Orion Fest Review
As an Avenged Sevenfold fan since the first time I saw the video for "Bat Country" at the cafeteria in Montclair State University, Sunday was a magical day. Not only will this be the last time the band will be performing until they release their next album, which probably won't be until late 2013-early 2014, but at Orion Festival 2012, they stole the show. Avenged Sevenfold may have just rained on Metallica's party by putting on a crazier concert than the original Kings of Metal. One thing is for certain, Avenged Sevenfold is the biggest current hard rock band, and they are showing no signs of slowing down or stopping. Orion Fest could be a passing of the torch from Metallica to Avenged Sevenfold.
I'm sure it was a bittersweet moment for the band, ending a long three years following the death of Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan. They didn't even know if they wanted to continue making music after Nightmare, but the outpouring of love and support from their fans convinced them to carry on in Jimmy's legacy. Thank You Avenged.
From the time that Lars Fucking Ulrich (using that in a respectful way, not like a Bucky Fucking Dent way) introduced them, to the last note of "Unholy Confessions" A7X; Matt Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Synister Gates, Johnny Christ, and Arin Ilejay; had the Atlantic City crowd in a frenzy while eating out of their hands.
After Lars' glowing introduction, the band came out to arguably it's biggest hit "Nightmare" and sent the crowd jumping for excitement and yelling "ITS YOUR FUCKING NIGHTMARE" along with M Shadows to the dismay of parents there with their teenage sons and daughters. "Critical Acclaim" (still using the Rev's vocals during this song is spine chilling) was next, then Shadows welcomed new fans to this "crazy fucked up family" before "Welcome to the Family". A7X didn't talk between songs as much as they're used to because of a shorter set time, so they kept rocking on with "Almost Easy", "Buried Alive", "Afterlife", and "Beast and the Harlot".
The crowd was going nuts during the whole set, moshing and crowd surfing. At one point, someone dressed up as Scooby Doo was crowd surfing, which was met with a mildly amused/confused look from Synister Gates. I also saw a girl in zombie face paint crowd surfing as well.
Before "A Little Piece of Heaven" Shadows joked that "it's a love story between two men, no it's a beautiful story of a guy that kills his wife does unspeakable things to her dead body, then she comes back to life and haunts him". This was one of the songs I was hoping to hear since they didn't play it at the other two shows I went to. Unfortunately, "Unholy Confessions" was next, which meant that their time was up, but not before a wild circle pit during the intro to "Crossroads".
At the end of their set, I was a little beat up (an empty Coors Light cooler smacked me in the face during the middle of the concert) but was having the time of my life. Then I was off for the second day of Metallica.
Before I get into the second day though, let me jump back to the first day Metallica played. "Ecstasy of Gold" came on first, which is one of the most badass ways to start a show. Then 'Tallica played the first song they ever wrote "Hit the Lights", and followed it up with one of their most popular hits "Master of Puppets". "The Four Horsemen", "Sad But True", and "Hell and Back", off of their new EP Beyond Magnetic, were played next before they went into playing the entire Ride the Lightning album.
In an interesting twist they played the album backwards. Some more memorable songs were "Creeping Death", "Fade to Black", and "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Another interesting note was that it was the first time "Escape" was ever played live.
After a brief intermission, they came back for an encore with "One", "Battery", and "Seek and Destroy". This was a great concert as well, and Metallica seemed genuinely happy to see how successful the first ever Orion Festival was.
Then came the second day of Metallica.... and it felt like deja vu. After "Ecstasy of Gold" they played "Hit the Lights" and "Master of Puppets" before playing "For Whom the Bell Tolls" for the second time before finally playing "Fuel" and "The Shortest Straw", a song we didn't hear on Saturday.
Just like with Ride the Lightning, a cool video introduced the Black Album, before they started to play it in reverse order, finishing with "The Unforgiven", "Sad But True", and "Enter Sandman". "Blackened", "One", and "Seek and Destroy" finished the night and the festival off. Adding everything up, out of the 20 songs played on Sunday, eight of them were played on Saturday also.
I hate complaining because Metallica really does put on a great live show, and some fans might have only gone to one show, but that really took me out of the concert. Especially when you're a band as big as Metallica that has more than enough hit songs that fans want to hear.
Overall, Orion Fest was a great experience, but it would've been better if I only went to one day. I wanted to see Ride the Lightning and A7X and they were on different nights.
A7X vs Metallica
On the way back from AC, my cousin Mike and I found a couple of interesting parallels between the two bands we came to see.
To start, both bands trace their roots back to California, with Metallica coming from San Francisco and A7X from Orange County. They both started off playing heavier songs (Kill 'Em All and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet) before slowing down just a little bit. Both bands became extremely popular despite not playing what is usually considered "radio-friendly" music.
Both bands unfortunately met tragedy but persevered through with Metallica losing original bassist Cliff Burton in 1986, and A7X's drummer The Rev passing away in 2009.
They are very polarizing, finding as many "metalheads" that call them sellouts for becoming popular and making money as you would die-hard fans that know the lyrics of every song.
Another interesting fact is that their fifth studio albums "Metallica" and "Nightmare" both reached number one in their opening weeks.
As an Avenged Sevenfold fan I can only hope that they continue to make good music for as many years as Metallica has.
Silva v Sonnen
I'm going to get a longer preview up next week, but I'm really excited for this fight. It's been 2 years since their last fight, and the feud is getting hotter. During yesterday's conference call it seems like Chael Sonnen's constant barrage of comments have pushed Anderson Silva over the edge. Some quotes include:
“What I'm going to do inside the Octagon is something that's going to change the image of the sport. I'm going to beat his ass like he's never been beaten before. I'm going to make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, his arms are broken, his legs will be broken. He's not going to be able to walk out of the octagon by himself.”
"I don't live in the past. The things in the past are in museums. Playtime is over. I'm going to beat Chael like I've never been beaten before. The joke is over. There's no more talking. I know he's on the line listening, and the game is over. I'm going to beat his ass out of the UFC. He's never going to want to fight again after I'm done with him.
“I'm going to beat him maybe the way his parents should have beat him to teach him some manners… I'm going to beat him up like he's never been beat before. He can say whatever he wants, but I'm not playing any more.”
I don't know if that was what Sonnen was trying to do, or if he's shaking in his boots. All I know is that July 7th is going to be crazy.
Euro 2012
Italy is in the middle of an interesting run in the 2012 Euro Cup. After blowing leads against Spain and Croatia during the first two group stage matches, they needed a win and some help against Ireland to advance. The chips fell correctly and Italy advanced into the elite 8 and a match with England.
Italy outplayed the English side for 120 minutes, but in spite of all their good attempts at goal, the game was still tied at 0-0 and went to penalty kicks. As a fan of a soccer team, this is the most agonizing moments. Luckily, Gli Azzuri held on after Alessandro Diamanti's shot went in, and put the Three Lions away. Coach Cesare Prandelli made some interesting decisions, including leaving Serie A leading goal scorer Antonio DiNatale on the bench, despite the 0-0 tie.
All that matters for Italia now is a date with the favorite Germany on Thurday. Germany has looked unstoppable so far, dominating every team they've faced. An interesting matchup is brewing at midfield between Andrea Pirlo and Bastian Schweinsteiger, and if "The Milan Miracle Man" could outplay Shweiny than Italy has a good chance to advance. Also, Germany hasn't faced a goalie as talented as GiGi Buffon yet in this tournament.
Germany is looking for revenge against Italy, in World Cup 2006 semifinal, goals by Alessandro Del Piero and Fabio Grosso late in extra time put the home team away (they never beat Italy in a competitive game). If the Cattenaccio could hold strong there is no reason to think that between the striking of Mario Balotelli, Antonio Cassano or Antonio DiNatale, and the precision passing of Andrea Pirlo, that Italy can't solve Germany and advance to the finals. Whoever wins this battle should have no trouble beating either Spain or Portugal to become Campioni Di Europa.
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