Please and Thank You

Right now, much of Ohio is getting pounded by a blizzard. That's right, I used the "b" word. In short: it's awful here. We have something like 15 inches of snow in Dayton - and the white stuff continues to fall. The snow started about 8 yesterday morning, and I decided to leave my office and work from home around 10. By afternoon, we had several inches - just in time for the Taste of Chaos tour at Hara Arena.

Since I am an "adult," my husband and I made the trip anyway. The venue is only about 11 miles from our house and the roads were pretty clear, so it wasn't a big deal for us. Still a lot of people going to the show were (shock!) kids, not old enough to drive or too inexperienced to be driving in a blizzard. According to the official Rockstar Taste of Chaos forum, a lot of people with Dayton tickets planned on skipping the event. You couldn't really tell because the arena was still packed, but I would guess a couple hundred people decided to give up rock in favor of the weather.

I did notice a lot of parents with their kids, and that is the point of this entry: thank your parents. Yes, you might be an adult now. I know a lot of my readers have kids of their own - but seriously, I bet your parents sacrificed a lot just so you could have a happy childhood.

Anyway, I joked with Eric that we were the only two people in the arena old enough to buy beer. Of course this wasn't entirely true, but not necessarily that far off either.  The only other people that seemed to have money for beer were - you guessed it - the parents. I didn't see any of them drinking either.

I had floor access but stayed in the seats because I don't believe in getting bloodied during a show. At many points in the night, the entire venue floor was a giant mosh pit. No thank you, I bruise easily! Still, I would guess there were some parents standing on the fringe of the pits, feeling terrified, but patiently waiting for the end of the show.

The show was LOUD. I actually had to wear ear plugs it was so loud - that very rarely happens. I was grateful for those ear plugs. Then I looked around and saw the parental figures hunched over, plugging their ears. I felt a little sorry for them. 

If you're not familiar, the major bands on Taste of Chaos this year are Bullet For My Valentine, Atreyu and Avenged Sevenfold. There were some Japanese bands and contest winners, too. In case you're wondering Bullet and A7X were excellent - I now know I really don't like Atreyu. At any rate, the show was worth the ticket price and the bands seemed genuinely impressed at the size of the crowd considering the blizzard and all.

Here's the Bullet set (and I think this is accurate. I didn't feel like writing last night):

Scream Aim Fire
Disappear
Four Words To Choke Upon
Tears Don’t Fall
Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow
Say Goodnight
Eye of the Storm
Hand of Blood
Waking the Demon 

Now here's what Avenged Sevenfold performed:

Critical Acclaim
Second Heartbeat
Afterlife
Beast and the Harlot
Scream
Bat Country
Gunslinger
Seize the Day
Almost Easy
Unholy Confessions
A Little Piece of Heaven 

The A7X set was actually pretty Glam with fire, lasers, video screens and confetti - sounds like they a took a few lessons from the Poison (or KIX, depending on which side of the argument you fall) play-book. Remember: huge guitar solos are always appreciated! 

I have no doubt in my mind that a whole lot of parents - the ones who didn't actually have tickets and go into the show - fought the blizzard to drop-off and pick-up kids outside the arena. It's bad enough driving once - these brave souls did it twice!

You know, when I was a kid my parents took me and friends to concerts - I'm sure they had zero interest in the music, but they went because we all make sacrifices in life.

Comments

[Joe]

Hi Allyson..glad to see you and Eric had a great time at the show..but more glad to hear you arrived safe both to the show and home..Hope your weekend is going good and talk to you soon =)

[Makel]

Dang. I wish the Taste of Chaos tour was coming around here. A7X is one of my favorites; and my mom really likes them too. I like BFMV too (her not so much; but if they were coming to the Carolinas I'm sure we'd go).

I know A7X puts on a great show; I wish I would've saw them back last year when they came to SC. And I agree, Atreyu isn't in the same leage as the other 2 bands (the only song I really like by them is their new song...Becoming the Bull or something?)

Anyhow, it sounds like you had a good time. :)

[Christian Graus]

My mum dropped me and my sister off to see Wham. I was never allowed to go to metal shows, so I saw Wham at 12 ( I was made to go, to supervise my 9 yo sister ), and my next show was AC/DC just before I turned 19, a few months after being kicked out of home.

[Mrlee]

While im not really a big fan, Atreyus new album is tons better than anything Avenged S have ever put out. (although atreyus other albums where the vocals are screamo are shockingly shit)

The guitar solos sound so 80s, its cool..shame the chorus's fall to the same trap as every other band of that scene, gay emo style.

Taste of chaos is famous for bringing emo bands around in the UK, no surprise with that line up....

Bullet are ok, but feels what they are doing on there new album trivium already did on there 2006 album.

They need a festival tour which showcases bands like CRASHDIET and Airbourne. Why leave all the glory to emo bands all the time.

[Allyson]

Mr Lee --

Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine and Atreyu are not emo. All three are straight up Heavy Metal. I just don't care for Atreyu, but I respect that you enjoy their music.

Allyson

[Mrlee]

ok allyson, but give there latest album a listen. i think it would grow on you if you like all those bands styles!!!

Plus, the song blow gets a special mention as it features vocals from Josh Todd of Buckcherry!

[Tracey]

Even though I went as a parent with my kids to this concert, I'd have gone without them. Avenged Sevenfold has become my favorite band thanks to my kids. The Dayton show was awesome and A7X really rocked the house. They played many of the newer songs - but they were songs that I hadn't expected them to play like Little Piece of Heaven and especially Gunslinger. I love both songs so it was a treat to see them played. They seem to have those surprises in many of their concerts and last time we were treated to I Won't See You Tonight, Part I live. Thanks to the bands for making it through the snow - we'd had been very disappointed if it was cancelled. Bullet for My Valentine was great as well.