Away Team

Featuring KORN, DISTURBED and SEVENDUST

Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Giant Center, Hershey, PA

Photos by Marcy Royce

How do I even begin? Where do I even begin? How do I even… oh my, what a night!

The Music As A Weapon Tour featuring KORN, DISTURBED and SEVENDUST says a great deal. When I learned of this tour in November, I was eager to attend. I know each band is strong, each band is delivering new music, each band is an industry veteran. So, I strapped myself into my seat on the rollercoaster I was about to ride this night in Hershey, PA. (next door to the famous Hersheypark Entertainment Center, by the way).

Arriving just at the end of the set for New Medicine, I noticed the Giant Center was filling quickly. The lines outside were long. Many fans were buzzing with excitement and ready to rock out. 

This night I got to see for the first time the temporary substitution of B.C. Kochmit. Quite the guitarist. I was watching his performance intently, trying to learn his style and methods. Good job, B.C.! Sevendust never forgets that the fans have gotten them where they are today. Lajohn made sure to mention this. AWESOME! The fans sure appreciated that. Fan favorites included Black (Sevendust, 1997), Face To Face (Seasons, 2003), and Praise (Animosity, 2001) closed their set. To the delight of myself and the other rabid Sevendust fans. We all were desiring more, more, MORE!

DISTURBED is one of those bands that I love to crank in my ipod. This was exciting for me to photograph them for the first time. Hit after hit just poured from the stage. Including Another Way To Die, Asylum, The Animal and Remnants (Asylum, 2010), Indestructible, Inside The Fire (Indestructible, 2008), Ten Thousand Fists, Stricken (Ten Thousand Fists, 2005), Prayer, Liberate (Believe, 2002), and The Game, Stupify (The Sickness, 2000).

Frontman, David Draiman, was every bit as powerful as I thought he would be. Holding true to delivering his best from start to finish, taking pride in giving it his all. He even called out a fan in the front row who seemd to be ‘playing video games on his phone’ and told the security they had his permission to escort him out of the floor area, hold his spot, and bring him back for KORN. David felt this fan was disrespectful in not honoring him pouring out everything he had in each song for the fans. And you know, I agree with him! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vXpArEthX4&feature=youtube_gdata_player) Dan Donegan, John Moyer, and Mike Wengren were entrancing as I watched them at their craft. The encore was the song I was waiting for, Down With The Sickness (The Sickness, 2000). I am glad I had the unforeseen opportunity to be able to see them on this tour. Thanks DISTURBED!

KORN. My oh my, I had not a clue what I was in for. What a performance! First thing I couldn’t help notice was Ray Luzier’s drum kit. Holy cow. (and I have a thing for drummers, hence why I noticed his kit first). KORN blew onto the stage like a hurricane. Fast, furious and with great force. Giving everything they had to the fans. And the fans shoved that force right back to the band. The air was electrifying. Jonathan Davis, James “Munky” Shaffer and Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu were amazing. I was seeing them all for the first time live. I was so glad I was in the press pit so witness this performance for those first few songs. What I experienced up close might have been harder to feel in my seat, but my husband told me he felt the wave too. COOL!

Some of the fan faves in the set included Oildale, Pop A Pill (Korn III, 2010), Here To Stay, Alone I Break (Untouchables, 2002), Falling Away From Me (Issues, 1999), Freak On A Leash, Got The Life (Follow The Leader, 1998), and Shoots and Ladders, Blind (Korn, 1994). The fans were immersed in each chord, each lick, and each riff. I was whacked by flying dreadlocks several times when I got too close to the barricade. Ha ha!

What a great experience. These bands, paired together, on this Music As A Weapon Tour are the perfect combination. So glad I was able to capture the emotion in my photos.

Special thanks and a shout out to Amanda Cagan, with abc-pr, & Amy Sciarretto, with Roadrunner Records, for making this opportunity happen for me and the Away-Team. You ladies ROCK!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Giant Center, Hershey, PA

Photos by Marcy Royce

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Slim Jim’s Top Ten of 2010

SHOOTER JENNINGS – Black Ribbons
The 70’s big classic rock – ball trippin’ – brain smokin’ – ear melting heavy tuneage of old is not dead. Shooter Jennings has created the heaviest album of 2010. In pure sonic fury, huge epicness, and massive songwriting. This isn’t Outlaw Country, This isn’t your daddy’s classic rock, this is Shooter Jennings and Hierophant (his band) racing along your brainwaves, fucking with all you thought you knew about music, and tainting what may come in the future. Take a little WHITE STRIPES, sprinkle some MUSE, add a dash of BLACK KEYS, smoke it with some Pink Floyd and dose repeatedly with Shooter himself, and you’ll get Black Ribbons. While the music will kick your ass, the lyrics will fuck with your brain, and the whole experience will make you think this whole fucked up industry could simply be saved if they’d just put out more solid music like this. This album should propel Shooter into Arenas and onto your grid faster than the clap takes hold of your sad tiny withered cock. But it seems the world would rather listen to the likes of sluts like Ke$ha, or 16 year old pubescent boys like Beiber than embrace the monster that is Shooter and Hierophant. WAKE UP people… If you haven’t experienced Black Ribbons… GO NOW. Do it here. You’ll thank me later. Oh, yes, Don’t Feed The Animals… And… FUCK YOU I’m FAMOUS. Did I mention there are 20 songs on this disc? 20! All of them will fuck with you, tie you in psychedelic knots and drip musical ecstasy semen out of your earholes. And don’t forget the indelible STEPHEN KING. Oh yeah, how could I forgot the title track Black Ribbons? It is quite simply the best Bruce Springsteen song that he never wrote.

ELEPAHNT MOUNTAIN – The Last Days of Planet Earth
Joe Altier and Slider from BRAND NEW SIN reunite to form ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN. The best Southern tinged Hard Rock album of the last year or three, and they hail from SYRACUSE, NY! If you’ve heard of BRAND NEW SIN, and have heard their first two records, then you’ll know exactly what ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN sounds like. And you’ll love it. You can spread the herd here.

THE BLACK KEYS – Brothers
Raw. Stripped. Deeper grooves than the ones fading on your wrist. Monochromed Stereophonically challenged. Bluesier than 20 quarts of Papa’s Jambalaya. More soulful than the most devout Methodist. The more I listen to this the more I want to go find all my ex’s. And slap the unloving chaos addicted shit out of them. The ultimate break up album. As it spins right now, I’m thinking it should move UP my top ten list. Fuck it. Ten Cent Pistol just reinforced the fact. And this is now my #3 best album of 2010 (As I originally wrote this, it was set at 7). You can join the Brothers here.

FILTER – The Trouble with Angels
An amazing return for FILTER. Raw, punishing, beautiful. Read my original review here.

ACCEPT – Blood of the Nations
Another reunion of sorts for ACCEPT. A new singer and a new lease on life. A great album that reminds us all why ACCEPT are Fast as a Shark. Read my original review here.

DISTRUBED – Asylum
More melodic than the past albums. More straight forward guitar solos than before. And more David Draiman. What more could you ask from a DISTURBED album? You can join the Asylum here.

SLASH – Slash
Slash gets a bunch of singers to sing on his album instead of going around singing on theirs. Great songs, great singers like Myles Kennedy (ALTER BRIDGE), Lemmy (MOTORHEAD), Ian Astbury (THE CULT), Ozzy, Chris Cornell (AUDIOSLAVE, SOUNDGARDEN), and many more. The most notable standout track and singer is Fergie (FERGIE, BLACK EYED PEAS) on the track Beautiful Dangerous. The woman should be singing balls out Rock N Roll all the time, not this pop pap shit with BEP. She has a great voice and holds her own amongst the more traditional and legendary vocalists on this album. You can get Slashed here.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD – Nightmare
Never a big A7X fan. But after seeing them this year at the Rockstar Uproar Festival with Disturbed I found a new respect for them as a live band. I figured out my problem with the band. M. Shadows has a good voice, but as he sings about dark lyrics, and leads the crowd into chants of ‘fuck you’ his voice has a rather high range to it. Making the music seem lighter and more lilting than the lyrics therefore belying the heaviness of the music. At times making it seem rather jokish or tongue in cheek. However after seeing their amazing performance live, I now get it. And can move past the vocal issue. The album is their best by far. Blazing guitars you’ve come to expect, full stream riffs crunch and chunk along getting your head and feet involved tapping along. Definitely deserving of anyone’s top ten list. You can become the Nightmare here.

EXODUS – Exhibit B: The Human Condition
EXODUS simple continues to pummel you into submission with their latest album. It is the fourth album in their return that does not fail to impress. The one drawback may simply be Rob Dukes‘ dry vocal style. But the brutal beating that you endure while listening to the album more than makes up for the lack of dimensions in his voice. Albums 6 – 10 will continue to beat the ever loving fuck out of your brain and spleen. I have no doubts about this. The band has never sounded better, tighter, or more focused than here. Which can only mean great things on the horizon for us fans. You can witness the Human Condition here.

DEATH ANGEL – Relentless Retribution
Any year is a good year when DEATH ANGEL releases a new album. The most important part of this is that the band promises to tour endlessly for this release. So that means we get more live Death Angel than ever before. And this boys and girls is a good thing. You can read my original review here.

The Boston Globe reports that DISTURBED‘s previously announced U.S. tour has been canceled because the band’s lead singer, David Draiman, has been diagnosed with a serious throat condition.

According to tour promoter Live Nation, the unspecified “condition” is not permanent, but Draiman must stop performing for at least four weeks in order for it to heal. Refunds are available at point of purchase.

Affected dates:
October
18 – The Pageant – St. Louis, MO
19 – Egyptian Room at Murat Center – Indianapolis, IN
21 – Tower Theater – Upper Darby, PA
22 – House of Blues – Atlantic City, NJ
24 – House of Blues – Boston, MA
25 – Roseland Ballroom – New York, NY
27 – Oakdale Theater – Wallingford, CT









For more DISTURBED click here.

A video message from vocalist David Draiman and guitarist Dan Donegan of DISTURBED thanking fans for their support in giving the band its fourth straight No. 1 album with DISTURBED‘s newly released fifth studio effort, “Asylum“, can be viewed below.

With a decade of platinum albums and high-profile touring behind them, The Pulse of Radio asked Donegan if there’s anything he’d still like to accomplish. “Headline Soldier Field in Chicago, where the Bears play,” he said. “I mean, that’s just huge. We’ve played all the great venues that we grew up to seeing some of our favorite bands, but that’s the next biggest thing, you know, that we haven’t done. So that might take a few more years, but I think Soldier Field would be a huge accomplishment.”









For more DISTURBED click here.
To order ASYLUM click here.

A brand new DISTURBED track entitled “Never Again” is available for streaming below.

DISTURBED’s frontman David Draiman, who comes from an Orthodox Jewish family and has 200 relatives living in Israel, including his brother and grandmother, wrote the song about the Holocaust. He explained, “Both of my grandparents on my mother’s side were survivors of the camps . . . I’ve got other relatives who are survivors, and my entire mother’s side of the family, save my grandmother and grandfather and a couple of their siblings, were completely wiped out. So I felt it was important to write about it because I realized that the last generation of survivors is about to be lost.”

“Never Again” will appear on the band’s new “Asylum” album, due out August 31.







Disturbed on tour with Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival dates:
8/25 Toronto, ONMolson Canadian Amphitheatre
8/27 Scranton, PA Montage Mountain Amphitheatre
8/28 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
8/29 New York Metro Area, NY TBA
8/31 Washington, DC Jiffy Lube Live
9/1 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
9/3 Birmingham, AL Verizon Wireless Music Center
9/4 Atlanta, GA Aarons Amphitheatre at Lakewood
9/5 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre
9/8 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
9/10 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center
9/11 Corpus Christi, TX Concrete Street Amphitheater
9/12 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
9/14 Denver, CO Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
9/15 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
9/17 Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
9/18 San Diego, CA Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
9/19 Phoenix, AZ Tempe Beach Park Amphitheatre
9/21 Bakersfield, CA Rabobank Arena
9/22 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre
9/24 Spokane, WA Greyhound Park
9/25 Seattle, WA White River Amphitheatre
9/26 Vancouver, BC TBA
9/28 Edmonton, AB TBA
9/29 Calgary, AB TBA
9/30 Saskatoon, SK TBA
10/2 Winnipeg, MB TBA
10/3 Fargo, ND Fargodome
10/4 Madison, WI Alliant Energy Center Memorial Coliseum

For more DISTURBED click here.
For more ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK UPROAR FESTIVAL click here.