
Clearly the guys in Slipknot are not sitting idly by and discussing their past accomplishments over a cigar and a glass of wine and instead keep on pushing their musical envelope with their live concert experiences. You might remember our recent announcement about the “Knotfest At Sea” (click the text for more) and now they have revealed their star-studded crew of Metal bands joining in on this inaugural cruise. Read on.

The Press Release:
KNOTFEST AT SEA, the inaugural cruise event from the music and lifestyle phenomenon, KNOTFEST, created by multi-platinum, genre defining metal band, SLIPKNOT has today announced the first bands that will be joining the line-up when the cruise sets sail from Barcelona on August 10th. As well as two headline sets from SLIPKNOT, the cruise will feature a killer line-up of performances from Anthrax, Behemoth, Devildriver, Sevendust, Skindred, Ho99o9, Higher Power and Sleep Token with more to be announced.
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Artist: H.I.M.
Venue: The Electric Factory (Philadelphia, PA)
Opener: Skindred, Finch
Date: 11/23/2005
Label: Sire Records
I was invited by Friends who had an extra ticket for the Philadelphia show and figured why not go one more time. My main reasoning was that I had never been to the Electric Factory and it sounded like a cool place to check out a show. The truth be told it was very much that and we even began the trek by sampling authentic Philly Cheese-Steak sandwiches. Proving to everyone that even the staunchest New Yorker can be an inexperienced tourist. Anyway let me get back to the show; the Electric Factory reminded me a lot of Irving Plaza in NYC with it being a mid-sized venue with a sizable upstairs and balconies to hang out on. It seemed to be able to hold the same amount of people as this venue (1100). The main and only difference is that the bar is upstairs and this keeps it an older crowd up there while the folks under 21 remain downstairs. At this show I was able to see the opening bands and this time around Fireball Ministry was added to the bill. I had seen this band perform with Dio and Anthrax not too long ago and at that show I hated them but in the context of a H.I.M. show they were dead-on and fit perfectly. This time around I was able to catch both Skindred and Finch and I have to say that I felt both bands were severely lacking. Skindred mixes Reggae with Heavy Metal and I found the result a terrible thing to behold. It seemed like some folks liked it but the larger amount of the crowd seemed to be in my corner on this. Finch came up immediately after and they were just as unimpressive with their music being a cacophony of screaming notes and equally annoying vocals. The odd part of Finch especially with the lead singer seeming to perform mainly to the stage amplifiers and the drum kit. If he came to the front stage for a second it would be an understatement. I remember asking the girls behind me if the band realized we were there as an audience. Maybe I am missing something in both bands but I am hard pressed to think so. If this is what Emo is all about you can keep it and let me enjoy something else.
Continue reading HIM @ The Electric Factory (11/23/2005) →
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