Pre-Show Shenanigans

I didn’t really do much before the show that was note worthy. I made a sandwich and watched the weather channel in my hotel room while going through photos from Belphagor and Dark Funeral the night before while periodically messaging my concert buddy to coordinate.

The Venue

We arrived back at Club Red. This time the line was half way down the lengthy strip mall sidewalk. We stood out in the heat sweating to the point where I thought I had spilled water on myself from the amount of sweat already soaked into my shirt. Blessed with conversations about which security guy someone would suck the dick of (for the record I did not volunteer to perform any kind of oral pleasure during this conversation) and many other awkward items with complete strangers…Eventually a

security guy came through the line and told everyone who was going to one show to stand to the right and the other to stand on the left. This made the line move much faster than it was originally. There was another show with Flotsom & Jetsam in the larger room going in tandem for the night.

The event we were attending was in the smaller of the two stage rooms. When you walked toward the room entrance you pass through double doors adorned with a plethora of stickers. It was a tight squeeze between the bar in the back of the room and the merch tables set up next to the doors. The floor was already cram packed by the time we got in and grabbed beers. This was not a 21 and over event so there were plenty of hands with black “M”s for “minor” scattered about the ecstatic crowd.

The Show

This show emulated exactly what I expect from a power metal show. Clean vocals, great musical composition and epic story lines to go with it. With that being said I’m going to let my inner Pathfinder (DND 5.0) flag fly throughout this review.

So for those of you that have never been to a Power Metal show…. GO TO ONE!!!! This is the one sub genre I see the most Dungeons and Dragons fans come out of their nerd caves for. It really is one giant nerdgasm. The songs most power metal bands go after match up well with campaigns outlining tumultuous and epic journeys on an assortment of dangerous yet thrilling quests. That good old middle earth lore/ mythology feel. Not to mention the theatrics involved.

I have yet to see a dull performance where the band members look pissy and don’t interact with the crowd. Not to mention the music hits you in the chest and vibrates down your spine. It’s a great feeling. Now these shows aren’t exactly big on moshing but the crowds that attend these shows are prepared to chant and sing along to almost every song of the band they came to see.

Hailing from Chandler, AZ, Adavant started off with a chest punching dual vocal

masterpiece. Their keyboardist Andy the Cunning was head banging and doing side kicks in a kilt while kicking ass throughout the entire performance. Off stage this dude is like almost 2 feet taller than me. (I’m 5 foot 3) like some sort of optical illusion on stage. I would not have gathered he was that tall until I was standing looking up at him like a gawking fan girl.

Their set covered a variety from both of their ablums A Light Cut Through the Void (2013) and The Unyielding (2018) . They took us on an adventure through Renegade Ridge and Gallows Pass to meet The Drunken Monks of Halamathunk and more.

Between Aether Realm and Gloryhammer’s sets I also ran into Kipp talking their vocalist Nathan the Ravenous in the hallway. It was followed by some brief conversation before

Nathan walked away. I screamed after him that Kipp would suck his dick if he wanted him to because I’m a asshole like sometimes. While my show companion went on to call me a dick, I made my way to the bar where the fair maiden herself Charlotte the Alluring was looking to quench her thirst. Not wanting her to have to go to the back of the line while in search of it I treated her to a beer and snagged a selfie with her before making my way back down for a 2nd serving of this power palooza.

Little did I or my buddy Kipp know that we were talking to the vocalist of ÆTHER REALM,

Vincent “Jake” Jones at the merch table before the festivities began. Where I bluntly went off about my distaste for dating when I lived in the south due to men who would request plates of food and beer be brought to them like I was some sort of serving wench. He was a good sport about my boarderlined scary humor about busting knee caps with socket wrenches.

During their time on stage Jake asked the crowd for a triangle pit for his birthday as this

was his birthday month. (for my birthday month of September I’d like to see a new album out from these guys …just sayin) . The crowd obliged his request. The triangle pit maintained its points for all of a good minute before becoming more of a circular shape again. In the center arms were joined in one massive headbanging circle.

From The Chariot to Death to the King of Cups and The Magician Aether Realm took us through The Sun, The Moon, The Star and more during their performance. We head-banged, the crowd cheered and afterwards I bought a shot of Jose Cuervo Silver for Jake to make up for sounding like a violent lunatic. I snagged a silly selfie before making my way back down to the floor.

Gloryhammer came on stage one by one for dramatic affect. As they appeared the crowd erupted as if they were in a grand hall cheering on a war hero or a king. Chanting for the

the Hootsman and his heroic companions. Giving a spacey twist to a hand to hand combat prophecy driven realm. It was a mixture of heroes and villains as we journeyed on through their set. Front man and hero Angus McFife XIII swung a glorious hammer while working the crowd in a comical but true to the character way (Charisma +20).

And lo, Planet Earth had been destroyed by the Hootsman, with an explosion so powerful it ripped a hole in the very fabric of spacetime. And yet, Zargothrax was still not defeated, for he managed to use his last shreds of power to escape through the dimensional rift. Vowing to defeat the evil sorcerer, Angus McFife XIII followed him into the portal, with no idea where it might lead… ~Gloryhammer

They sent a member of the crowd on a “quest” during the prelude to Questlords of Inverness, Ride to the Galactic Fortress. to the bar to grab a beer for himself and the

Hootsman to later drink together on stage. Afterwards the hero’s told us of the legend of the astral hammer , fought the goblin king of the dark storm galaxy, celebrated victory with their fellow Hootsforce compatriots and reminisced on the Unicorn Invasion of Dundee.

The Head Bang-over

After we got back out to my truck I realized i had left my ID and card at the bar and ran back in to get it. Little did I know that this dude had also left his tab open and his ID and Card would end up needing to be mailed back to him in Vegas the following week.

We made our way to Whataburger which I had yet to have. Kipp lost his shoes of all things getting out of the truck. The clerk asked us both for tattoo advice seeing as how both of us had our arms filled with ink. I wont say I was blown away by my burger or shake. I still personally prefer my Neapolitan milk shake and double double animal style from In-n-out.

After we got back to the hotel sleep was sweet release before a morning filled with reaching out to the venue staff any way we could to figure out how to get back his ID and card. If you ever are in a similar situation the best response we received was via the venue Facebook page via messenger.

On the road back to Vegas I stopped by the Alpaca Farm right outside of Kingman, AZ to feed and pet the animals. Giddy like a small child who just received a new toy I was smiling the entire remainder of my journey home.