The MEN Arena do not have a separate standing entrance on the floor like most venues, so you have to walk through the lower tier seating to show your standing ticket and be let onto the floor. This idea is fine, however there is opportunity for fail. This occurred on Thursday, as myself and Mikey got to the top of the stairs the house lights went out to signal ToaDM taking the stage. This made walking down an unknown number of stairs in pitch darkness incredibly dangerous. This could be easily rectified with a luminous or lit strip at the edge of each step. The perilous walk was made happier as South Parks 'Blame Canada' was ToaDM's choice of entrance song.
ToaDM headlined this tour over in the States, I presume they are popular over there. Over here, not so much. It could be because they were the first band on rather than the fifth (the American tour had another 2 bands opening). But they were just boring to be honest. Musically they seemed OK, but for me they seemed to be an opening band doing an opening set and not bothering to start a fan base over here. They did cover Eric Claptons Cocaine, that was cool. Overall, enjoyable to listen to, but I won't be in a hurry to see them again.
Next up were Black Stone Cherry, a band I have seen previously and always enjoy their sets. This one did not disappoint either and I'm coming to the conclusion that they simply get better and better each time. From the moment they set foot onstage until they left, BSC poured out pure Rock'n'Roll energy. The crowd really responded to this and sang along with every song. Lonely Train ended their set and the crowd matched the noise coming from the stage with their singing. BSC are playing in the UK again next year, I will likely be writing a review about them then too.
The headline band for Thursdays gig was Alter Bridge. I have seen AB once before at a festival and enjoyed what I heard. Since then I have listened to the band a fair amount and have to say, I'm a huge fan. I had seen the setlist for this tour previous to the gig and was incredibly excited about what was to come. And AB didn't disappoint from the opening bars of Slip to the Void until the final notes of Rise Today. I really enjoyed the songs I Know It Hurts and Metalingus. Myles Kennedy announced it was the biggest headlining gig ever and was completely in awe of the crowd reaction. I thought they had been loud for BSC, but that was nothing compared to their reaction to AB. Constant singing, cheering, clapping and in general, a real party atmosphere. My only gripe with the band was what they did in their encore. After coming back out to a rapturous applause they played Open Your Eyes, then Myles paid tribute to Freddie Mercury and what I can only describe as a guitar duel broke out between himself and Mark Tremonti. This was cool to watch, however it went on too long and the fact that most songs include a guitar solo, it seemed to be unnecessary showing off. I felt the time could have been better used by playing another song. Or if they wanted to pay tribute to Freddie, why not play a Queen cover or just a guitar medley of their songs? Just a suggestion. No matter though, AB were superb and I won't be surprised to see them back here in the not to distant future.
Friday it was the turn of Black Metal in the form of Dimmu Borgir. This gig was at a new venue for me and Mike to visit, Manchester Academy 3. The 3 Academy venues are all in the same area as each other on the Manchester University campus. Academy 1 is a seperate building and I will be going there in the new year to see Seether & 3 Doors Down. Next door to this is the Manchester Uni Student Union, this building is huge, and on the second floor is Academy 2 and on the 3rd floor is Academy 3.
We walked into Academy 3 and my first thoughts were that it reminded me of the size of the Wedgewood Rooms here in Portsmouth, possibly even a little bit smaller. This was a little worrying as I feared for my hearing, turns out the volume levels were perfectly set.
The gig was named An evening with Dimmu Borgir and it involved them playing 2 sets with no support act, I am very much in favour of this sort of gig as, although you don't see new bands perform in support slots, you see more of the band that you paid the ticket price to see.
The first set was an album played through in full, voted for by the fans before the tour. The album that won was Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. From the time Dimmu took to the stage the crowd were electric, throwing horns and cheers towards the stage for the entirety of the gig, including times that Dimmu were off stage. The first set was played with fierce energy and the band looked very happy to be playing to such an engaged crowd.
The second half of the gig had Dimmu playing songs from their entire collection. They came back onstage following a drum solo, this was cool and didn't annoy me as Alter Bridges guitar duel did because a) it didn't last longer than 5 minutes and b) drummers don't get to highlight their talents as much during songs, so it's awesome to see them go all out on their kit. The 2nd set was awesome and included 2 of my favourite Dimmu songs with Puritania and Serpentine Offering. It was an amazing gig and definately worth the extra nights stay in Manchester.
I will be seeing Dimmu again next year at Wacken. Where they will be playing with a full orchestra, I cannot wait to see this great band again. Black Metal Lives!
