Last week I went on vacation with my wife and kids. I knew the vacation was going to be a great time when the first night I got to see Avenged Sevenfold! We pulled into the town we were staying in and right next to our hotel was an arena. I knew there was a concert going on when we got close because of the dozen tour buses. I freaked out as a read the sign. Avenged Sevenfold, Hellyeah, Stone Sour, Sick Puppies, Halestorm, My Darkest Days, and New Medicine were playing. We got into town too late to see anyone but Avenged, but that didn't bother me. It was right next door. I tucked in the wife and kids and was on my way. Thanks to some guys extra ticket, I got into the show. It was in between sets, so I decided to go check out the place. I talked with Bri-dog from the Hellyeah crew (he probably thinks I'm odd because I recoginzed him from the Hellyeah dvd). We discussed the tour and the upcoming football season. Those Texans really love their Cowboys! The Packers must shut them down. I also talked with Lizzie Hale about Lou Brutus. She thinks he's pretty funny. Chad from Hellyeah/Mudvayne told me that they want to play in Green Bay soon (someone make that happen). He also said that Mudvayne wasn't done (I don't totally believe that). I saw Greg from Hellyeah/Mudvayne dressed as a southern hippie, complete with a "Southern Rebel" handband. Really? Peoria isn't the south. Whatever. Just keep coming up with the crunchy riffs. A lot of the bands came out and watched the start of Avenged's set. If you go see them, pay attention in the beginning and watch your head. I won't ruin the suprise for you. Even Vinnie Paul was out. I wonder if he was watching Mike Portnay and comparing drum styles. Avenged are totally rock stars now. They had tons of pyro, multiple backdrop changes, and a full on stage show. A number one record will help the record company throw some money towards your tour. They had the crowd in the palm of their hand. As my night ended, I ran into Sal from My Darkest Days. I asked him about how he got Chad from Nickelback and Zakk Wylde on their new song. He spilled the info about how he's been writing with Chad for a couple of years and it just worked out. Zakk hopped on board with a little coaxing from management. Sal was freaking out about how in a couple of weeks they are playing a show together and Zakk might join them onstage. It's cool to see a musician get excited about things like that yet. Sal told me how they were all playing a big festival the next day and invited me down to see it. He even gave me his cell phone number. It's 315-313-xxxx. I'm not giving it out! I told him I would try to check it out, but vacationing with the family was on the top of my list. I filled him in on some the places to play in Green Bay, so hopefully they'll make it out this way.
Do I wish I could have seen all the bands? In a perfect world, yes. But given the situation, I was happy to have stumbled on this show and got to see what I saw. It was a great start to the family vacation.
cd pick of the day--Aversion--Fit to be tied
