November 3, 2010

Report by Chris & all photos by ChicagoJay

So Blackguard from Canada plows ahead with “Allegiance” and I found them to be okay musically until vocalist Paul Ablaze comes out, stands on the monitor and literally begins spazzing out uncontrollably. Christ, the guy actually started to make me nervous, not to mention that from where I was I heard not one bit of his vocals. In between really going for it and shaking and screaming with absolutely violent fervor into the poor microphone, some decent music was being played. After hearing the band live, then hearing the Profogus Mortis CD I can honestly ascertain that the band is certainly more of a live act. With that said, I enjoyed the tracks “The Sword,” “Scarlet to Snow,” and “This Round’s On Me,” even if they were a bit more redundant and ruined by an obviously zoned lead singer literally stealing the show by having some sort of fit in front of me. The crowd seemed to get a little more into Blackguard than Hatesphere, but I have to admit I could put up with Hansen’s comical posing as opposed to Ablaze’s obviously forced engagement. Guitarists Terry Deschenes and Kim Gosselin were pretty good, shredding out some really good riffs that didn’t get drowned out by that distracting folkish keyboard sound emanating from somewhere. A guy next to me was securing his spot on the rail and that was pretty much all I saw of the crowd for Blackguard except for occasional Ablaze venture up on other monitors to shriek and freak out on some other poor concert goers that were either too worked up with excitement over Nevermore to giggle uncontrollably at Ablaze or seriously entertained by his antics. I seriously hope for the former because his shtick got old 90-seconds into the band’s set. His banter in between songs was pretty much obligatory praising of Chicago and these awesome fans, yadda yadda, but the band resonated a lot better live and was far from horrible. I think they might do well to either put that singer on Quaaludes or seek a replacement that can govern these passions accordingly.

Nevermore, Warbringer, Blackguard & Hatesphere N. A. Tour - 2010

Here in Chicago we’re losing metal clubs like Michael Jordan loses golf bets, and that’s no exaggeration! We had some of the best in the country at one time, including Medusa’s, The Thirsty Whale, Cubby Bear before it went preppy, The Exit; the Chicago streets are littered with the discarded bricks of these place, my friends, and slowly they have become obscure names in old copies of local rags and or handbills adorning some old building’s vestibule. It’s sad, but time doesn’t stand still anymore.

So we now have Reggie’s Rock Club on State Street, nestled right across the street from a project housing block, but it’s still on a pretty decent stretch of block. The

Around 9:15 Warbringer begins setting up and I chat with shredder Adam Carroll about his 1979 Journey UK tour shirt. He tells me it is a reprint and not an original, but said he’d love to have an original. He seemed in really good spirits as he checked his guitar cabinet and monitor feed upstairs. After he pulls out the ponytail and lets the hair go, vocalist John Kevill emerges from the side of the stage and smiles like the Joker on mushrooms and the band tears into “Jackal” and the energy in the room just goes frenzied in a matter of seconds! I have always been impressed with Warbringer on CD, but the live experience was far more fun than I anticipated. I really enjoyed Carroll’s amazing fretwork, and seeing as I was right under the guy I studied his techniques closely and am even more impressed seeing those chords played live. When “Total War” and “Shoot to Kill” were played without a break the crowd really got fever-pitched, with tons of people to my immediate left screaming out the lyrics along with Kevill. His stage presence was really cool; he moshed and stomped in absolute old-school fashion in between standing and crouching on the monitors. While very animated in spots, his presence was never compromised by silly gyrations or pained expressions. He was calling upon the ancient gods of thrash  and  they  were  responding  in  kind.

Blackguard

Reggie’s Rock Club
2109 S. State St.
Chicago, Illinois 60616 USA

Friday - October 29, 2010
7:00 p.m. - Midnight

BANDS:
Hatesphere
Blackguard
Warbringer
Nevermore

Blackguard

place is nice with a pretty good stage setup as well and has damn fine sound for a smaller club. So of course when Nevermore was slated to hit my town after a four-year absence...yeah, try to keep me away! Despite the typical Chicago cold weather my VIP status and my meet-and-greet with the band made for a warmer feeling.

About 7:30 Hatesphere hits the stage with some Danish-style thrash metal. Opening with “The Beginning and the End,” vocalist Esben Hansen really tried to work the crowd, but his over-animated flair left something to be desired. His somewhat pained facial grimaces and over-exuberant grinning bordered more on parody than a “thrash-or-die” mentality. A couple of the tracks sounded pretty good live, those being “Lies and Deceit” and “Drinking with the King of the Dead.” I will say I was impressed with the band’s bassist, Mikael Hansen, who commanded the Fender Precision with a furious tempo over somewhat boring songs. Guitarist Jakob Nyholm found comfort in my bald head by rubbing it during “Lies and Deceit” and just generally looked like he was feeling good about being there, which was very cool. He looked like he was having a ball and that in turn makes me have some fun. Esben really tried to pump up the crowd with some obligatory musings, but his cherubic face screams more detergent commercial than metal rager, but, hey, he tired, and the band performed fine as a warm-up. However, someone might want to gently tell him that doing little dances with his fingers and pointing at audience members and smiling with raised eyebrows doesn’t always fit the bill with pent-up metalheads just in from the cold and forced to park a mile away. A small gathering of heads bobbing in unison for a few seconds here and there and Hatesphere was in and gone in under 60 seconds. I give them a solid “B” for effort. 

Warbringer

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