Sevendust w/ Cinder, 30 Seconds to Mars and Closure at the Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, NY - 11/16/02

Funny as it is, I actually tried to arrived late to this show. I failed. It's not that I didn't want to listen to the opening acts, it's just that I didn't care. Besides, my intuitions were correct - the opening bands were nothing special. Granted they didn't suck - they did actually have some talent and skill. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but they just didn't click with me. Funniest moment of the night had to be when Closure's frontman announces the next song, but has trouble remembering the name of it, turns and asks the drummer, who also doesn't know, then turns back around and says, "ah, fuck it" and starts playing. You don't get much more pro than that. Despite that little mishap, Closure was actually my second favorite band of the night. They had an almost 80's sound to them, except with a harder edge. Normally I'd get angry at the sound of 80's music, but they made it almost work. Almost. I can't say I was paying attention to either Cinder or 30STM; I actually went into the other half of the club to sit down while 30STM played their set. I later discovered they have some decent songs, but they didn't impress me live. Maybe it was the lack of a true frontman. Whatever. Finally, the other bands conceded, and the stage was set. I worked my way up to the front as usual, 3rd row or thereabouts. And as usual, Sevendust came out one by one and began the set. For those of you who do not know, this show was about a week after Lajon's brother was shot and killed. When the band got to Angel's Son, it was obviously a very emotional and meaningful moment for everyone there. As far as the song goes, the band may as well have not been there at all since everyone sang it at the top of their lungs. Lajon seemed very moved, and made some comments about the fans being like family, and everyone cheered him. They finished off their set with Bitch, and that was that. A good show (notice how one great act really makes up for a bunch of crappy ones), and a cold, sleeting walk to my car at 12:30AM.

Locobazooka at Singer Family Park in Manchester, NH - sometime in Summer '02

What the fuck. I get word three days before this huge outdoor event that the only band not appearing that was scheduled to appear is Reveille. Why? Because guitarist Steve got mono. Damn it, Steve. Oh well. I at least got to see Nonpoint and Sevendust; we also checked out some of the other bands. For some reason my friend wanted to go watch Earshot despite my warnings. He paid dearly. Their lead singer was a complete douchebag and didn't seem to make much of an attempt to get the crowd into the set at all. He stopped once to throw a beach ball back into the crowd, and to reprimand us about throwing things at his bandmates. Hey buddy, take a lesson from Nonpoint and show your fans that you appreciate them. I wanted to go see Audiovent, but I guess we got there too late. Now that I look back, I don't think I missed much. Next, we moved on to Nonpoint. My friend was skeptical about exactly how good they'd be, but he soon found out they could work a crowd pretty damn well. They went through Back Up, Endure, What a Day, etc. and the crowd was getting more and more into the set. At one point, they came to the song Victim, and Elias gave us a little shpiel about the words "fuck" and "that" and the middle finger. The crowd seemed into it. They played the song, and right in the middle, Elias tells the crowd that when he gives the signal, he wants everyone to explode into a huge, encompassing mosh pit. I didn't think people would follow along, but sure enough they busted into the riff and the place went wild. All I remember was spinning around and slamming into anything that moved - everything was a whir. Nonpoint put on a great show considering the time they were given, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. We met up with some other friends, and went over to listen to Filter. I wasn't impressed at all by anything I heard or saw. By the looks of the crowd, I don't think they were overly impressed either. After Filter, we waited around for Sevendust. Being the lonewolf that I am, I left my friends behind on this one and went as far forward as I could, which ended up being about the third row - not bad. The band played a great set, with what I would call their "usual" songs. As I expected, they put on a great show, and even rewarded our cheers with an encore. On an amusing note, Clint spotted me in the crowd going nuts, and tried to throw me a guitar pick. He must have tried 8 or 9 times before he gave up and gave me a sort of "sorry, man" look. Also, Sevendust was shooting for their new video for Crucified and brought cameras out on stage during the song. I could swear I got in the video, since I remember looking right down the camera and screaming the chorus of the song. The video never came out, but I like to think my face might show up on a compilation DVD somewhere down the line. Either way, it was an awesome event - even if Steve did get mono. You bastard, Steve. You bastard.

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