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• 04/06/18: WAYNE CITY HIGH SCHOOL: The Victory Boys: Local Christian quartet performed at the local electric company annual meeting, sang gospel and told a few jokes. The lead singer Paul Adams is a college buddy.
• 04/07/17: WAYNE CITY HIGH SCHOOL: The Peyton Sisters: Local Christian sisters performed at the local electric company annual meeting, sang gospel standards and an original song with an acoustic guitar. Very sweet voices. They got a standing ovation from the very large crowd in attendance at the end of their set. I was able to meet one of them before their show since I know their parents, having used to work with their father.
• 10/23/16: POP'S: Suicidal Tendencies, Mad Ball, Scene of Irony: Local band Scene of Irony started with their punk set, got to shake the hand of the lead singer after their entertaining show. Chicago band Mad Ball followed, spent most of their set trying to stay upright. Suicidal Tendencies finished the night with their thrash set. They were advertised as being punk and are very melodic on youtube, but not so much live. I only stayed 20 minutes into their set, and as near as I could tell, they were on the same song the entire time.
• 10/08/16: POPS: Hatebreed, Devil Driver, Devil You Know: Thrash Metal super group Devil You Know (guitarist Logan Mader of Five Finger Death Punch/ex-Machine Head/Gojira, guitarist Francesco Artusato of All Shall Perish/Hiss of Atrocities, drummer John Sankey of Devolved, and Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage/Blood Has Been Shed) opened up this thrash metal showcase. Was able to get a guitar pic with a Devil Driver logo after their set. Devil Driver came up next, good performance, was able to pull my "brother in thrash" back up near the stage after he got pushed back during one of the many circle mosh pits. A guy throwing punches was thrown out by the lead singer after he stopped the show to stop the fighting and get him evicted. Hatebreed got the most mosh pits and body surfers going. Good beat, you could dance to it, but I couldn't understand very many words. If you're looking for short bald skinny bearded men, this was the place to be. A very physical evening, got knocked down only once.
• 07/16/16: POP'S: 10 Years, He Is Legend, Spoken, OATM: OATM opened the evening with their hard rock set, very good show. I got a drumstick after it was bounced off of my head. Spoken was up next, loudest of the night, especially their drummer, being the main sound you could hear, volume louder than the guitar or vocalist. I made sure to move away from the speakers during their set. He Is Legend were up next, meh. 10 Years were up last, finishing with their hit "Wasteland," and then came out for a several song encore. They had several former members of their band on stage to play with them, and also had some of their children on stage at the end of their set. Lead singer Jesse Hasek came up to the railing several times during the show, twice directly in front of me.
• 08/15/15: POP'S: Saint Asonia, Artifas, Alice Drinks The Kool Aid, Soundtrapp: We got there a little after Soundtrapp had already started, not expecting them to start at the same time advertised for the doors opening. Good band, probably still heard half of their set. Chicago-style blues band ADTKA were up next, started very slowly, picked up a bit by the time they finished, didn't really fit the rest of the line up. Artifas came out strong and stayed strong the whole evening, excellent band. All of the band members were dressed up and had the haircuts to match, should be popular with the teen female market. Super group Saint Asonia wrapped up the night, with Adam Gontier, former guitarist and lead singer and the voice of Three Days Grace until 2013, and guitarist Mike Mushok of Staind. They played songs off of the new Saint Asonia album, along with some of the hits of 3DG and Staind. The crowd didn't yell enough for an encore, so there wasn't one. Very impressive night of music with the exception of the blues act.
• 06/13/15: POPS: Hinder, Full Devil Jacket, Nothing Set In Stone: H-bomb and I got there early since we thought the concert was supposed to start at 7 instead of 8, as indicated by the web site. I had won free tickets but nobody checked us when we came in, so we got to watch Full Devil Jacket warm up for a few songs in a private concert, with only 2 other ppl at another table. They later locked the doors and the ppl began lining up outside. Nothing Set In Stone started out the night, I thought the lead singer sounded like Rush or another 80s band's lead singer, H-bomb thought he sounded like Stryper. Good music, good sound. Their guitarist was working the crowd after their set, promoting an upcoming concert at Pops and their CD. Then Full Devil Jacket came out and got the crowd going with songs from their first new album in 12 years along with their previous songs. They were the highlight on the evening. The lead singer signed their posters after their performance and was in the crowd and later in the parking lot hawking their CDs. Hinder came out last, mainly singing newer songs and finishing up their set with "Lips of an Angel" and "Get Stoned" in their encore.
• 07/10/12: POPS: Hoobastank, From Skies of Fire: There was supposed to be another opening band, but they cancelled at the last minute due to scheduling conflicts. The sound guy should have turned up the mics, since one could hardly hear any vocals all night, just the instruments, but that may have been due to my proximity to the stage, being just behind the people who were actually leaning on it. From Skies of Fire is a decent band, the guys being funny in between songs, they sounded familiar, but that may be because they sound like other bands. Hoobastank played a few songs from their upcoming album in addition to their hits. They finished their set with 'Crawling in the Dark' as expected.There were a few circle pits during the night, but nothing too wild, and only 1 body surfer. After Hoobastank finished their set but before they left the stage, members were fist bumping & shaking hands with the crowd. I was able to get a fist bump & later a hand grab from guitarist Dan Estrin and a handshake from singer Doug Robb after he spoke with the 2 women who were leaning on the stage immediately in front of me. Hoobastank said they were going to stay for a meet & greet after the show, but it looked like the majority of the crowd was staying for that, so I didn't stay for it.
• 09/01/11: DuQUOIN STATE FAIR - DuQuoin, IL: Drowning Pool: Second time i've seen them for free at the fair. Local band Metal Toyz played beforehand in the beer tent itself, with Drowning Pool playing on a stage beside the tent. Drowning Pool rocked their hits and finished with Bodies. The crowd got really wound up with their show. Was some minor moshing with no body surfers, the 1 time that a couple guys tried hard to get a mosh pit going, they were quickly grabbed and escorted away by some state police, but not before they knocked our little group into the stage. Was able to touch the stage, being only behind 1 other person, Jackie, along with her daughter Raven & a cuz or 2 nearby. Saw guitarist C.J. Pierce beforehand rolling a dolly, but thought he was a roadie, also caught a guitar pic from bassist Stevie Benton after he bit it and threw it into the crowd.
• 07/15/11: POPS: Brookroyal, Last Nights Vice, Fivefold, Corvus: 105.7 The Point's Thom & Jeff announced several bands at this Pointfest Announcement Party and even introduced The Urge on stage before the bands started playing. Corvus started the night off with their sometimes trippy music, good band. Fivefold came up next with their excellent headbanging rock show. Excellent stage show. Last Nights Vice had a discoesque vibe on some of their songs, but good nonetheless. Brookroyal finished up the night with several new songs and many songs off of their previous album. Very little moshing and only 2 crowdsurfers, with 1 guy surfing several times. Lil L and I were in the VIP lounge in the upper deck on the west wall, the same wall as the stage and above the room where the bands get ready. We had won the tix in a facebook drawing. The doorman didn't give me much argument when I told him about the sockpuppet i use on fb instead of my IRL name. We were able to look down at the stage while enjoying appetizers and bottled water/soda and were basically behind the speakers, so it wasn't too loud being as close to the stage as we were, which was about the same distance as I had been to 3DG several years ago at Carbondale. Several members of the various bands would come up and snack there also, with apparently the drummer from Brookroyal being entertained by a young lady dancing for him while he was seated on one of the couches, but they left when they noticed they were being watched. There was also free admission to the Oz nightclub next door with a tix to this show, but we didn't go due to Lil L's age, even though they had a Girls Gone Wild contest happening that night with the GGW motorhome parked out in front, so look for a St. Louis edition of that video series.
• 10/25/09: POPS: Five Finger Death Punch, Shadows Fall, OTEP, 2Cents: Opening act 2Cents started the night - lead singer/drummer is a funny guy - good band. OTEP began their set with a couple good songs, then it slid down into filler, sound for the lead singer's mic should have been louder, her lyrics were lost in the instruments. Shadows Fall followed. Five Finger Death Punch headlined the show, great band, leader singer Ivan Moody got a lot of audience participation. At the end of the encore, some ppl were moshing/punching & Ivan yelled for them stop fighting, saying we were all bros or something. There was surprisingly very little moshing during any sets, even though some of the bands tried to get a pit started - but there were many body surfers. The place was packed, but apparently not sold out since there were ppl still getting tix at the window beforehand - ppl were still lined up outside for a good half hour after the show started. H-bomb & I got there @ 6:15 and were still 200' back from the door then, with ppl lining up to the south side street a short time after. There were no cops directing traffic after this show, so ppl who exited the parking lot directly onto Route 3 had to wait, but we exited out a side street and were on the interstate before most, even though we checked out the merch booths before we left.
• 10/02/09: POPS, Sauget, IL: Billy Talent, Poison The Well, AM Taxi: AM Taxi started the evening, excellent band from Chicago. Poison The Well followed with their bland set, few moshers, didn't really have their hearts in it. Billy Talent came out to a wound up crowd & kept the energy high. Finished with "Red Flag" during their 2 song encore. Lead singer Ben Kowalewicz told a funny story that happened at a nearby strip club, humorous fellow. Not a very large crowd, would estimate to be around 300 or so, this venue normally holds @ 1,200 ppl. Looked like they expected a small crowd since they had closed off the south half of the building and had the concert on the secondary stage.
• 09/12/09: HAMILTON CO FALL FESTIVAL - McLeansboro, IL: Oak Ridge Boys: Didn't watch very much of this show, but was able to hear it plainly from my position on the courthouse lawn, visiting with ppl I hadn't seen in awhile. They performed their cover of White Stripe's "7 Nation Army" near the end of the show.
• 08/29/09: DuQUOIN STATE FAIR - DuQuoin, IL: Warrant: TOO MUCH TREBLE. Fire the sound guy, seriously, sounded like there were no bass speakers & he kept adjusting the volume during songs. Otherwise, should have played more of their hits instead of the music from the 2006 album, even H-bomb didn't recognize most of the songs played. We left early.
• 06/13/09: POPS - Sauget, IL: Rise Against, Rancid, The Riverboat Gamblers: Texas band The Riverboat Gamblers started this outdoor show with their lively set, a lot better than I expected an opening act to be. Thought they were going to be just another local St. Louis band, but they announced that they had been on this entire tour. The crowd got moshing just a few songs into their set. Worthy of being a headlining act. Rancid was up next. A lot of their fans were in attendance and were noticeable based on the way they dressed, with many a spiky mohawk & clothing reminiscent of the 90's punk scene. Many of them left after their excellent set, being there only for Rancid. Rise Against followed, playing many of their hits. This show was as good as the one they did inside back in 2007. Being outside with a much larger crowd, we weren't able to get as close to the stage as you could inside, but still plenty close to see the band. There were a few times when there were two mosh pits happening at the same time, both in front & behind us, so had to be careful of where bodies were coming from, but with the grippy surface of the parking lot, didn't have to worry about slipping & falling like on the inside - also got konked a few times in the head from (every) body surfers, but no blood so no foul. The show started about an hour after we expected it to begin, since normally the doors are only open an hour before show time, not two, but it was an overcast evening so didn't roast on the asphalt. Also noted at least two distinct grades of weed being smoked, but figured the beer being thrown around would cover the smell on our clothing. With the larger crowd, they had an outside firm directing parking, so had to pay to park in a normally free parking lot, which sucked, and also had to wait on traffic to clear down a bit in order to get out, but with the local police directing traffic we were able to go directly onto the highway once we got there.
• 05/13/09: ROBERTS STADIUM - Evansville, IN: Music as a Weapon IV Tour: Disturbed, Killswitch Engage, Lacuna Coil, Chimaira, Suicide Silence, Spine Shank, Bury Your Dead, Crooked X, A Dark Orbit, Arythma: The fest started at 2 p.m. during a windy overcast day, luckily it never rained. Outside, Arythma got things started with their good set, followed by A Dark Orbit's screamo performance. Crooked X did a good cover of "Brick in the Wall" and members of Killswitch Engage and Disturbed came out on stage during one of their songs to pour water & throw hot dogs at them - funny. Bury Your Dead had an excellent set & signed CDs after their performance, with 31!5h4 getting all members' autographs. Spine Shank returned from a 4-year hiatus to start on the road again with this tour. Suicide Silence completed the outdoor set with their screamo performance (Cradle of Filth-like). Chimaira was signing autographs outside, but we didn't get in line in time to get any. During some of the songs outside, there was some moshing, body surfing & dancing that we referred to as "gay kitty cat attack on cocaine," due to their clawing like motions - humorous to watch, although I don't think they intended it to be. Inside, Chimaira opened with their lively set, followed by Lacuna Coil. Killswitch Engage finished their set with their cover of "Holy Diver." Disturbed's frontman/vocalist David Draiman was brought out on a vertical gurney in a straight jacket and mask, ala Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs, to thunderous applause. Did many of their hits and kept the crowd on their feet. During "10,000 Fists," had audience members on the large speakers on the back of the stage in order to have additional fists in the air, although 1 dude thought it was just a photo op for the backs of the band.
• 03/31/09: POPS - Sauget, IL: Cold, The Killer and the Star, The Drama Club, Brookroyal: Brookroyal started the evening with a lively set, very good band, had previously befriended them on myspace.. The Drama Club was alright, but didn't really stand out. The Killer and the Star, a side project of Cold's lead singer Scooter Ward, followed with their very mellow piano/drum/guitar set. Cold showed a 10 minute video anthology before they came out to thunderous applause. Did many of their hits, very energetic, also came out for an encore. E! had ordered tickets from Brookroyal online & got to pick them up from the lead singer before the show, she also got an autographed CD after their set. Show looked like it was only about half full, with tables & chairs remaining up during the entire evening, also no mosh pits/body surfing, which is unusual for Pop's.
• 10/16/07: POPS - Sauget, IL: UnderOath, Every Time I Die, Poison The Well, Maylene & the Sons of Disaster: Maylene & the Sons of Disaster were the highlight of the evening, started slow but then got going, good set. Poison The Well were up next - bleh, screamo screamo, it seemed they played the same song 10 times, as there were no apparent distinctions between them. This 1 short dude in the audience almost got his ass busted since he was trying to rush the stage & others in the vicinity didn't allow it, so he was in front of me pumping his fist in the air & being a general asshole to those around him, he later got dressed down by another dude who didn't approve of the way he was treating his gf, but she got him to come away from the stage for a while *whip sound*. Every Time I Die followed with their bland set. 1 of the guitarists (that looks like grizzly adams) was walking around before the evening's performances started and signed autographs & posed for pics. UnderOath came out louder than Megadeth, was only able to stay in my position near a set of speakers (approximately same spot as MD) for a few songs before retreating to protect my hearing. Their previous performance of a few years ago here was preferred over this set, as they seem to have gone thrash.
• 09/18/07: POPS - Sauget, IL: Megadeth, In This Moment, The Confession: The Confession got things started with their classic metal set - very lively. In This Moment was up next. The studio version of "Beautiful Nightmare" is a lot more polished and un-screamed. The lead singer was very fetching in her short pink dress with black bows & cleavage... drool. She kept a hand near her bosom in order to keep from showing too much, but she had a black bra on underneath that one could see since her back was wet, so i don't think that would have been a problem, anyway. Oh yea, the music was good, too. Megadeth came out to screams from the crowd and performed many classic hits plus new songs from their latest album. They sound as good live as they do in the studio. I don't think i ever got more than 20 feet away from the stage their entire performance, since got jostled around quite a bit by crowd surging, and ended up within a few feet of stage right near the end of the concert. Was a few body surfers, but not much moshing. Security took a few people out from the crowd during the show, so guess they were trying to keep things in check. Also saw a guy being halfway carried out from the floor, looked very red in the face & kinda out of it. There were also police directing traffic out of the parking lot onto the highway after the show, which was the first time i've seen that, usually on your own if you don't take the side street out to the light.
• 08/28/07: POPS - Sauget, IL: Rise Against, Silverstein, Comeback Kid, Smoke or Fire: I had thought Smoke or Fire would be a local St. Louis band, since name didn't sound familiar & that's who is usually the opening act, but recognized a song as being from (prob) a Warped Tours compilation CD. Good set. Next up was Comeback Kid, who had a following among the moshers. Was hard to watch the show while trying not to get knocked down. Silverstein was up next and really got the crowd going, body surfing starting. Excellent set, also peformed a song off of their upcoming CD. Rise Against came out & performed many songs from their latest CD, along with a couple covers of other bands and some of their older songs. The vocalist came out during the 1st encore and did several solo songs, just him & a guitar. Then the whole band came out during the 2nd encore & replayed several songs, mainly the popular ones. Almost no moshing during their set. Got there 2 hours before showtime to purchase a ticket and there was already a few ppl outside waiting - as it got closer to the door opening time, the parking lot started filling up, as it was near empty earlier. Looked to be a near-capacity crowd, if not sold out during the evening. There were only a dozen or so moshers (even a few females, the first i've seen that), who would mosh for less than a minute, clearing out a circle, then they would strut around for the rest of the song. 1 dude was throwing punches, elbows and kicking in a dance clearly designed to clear room for himself, but it looked more like a toddler's temper tantrum. 1 female body surfing early during the concert didn't get very far, as the crowd was not packed tight enough to carry her to the front, so she went down near me and looked at me with her leg up to give her a boost back over ppl's heads, i just looked at her without assisting & she flipped me off, so that was funny, but she was surfing many times later in the evening.
• 08/06/07: VERIZON WIRELESS AMPHITHEATER - Maryland Heights, MO: OZZFEST 2007: Ozzy Osbourne, Lamb of God, Static X, Lordi, Hatebreed, Behemoth, Mondo Generator, Nile, Ankla, Circus Diablo, The Showdown, 3 Inches of Blood, Daath, Chthonic, In This Moment: We got there early afternoon, after the scheduled start time of 12:20, so we missed a couple acts on the secondary stage, which was located outside of the amphitheater itself, but did see part of Daath and In This Moment while walking around, and could overheard Hatebreed from inside the amphitheater, but not very well. Lordi started the night on the main stage. Overheard someone in the crowd say that they were the inspiration for GWAR, so this should give you an idea of the type of stage show they had, very theatrical with a good death metal performance. Static-X came up next and did an excellent set, playing several of their more well-known songs. They also said that this was the hottest Ozzfest show to date this year, since the temperature was around the 100 degree mark, and that we were all badasses for being there. So now it's been official noted. Lamb of God followed with their thrash metal set. Seemed kind of long, since Ozzy was coming up next. And then there was Ozzy. They showed a video of him taking the place of other actors in famous scenes before he came on stage. He started with Bark at the Moon, then did newer songs mixed in mainly with his classic hits, plus a couple from Black Sabbath. He introduced the band, which included his guitarist Zack Wylde. During instrumental portions of the songs, Ozzy would frequently dump buckets of water on the front rows or shoot them with a foam hose. Excellent performance by the 'Prince of Darkness.' We had lawn seats, which are more of the total seating than ticketmaster maps indicate, but the stage is several hundred feet away from even the front of the lawn, which we got since we got there and stayed planted since mid-afternoon. Crystal Meth and I got there @ 2 p.m., with her sister Bobbi & bf Mark showing up later, having driven separately. The facility has several large screens on the outside of the roof over the reserved seats, which are the only good seats, so got to see what was happening on stage even if we couldn't see over the people standing in the seats while seated, but standing allowed us to see Ozzy in the distance. Ozzy autographed copies of Black Rain were available, but only had limited supplies, so figured those went quickly. This is the largest venue i've been to so far, with the largest parking lot, which took over 40 minutes to even get out of it, plus at least 5 minutes to drive the 1 mile to the interstate, but it was smooth going after that.

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