ROCK N ROLL EXPERIENCE - Sevendust, Diecast, Invitro

So, I was heading to Ram's Head Live to see the Sevendust show...I think that everyone in the state of Maryland who goes to shows knows that RHL is the best venue ever for live concerts! The show itself was an all ages show & the doors opened at 6 PM, so I had a feeling it was going to be packed with Kiddies, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was not a kiddie show! Invitro opened the show & they feature Mikey from Soulfly/Snot on guitar...their set was short & alot of peole hated them, but I thought they were interesting..the band came out in helmets made of tinfoil, they played metal that was modern sounding with some singing & some screaming, & the only complaint I had was that the sound mix was horrible! You couldn't hear ANY guitar solo's & things sounded messy for the most part, although their energy & stage presence made up for it! The bands merch guy did some weird things too..he ran though the mosh pit with his hands up like a shark & from a distance, it looked weird to see this & the band was even laughing at his antics! I wanna add something that I saw happen in the crowd that I thought was funny as hell..I saw this fat old man who was easily in his 50's walk by this cool looking metal kid & the old man called the kid a poseur...I thought to myself, wow, who would I think is cooler, the fat, bitter, balding old man, or the metal kid who was there to see the show & have fun? I can't understand why some people are such wankers & feel the need to harass people...some people have no manners or respect & that's the problem with the world!

Diecast were 2nd on the bill & they played a really good set that was nearly an hour! The band mixes elements of hardcore, metal & even some prog stuff to create an original sound that's really completed by singer Paul Stoddard who's voice is just amazing, & I might note that he's a really big guy with an even bigger voice!

The guitar work was really tight, the solo's were strong & powerful with lots of intricate moments, & the 2 things that really made their set memorable was when the band did a really mellow song that was basically the singer with a keyboard & this song was slow & totally sung like a real song, as opposed to the screams & stuff that normal metal is known for! The other interesting thing was the cover of "Dangerzone" which you might remember from the Tom Cruise movie Top Gun! In hall honesty, when Diecast were finished playing, this was the start of what was on the way...I don't wanna say the calm before the storm, but it was definitley a great beginning to what was about to happen!

Sevendust took the stage under the cover of dark, & the band stormed through all their fan favorite's as well as a bunch of new stuff off the "Alpha" CD! The bands stage set up featured these ramps that allowed them to run all over the stage & it almost reminded me of something KISS had in the late 80's...it was pretty cool & I'd never seen anyone do that at this venue before! The mosh pit was moving all through the Sevendust set, & the band played close to 2 hours..this was the longest I'd ever seen them play & I truly believe they left NO stones unturned at this show!