Live Music Review - Dir en Grey @ The Palladium Ballroom

Dir en Grey is a very interesting band. It amazes me that have such a large fan base in the United States. Given it is mainly anime fanboys and fangirls who love all weird things that are Japanese. But hey, if it wasn't for the support of these people I would probably never have been given the chance to see the band preform live. This isn't first time I've seen Dir en Grey preform. I saw them a couple of years ago when they were on tour for the "Marrow of the Bone" album. I was blown away. Dir en Grey gives one of most intense live preformances I've ever seen. I was a little disturbed also because they kept looping video footage of the atom bomb drooping on Japan. That seemed like a strange thing for a Japanese band to be showing an American audience. This time around they didn't show any thing quite that messed up. But they did show some pretty bad ass pictures of Ukiyo-e style samurai's committing seppuku. I was really impressed by the set the band played this time around. They played a good mix of heavy songs and some of their more experimental songs. They played every song wanted to hear but Jesus Christ R' n R'. My understanding of the Japanese languge is very minimal. This allows me to focus on the singers voice as another instrument. Which adds more to the over all experience. He has very impressive vocal range and can produce a varity of sounds with his voice. Hopefully Dir en Grey will continue to have success in the United States because over the last couple of years they have become one of my favorite heavy metal bands.

Dir en Grey - Uroboros

Dir en Grey are back again. This heavy metal has become one of the most popular bands to come out of Japan. Dir en Grey has built up a allegiance of fans across America and Europe. The band's newest album "Uroboros" won't disappoint those fans. "Uroboros" shows the bands more experimental side. While the songs are as heavy as ever. The band uses a wider range of sounds such as the mandolin. Even the singer Kyo's vocals a little softer on this album. This isn't a problem. All the songs flow well together. I'm always happy when I see bands try different things and evolve there sound. I've never been a fan of artist that just keeping making the same the CD year after year. I feel as though the band is cheating themselves when they don't try new things. If your already a fan of Dir en Grey "Uroboros" is a must buy. If you've been interested in them and haven't listened to them yet I would suggest starting with album "Withering to Death." For info on Dir en Grey checkout the bands Myspace. http://www.myspace.com/direngrey

Live Music Review: Chuck Ragan & Tom Gabel @ The Prophet Bar

This show turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. For many different reason. First I was surprised by how many people showed up. We had to wait in line for nearly an hour and half to get. The Prophet Bar isn't a very big place. There for a little while it didn't look like we were going to get. There was so many people at the show that the bar ran out of all beer on tap before we even got in. This show was a little different than the typical concert I like to attend. There were no electric instruments. Only people with acoustic instruments and there voices. I which I liked because one person with a wooden instrument, something to say and a voice can be just as powerful as an entire band on a stage with lots of flashing lights and a elaborate set. There really wasn't set times. The musicians would rotate between group performances and solo performances. While I am a Chuck Ragan fan the main reason we wentto the show was to see Tom Gabel (the lead singer of Against Me!) preform his solo stuff. I had only heard a handful of his solo songs. So I was really looking forward to hearing some stuff I had never heard before. His performance was awesome. LIke I mentioned earlier its amazing how much energy one man with a aucustic guitar can produce. Now on to Chuck Ragan. I've heard a lot about Chuck Ragan over last couple of years. I have a couple of his cds. But after seeing him prefrom live I understood why I had to wait in line for over an hour to get. He is that good. He has a very distinctive voice that people can gravitate to. Plus he plays the harmonica. You can't go wrong with that. Below are some videos of the show we recorded. Enjoy!!!!

Live Music Review: Danzig @ the Pallidum Ballroom

I cant even begin to count how many bands I have seen over the years that have been influenced by Danzig. The Misfits themselves spawned the horror punk genre. This was the second time I have seen Danzig live. The first time was many years ago in San Antonio. Unlike that time Danzig actually had some good bands opening for him. Moonspell was alright. Nothing to great. Dimmu Borgir on the other hand was a band I had been hearing a lot about lately. They are very big with fans of Norwegian death metal. They were quite good. Dimmu Borgir gave quite a spirited performance. The perfect warm up the crowd needed before Danzig came on the stage. Danzig's performance was I expected. He played all of his hits like Twist the Chain and Mother. Danzig had gotten a little older and a little bigger. But that didn't take away from his stage presence one bit. One thing that did surprise me was how aggressively security was going after people who took pictures with there phone. They would grab you and drag you out of the crowd. If you are a fan of punk rock or metal you should really try to see Danzig next time he comes around. Like I mentioned earlier he is getting older and probably doesn't have many tours left. You owe it to yourself to see one of the most in influential performers of punk rock and metal of all time.

November Concert Picks

These are my picks for the best of shows in the DFW area this November. Hopefully I will be able to attend them all. See you there!!!

Chuck Ragan & Tom Gabael – November 8 – Prophet Bar

H20 - November 10 – the Door

Ill Nino & Walls of Jericho - November 22 - Ridglea Theater

Dir en Grey – November 26 - Palladium or The Misfits @ the Granada (haven't decided yet)