Focus Shift

Went to Metal for the Masses last night. It was lots of fun! You can't go, because that was the final night of the tour. Lots of hijinks ensued, mostly aimed at Scar Symmetry and Into Eternity. Scar Symmetry were very impressive, with good stage presence and great songs. The highlight, though, was when Dark Tranquillity's singer appeared onstage between songs dressed as Marilyn Monroe, sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to Scar Symmetry's singer, and presented him with a bottle of some sort of liquor. Then the roadies, dressed as doctors, came onstage during the last song and started removing the drummer's cymbals while he was trying to play. Into Eternity were amazing as always, and had a very interesting backdrop of pornographic magazine pages taped onto their scrims. The roadies also managed to knock over one of the scrims while pretending to feel up the pictures. Pranks aside, Stu Block is still one of the very best front men out there, and the musicianship was phenomenal as always. Dark Tranquillity's set went much more smoothly, and was by far the best show I've ever seen them perform. Great set list (including three brand-new songs from their upcoming album, Fiction), great energy, and a jaw-dropping performance from the entire band. They're the rare band that keeps getting better and better almost 15 years into their career. Even the audience seemed to be there to see Dark Tranquillity, because the crowd thinned out noticeably before the last band. No way The Haunted (or anyone, really) could follow that set, but they were still pretty damn good. Although I'm definitely in the minority, their latest album, The Dead Eye, is my favorite of theirs, so I was pretty happy to see the songs played live. The band was pretty intense, and Peter Dolving is a charismatic front man. Just... unhinged. He went on several odd rants, including one where he exhorted the audience to chant "The clitoris is God." Pretty amazing concert, overall.

Adding to my own personal gratification, they were giving out the issue of Outburn that had my Into Eternity interview. That meant that people were getting my interview signed, and were going to put it on their walls or whatever they do with autographed things. I would have signed it, too! But nobody knew/cared who I was. Of course, I got a copy signed for myself, as a neat keepsake. Makes me feel warm inside.