reaper (Profound Lore)
CyHra – Letters To Myself (Spinefarm)
Europe – Walk The Earth (Hell & Back) Gwar – The Blood Of Gods (Metal Blade)
In Search Of Sun – Virgin Funk Mother (Spinefarm)
Iron Monkey – 9-13 (Relapse)
The Kennedy Veil – Imperium (Unique Leader)
Madame Mayhem – Ready For Me (Metalville/HeadBall)
Nick Oliveri – N.O. Hits At All Vol.3 Heavy Psych Sounds)
Pertubator- New Model EP (Blood) Slipknot – Days Of The Gusano DVD/CD (Eagle Rock)
Sons Of Apollo – Psychotic Symphony (InsideOut)
Sorcerer – The Crowning Of The Fire King (Metal Blade) Tom Keifer – The Way Life Goes Deluxe Edition (Cleopatra) Trivium – The Sin And The Sentence (Roadrunner) Veil Of Maya – False Idol (Sumerian) We Came As Romans – Cold Like War (SharpTone)
October 27, 2017 10 Years – (How To Live) As Ghosts (Mascot)
Angel Nation – Aeon (Inner Wound) Carmine Appice – Sinister (SPV/Steamhammer)
Blut Aus Nord – Deus Salutis Meae (Debemur Morti) Butcher Babies – Lilith (Century Media)
Complete Failure – Crossburner (Season Of Mist)
Delain – A Decade Of Delain: Live At Paradiso DVD/CD (Napalm)
Dragonhammer – Obscurity (My Kingdom)
Dr. Living Dead! – Cosmic Conqueror (Century Media)
Fleurety – The White Death (Peaceville)
Gnaw – Cutting Pieces (Translation Loss)
Heretic – A Game You Cannot Win (Dissonance)
Hollywood Undead – Five (Dove & Grenade/BMG)
Holy Terror – Total Terror Box Set (Dissonance)
Left Behind – Blessed By The Burn (Unbeaten)
Mirror Queen – Verdigris (Tee Pee)
Ne Obliviscaris – Urn (Season Of Mist) Powerman 5000 – New Wave (Pavement)
Savage Messiah – Hands Of Fate (Century Media)
Serenity – Lionheart (Napalm)
Sharptooth – Clever Girl (Pure Noise) Theory Of A Deadman – Wake Up Call (Atlantic/604) The Used – The Canyon (Hopeless) Weezer – Pacific Daydream (Atlantic)
Winds Of Plague – Blood Of My Enemy (eOne/Good Fight)
Subscribe for exclusives:
[email-subscribers namefield=”YES” desc=”” group=”Public”]
Highly Suspect Concert Review
September 23, 2017
The Castle Theatre
Bloomington, Illinois
Highly Suspect came to Bloomington-Normal, Illinois on Saturday, an unusually hot day. The show had sold out within the first week. Blo-no’ers were ready for a rock show. They had been in the grind of back to school and work for while now. Several fans came from miles around to see the three time Grammy nominated Highly Suspect at The Castle Theatre. The Castle Theatre is one of the premiere intimate venues in the Midwest.
The backdrop for Highly Suspect was the acronym M.C.I.D. which stands for My Crew Is Dope. Which means that their friends and fans are dope. Tattoos, snapbacks and t-shirts abound with the #mcid and the MCID Nation is real. DJ Redbees started spinning tunes and acted an informal emcee for the bands. The music he played was not loud but really background music for the wait.
Openers for the show, Bones U.K., wowed the audience with their blues rock and fiery attitude. Rosie Bones comes out on stage with a flask and an instant cool attitude. Guitarist, Carmen Vandenberg, was impressive. Bones U.K. has recently co-written Jeff Beck’s album “Loud Hailer”. Their own songs are filled with fun, spunk and attitude. Most notably, their song “Girls Can’t Play Guitar” and Rosie Bones told us the story about the man that inspired that song. You can learn more about them from their Facebook page: Bones and Bones
Introduced by DJ Redbees, Highly Suspect took the darkened stage. Drummer, Ryan Meyer,came out, followed by Rich Meyer, bassist and then the vocalist, Johnny Stevens. MCID Nation was ready to see these guys live. I was impressed by the live show from the plugged in guitars to the technical guitar playing. Highly Suspect’s song writing make the listener feel as if we are part of their experience. Whether it is the melancholy “Little One” or the gritty “Bloodfeather” or the anthemic “My Name Is Human”, you feel the songs. These songs are not just for casual listening.
Their complete set list for the night:
1. Send Me An Angel (Real Life cover)
2. Bath Salts
3. Bloodfeather
4. Serotonia
5. Fuck Me Up
6. Round & Round
7. Vanity
8. Viper Strike
9. Lydia
10. Claudeland
11. ATL/Drum Solo/ATL (reprise)
12. My Name Is Human
Encore:
13. Little One
14. Wolf
15. Look Alive, Stay Alive
During the last song, the tech took over on drums and Ryan decided to do a little crowd surfing. What a fitting end to a perfect Saturday night rock show.
You can find out more about Highly Suspect on their website: HighlySuspect.net
Spoon Concert Review
September 10, 2017
Limelight Eventplex
Peoria, Illinois
Spoon digs into Peoria, Illinois with thanks to WWCT 99.9 and Limelight Eventplex.
Putting the bad puns aside. Spoon the band, came to Peoria, Illinois for the first time. The rock community welcomed the popular indie band. When I think of Spoon, I think of a solid rock band with a distinct sound that pulls from influences like the Beatles, The Pixies, and David Bowie. They are touring in support of their latest and best album to date, Hot Thoughts (Matador Records). The album that was released on March 17, 2017 and has definitely got a Bowie feel. It is a contender for one of best rock albums of 2017.
The night began with Twin Peaks that hail from Chicago, Illinois. Twin Peaks joined the tour for a few dates starting this evening. Hearing the band for the first time, my immediate impressions was a band drawing from The Rolling Stones. The band had a fun vibe and the early crowd definitely received them well.
Spoon is a rock band from Austin, Texas that has been around since 1993. The band was named after the song ‘Spoon’ by the band Can. The song is infectious and so the is the band Spoon. When you listen to any Spoon song, the next thing you know you’re humming along. The band had a simple but great set up with lighting that really made the show feel like a bigger arena show.
The setlist was full of songs from Hot Thoughts. The full setlist is below: Do I Have To Talk You Into It Inside Out I Turn My Camera On Anything You Want Stay, Don’t Go Don’t You Evah Do You Via Kanela I Ain’t The One Hot Thoughts Can I Sit Next To You My Mathematical Mind Don’t Make Me A Target The Underdog Got Nuffin Black Like Me
For my first time seeing Spoon, I was impressed as the band was better live than their album. When a band is better live than on their album that means they are technically gifted. But more than that, they care about the quality of the show they are giving to fans. Even in some medium sized river town in the middle of nowhere, they care.
Find out more about Spoon at their website: Spoon website
Best of Vans Warped Tour 2017
Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Tinley Park, Illinois
The crowd at Vans Warped Tour in Chicago are big and ready to have a good time. This year the fans were walking around like deer in headlights. It could have been the heat but also the suicide of Chester Bennington that was two days before. He died on Chris Cornell’s birthday, another great who committed suicide. The messages from the bands and the posters were “It’s okay to not be okay.” I did feel like it was an extension of a scene from 13 Reasons Why but what we do to soothe ourselves after trauma is almost always going to be on a poster.
In the 23rd year of the largest and longest running traveling festival, Vans Warped Tour has fans like no other festival. They are not the homogeneous crowds at rock festivals because the bands are so diverse. You have rap, singer songwriter, rock, punk and metal. The fans are aged 5-90 and every ethnicity and body type. No one cared about the amount of skin that was showing from any person. The fans and bands are so inclusive at Vans Warped Tour and that is what makes it one of the best festivals in the country.
When we arrived, the fans made a run for the water stations! What was nice this year was that there was additional time for entry. You could make your way to the schedule and figure out when your favorite band was playing. What was not good was that no shows were happening in the amphitheatre where you could sit and get a break from the sun. Sure, there was tent set up to block the sun but you had to sit on the ground and you could not see any shows from the tents.
Enough about what could be improved. Every year there is a band that sells out their merch at their merch tent. This year there was a tie between I Prevail and Gwar. I think all the regular Warped Tour fans were surprised to see Gwar on the lineup this year. Though Gwar has been through many iterations, they still provide a great live show. And fans, old and new, know they have had a unique experience seeing them live. I Prevail, has been on the scene for only a little while but they are gaining popularity dramatically since their formation in 2013. They are social media minded and their songs resonate with a large group. (Learn more about them in my interview here.)
Best Breakout Band
Without a doubt, the band on everyone’s lips was Bad Cop/Bad Cop as one of the must see bands. The band played the Hard Rock stage so I knew they were going to rock. The band is an all female band that lists their interests as ‘donuts’ on their Facebook page. So you know they have be awesome. The band has catchy songs and really are just having fun performing.
I Prevail is a metalcore band from Southfield, Michigan. I have been one of their ardent supporters and am extremely thrilled they have gotten so popular. Each year there is a band where more body surfing occurs than you think is possible. This year it was I Prevail who’s fans set the standard for the most people up in the air. There was an endless stream of people who went from front to back the whole set.
Best Artist Before They Become Untouchable Andy Black or Futuristic
Vans Warped Tour has had several huge stars on their stage from Green Day, Weezer, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry, and Paramore. We make our prediction about who the next superstar is going to be. Andy Black (Biersack) is the lead singer of metal band, Black Veil Brides. Black Veil Brides has slowly gained tremendous success with each album they release. Their fans are fervent supporters of their message of believing in yourself when you are different. He has had a fairy tale romance with Juliet Simms (Biersack), an American singer who rose to fame on The Voice. They married in a ceremony in April of 2016. (We later find out they have been married legally since 2012).
Andy Black has a pop sound versus the metal sound of Black Veil Brides. While performing, his sway with the audience was undeniable. When he moved toward the audience, there was unadulterated screaming and fans wanting to touch him and called his name in earnest. He is starring in a feature film called American Satan to be released this year on Friday the 13th of October. The movie also stars Ben Bruce of of the band, Asking Alexandria, Denise Richards, Malcolm McDowell, and John Bradley-West (Samwell Tarley from Game Of Thrones). The trailer looks like it will be a blockbuster and will move metal music back to popular culture again.
Futuristicis a rapper unlike any others. He has gained success through social media and done it without a label. He really has done what he has wanted from the ground up. What stands out about Futuristic is how relatable his lyrics are to his generation. I guess that is still the millennials but those specifically twenty-five and under. Plus, his speed as a rapper is impressive.
Best Band With A Message Fire From The Gods
Fire From The Gods is a metal band from Austin, Texas. Their Facebook states “Free from hate. Free from pain. Free to choose our own path.” Their album Narrative Retold is one of the best of 2017 with the song “Excuse Me” that brings a message that everyone needs to listen to. Yet is it not the only song with the message. We have to listen to “Evolve” and “End Transmission” and really the entire album to get the message. Their live show is mesmerizing and powerful.
Best Retro Sounding Band William Control
Somewhere between Black Veil Brides and Depeche Mode is William Control and The Neuromantic Boys. They are electronic, dark and catchy. I almost missed them as they were the last band playing in Chicago. It probably also helps that he could probably be mistaken for Corey Feldman. Regardless, I felt like I was stepping back in time listening to the sound of his band.
We love the excitement of seeing bands live and finding new and good bands at Vans Warped Tour this year and hopefully for many more years to come.
Click on artist for their full photo gallery from Vans Warped Tour:
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
X Pixel enables businesses to track user interactions and optimize ad performance on the X platform effectively.
This cookie is set by X to identify and track the website visitor. Registers if a users is signed in the X platform and collects information about ad preferences.
2 years
personalization_id
Unique value with which users can be identified by X. Collected information is used to be personalize X services, including X trends, stories, ads and suggestions.
2 years
external_referer
Our Website uses X buttons to allow our visitors to follow our promotional X feeds, and sometimes embed feeds on our Website.
2 years
A video-sharing platform for users to upload, view, and share videos across various genres and topics.
Registers a unique ID on mobile devices to enable tracking based on geographical GPS location.
1 day
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Tries to estimate the users' bandwidth on pages with integrated YouTube videos. Also used for marketing
179 days
PREF
This cookie stores your preferences and other information, in particular preferred language, how many search results you wish to be shown on your page, and whether or not you wish to have Google’s SafeSearch filter turned on.
10 years from set/ update
YSC
Registers a unique ID to keep statistics of what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
Session
DEVICE_INFO
Used to detect if the visitor has accepted the marketing category in the cookie banner. This cookie is necessary for GDPR-compliance of the website.
179 days
LOGIN_INFO
This cookie is used to play YouTube videos embedded on the website.
@portugaltheman Instagram
Portugal. The Man’s Facebook
