Live Report - Iced Earth, Children of Bodom, and Evergrey - Austin, Texas May 9, 2004
Metal Reviews

Release year: 2004
Reviewed by Ben

I’m sitting here back at home after driving a combined eleven hours to and from the Iced Earth, Children of Bodom, and Evergrey show in Austin, Texas. Now while that might seem insane to some, driving five and a half hours to see “just a show” I wouldn’t pass this tour up for the world, I even rescheduled a college exam to make sure I wouldn’t miss this.

The metalness began just a little over an hour away from my hometown, as I was driving down the highway a car pulled up next to me and as I looked over I saw two long haired guys waving Alive in Athens out the window so we pulled over at the next rest stop and talked for about thirty minutes on all things metal. The two metalheads were Will and Ben (that’s right, the name Ben is synonymous with metal!) and like me, they were catching the show the next day in Austin so we agreed to meet up and party at the venue and then we took off. That was pretty cool and energized me and made the rest of the drive by myself not as bad as I thought it would be. I crashed at my friend’s apartment by UT and since the show wasn’t until the next day (I came in on Saturday) our crew of about six people hit the town and that evening we went to San Antonio and ate at a really cool Mexican food place and then chilled by the Riverwalk for a little bit. I must point out here that my friends aren’t necessarily metalheads, they’re more or less “normal” so it was a hoot when we were out at night and I was sporting my Edguy shirt, jeans, and Harley boots while everyone else was in nice shirts and shorts with flip flops. Being with all of them made me realize even more that I need to get out of the town I’m in and live it up in San Antonio where I could have a blast every single night with all my friends instead of the mighty computer screen here.

Anyways, I’m sure you’re waiting for me to get to the show report itself so here it comes. Me and my friend, Adam (who I met in high school while riding the bus when he asked me one day if I liked Iced Earth. Irony at its finest isnt it? And no, not in the Alanis Morrisette way) arrived at the venue the bands were playing at one in the afternoon and just hung out around the buses. Why did we show up so early you ask? You’ll see. The first band member I met was Mikael from Evergrey and we chatted it up a bit and he signed my cd’s and went back inside. Henrik and Ricard also made appearances and after talking to them Ralph Santolla from Iced Earth shows up and asks us, “Man, aren’t you guys a little early?” I told him yea, we’re gonna be the first people in that door. “You already have tickets?” Oh yea, we got ‘em. “Then aren’t you going to be bored the whole day?” Hahhaha, NO! He says he’ll be right back with some guitar pics for us and these other two fans that showed up (one of them was blind too and loves metal. Now that’s hardcore). While we’re waiting for Ralph to come back Jon Schaffer comes out and starts to talk to us and I’ll admit I was getting a little giddy on the inside. Right into the conversation he asks us if there’s any place to get some black tank top shirts to wear onstage and my friend who lives in Austin tells him about the Wal Mart over off the Interstate that’s about twenty minutes away. Jon looks disappointed and so my friend and I ask him, “Hey, you need a ride?” After about a half second of consideration Jon quips, “Sure, let’s go!” So we hop in the truck and on the way to the store we start talking about politics, the tour, the President, some good literature, starting your own business, the sad state of affairs with the majority of the youth in America today, and all sorts of cool stuff that I won’t really repeat here because it was off the record, it wasn’t an interview just about an hour and a half long conversation between Adam, me and Jon. Jon is a really passionate, dedicated and smart man. He’s been through it all and deserves everything he’s reaped and then some. I thought I had a crappy job, working through college while frying chicken at a fast food joint while wearing a hairnet. He on the other hand hot tar mopped roofs all day for twenty bucks and came back for more. Pretty much every horrendous job no one would want to do, he did to make his dream come true. We ended up driving around more than planned as Wal Mart didn’t have what he was looking for so we ended up going to a sport’s wear store and he picked up some wrist bands as well and even bought us something to drink for the ride. When we came back he took pictures with us and signed all our cd’s , thanked us for the ride and then walked back inside the venue. As he left me and Adam just stared at each other, “Did we just take Jon Schaffer shirt shopping in your truck?!!?” Hahha, oh man! I held my composure well in the truck and in the store but I had to sit down for a bit after that experience. Seeing as it was now just three o’ clock we went back to waiting by the buses for the chance to meet more members of the band. I ended up getting the rest of Evergrey to sign all my cd’s and got Alexi and Jaska from Bodom as well. Janne and Henkka looked tired coming back from the Long John Silver’s across the street so I didn’t bug them just yet, Janne even still had his pajamas on. At about five thirty more people begin to show up so me and Adam head inside to begin the wait. This time the wait wasn’t so bad as opposed to other shows I met a whole bunch of metalheads and as we waited we just talked and talked and I met the guys from the rest stop too so hell, the two hour wait for the doors wasn’t as torturous as I thought it’d be. At seven the doors were opened and I ran my ass to the front of the stage and after another hour of even more waiting, Evergrey hit the stage.

They tore into the opener Blinded with full force, Tom, Henrik and Mikael were all headbanging in synchronized ferocity. Tom sang his heart out and paused briefly to announce the next number, End of Your Days. After two from the Recreation Day cd, it was time for a new one off of their latest opus The Inner Circle they ripped into More Than Ever which was heavy as hell live. The chorus was pure metal magic and I was having the time of my life, pumping my fist in the air and singing along. I didn’t look back as I was too enraptured by them on the stage three inches in front of me but the crowd must have been great because Tom and Henrik just kept smiling again and again at each other then back out at the audience. Their new drummer Jonas is a classic traditional drummer with his hair flying all over the place and he too couldn’t stop smiling while he was playing. For looking like the most depressed men ever in all their cd’s they sure are a happy bunch. Rulers of the Mind slowed it down just a bit and then A Touch of Blessing was played, minus the acoustic intro, the guys wanted to keep it heavy and intense. The last two songs were the godly Recreation Day and The Masterplan where I just lost it. I was headbanging so hard and singing at the top of my lungs that I was exhausted after their brief thirty five minute set. They thanked the audience and as they were doing that I reached over to Henrik’s stand and got myself a pic and he and Tom were laughing as I struggled to reach over to grab one. Tom motioned for me that it was ok then they started to throw the last three out to the crowd.

Children of Bodom were next and I was getting very anxious as I have been a fan of theirs for going on five years now and couldn’t wait to see them in the flesh. Opening up with Hate Me! I noticed that they had a crystal clear sound. It wasn’t as loud as Evergrey but it was very clear, I could hear Alexi’s guitar, Roope, and Janne each distinctly. Plowing straight into Chokehold the guys were tearing it up. Alexi kept throwing metal poses and wailing on his guitar. Roope looked like the seasoned professional he is he just looked firm and stoic while throwing his hair around every now and then. Janne almost looked bored, he would drink a beer and when his solo spots came up he’d use one hand and blur them across the keys on his burnt and duct taped keyboard. Henkka and Jaska played their asses off too, Henkka roamed the stage back and forth and adding his voice to the shout chants on the songs. After Chokehold is where things get a little fuzzy, I remember all the songs but not the exact order. I know that Sixpounder and Silent Night Bodom Night were next but I don’t remember which one came before the other. For being the only real dud on Hate Crew Deathroll, Sixpounder comes off a lot better live, I just really hate that main opening riff, reminds me too much of Pantera. During Silent Night Bodom Night is when the crowd went completely insane, there was a pit that broke out about five feet behind me and there were crowd surfers all over the place. One chick must have gone surfing at least twenty times throughout Bodom and Iced Earth’s set. During the guitar solos Alexi would act like a rock star and throw his guitar around and make metal faces at the crowd. The pace slowed down a tad for the midtempo Angel’s Don’t Kill, but came roaring back for the extremely well received Needled 24 / 7. The way Alexi spits out the “A backstabbing motherfucker to the bone is what you are!” line was venomous and during the melodic dual guitar break him and Roope got together and harmonized and it was a thrill to see. Everytime I Die was somewhat ruined by the fact I got slammed in the head by a crowd surfer’s boot pretty hard and I had to keep turning around every five seconds to make sure it didn’t happen again as there were bodies flying right at me the whole duration of the song. The title track of their newest cd was aired and I went insane as that’s my personal favorite cut off of Hate Crew Deathroll. I don’t remember that much because almost all my energy reserves were depleted during this but I did manage to save a bit for the last tune, Downfall. There were some technical problems with Alexi’s guitar because the intro from Janne had to be extended and him and Alexi just laughed at each other when Alexi gave his guitar a confused look before it kicked back into gear. A perfect closing song to end a highly energetic set. There was never a dull moment from the time when Bodom hit the stage to when they left, I am extremely glad I caught them here in Austin.

After having a fat roadie threaten to kick me out after I was joking with him because of his unfunny attempts to be comedic throughout the monitor problems, Iced Earth finally hit the stage. After a tape of our national anthem they began with Declaration Day. The sound was loud but clear, Ralph and Jon’s guitars were distinct and the bass was like channeled thunder. It knocked over my camera that was sitting behind the monitors, ha! Burning Times was next and being the first track on Iced Earth’s breakthrough album this one got the audience riled up and thrashing mad. Tim hit all the notes perfectly and he didn’t try to emulate Matt, he sang in his own style and it meshed beautifully. A double shot of tracks off of Dark Saga were next, two of my favorites actually, Vengeance is Mine and Violate. Especially in Violate, Christy’s drumming slayed. “You want to do some singing?” was shouted out before the beginning of one of Iced Earth’s best songs ever, Angel’s Holocaust. The crowd and I “woa’d” along to the melody line in the intro, it was breathtaking. If the crowd for Helloween was god awful, then this one was stupendous. Near the climax, when Jon begins that godly riff from hell where Tim sings “For the last time I’ve been betrayed…” I stared off over to where Jon was at and was in awe, he was in deep concentration and owned that guitar like he caught it banging his wife. Here, again like with Bodom the setlist becomes a bit hazy so I’ll just comment on the songs that were played following, just not in their order. Melancholy was as emotional with Tim as it is with Matt, and the only other ballad aired was When the Eagle Cries. I don’t care how much shit people give this song I like it, it’s a tribute to those who died because some motherfucker flew a plane into a building to kill a bunch of people sitting in cubicles. To all those who say that you don’t give a shit about what happened on that day, fine, go find someone who lost a family member that day and tell them that over the phone or in their face and see what happens. Greenface and My Own Savior were thrashy and balls out metal before we come to the closing numbers, Dracula and the Something Wicked trilogy. At this point in the set I was dead on my feet, I had to fight from passing out as I hadn’t eaten in about twelve hours, I was dehydrated and exhausted from shouting and headbanging and singing along throughout all three bands. It was all I could do during these last twenty eight minutes to wave my fist every now and then. After the guys left the stage I knew they were coming back for another forty minutes, with Gettysburg and Iced Earth, and I foolishly thought I could make it. When the guys came out to the backdrop of a Confederate and Union flag with Jon wearing a gray rebel uniform with the bars and stars on his guitar and Ralph decked out in the Union gear I thought, “Yea, I can survive this.” Needless to say I didn’t. The dehydration, the fatigue, all mixed in with the fact the guy behind me apparently thought he could jump through me to the stage so I was being dry humped the whole time and a fat chick on my left kept going, “WOOOOO!” every five seconds at the top of her lungs was just too much. Me and Adam jetted to the bar right at the beginning of Hold at All Costs where I slammed six glasses of water and ice in about five minutes. While at the bar I ran into Children of Bodom and Evergrey so in between seeing the rest of Gettysburg and buying shirts I congratulated all of them for their brilliant performances. Jonas from Evergrey was still smiling, and was wearing a cowboy hat and nodding his head along to the finale of Gettysburg, ha I think he is just happy to be playing in such a great band, I hope he stays with them for a long, long time. Henrik was in a good mood as well and was pretty humble when I lauded him with praise. There was a brief wardrobe change before the real last song, Iced Earth in which I got Janne, Henkka, and Roope to sign my cds and it was pretty funny, Henkka it seemed, didn’t know that Janne had solo cd’s out. He asked to look at it and then started talking to Janne in Finnish. I also talked to him about a certain band who’s keyboardist has Janne marked as his idol, that person who’s name starts with J and ends in onah from Pyramaze. He remembered meeting up with Jonah in Virginia so we talked about the coolness of Pyramaze for a few minutes as well. I also asked him if he really was bored when he plays live and he just laughed and said no, so that was cool. I thought maybe he was tired of the same old songs that he's been doing for years. At this point in time I was cooling down now and was able to enjoy the final song of the night and had a big grin on me when Tim held a thirty five second high note to much applause from the crowd. When the last note was played and after the guys took their bow I felt a little sad, I had been waiting for this show since the dates were announced over four months ago and it was now over. Me and Adam regrouped outside and after talking to some more metal fans for about fifteen minutes we went to say goodbye to Jon who was signing autographs over by the buses. I felt kinda bad for leaving during Gettysburg but he told me not to worry about it, he knows the setlist is insanely long. Tim didn’t show up so after waiting for just a little bit longer we shook his hand and told him we’d see him the next time they roll by this way.

All in all this was a killer experience, I still can’t believe it happened. My only complaints are minor ones such as I wish Everygrey had a longer set and that I wouldn’t have minded if the Something Wicked trilogy was replaced by either Slave to the Dark / Question of Heaven or Dante’s Inferno. I like the Something Wicked trilogy but I love those other two. On the other hand though, if any of those two were played my head probably would have exploded from the greatness of those songs. This show was well worth the large amount of money that I spent to get there and the five and a half drive there and back home by myself, when Iced Earth comes back to Austin (and they will, this show was at capacity) I’ll be sure to be there. I have to point out as well, Jon Schaffer is not an asshole the way many people think or portray him This is a man who knows what he wants in life and for the better part of a decade was shit on but yet he has managed to plow through it and get where he is today. He doesn’t have a rock star attitude at all, he is very well educated, and is very appreciative of his fans. Do you think the singer from Creed would have let two fans drive him around the greater Austin limits while having in depth intelligent conversations with them? No, he would probably have gone *snap* *snap* "Come here roadie, go get me a group of eighteen year olds so I can show them the glory of God in my dressing room, hop to it or you won't get your twenty dollar per diem fatty." My respect for Jon has increased ten fold and I hold him in the highest respect now. Hell, maybe next time Adam and I can go shoe shopping with him, ha! As for Tim, if you see Iced Earth live you will welcome him into the band without hesitation. He draws the crowd in with his stager persona and his power even if his constant shadow boxing made Adam a bit confused. We here in the US finally got a tour package that rivals those in Europe and if you didn't catch this one then you missed one hell of a show.

Killing Songs :
Ben quoted
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