Rock N Roll Experience - 4/27/07

CANNIBAL CORPSE / THE RED CHORD / JOB FOR A COWBOY / PSYOPUS

4/27/07

Sonar

Baltimore, Maryland

On April 27, 2007, in Maryland, there were 3 totally different shows happening all on the same night...in Columbia, MD, My Chemical Romance were playing, in downtown Baltimore, the Lynyrd Skynyrd/38 Special/Hank Williams Jr. tour was happening, & about 6 blocks from that show, the death metal event of the weekend was going down because Cannibal Corpse was set to annihilate Sonar with 3 of the heaviest bands out there today!

The doors opened at 6 PM & the crowd was kinda modest, but the show didn’t really start till almost 8 PM & by that point the place was filling in nicely. I kinda assumed that alot of people got there later because of school & work & the such, but no matter, because Psyopus kicked the evening off with one of the most interesting sets I’ve EVER seen!

Psyopus’ secret weapon is their guitarist..I don’t know much about this guy, BUT, he’s fucking amazing on guitar & I’ve NEVER seen a heavy act have a guitarist like this guy..imagine Eddie Van Halen playing death metal! I swear to god, it’s that interesting, & I couldn’t stop watching the guy play..it’s like Frank Zappa playing Slayer covers or something along those lines..it’s some weird shit that’s so cool that I really can’t wait to see this band again! The singer basically had his back to the crowd most of the time, but it didn’t matter, because I can’t stress to you enough, their guitar player was captivating & really stunning to watch...you don’t see this kinda stuff in death metal!

Job For A Cowboy were next on the bill & I had heard alot of hype concerning this band & how they are the next big thing in extreme metal, & their set proved they are definitely a force to reckon with! The band played a little under an hour & their set was brutal, but the thing I really noticed is that unlike alot of death metal & extreme metal acts, Job For A Cowboy are not scary..they don’t wanna drink you’re blood, they just wanna get up there & play & have a good time & they are pretty animated onstage too!

The Red Chord were 3rd on the bill & I’ve actually seen these guys several times over the years & I might add that this was the finest set I’ve ever seen from the band...they played flawlessly, there was little downtime between songs, they played several new songs, their guitarist announced that he has a side project & that their cd will be out next month, & I remember seeing these guys on Ozzfest last year outside...it’s obvious that these guys are best in the dark, inside a club/hall..their music isn’t meant for the daylight! Personally, I felt like The Red Chord really should have been the headliner’s for this show..they were my pick for the best set!

With the bands banner placed low, behind the band, it was plain to see that Cannibal Corpse were the headliners of the evening & Corpsegrinder’s Dad was actually in the mosh pit for some of the bands set & Mr. Grinder called his Dad out & said to the crowd, “see, my Dad’s crazy & that’s where I get it from!”

“Hammer Smashed Face” was my personal favorite from the bands long set of new & old favorites, & at one point an annoying fan had Corpsegrinder pissed off & he yelled, “Don’t make me come down there & kick your ass while my Mom’s in the audience, because I WILL do it fucker!”...apparently all the bands were being annoyed with people yelling “Play Skynyrd” which is a popular thing in these parts! I can’t help but mention something that I found interesting...I expected the crowd to be mostly 21+ because Cannibal Corpse is an established death metal act that’s been around for quite a while, but there was ALOT of the black x’s, as I call them, or under 21 kiddies, & it was interesting to see the old school fans mixed with the younger fans. If you’ve never been to Sonar before, it’s an interesting club, because they have 3 different party areas..there’s a main stage where the larger concerts are, there’s a club stage that hosts Taxlo & smaller acts, then there’s the lounge, & on Friday’s the club hosts Taxlo, which is an indie dance party, so when Cannibal Corpse finished their last song, you could hear the strains of the dance music next room over & I couldn’t help but laugh at that irony.