While most of you may not notice the change, the inevitable has happened…the one and only Rock(jock) has officially retired from The Sideshow. While he most likely rear his ugly head every once and a while, he will be intentionally missing from future episodes. So, that means you guys are stuck with Nick and Brian steering the ship, trying to keep course. Correcting course from the end of last week’s show, we now have our Internet connections in working order, and we pick up where we left off. We also bring you three additional album reviews…and music for all of them! AND we have two more live reviews. AAAND…no, wait..that’s it.
Reviews: Conducting from the Grave – Conducting from the Grave (independent); End of Green – The Painstream (Napalm); Gloryhammer – Tales from the Kingdom of Fife (Napalm); Soulfly – Savages (Nuclear Blast)
Live Reviews: Trivium & DevilDriver w/ After the Burial @ Toad’s Place, New Haven, CT on 9/29/13; Dope and Soil @ Webster Underground, Hartford, CT on 10/1/13
Conducting From The Grave – Conducting From The Grave
Soulfly – Savages
Gloryhammer – Tales From The Kingdom Of Fife
End Of Green – Painstreet
The Sideshow Podcast 
-Rhapsody is mostly keyboards with guitars backing it? You must not be listening to the right songs. Songs like Holy Thunderforce feature awesome guitar playing.
-Something about Power Metal is that it seems to be more of a European thing. Songs about dragons and music that has symphonic elements resonates more with European audiences because it is more a part of their culture and history. Stories about Saint George slaying dragons and King Arthur and Merlin the Magician are part of the cultural folklore of England that people just grow up with. Whereas we in the states seem to treat the fantasy elements as kids stuff and the symphonic music as for old people, which I believe might be why Power Metal isn’t as popular here.
-We all have those bands that we just don’t care about, and you hit on one of mine: I just don’t care about anything Cavalera related. None of his stuff has ever resonated with me, including old Sepultura. And Max is one of the worst lyricists and vocalists in the business.
-I have a live review of my own. Last night I went to Saint Vitus in Greenpoint Brooklyn to see Gypsyhawk, Wilson, Sourvein, Kadavar, and Scorpion Child (in that order). Gypsyhawk weren’t bad and Sourvein was interesting, but I was really there for the other 3 bands. Wilson was as much fun as you would expect them to be. I can’t help myself from calling their show Full Blown “Fun”-ery. At one point in the middle of the set the lead singer jumped on to the floor, grabbed an audience member’s beer, put the beer on stage, then the bass player drank it. At the end of the set, the lead singer went to the back of the floor where all the equipment was and grabbed a marching band bass drum that said “Fuckery” on it and starting banging away.
When Kadavar came on, the first thing you notice is their 6 foot 6 inch drummer sitting behind a small drum kit drumming like a beast. But the real star was the lead singer/guitarist (there were only 3 guys), who was just a fantastic talent. On record, Kadavar’s sound is obviously very 70s throwback, but live they just rocked. They were probably the top band of the night. But that doesn’t take much away from headliner Scorpion Child, who brought the energy of their album to the stage and put on a very good show.
-I must also make a note about Saint Vitus now that I’ve been there twice. Both times I’ve gone there, the crowd doesn’t seem to be into the bands as much as I’d expect. One theory is that these Brooklyn hipsters consider themselves too cool to let loose to the music and prefer to just chill out. The other theory is that there has seemed to be a larger percentage of women in the audience at Saint Vitus than at your typical show (not a huge percentage, but higher than average), who typically aren’t into the moshing thing as much as young dudes.
-Uh, did you forget to edit out a section after the Conducting from the Grave song?
– I think you pretty much nailed that explanation. I would also add that I think the bombast of most it (lyrical content aside) is a little too sugary for many metal-heads and too cheesy to outsiders.
– Now I definitely want to see Wilson. I would also like to know what they were doing at that show. lol
– Interesting. Having never been there, how do you feel about the venue as a whole?
– Yeah… SOMEBODY may have forgotten to cut that piece out…
As for Wilson being on tour with Kadvar and Scorpion Child (and others), they actually fit in quite well. First is that I think Wilson would actually fit in on a lot of tours. I could easily see them opening for someone like Black Dahlia Murder. At their heart, Wilson are a party rock band. So to me they fit on a bill with any upbeat style of band. They wouldn’t fit with Katatonia and Cult of Luna, but Kadavar and Scorpion Child brought an upbeat style of Sabbath/Zeppelin classic rock that Wilson actually fit right in to.
As for Saint Vitus as a venue, it is really just a bar with a small room in the back where bands play. The sound is ok, nothing spectacular but nothing poor either. There’s a small row of curved sofas on one side that has enough room for only about 5 people who inevitably sit on top of the sofa and put their feet on the couch itself. During each set change, everybody leaves the room and goes to the bathroom and/or the bar, so you can pretty much always stand wherever you want for any act. Prices there are also cheap. Base ticket price was $12 for 6 bands. Draft beers are $6 for decent beers. For anyone reading outside of NYC, yes, $6 drafts at a music venue is cheap. But the biggest problem with Saint Vitus is that it is in the middle of nowhere. Forget public transportation: it took me 1 hour 50 minutes to get there from Manhattan Saturday evening. Even to get a cab home I had to walk about 10 minutes south of there before I found a taxi to take me home after the show. The taxi home cost me more money than 2 beers plus the ticket for the show with all the fees included. Having said all that, Saint Vitus does book some great acts and tours, so despite the inconvenient location, I’m probably going to go see TesseracT headline with Scale the Summit and Anciients on a Tuesday night the last week of October.