Metal Martyr Best Live Shows Of 2008
December 9, 2008 by Scott
Metal Martyr Best Live Shows Of 2008. I’m going to break this down by single bands and not so much the tour or show name. I saw a good amount of shows this year. In fact I went to more shows just this year than I ever have in my whole life before before this year. This year has had some great shows come my way and a few I have had to travel a few hours for. Through some of these shows I’ve learned of bands and learned became a bigger fan of other bands. I’d say one of the best ways to discover new bands is to get to a show early enough before the headlining band comes on and catch the opening acts. With that said, let me get to 10 of my favorite bands I saw live in 2008.
- Carcass Reunion: This was like a dream come true. I didn’t think I would ever get to see Carcass play live after becoming a fan in 1993. Hopefully we will see more of this in the future in the U.S.
- Hatebreed: One of the most energetic shows from a crowd I have seen down here. Beside being dry-humped by some over enthusiastic, sweaty dude behind me, I had a great time and it was a very memorable show.
- Opeth: Sold out show, amazing show. I wish they had played some more acoustic stuff…or I wish I had stuck around for the second hour of their set to catch any acoustic stuff they may have played.
- Firewind: Powerful live show. Guitars and vocals that just make the show. I wasn’t really a fan of this band before they went on stage but I was eager to see them live for some reason. When they took the stage I immediately though it was kind of cheesy…for about 20 seconds. After that it was total amazement.
- The Sword: I think they sound just as good, if not better live. Guitar driven metal that is simplistic and catchy enough to keep everything interesting.
- Early Man: A great, thrashy show.
- Suffocation: Caught them on the Carcass reunion. The death metal and deathcore bands of today could learn a thing or two from these guys…like writing your song so you can play them live.
- Machinehead: This is the second time I’ve seen Machinhead, but the first time in over 10 years. They still know how to rock the stage and were really cool during signings.
- Slipknot: I’ve waited 8 years to see these guys live. A lot of people say they don’t put out the energy like they used to but I think they put on a better show than what they used to from the videos I’ve seen. Jumping around onstage is cool and everything…but I want to hear quality music too.
- All That Remains: Twice this year I’ve seen ATR and neither time have I been disappointed. Phil knows how to work the stage and Oli’s nimble fingers make for some beautiful solos.
There is my top ten. Here are a few other mentions
Loudest Live Show
- Torche (opened for The Sword)
Strangest Live Act
- The Monotonix – Starts out kind of fun and wacky and then just goes overboard and stupid really quickly.
Pissed That I Missed Shows (Shows that came around and I wanted to see but missed for one reason or another)
- Kataklysm
- In Flames, Gojira
Image ©MetalMartyr.com 2008
I wish i could made it to all this shows specially Machine Head’s, oh well, but Hatebreed and ATR shows were great, Firewind and Early Man i wasn’t sure what to expect but it turned out pretty good. And oh Monotonix, yeah that was the strangest show i ever seen even when the crowd was really into their music. One more show that i liked was Emmure’s back in may or around that time.
i think the funnyest thing that i overheard while standing in line for the bathroom at a concert this year was someone saying disturbed “stole the show like they always do” from slipknot at mayhem fest (this was before slipknot even played, and disturbed was too up their own asses to steal any sort of show except a being up one’s own ass show)