MetalVice

It’s been four years, almost to the day, since starting this podcast, and we have tried to record a headlining In This Moment show as an episode probably that same number of times. For one reason or another we decided not to post them though. Most likely because we thought they sucked. Not the concert itself, but our conversation of the concert. Well as you will see in this episode we dont have high thoughts on In This Moment Live. Will this one be better? Probably not, but here it is.

After moving to Chicago we heard all the time from people how amazing summer in Chicago is. Of course it is. It's summer in the midwest. We know all about that growing up in Iowa. But they were right. For some reason summers in Chicago just hit differently. The cold bitter winter fades and we all come out to have fun. We go to the beaches, the parks, and our favorite the street fests. For years now we have been going to some street fests soloy to see one band, Raviv. A perfect blend of metal and classical music. Now though, with summer coming to a close they too must move inside, for their first show. At Reggie’s. What a perfect Chicago venue for their first headlining show.

When it comes to what bands are on the bill our thoughts bounce back and forth. Sometimes we love when all the bands are basically the same genera or subgenera. Other times it's fun when all the bands are different. The Igorrr show we attended was definitely the latter. Opening we got a melding of metal and EDM with Violent Magic Orchestra (VMO). Followed by Secret Chiefs 3. An experimental instrumental band that we had some past experience seeing live. Then closing it out we got the weirdly perfect blend of experimental operatic EDM metal that is Igorrr. Somehow all three bands seemed to work together. Maybe just not in the order they played.

All of our mail boxes are a little full of junk. Somehow after going to a show you are all of a sudden signed up for that venue's mailing list. Sure it might be easy to unsubscribe but who was the time for that? Mostly, Brian just deletes them without even looking inside. But on this one occasion something caused him to open a mail from Subterranean. There was an ad for an upcoming show, Crown Magnetar and To The Grave. Two bands neither Brian or Karen were familiar with, but the logos looked metal. So off we went. Sure enough it was a metal show with  openers Face Yourself, Backbiter, and Traumatization.

How do you celebrate a 30 year career anniversary? Well for Chad Grey he threw a little party. Or tour but that too can be a party. Taking to the road to showcasing 30 years of madness. The tour had the perfect combination of openers with Butcher Babies and Devils Cut to complement Chad’s music from Mudvayne and Hellyeah.

Even though it's in Chicago, and somewhat easy to get to, it’s been 5 years since our last Riot Fest. The big draw for us this year was without question Tool. We knew going in there would not be a lot of metal, but we expected a full day of good fun music. The weather though had other plans for us. Join us while we share our thoughts on this abridged one day experience.

It’s Labor Day weekend. Summer is officially over. But not without one last party. Our options were Kanye West at Soldier Field or Babymetal at Northerly Island. Yeah… the correct answer is easy to see. And hey, while we have technically seen Halestorm live, that wasn't a proper set. So getting to see them open for Babymetal was exciting. After all they are a big band that has been around for a long time. We are still kind of shocked we have never see a proper set. It was also our first time seeing Violent Vira. Sure, Northerly Island is not our favorite spot to go, but it sure as hell beats shoving nails through our ear and eye holes at Soldier Field. And besides…. METALI!!

Khemmis is back in Chicago. And they're playing our favorite venue, Thalia Hall! OK OK. It wasn't their headlining show. It was Monolord's show, technically. Going in knowing Monolord is a stoner doom metal band from Sweden we were definitely excited to see them for the first time, but it's our first time seeing Khemmis in a few years. This alone meant it was going to be a great show. The first opener, Earth Tongue, was just like Monolord, we knew nothing about them, but we were positive it was going to be good. Join us as we look back at this show several days after the fact.

Just because summer is starting to wind down and the festivals are starting to end, it does not mean the live music will. No, things are starting to pick back up. For us, August is often a slower month but at the end we kick off two shows in one week with DevilDriver and their Strike And Kill North America tour. The packed lineup included Upon A Burning Body, Ov Sulfur, and Cultus Black. This was a show we have been highly anticipating. Join us this week and see if it lived up to the hype we had in our heads.

More than 20 years later Brian tries to relive his youth by seeing his first band again, Mötley Crüe. This time however he managed to drag Karen along for the ride. Unlike Brian’s only Mötley Crüe show, The Return Of The Carnival Of Sins had supporting acts. Starting off the festivities we got Extreme and Tesla. Join the ride too and see if our first concert in over a month at one of our least favorite venues was worth the trip.