To/Die/For, Shatter Messiah, Virgin Black - ATL - 06/29

Had to duck out before To/Die/For, but as dcowboys311 said, Virgin Black was simply amazing. Thanks again for putting on a solid metal show.
 
I'm glad I could make it out to the show. Mosquito wasn't able to come, as those of you who were there could see, however I had a great time.

Virgin Black were amazing, even though they were disappointed with some technical difficulties. They were only delayed a bit by a faulty mic, but Rowan was a bit annoyed at some of the set-ups, claiming that the venue wasn't very organized (perfectionists...). However, I am a fan of the band, and despite their feelings about the way they sounded, I thought they were phenomenal--they played a great mix of songs from all three of their albums. It was also very nice to meet and talk to the members after their performance (of course getting signatures and whatnot)...very cool people in that band.

To/Die/For performed very well for an audience that had dwindled a bit due to the late hour. Jarno made for a very humorous frontman (well, after a beer or five) with a lot of energy, involving the crowd at opportune times. They even did an encore, to which Jarno immediately introduced it with "This one's for all the faggots"--proceeding to play the bands cover of the Cutting Crew song "(I Just) Died In Your Arms".
 
I thought it was a very good show, and I want to thank every party responsible for bringing it here to Atlanta.

While Dead Rites is not my cup of tea, I felt they did a solid job of opening the night.

Halycon Way had a very good show again. I've missed their last couple of shows, so I heard a couple of new songs. There was one in the middle of their set from one of their 'forthcoming' albums (not the first one) that was great.

Virgin Black. Wow! I have their last 2 albums, but I went in not knowing what to expect. They really blew me away. Despite the extended time to set up, they stunned me even after the first song. The singer gave it everything he had, and you could tell his passion for the music. I loved the chemistry the band had and the way they presented the songs. When his mike went out and he stood in front of his keyboard holding the note, it gave me chills how he projected his voice. I hope I'll be able to see them again (they have 2 more albums coming out soon!). Definitely a performance I won't forget

To/Die/For was a solid power metal band. I hadn't planned to stay their whole set, but I ended up anyways. My only complaint would be their songs ended up sounding the same (Keyboard intro, heavy intro, soft verse, chorus, heavy verse, chorus, solo, chorus x2). Then the backing tracks seemed way to loud a couple of songs and a silly riff would overpower the band. Still, they did good and I enjoyed them - espeically the last song they played.

Great night! Virgin Black definitely stole it for me though.
 
I want to thank everyone of you who were able to make it out last night. I appreciate each and every one of you. Because without you, this show would have hurt me far worse than it did. But many of you braved some nasty storms in the area in order to get to the venue. Fortunately the torrential rain didn't last too long.

And all I wanted to do was break even so that I could try to do this again sometime. I ended up far from breaking even. But it also could have been much worse. Trust me. But I think we made a bit of an impact last night as true metal fans. The venue says they'd be willing to work with me again. But more on that another time.

Dead Rites is a solid band, and when Radu speaks, he means what he says - so when he said they would not be Dead Rites without YOU, he means it. That's not just chatter so he can hear his own voice. I've come to know Radu over the last few months. And he is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. And damn can that man sing!

Halcyon Way always delivers - and did they ever last night! They fed off the energy from the crowd, and when the crowd shows support and respect is when the guys are at their peak performance. And last night they were ON! I can't remember ever seeing Zane have so much fun on stage. And everyone else was right there with him - having a BLAST! So thanks to everyone who cheered them on.

I was warned beforehand that Virgin Black was going to steal the show - and they did not disappoint. All of the feedback has been very positive about them at every show so far. I think by the end of this tour they'll have gained quite a fanbase in America. And by the way, a young couple drove all the way from Orlando last night just to see Virgin Black. I wasn't able to thank them again after the show, as they slipped out sometime during the TDF set. But that was just too cool to know someone drove that far due to MY efforts. :)

To/Die/For... well, they certainly put on a show. And I think the count was far higher than 1 or 5 beers. ;) But they're Finnish - what else could we expect? *shrug* I hate that the crowd had thinned somewhat by the time they got on stage, but I think they still had a great time. And hopefully so did everyone else.

all that being said, I can't promise how soon - or how often - I can do these national shows. Once all the smoke cleared, it just ended up being a little too rich for my blood. And if I can't do a few local/regional shows in between now and the next time and try to make some of those losses back, there may not be a next time.

So please watch for any local shows that Pathfinder Promotions puts together over the coming months and please try to make it out - and bring friends! Otherwise my foray into the music showcase business will be a short one. ;)

:kickass:

until next time, please keep the feedback coming. Thank everyone! I love you ALL!

~Hoyt.
 
YOU RULE BROTHER!!!!!!! It's guys like you, and Nathan, and John McGovern, that i am pleased to work with, cause you are more than willing to put your necks on the line, and do these shows. We will put together s killer show very soon TOGETHER, and who knows what will come of it.

We need more HOYT's around, a true gentleman, and my best friend.

J-Man
 
Great show and a good time all around. Thanks to Hoyt for the attempt.

Dead Rites overall wasn't a band I would "get into," but they did a good job performing, and I have to give credit where credit is due: for a band whose vocalist is very Danzig-influenced, they do not sound like another Misfits, Samhain, or Danzig knockoff band. Very cool to hear those style of vocals in front of a different style.

Halcyon Way harkened back to the days of 80's progressive metal - which is a good thing for me. They reminded me of the glory days of Queensryche, Fifth Angel, et al. I loved the guitar tone.

Virgin Black. What got me in the door. I love To/Die/For but Virgin Black was the reason I came down from Chattanooga. I was curious how they would translate live and they delivered the goods. Though the crowd was small, you could feel the major vibe coming from the audience. Rowan is a perfectionist but the passion he has for music is so palpable, I felt like I was almost intruding on something personal. He put on one of the most intense performances I have seen in years.

I expected to enjoy To/Die/For, and I did...because Jape was a fun frontman while totally blasted. The show was energetic, and they played several of my favorite T/D/F songs ("Sea of Sin" was a surprise).

Thanks to Hoyt and co. for pulling this together.
 
Hey guys,

Virgin Black, TDF, and myself are in the van right now on hwy 65 heading towards New Orleans for our show tonight. We had a blast last night, as most of you could probably tell with my coonskin hat antics and overall tomfoolery... haha. We would like to all thank you all for coming out and making it enjoyable for us. We throughly enjoyed ourselves and everyone give Hoyt another hand for doing this. This was his first national act show and he damn near pulled it off perfectly. I'll personally see you guys at progpower and hopefully the bands will be back to the states again soon.

Brent
 
Ruthven said:
Great show and a good time all around. Thanks to Hoyt for the attempt.

Dead Rites overall wasn't a bad I would "get into," but they did a good job performing, and I have to give credit where credit is due: for a band whose vocalist is very Danzig-influenced, they do not sound like another Misfits, Samhain, or Danzig knockoff band. Very cool to hear those style of vocals in front of a different style.

Halcyon Way harkened back to the days of 80's progressive metal - which is a good thing for me. They reminded me of the glory days of Queensryche, Fifth Angel, et al. I loved the guitar tone.

Virgin Black. What got me in the door. I love To/Die/For but Virgin Black was the reason I came down from Chattanooga. I was curious how they would translate live and they delivered the goods. Though the crowd was small, you could feel the major vibe coming from the audience. Rowan is a perfectionist but the passion he has for music is so palpable, I felt like I was almost intruding on something personal. He put on one of the most intense performances I have seen in years.

I expected to enjoy To/Die/For, and I did...because Jape was a fun frontman while totally blasted. The show was energetic, and they played several of my favorite T/D/F songs ("Sea of Sin" was a surprise).

Thanks to Hoyt and co. for pulling this together.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I'd heard some Virgin Black stuff online but I don't own anything yet. I told my girlfriend that if we saw 500 more bands we'd certainly not hear anything like Virgin Black in the mix. They were unique, a little hard to digest because they came off as so different, but ultimately they were very good. The point I made to her was "Those guys believe this shit outta what they're doing, obviously, and that makes me really like them just for that alone". And yeah, I felt like I was intruding too but in a good way! :kickass:
 
Rider of Theli said:
I want to thank everyone of you who were able to make it out last night. I appreciate each and every one of you. Because without you, this show would have hurt me far worse than it did. But many of you braved some nasty storms in the area in order to get to the venue. Fortunately the torrential rain didn't last too long.

And all I wanted to do was break even so that I could try to do this again sometime. I ended up far from breaking even. But it also could have been much worse. Trust me. But I think we made a bit of an impact last night as true metal fans. The venue says they'd be willing to work with me again. But more on that another time.

Dead Rites is a solid band, and when Radu speaks, he means what he says - so when he said they would not be Dead Rites without YOU, he means it. That's not just chatter so he can hear his own voice. I've come to know Radu over the last few months. And he is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. And damn can that man sing!

Halcyon Way always delivers - and did they ever last night! They fed off the energy from the crowd, and when the crowd shows support and respect is when the guys are at their peak performance. And last night they were ON! I can't remember ever seeing Zane have so much fun on stage. And everyone else was right there with him - having a BLAST! So thanks to everyone who cheered them on.

I was warned beforehand that Virgin Black was going to steal the show - and they did not disappoint. All of the feedback has been very positive about them at every show so far. I think by the end of this tour they'll have gained quite a fanbase in America. And by the way, a young couple drove all the way from Orlando last night just to see Virgin Black. I wasn't able to thank them again after the show, as they slipped out sometime during the TDF set. But that was just too cool to know someone drove that far due to MY efforts. :)

To/Die/For... well, they certainly put on a show. And I think the count was far higher than 1 or 5 beers. ;) But they're Finnish - what else could we expect? *shrug* I hate that the crowd had thinned somewhat by the time they got on stage, but I think they still had a great time. And hopefully so did everyone else.

all that being said, I can't promise how soon - or how often - I can do these national shows. Once all the smoke cleared, it just ended up being a little too rich for my blood. And if I can't do a few local/regional shows in between now and the next time and try to make some of those losses back, there may not be a next time.

So please watch for any local shows that Pathfinder Promotions puts together over the coming months and please try to make it out - and bring friends! Otherwise my foray into the music showcase business will be a short one. ;)

:kickass:

until next time, please keep the feedback coming. Thank everyone! I love you ALL!

~Hoyt.
Click to expand...


I heard you did a great job. Congrats.
 
in my haste to post a thank-you to all the fans who made it out last night, I forgot to thank a few very important people:

my son Patrick, his girlfriend Heather, and his friend Nik. Without their support last night on the door, the night may have much more stressful for me.

also a huge thank you to Halcyon Way and Dead Rites for providing the backline last night. After Shatter Messiah fell off the tour, the remaining touring bands had to press on, relying on local bands for the backline. So, much appreciation goes out to the local openers, for there may not have been a show last night without their professionalism and generosity.

:headbang:

Thank you!
 
Virgin Black was phenomenal as others said. And yes it felt like I was intruding on something. I talked to the lead singer briefly and let him know how much I enjoyed it. As others said he was a little disappointed with some tech issues, but I told him it happens and they sounded great. There were more than a few at the merchandise table after their set.

But what I really wanted to tell him after I thought about it... was I wanted to thank him for sharing his music with me. Because it did seem very personal. The lead singer has some of the best vocal control I've ever seen. From brutal growls, to banshee screams, to full and warm operatics, to insanely rich and high pitched falsettos. I had shivers more than once.

He did tell me that they'll be back for a bigger tour in the future.

To/Die/For well... it was fun what I saw. But the strength in his voice.. that deep gothic voice just wasn't there last night. Alcohol did that. And it was late, and that voice is what I wanted to hear.. so I went home. No loss really.

... oh as I told Hoyt. He had twice as many people as Milwaukee Metalfest. And 90% of those people had to purchase a ticket to get in =D


I hope you do more Hoyt. But I can understand if not. The crowd inAtlanta shows up heavy for certain bands... but less so for others. Its a risky business, so hopefully the deposit in the future will be less for you and more realistic with the expected numbers...
 
Thank you Hoyt for putting this together.

The wife and I really enjoyed Virgin Black's performance very much, like everyone's already said they were awesome. They really put forth so much effort into the performance and it felt special. Really glad we had the chance to see that.
 
Well, it sounds as if you all had , at the very least, a much better turnout than the Raleigh show (which in reality....would not be hard to do). Always happy when a tour comes through here, though felt bad for everyone involved that the turn out was....oh....extremely poor to say the least.

Had not yet been to the club they played here (hell, had not heard of it prior to this show....from what i understand only been around for 6-9 months). Wished sound would have been better (lacked a fullness).... and while I have heard worse I thought it hurt Virgin Blacks show the most. Would like to see them with top notch sound.
 
Many thanks to Hoyt and his crew and the openers for making this a great show! It was also good to see a lot of Forum-folk there, too! We'll have to get together sometime. :)

I'll have pics and some (lousy, distorted) videos up within a few days.

All the bands were good, but I was totally blindsided by Virgin Black. I'd heard some material from their newest CD and just a bit of older material......but I was totally unprepared for the diversity in their set.

Like others, I got goosebumps more than once. So much energy, and Rowan's voice is one of the most versatile I've ever witnessed, going from low growls to smooth male-sounding vox to female-sounding vox (falsetto? I didn't get that feeling, but okay) to higher-pitched Dani Filth-like wails...... Stunning.

Now I'll go looking for all of their older stuff. I'd like to play them on WREKage, too (the crunchier stuff, natch. :))

The ticket count was 75 or 80+, which is more than Therion drew in some U.S. markets. :heh:
 
I’m not sure what I can say here that hasn’t already been said, but I did want to take this opportunity to reiterate my appreciation to Hoyt (and the rest of the Pathfinder Promotions Crew) for such an outstanding job. Were it not for his tireless efforts, I’m certain we would have had a crowd comparable to the numbers in Raleigh. I’m assuming the bands probably realized ahead of time they’re not the most recognizable names here in the United States; I’m hoping they will also take note of the instances where a promoter truly put forward their most valiant effort to get people in the door. While it may not seem like much, I can guarantee you Virgin Black sold at least five CDs they would not have sold otherwise, were it not for Hoyt bringing this show to town (and doing everything humanly possible to get the word out). To/Die/For also would have sold some CDs, had they actually brought some along with them :mad: .

I would also like to reiterate my appreciation to Halcyon Way and Dead Rites, not only for providing the backline, but for actually having such kick-ass gear that every band sounded fantastic :headbang:

As for my thoughts on each of the bands:


Dead Rites:

I really enjoyed their set; they’ve tightened everything up since I last saw them at Club 29, sounding much more comfortable with their material. While it’s already been stated that Radu’s style is heavily-influenced by Danzig, I also noticed at times that the drummer could have been mistaken for Chuck Biscuits…that dude KILLED his kit. Great way to kick everything off.


Halcyon Way:

What can I say: Halcyon Way is the reason I traveled all the way from Atlanta to see this show :lol: . They were in top form, as always. I’m really looking forward to them hitting the road, so that everyone else can see what we around here sometimes take for granted: these guys have really turned in to one hell of a band. Great songs, great showmanship, great stage presence, great sound…these guys know how to deliver everything I’m looking for when I go to see a band :worship:

I enjoyed their set so much Friday night, that I’ve been constantly visiting their MySpace page to listen to their songs, since I don’t have a disc or anything.

(I’m also hoping the video turned out okay; my apologies to Jon if I gave too much camera time to Ernie.)


Virgin Black:

I liked what I had heard of them prior to the show, but I also had my concerns about how well they would translate live. As you’ve already seen from the other reviews, they were nothing short of incredible. I’m actually glad the microphone mishap occurred, as it made for one of the most impressive moments of the evening. As I stated earlier, I was impressed enough with their set that I picked up all three of the CDs they had for sale (in fact, I got the last copy of Sombre Romantic, which is why my friend Bryan was only able to buy two of their CDs :D ).

To/Die/For:

They completely blew me away Friday night. These guys REALLY know how to bring it when they’re on stage. I was impressed by how the songs that I was familiar with completely CRUSHED when they played them live. I’ll definitely be picking up their CDs online (since I couldn’t buy them at the show :mad: ).


I figured it would be cool to see Virgin Black and To/Die/For this one time, as I considered myself nothing more than a casual fan (and how often do you get to see a band from Australia and a band from Finland in the United States for $10?); however, I was so impressed by each of these bands on Friday night that I would definitely go see them again, if the opportunity were to ever present itself. If this tour is headed your way, and you’re still undecided about going, do yourself a favor and check them out…I’m glad I did :kickass:
 
Not so many forum folk as there could have or should have been it think. Pretty dissapointing as this tread has been up for a month, giving ample notice.

All the bands did well, and I have to agree on the versatility of Rowan's voice. Amazing isn't a word I use often, but it applies in his case.

Good work Hoyt. You'll have my support for as long as you keep trying this and beyond. :headbang:

Funniest moment of the night: Pellaz trying to explain to the merch attendant that he wanted Virgin Black's "Crunchiest" CD.
 
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