rocketeer

oh no...here it comes, another marathon update

so incase you don't want to read everything and want to know in brief what i have been up to then here is a point form summary.

- Wednesday had a job interview in Toowoomba
- Wednesday week went to see Throwdown
- Thursday went to Sydney for Grandmothers 80th b-day
- Tuesday had a job interview at the Gold Coast
- Wednesday saw Silverstein

....and now for the full story complete with pictures.

Both Job interviews went well....just hope i get a job now

Now Throwdown:

Sometimes not knowing a great deal (or anything at all) about a band can be a good thing. When it came to seeing Throwdown last week it was indeed awesome as i went not knowing what to expect and was blown away by just how good it was.

4 Bands were on the bill for the night :

X_Wish for Wings_X
From the Ruins
Taking Sides, and
Throwdown

Wish for wings warmed the crowd up early with there hard, aggressive noisey brand of music. These guys played the best i have seen them play and got the kids dancing and throwing windmills, it would stay that way on the floor for the rest of night, aggressively fast and very furious.

From the Ruins were also impressive. I enjoyed their set, nothing was a stand out but in general i found it quite good.

From the Ruins

Then came Taking Sides. Now i don't like to single out people in a band and give them a bad wrap, but in the case of this band i must do it. I couldn't fault the music these guys played one bit, but vocally i found them a bit disappointing. The lead singer was far too "screamy" and high pitched for my liking. Maybe he could sing / scream at a lower pitch and then the band would sound tighter (my opinion).

Taking Sides

While watching Taking sides I started talking with some of the band members from local Brisbane outfit Life Policy. These guys were good for a chat and i enjoyed talking with them.

One of the strangest / funniest / best thins to happen at a gig happened before Throwdown came out to play. The Rev is within a 5 minute walk from the Fortitude Valley mall where a lot of buskers can be found .......yeah, they went there.

A pair of buskers plucked from the pavement of the Valley mall were placed on stage and got to play a couple of songs. They played acoustic reggae with a guitar and a digery - doo (*sp) (traditional Instrument for native Australian people) While they were playing a symbol case was passed around and some cashw as collected. ...they made a shitload

Crazy Buskers

After the fun it was time for Throwdown m/_ _m/



Energy, power, aggression and precision Throwdown turned it on in a grand way for the lucky punters in the Rev that night. There had been a high level of energy on the floor all night but the kids somehow found a way to go even harder when they came out to play.




For the first time ever i saw a couple of girls throwing windmills andcrashing around on the floor and people everywhere were rhythmically bouncing and moving to the music. Undoubtedly for me the set highlight was the cover of the anthemic " Roots " from Sepultura which they played flawlessly.



I thoroughly enjoyed Throwdown as did everyone present.



Now comes my weekend.

I am blessed and lucky to be part of an awesome family. My grandmother turned 80 today but the family celebrated with a huge party last weekend. It was as much a celebration of the 80 years of life my grandmother has experienced as it was a celebration of the family.

On the Saturday before the party the whoel family: aunts, uncles, cousins etc got together for a huge family portrait. Every individual family also got family specific portraits done as well. Here are some pictures of my family and of the day....notice i snuck in of the professional poses for some

.

My cousins kids
Nan with Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren
Dad s sister family
My family
My nan
Me and Adam, my cousins son
My brother and sister found a duck.

We stayed with family on the central coast of New South Wales and the house we stay in backs onto a lake with views of the coast. It is really relaxing and nice just to "get away" for a while, even if it is only the weekend.

The drive down to Sydney is really quite scenic.



These pix were taken while travelling in a mini-bus @ 100 km/h

The day of the party was great. We went to this insanely good Chinese restaurant. I ate till i could no more and the bar tab had no cap....nice .

Just starting out
The result of a hard day drinking, some can't keep up


aaaanyway, enough of that


The Silverstein show was an experience and a half. Within minutes of entering The Rev i found myself speaking with Neil from Silverstein.



But more about the boys from Burlington Ontario later.

On the bill last night was:


It was the first time I have heard / seen Asleep at the Scene and i was impressed by what saw. They had a sound that was similar to that of Thursday, but had a slightly harder edge. The singer was incredible and i can remember on more than one occasion being surprised by the range and diversity of the sound that came from his mouth.
Asleep at the Scene

Next up was The Amity Affliction. Again the first time i had seen this band and again i must say i was super impressed. Aggressive fast music was just what the night needed. The band was animated on stage and held the attention of the punters well. The vocals were a almost too "screamy" for my liking but all in all i must say they were superb.

The Amity Affliction

Melbourne's Behind Crimson Eyes were up next. I had heard some of the material from these guys but didn't know it. They were incredible, very tight and together i thought. The boys obviously enjoyed playing music and playing together and the crowde was really beginning to warm up. The bass player was incredible, i would almost say he was" over-animated", but he never missed a note.


Behind Crimson Eyes

That brings us to Silverstein. I got turned onto these guys by my buddy Jeff in Toronto when i was travelling through there 8 months ago. Having owned there cd for about 10 weeks and loving every track on it meant i was keen to see these guys.

They played an awesome set comprised mainly of tracks from their one release; their debut cd "When Broken is easily Fixed" but they did throw in a few new tunes. Neil struggled with technical difficulties surrounding his peddles and there was some problems with the microphones but they were only minor distractions from the great show. The set was short due to a lack of material but i felt they maybe could have played one or 2 more in an encore. What they played however was incredibly good and i can't hold it against them.

Set highlights were opening with "Smashed into pieces" and closing with "Bleeds no more".

Shane
Neil and Bill
Paul and Josh

I spent quite a while speaking with Neil before the show. After the show i spoke with all the members for a short while and was lucky enough to get all the band to sign a tour poster for me and to pose for a photo with me.
Me and the boys




In other news.......

Girls still suck really bad, or at least what they do to my head does. So if you are a girl and have done nothing to my head, then rest assured, you don't suck.

I was going to go see a heap of local bands at the Depot tonight but due to everyone bailing i had noone to go with ....so i wrote a big update.

I got my ticket to mudvayne this week

Also got my Ticket to Nine Inch Nails today

Alexisonfire is coming to Brisbane

A taste of Chaos is Coming to Brisbane also, on the bill are Killswitch Engage, Rise Against and The Used to name a few

Shihad are playing 3 show around Brisbane, i am going to go to 2 of them, can't wait.

I would have purchased a CD or 3 this week, but i got tix instead

I need to save up to get my Bleeding Through Ticket

Still drug free, have been since 11th of march

Girls suck ( see above for details )

Moodswings suck

negativity sucks

this sucks

if you read it all, thanks you deserve a medal

Hope to see all the Brisbane Peeps at the upcoming Hook-up at Milton Bowl. Can't wait for that one.

I'm out

.....ROCK.....