Sounds of the Underground
August 4, 2006
The Rave, Milwaukee WI
Through the Eyes of the Dead
Evergreen Terrace
Chariot
Behemoth
The Black Dalia Murder
Terror
Gwar
Cannibal Corpse
Trivium
Machine Head
In Flames
As I Lay Dying
As I sit here at 2 pm on a Friday afternoon, I am feeling damned old. Short of a small handful of diehards, I actually can watch what exactly I was 15 years ago. I see some of the old skool folks hanging in the pit, but they are a mere handful. In some cases, such as my brother Raoul who ran many a pit with me in the old days, they have flipped to the dark side, known as the Evil Security Folks. Speaking of that, this is an advantage for us attending. Security who actually likes the music is more fan friendly. Respect those guys, because you could be missing some great moments if you cross them. I also must say I enjoy seeing more girls getting into the heavier music. Back in the day, that was usually reserved for girlfriends and the rare hard core girl. Now it is a little different story.
While the sound quality of the Rave Ballroom is worse than a digested Bull Snake meal, the location is almost perfect for a show like this. The Rave itself has the ability to hold as many as five stages. The huge Ballroom has horrendous sound, but, well, hell, it used to be a basketball court. The Rave Bar, is just that, a small bar stage. The Rave, which in the old days was the President's Room doesn’t actually sound bad but seeing a damn thing from the floor sucks. The Rave Basement used to actually be a bowling alley and is my favorite room to watch a show here. There is also a space that they can put up a side stage for smaller things. At this show, along with the bar stage, local bands were playing to crowds of 20, and in between shows I caught a few songs here and there, and it sounded like I really need to see more of our smaller bands. The Basement was a metalhead's shopping mall with swag and releases from all the bands and labels represented. Free samplers and autograph sessions also were to be found here. I must say I, as well as other fans, was very disappointed when this area closed before As I Lay Dying even started. I did intend on getting a new shirt, but I spose, honestly, how many Cannibal Corpse t-shirts does one need? There are only so many places you can wear a dismembered body shirt and the office is not one of them.
Upon entering the show, everyone got a little yellow sheet of paper. I just had to save this because damn it made me laugh. Let’s just say apparently while this was not entirely enforced by security, and it was more of a guideline than a rule, NO MOSHING OR BODY PASSING IS ALLOWED AT THE RAVE ANY MORE. AND THIS MEANS YOU TOO BUB! Still gives me a chuckle, but my guess is someone felt the need to ruin yet another fun thing in life by suing someone. The exact wording was
Due to recent insurance regulations, The Rave has adopted a policy of NO MOSHING OR BODY PASSING. For your safety and the safety of other Rave customers you will be ejected from the premises with no chance of reentry if you are caught moshing or being body passed.
One last thing, just in case any bands are reading this. Especially the new younger acts. People are in a place where they are getting to know your work, and some venues have worse sound than others. While it is uber cool and evil to growl to the audience, sometimes things get lost in translation. Speak and shout, but leave the growling til you hit the big time baby. Let the fans get to know you. Then go truly evil.
The first band we caught (and it was the end of the show) was Through the Eyes of the Dead. Their music was great, nice fast machine gun drums. The singer however didn’t flip my switch. It was almost as if he was trying too hard to be truly evil. For some reason even though we were on time (early in fact) the show started earlier than the schedule. Must be run on Ozz Fest time.
Evergreen Terrace was up next. Young, bouncy and energetic, these guys were definitely fun to watch. In the beginning I would have described them as death metal lite. Their heavier stuff was kinda lost in the Rave, but some of their songs were music to commit mass murder by. Jason Voorhees would have done wonders with these songs.
The Chariot was a mess in a good way. I am definitely going to be checking these boys out soon. They started with total chaos, transitioning into a very slow grind core sound. I really kept waiting for and craving the speed. When they started to hit some speed, there was almost an industrial feel to it (but with a banjo) that really made them stand out in my mind. I really like the cacophony of sounds and styles these guys had to offer. The singer, Josh Scogin, definitely fares better here than with previous band Norma Jean, one of the just OK bands from Ozz Fest.