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Avenged Sevenfold
Saosin
Death By Stereo
Bullets And Octane
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Club Ice
Salt Lake City, UT
11/16/2005
By: Caz* Bevan
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After a quick change in venues from a large music venue to
a club, Bullets And Octane, Death By Stereo, Saosin and
Avenged Sevenfold rocked Salt Lake City on Wednesday,
November 16. The club-like atmosphere as opposed to that
of a typical music venue made it difficult to feel like a
show-going participant. There was no way for everyone
there to be able to see the stage, but Club Ice tried hard in
making up for the temperamental atmosphere. During
Saosin and Avenged Sevenfold, there was an almost
continuous flow of thick fog coming from eight different
sources among the lighting. This somehow simmered the
crowd's disdain and added to the atmosphere - exciting both
the fans and the bands on stage.
Despite the poor sound during Saosin's set, they put on a
performance that was unique and captivating. The pivotal
moment for me was when their lead guitarist swung his
guitar into a gunslinger - doing five in a row, without
stopping, and without failing to catch it just right and firmly
into the next chord change. Amazing! At that very moment, I
grabbed my friend by the shoulder exclaiming, "Did you see
that?" I was sold - even though you could hardly hear any of
the vocals and barely see the fact that Saosin was doing
their best to move around and entice the crowd.
Bullets and Octane and Death By Stereo had put me into a
numb, why-am-I-here type of a mood. Their sets were
entertaining, but the music was nothing special, and often,
did not require me to pay attention.
During these first two bands I spent most of my time noticing
what was on the ground: a number 2 pencil, eyeliner, spit,
half smoked cigarettes, and a wrapper from a Dasani bottle.
The mosaic of muddied floor-mess was entertaining. It was
somehow much cleaner than any show I have ever been to.
It seemed to explain the show all on it's own; the age and
insecurities of the crowd, the activity of the crowd and the
fact that no one had felt this show was going to be popular
enough to show up and pass out flyers for "The Next Big
Thing" - and the lack of said flyers littering the floor.
Everyone seemed to be having conversations rather than
listening for most of the show.
It was clear that the majority of the crowd was there simply
to say they'd seen Avenged Sevenfold play with Saosin.
Avenge Sevenfold headlined, being the more poppy and
therefore more popular band in the lineup. When they
played, the majority of the crowd miraculously crammed into
the front area. The only way they fit was due to a number of
kids going home on various weekday curfews. Or maybe it's
just that these kids have seen Avenge Sevenfold play before
and chose to keep their band-to-fan relationship at a
minimal, radio quality level.
Avenged Sevenfold has horrible tone live. They definitely
have an energy, but not at any level that could make up for
the fact that they sound and play nothing like what you've
heard recorded. Needless to say, I left the show early. I had
additional window-shopping to do and a Saosin CD to find as
a reminder that that one something, that one moment, that
one band had been right about my day.
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