Artist: Candlemass Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY) Opener: Daylight Dies Date: 5/20/2008 Label: Nuclear Blast Records
For the first time in approximately seventeen years the one and only Candlemass would be returning for a US tour and the news was very welcome information for fans of the Doom Metal masters. Since their last visit, the band has had a rather sporadic relationship with their singer Messiah Marcolin who after a couple of exits and returns was finally replaced. His replacement would be the incredible Robert Lowe, from the US based Doomsters Solitude Aeturnus. Together they would be supporting their latest masterpiece “King Of The Grey Islands” and also bring along Daylight Dies to really give the audience an incredible evening. Here is how I remembered it….. Continue reading Candlemass @ B.B. King Blues Club (5/20/2008)→
Artist: Moonspell Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY) Opener: Katatonia, Daylight Dies Date: 10/22/2006 Label: SPV Records
The flyers and announcements listed this event as “The Nocturnal Mourning Tour”, and I could think of no better title for a tour that brought Gothic Metal masters Moonspell to the stage. Daylight Dies and Katatonia, the latter a band who had never made it over to the states before, would join the band. The event would take place at B.B. King Blues Club and according to comments by the band, they were happy to be at a venue that was run with a level of professionalism they had not seen since the beginning of the tour. Here is how some of the night went down along with details on the opening bands sets.
Daylight Dies: I caught this Candlelight Records act as the opener for Emperor when they performed at this very same spot and I have to admit that I feel this is a band that will not be relegated to the third slot on a bill for very much longer. The Emperor shows were jam-packed but there were only a couple of them, which made this a better night for the band as a whole since this would find them on a full US tour. Their set would be shorter than people who were getting into them would care to have happen, but a good amount of the material would come from their release “Dismantling Devotion”, its an album that fans of the Gothic meets Stoner Doom will definitely appreciate. I look forward to seeing them once again and can only say that they will impress many more fans in the future. Of this, I am very confident. The audience also found the members of this group wandering about the club to meet with them and to shake hands, always a nice idea at this stuff. Continue reading Moonspell @ B.B. King Blues Club (10/22/2006)→
Artist: Emperor Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY) Opener: Starkweather, Daylight Dies Date: 7/14/2006 Label: Candlelight Records
In the world of Black Metal music, Emperor was one of the first bands to do it and show some level of intelligence and impact. Given their start in 1991, the number of bands that performed this style who made any difference was not all that prevalent. Emperor would stand out both musically and in the way that the band carried themselves onstage. Yes, you had Mayhem, who was also among the first, but Emperor like their states – name brought a sense of majesty and dramatics to the form and proved to be more inspiring to other bands that would follow in their footsteps. The band was active until 2001 when they disbanded to pursue other interests until 2005 when they planned some reunion shows and appeared at a couple of notable festivals in Europe. The buzz in the Metal world at finding this news to true was resounding. Since their breakup Ihsahn had worked on solo material while Samoth and Trym formed and performed in Zyklon. Continue reading Emperor @ B.B. King Blues Club (7/14/2006)→