I have just witnessed possibly one of the biggest metal-fests I have been to so far...The Black Crusade, at the Glasgow SECC on 20th november '07. The line up included Shadows Fall, Arch Enemy, Dragonforce, Trivium, and headliners Machine Head.
The crew we pulled together for the event included Machino, Big Ross, Rough, Dawson, and of course - me. After Big Ross drove us through, we arrived on time, or so we thought...

Getting into the SECC and obtaining tickets from the box office, we hear an announcement that the venue was now open for our gig. We headed straight there which took all of about a minute, yet Shadows Fall were already playing when we got in...

Shadows Fall played a total of 2 songs that we heard, the first which I have no idea what it is, and the final track was "Redemption", which I didn't wanna miss, and luckily, didn't!

Next up were Arch Enemy, who were totally metal...With a frontwoman, yes, WOMAN, Angela Gossow, they rocked the whole SECC with some serious riff-age.
Their track listing included a few of their new tracks, the names of which are unknown, "Nemesis", and a massively crazied up version of "We Will Rise" as the finishing number.

Following this were the very entertaining Dragonforce, the intro for which was very entertaining, dissing a whole load of classical songs and eventually bringing the band out to a theme from Donkey Kong. Solos were being thrown about by the guitarist Herman Lee like they were going out of fashion, along with some elbow and leg cheap shots and a whole load of flashing rings etc.
Track listing included "Starfire", "Operation Ground and Pound", and a fast-as-fook version of "Through the Fire and Flames" to close.

The next band I was more than aware of since I had seen them once before - Trivium. Pimping tracks from their new album with a few old numbers thrown in, the set was totally awesome. The addition of the "triple guitar attack stance" was just the topper.
Track listing included opener "To The Rats", "Entrance Of The Conflagration", "Becoming The Dragon", "Declaration", "Pillars Of Serpents", "A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation", "Anthem (We Are The Fire)", "Rain", and finally "Pull Harder At The Strings Of Your Martyr".

The Headlining act of the gig was the mighty Machine Head. Since it was my first time seeing them, I didn't know what to expect. Man, was I blown away with the pure energy brought on by that band. They were as heavy as a forklift to the face, and totally flawless in their playing.
I am not an expert of their song names by any means, but as a total stab in the dark, I'd have to say their line up included "Halo", "Take My Scars", "Imperium" (Hell yeah, that song totally owned me), "Block", "Aesthetics Of Hate" (tribute to Dimebag), and to close - "Davidian".
- I'll update this track list when I talk to Rough, he knows em better -


Overall opinions of the gig - totally immense, thrashtastic, metal filled mayhem!

Highlights - A dude landing on my head, Dragonforce's over-the-top use of the word "c**t", a bottle hitting Rough in the face, kicking over a cup of water claiming "hell and destruction", Matt Heafy's offensive tongue use, Robb Flynn's drinking habit and love of Scotland, "Flower Of Scotland" sung by the crowd, Phil Demmels drink landing in my eye, laughing at all the small people, and shouting funny things across the car park after the gig.

I'll be hearing the chants of "Machine F**king Head!!" all throughout my sleep tonight.

Well, since all my blog seems to be these days is a log of my gigging nature, then so it shall remain. All is operational and ready to go for the morrow, upon which we all (well actually a select few) shall be tasting the chaos that is to come...Oh yes, there will be beatings.



-UPDATE-

Well, Taste Of Chaos was random as ever! I woke up on the morning of saturday the 11th of november, to Greg being a problem like usual. He missed a bus he was meant to get, meaning he had to get one on his own (which I had paid for). I sorted him out with travel details and then promptly went to Dundee to meet Togey. On the bus there, I had to put up with some little idiot neds going home to the dirty side of the water, and had to stare them down in order to put them in place - Hell, they were not as brave as they thought, but then no-one is going to mess with a massive asian anyway...
I met with a made-up Togey in Dundee, and got on the fully crowded megabus to the GLA. We sat and chilled upstairs with very little room, but we were happy cause we had crap food to eat. When we got to the GLA, we waited around for an hour or so, cruising through Buchanan Galleries and back to the station to meet Greg after. The trek to Joes flat began, and after some initial confusion we got there, dumped our stuff, had a quick catch up with Heather and Joe, and then got a taxi to the SECC.

At this point, it was very clear that Dave was a dick.

We showed up at the SECC with one more ticket than needed, so tensions were at an all time high at the waste of money that had occurred for me, not just this time, but 2 years running. With the current trend, I might not make a loss next year...

There were some local bands playing between the main stage bands, but I failed to remember any of their names...Ah well.

After we went in, I lost Togey and Greg pretty much straight away, but met up with Chris and his mates, so it was all fine. We cut in the queue for the Taste Of Chaos hall, and got in quite quickly, making a bee-line for the bar as any good man would. Following refreshments and a bit of chin wagging, Saosin stormed the stage...

Set List (Saosin)

Opener - Its Far Better To Learn
Sleepers
They Perch On Their Stilts And Point And Dare Me To Break Custom
Follow And Feel
Seven Years
Translating The Name
Bury Your Head
Closer - Voices

At one point in the set, the guitarist threw his guitar over his shoulder not once, but 5 times in a row. It looked awesome.

Next up were Senses Fail. Since I don't know them I am obviously not going to mention any songs by them, but the general impression of them was good.


When the stage went dark, and the sound of a film starting to roll was played, it was the signal for only one thing...The heaviest band of the night so far was about to hit the stage...
Underoath came out to a very loud welcome, and they did a very good job at thrashing it up. The only problem was, they focussed on their new songs, and failed to excite the crowd with well known songs such as "Re-inventing Your Exit".

Set List (Incomplete)

Opener - In Regards To Myself
A Moment Suspended In Time
Everyone Looks So Good From Here
Writing On The Walls
Its Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door
Young And Aspiring


Next up were Alexisonfire, and they stood up well to the evening, with them being as much of a bunch of clowns as they usually are, making for a very impressionable stage presence.

Set List (Incomplete)

Opener - Crisis
We Are the Sound
Accidents
Control
Boiled Frogs
This Could Be Anywhere In The World
Closer - "Hey, Its Your Funeral Mama"


Anti-Flag played, followed by Taking Back Sunday as the main event.
Anti-Flag did well and got the crowd going, but since I didn't know any of their stuff, I was kinda more integrated with the bar than anything else.

Taking Back Sunday were missing 2 members, guessed to be a guitarist and bassist, as a result of family and other such probl

On the 22nd of july, Jax and I went to Cardiff CIA to see Lostprophets.
The support included Dopamine, The Guns and The Blackout.
All the support bands were alright, with The blackout being the most thrash of them.
Lostprophets came out explosively, playing "Everyday Combat" with 5 banners being unveiled at the same time on the back of the stage and what looked like loads of sunbed light bars illuminating the stage and most of the audience. They played a really good set of a mix of songs from all three albums, and Jax and I managed to get right down the front during Lostprophets' performance, but Jax had to be thrown over the barrier since she was getting crushed by all the 10 year olds who were bigger than her.
We met an array of interesting individuals, the most of which were a group of 3 girls, one of who was the smallest girl ever seen, whose amazingly small size can only be deduced from smoker-related stunted growth! We both went home soaking wet in beer, water, sweat and probably other things, but very happy none-the-less.
From memory, Lostprophets set list included (in no real order):


"A Town Called Hypocrisy"
"The New Transmission"
"Rooftops"
"Can't Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won't Save You This Time)"
"Everbody's Screaming!!!"
"Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters & The Story Of A Lonely Girl"
"4AM: Forever"
"To Hell We Ride"
"Last Train Home"
"Start Something"
"Last Summer"
"The Fake Sound Of Progress"

The Encore was "Shinobi Versus Dragon Ninja", followed by "Burn Burn", and well received they both were, as the crowd went into an insane "sing-along-whilst-rampaging" mosh style thing.

All in all, good gig, and the first of hopefully many, with Jax!