Friday, January 25, 2008

I went to a gig

Truth be told, I may be getting a bit too old for gig-going. At the ripe old age of 37 and ten and a half months, standing in the cold for hours at the precise time I should be settling down to a nice warm dinner has somewhat lost its appeal.

But there are some events that dictate I buck the homely trend, and the return of Avenged Sevenfold to these shores is one such occasion.

I'm a relative newcomer to the A7X phenomenon, having really only got on the bandwagon about two years ago, and this, believe it or not, is the first full-scale UK tour they have undertaken in that time. Additionally, last night's gig was their biggest yet in the UK, so it was great to be there. And once inside, I was warm enough to strip down to T-shirt too, so it's all good. It's absolutely imperative that you show your tattoos at a rock gig. That is, after all, what tattoos are for.

You can read full details, including the set list, over at Red's blog, but I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts and post a couple of pics.

1. Black Tide were a fucking awesome opening act. It's a shame that they were halfway through their short set by the time we had snaked our way around the entire venue and got in.

2. Bloodsimple had a great sound... except for the vocals, frankly. I can take only so much of that growly shit! And I just don't like to be told, "On the count of four, I want all of you motherfuckers to fuckin' jump up and fuckin' down!" I feel like I'm in some adult-language version of a children's playground game. I'm not jumping up and down, no matter how much of a motherfucker I am, thank you.

3. A7X rocked the motherfuckin' house, and thankfully they were not full of quite the same sort of crass prompts as Bloodsimple were. We did, however, learn the middle name of guitarist Synyster Gates, when singer M Shadows introduced one of the guitar solos with the words: "Synyster Fuckin' Gates!" (European/UK readers will be saddened to note that the "M" of M Shadows does not stand for Monsieur. I wish it did.)

A great time was had by all, and we were back at home with a mug of cocoa shortly after midnight. What more could an aging rocker ask for?

Okay, motherfuckers, here's some motherfuckin' photo-fuckin-graphs. (See how rock 'n' roll I am?)

M Shadows & Zacky V
M Shadows and Zacky Vengeance


Johnny Christ & Synyster Gates
Johnny Christ and Synyster Gates


Zacky V
Zacky V


Sing, Shadows, sing!
Monsieur Shadows

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16 Comments:

Blogger Red said...

The M is for Mendelbaum.

25 January, 2008 11:46  
Blogger Ben said...

Not gonna lie to you - looking at Zacky V, all I can see is this.

25 January, 2008 12:11  
Blogger me said...

nope, you lost me, but i'm gonna look em up on limewire!
and by the by, YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO GO TO A GIG!
i went to see "from the jam" before christmas. two thirds of the original jam. (guess who was missing?)
and on the 22nd february i'm off to see sonic boom six, streetlight manifesto, and reel big fish! and i can't wait.
i'm trying desperately to get the time off to go and see the dropkick murphys too!
as i say, never too old to go to a gig. getting too old to enter the moshpit though!

ROCK ON! i know i will!

25 January, 2008 12:36  
Blogger mister anchovy said...

OK, go ahead and make me feel old. Har!

25 January, 2008 13:04  
Blogger furiousBall said...

awesome! Oddly enough last night I was driving behind some dude with a bunch of band bumper stickers on the back of their truck and I was wondering who the A7X sticker was for.

25 January, 2008 14:31  
Blogger Martha Elaine Belden said...

glad you had such a great time.

good for you, you old rocker you ;)

25 January, 2008 16:24  
Blogger tweetey30 said...

Looks like a great time. You are only 37. I turned 31 today so your not that old.....LOL... Have a wonderful weekend my friend.

25 January, 2008 16:30  
Blogger * (asterisk) said...

Red: It's go time, motherfucker!

Ben: See, that's just plain wrong...

Cappy: Sorry to leave you in the dark; it's that whole mods/rockers/mockers thing, I guess! Maybe you're right; maybe I'm not too old. Hell, yeah. Too young, that's what I am!

25 January, 2008 16:43  
Blogger * (asterisk) said...

Mr A: Yeah, you're as young as you feel, right?

F/ball: Another prime piece o' edjukashun from A Blog about Nowt. All riiiight!

Martha: You betcha.

Tweetey: Will do my best.

25 January, 2008 16:45  
Blogger me said...

ooh! nah then!
very system of a down/anthrax/slayer/linkin park kind of vibe going on there.
not exactly my cup of tea, but i DO like it! enough to go see them? thats for discussion another time!

26 January, 2008 11:19  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

sounds like you had fun. I don't think there is an age limit for that. At least not our age and certainly noty yet. :)

26 January, 2008 14:51  
Blogger Milla said...

Happy to know you had such a good time, and you are NEVER too old to go to a gig! Never!

I don't know AX7 almost at all, but they look good from your pictures, stylish.

26 January, 2008 15:43  
Blogger Candy Minx said...

You are rock and roll all right! I had no idea there was a cut off for going to gigs. I saw Muddy Waters when he was like 83...ifhe didn't stop why should anyone else? I might have to try to write a post about this...

Sounds like a terrific evening and like I said to Red I'm so glad you guys got out to see some music and I love the venue.

Stagg went to see Moe last night...i stayed home he was having boys night.

But actually, we haven't gone to see live music since our trip south...long overdue!

26 January, 2008 16:47  
Blogger Adam Frazier said...

Cool that you guys went to a gig and whatnot, that's very hip of you. You should check out less than jake when they're at Brixton or some other venue near by - they're huge there apparently. They're much more famous in Europe and Japan... maybe I'm one of the only Americans with good taste? ha

27 January, 2008 15:11  
Blogger me said...

less than jake are seriously good live!
been there done that. good call fraze!

28 January, 2008 01:33  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was there! :)
unfortunately during Remenissions I was on the floor as a row of us near the front fell over and noone helped us up! It was like dominoes!!
I agree though, wicked night!

19 March, 2008 21:43  

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