I was meant to go to this gig with Campbell but unforetunately Storm Ciara wrecked havoc and they trains were screwed and there was no gurantee even if he got there he would get home ok. Luckily I had enough time to source a replacment gig buddy for the evening and my Dad stepped up to the mark. Something about gigs I just dont see it as an activity you do yourself, even though most of the evening is spent appreciating the music. I still prefer talking to someone during the in between bits.
Anyway we got to the venue about 7.15 as doors opened at 7pm. There was actually quite a big queue but we got in, in plenty of time. One thing I was a bit surprised about was that there was no support. But the tickets were fairly cheap at £18 and they have been around a while now so can play longer than bands in their infancy.
They came on about 8pm and burst into "Manifest" off their third and current album "Divisions". In fact nearly half the set tonight was focused on that album. Showing a band that have faith in their new material. Personally I think its a great album and stands shoulder to shoulder with the other 2 albums.
In terms of live performance Starset really are a great band to watch. With Singer, gutarist, bassist, drummer and then violinist and cellist. They are such a dynamic rock band who have carved their own unique blend of cinematic rock. On the screen you have video accompinants to the songs. Some songs its just film of them playing currently but others are intreging videos. None more so than half way through the set where they left the stage for a time and played a sciency video which I'm sure some people in the audience understood but it did seem quite complicated. When they came back out they were all changed in terms of outfits - the gutarist and bassist donned spacesuits while the women changed into dresses.
I still remember when I first saw Starset a couple of years ago supporting Shinedown and was blown away. This was slightly different as I knew what to expect. The surprise element of last time wasnt there. But I tell you what was there. The full Starset experience. This is a band that put on a show and go to lengths to make it feel like you are experiencing something that is not like any other band you will go and see. And for that I really appreciate the effort they put in and for coming over from America to our shores. And "My Demon" probably is still their best song - the crowd did know most of the songs tonight but they really went for it with "My demon". It was tremendous.
Showing posts with label Starset. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Starset. Show all posts
Saturday, 15 February 2020
Saturday, 24 November 2018
Starset - Vessels
With "Vessels" Starset really are spoiling their fans. It is a 15 track album, lasting roughly 70 minutes. Meaning the average track length is just under 5 minutes. Some bands are guilty of making albums this length and sometimes quality control doesn't quite hit the mark. But Starset have created an album here which hits the spot in every way. They are very much a rock band and most of the songs do have the same sort of feel to them. But Starset have got cello and violin players drafted in to give their music an extra dimension. "Last to Fall" and "Bringing it down" for example have incredible string outros.
There are many songs on this album which are big sounding rock songs that have that stadium rock feel. Most notably "Satellites", "Die for you" and "Ricochet". But there are so many other tracks which fit the bill, but those ones I suppose were most standout to me. Vocalist Dustin Bates has an awesome voice which fits the music well. Another great track worthy of a mention is album closer "Everglow". What a closer to an album. 7 minutes plus and has Starset's trademark frenzied guitars causing an almighty racket. But this one stands out more as it lasts longer.
One thing which I thought was missing from "Vessels" was a slower, ballad kind of track. There are of course moments in the songs on the album which have slow moments but generally these seems to build up to the explosions of noise. Not a bad thing but I did think that Starset would be good at the slower stuff. That is why I was pleased to discover that some of the bonus tracks on "Vessels 2.0" were in fact acoustic versions of the album tracks. Then you have "Love you to Death". This track is just sublime and at the time of writing my favourite Starset track. This is a softer track and everything about it works really well. I was slightly disappointed when I found out it was a cover (Type O Negative). But Starset have done a great job with it. "Vessels 2.0" as previously mentioned is 2 discs. First is the album. Then second is bonus tracks. Taking total listening time to 1 hour 50 minutes. And these remixes and acoustic tracks are well worth it. And I don't often say that about artists who release albums or have bonus discs.
Overall this is an absolutley fantastic album and I am so happy I discovered this album. If you haven't seen them live you need to go, as it is a mesmerising experience. "Vessels" is straight out the top drawer and if rumours are true it won't be long till the next instalment. Wikipedia says 2019! They are big in America but don't seem to be as big in Europe. Hopefully with this support slot on the Shinedown tour they will amass some more fans. They have a new one here that is for certain.
Thursday, 1 November 2018
30/10/18 - Shinedown @ O2 Academy, Glasgow
I only discovered Shinedown back in March of this year but they have fast become one of my favourite bands. So I was very excited to get tickets for this one, especially as they sold out with in an hour of going on sale. Tonights line up was myself, Craig, Campbell and Brian and we got to the venue about 7.15 to find huge queues. By the time we got in the place was 3/4s full and first support band Press to the Meco were half way through there set.
Press to Meco are a 3 piece rock band from London. They did have some good moments and it was interesting to see that all 3 members sang at various points. I have a rule at gigs at the moment in that if I haven't heard of a support before going to the gig. I keep it that way as I enjoy getting into bands live. But in Press to Meco's case I think it would have been better to get into their songs first. And for that reason although I wasn't completely blown away by their set, I will be checking them out further.
Now I don't ususally do this but I will make an exception here - if you are going to see Shinedown on this tour or you think you'll see the next support band Starset which I am going to talk about now. It is probably best you skip over the next section till you see them. People who have seen or know about Starset will know what I am talking about. So skip this section if you dont want to know about Starset's set. But if you aren't planning to see them I would read it!
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OK what can you say about Starset! I don't think I have ever reacted to a support band the way I reacted to Starset. When they came on stage and started going into the first song my mates just looked at each other and just said "WOW". Coming on in space suits which lit up in different colours depending on how they moved. They had projectors too and generally had such a great stage presence. The band is made up with the lead singer, guitarist, bassist and a string section which are very much part of the band. And one of them played keyboards for a bit too. They did remind me a bit of Bring me the Horizon but longer songs and maybe not as heavy. This really was an excellent set. And I should mention by the time they came on the place was full. It was unfortunate at the start of the last song they ran into technical difficulties. They tried to fix it for 5 minutes but time was getting on and they decided to call it a day. But when they explained this they got such a good reaction. I think they had already won the audience and didn't really have anything left to prove. It was tremendous.
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Now on to the headliners Shinedown. They came on and drove head first into hit single "Devil". That really got the place going. They then played "Diomond Eyes" which to be honest was the only song they played which I was unfamiliar with but appearently it was on a soundtrack. It was interesting to note that there was no songs I don't think from the first 2 albums but the were all spread out over the last 4. This was ideal for me as the first 2 albums I didn't think were as good. But at the same time it may be because I haven't given them enough listens yet. But either way I was pleased the set focused on albums 3 to 6.
Such is their back catalogue now every song they played was a hit and when you can exclude songs like the "Crow and the Butterfly" from the set you know you have a strong set of material. One thing which could get on peoples nerves a bit and I have seen a few Twitter comments about it - is frontman Brent Smith's talking in between songs. But I think it is brilliant. He really knows how to get the crowd going. In fact before "Enemies" he went all the way into the crowd and up to a section we were standing near just to tell people to jump for the next song. He then went back and everyone was jumping. He just knew what to say to get the crowd on side. I know some people might want more songs but I think it can be what is said in between songs makes gigs a better experience too.
My favourite moment of the night though came in the form of an acousitc version of Amaryllis. I absolutley love that song and I dont think they play it that often live at the moment as they said they asked folk what they wanted to hear earlier in the day on social media and quite a few people said this song. So Glasgow was very lucky! The gig was due to finish at 11pm but I think maybe because of the problems with the support acts set it didn't finish till about 11.15pm with the magnificent song "Brilliant" which is the closer on their latest album "Attention, Attention".
Overall this was an absolutley amazing gig. One of the things I love about Shinedown is that the songs are so easy to sing along to. They rock so much and put everything into it. They are clearly grateful for the position they are in and to the people that made them who they are. I was late to the party with them but I am there now and I am planning on being at the next one.
Press to Meco are a 3 piece rock band from London. They did have some good moments and it was interesting to see that all 3 members sang at various points. I have a rule at gigs at the moment in that if I haven't heard of a support before going to the gig. I keep it that way as I enjoy getting into bands live. But in Press to Meco's case I think it would have been better to get into their songs first. And for that reason although I wasn't completely blown away by their set, I will be checking them out further.
Now I don't ususally do this but I will make an exception here - if you are going to see Shinedown on this tour or you think you'll see the next support band Starset which I am going to talk about now. It is probably best you skip over the next section till you see them. People who have seen or know about Starset will know what I am talking about. So skip this section if you dont want to know about Starset's set. But if you aren't planning to see them I would read it!
*********************************************************************************
OK what can you say about Starset! I don't think I have ever reacted to a support band the way I reacted to Starset. When they came on stage and started going into the first song my mates just looked at each other and just said "WOW". Coming on in space suits which lit up in different colours depending on how they moved. They had projectors too and generally had such a great stage presence. The band is made up with the lead singer, guitarist, bassist and a string section which are very much part of the band. And one of them played keyboards for a bit too. They did remind me a bit of Bring me the Horizon but longer songs and maybe not as heavy. This really was an excellent set. And I should mention by the time they came on the place was full. It was unfortunate at the start of the last song they ran into technical difficulties. They tried to fix it for 5 minutes but time was getting on and they decided to call it a day. But when they explained this they got such a good reaction. I think they had already won the audience and didn't really have anything left to prove. It was tremendous.
********************************************************************************
Now on to the headliners Shinedown. They came on and drove head first into hit single "Devil". That really got the place going. They then played "Diomond Eyes" which to be honest was the only song they played which I was unfamiliar with but appearently it was on a soundtrack. It was interesting to note that there was no songs I don't think from the first 2 albums but the were all spread out over the last 4. This was ideal for me as the first 2 albums I didn't think were as good. But at the same time it may be because I haven't given them enough listens yet. But either way I was pleased the set focused on albums 3 to 6.
Such is their back catalogue now every song they played was a hit and when you can exclude songs like the "Crow and the Butterfly" from the set you know you have a strong set of material. One thing which could get on peoples nerves a bit and I have seen a few Twitter comments about it - is frontman Brent Smith's talking in between songs. But I think it is brilliant. He really knows how to get the crowd going. In fact before "Enemies" he went all the way into the crowd and up to a section we were standing near just to tell people to jump for the next song. He then went back and everyone was jumping. He just knew what to say to get the crowd on side. I know some people might want more songs but I think it can be what is said in between songs makes gigs a better experience too.
My favourite moment of the night though came in the form of an acousitc version of Amaryllis. I absolutley love that song and I dont think they play it that often live at the moment as they said they asked folk what they wanted to hear earlier in the day on social media and quite a few people said this song. So Glasgow was very lucky! The gig was due to finish at 11pm but I think maybe because of the problems with the support acts set it didn't finish till about 11.15pm with the magnificent song "Brilliant" which is the closer on their latest album "Attention, Attention".
Overall this was an absolutley amazing gig. One of the things I love about Shinedown is that the songs are so easy to sing along to. They rock so much and put everything into it. They are clearly grateful for the position they are in and to the people that made them who they are. I was late to the party with them but I am there now and I am planning on being at the next one.
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