Every year, California gets to throw the biggest metal festival this state has ever seen. Featuring bands from all the major metal labels as well as locals and vendors, this event couldn't be bigger and better. This years lineup featured big names such as Bleeding Through, Upon A Burning Body, Darkest Hour, Asking Alexandria, A Skylit Drive, The Great Commission and what everyone was hoping for, the original lineup of Killswitch Engage who played their whole first album Alive Or Just Breathing to celebrate the ten year anniversary of it's release.
Gates opened at eleven in the morning and the line went on forever it seemed. The local bands took the stage early in the day. Some of the locals I have talked of before in my blog played today such as Paradigm and Beneath The Veil. Paradigm attracted a huge crowd as they played. The group presented the concert goers with new tracks such as "Plight of the Black Coats" and "As Ashes" and the new and loyal fans loved. Another good band caught around the same time Paradigm played was Of Legions. Of Legions was a heavy upcoming act that got the early crowd started and ready. Legends Shall Fall and You Only Live Once also were two of the earlier acts that caught a lot of attention. Legends Shall Fall brought their unique brand of deathcore destruction to the stage and You Only Live Once gave their fans a great show with their two female vocalists. Since there was four stages, I couldn't catch every act but I caught quite a few.
Time came that the big acts started playing and one of the first I caught was Attila who come out of Georgia with their "party metal" sound. Playing mostly songs off their recent release Outlawed such as Payback, White Lightning and Light Me Up, many beers, blunts and joints were up in the air. Afterwards I caught the band Veil of Maya. Veil of Maya is a very technical deathcore act and with tracks played live such as Unbreakable, Eclipse and Mowgli, many people gathered to check them out. I was able to catch many other acts such as the electro-post hardcore act I See Stars, the symphonic deathcore giants Winds of Plague, the tech death metal kings The Faceless, hardcore's finest Betrayal, and many others.
Later that night was the part everyone gathered for. Killswitch Engage took the stage and the crowd went insane. Their guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz came out with beer in hand and short cut jean shorts like he has made famous through the years. When vocalist Jesse Leach (original vocalist from the band's start till he left and Howard Jones of Blood Has Been Shed took over) took his place on stage, every camera went off and the start of their set began. They opened with the start of Alive Of Just Breathing and played the full album in it's entirety. With famous tracks like Fixation on the Darkness, My Last Serenade, Life To Lifeless and Vide Infra, the crowd went wild. There was moments of everyone singing along, crowd surfing, relentless pits and people just jumping around. It was amazing to see this performance live and know that a piece of my high school memories is back and not going away.
Another great part was the after party for all the bands, their friends, family and press as well. It was time to mingle with musicians, talk to label representatives and just enjoy a great day of music and metal. I have to say that this event was one of the best years I have experienced through the short but growing years of the annual California Metalfest. I am already looking forward to next year's!
No comments:
Post a Comment