Results tagged “susquehannabankcenter”

       

Last Friday was the Rockstar Mayhem Festival at the Susquehanna Bank Center, and it will certainly go down as one of the hardest rocking festivals—if not the hardest—in metal. Mayhem brings together all factions of the metal world from the death metal of The Black Dahlia Murder and Whitechapel to the black metal of Behemoth. Thrash metal was represented with Trivium and, of course, motherf'ing Slayer. (If you haven't already, check out our interview with Slayer's Tom Araya.) There was something for everyone and few people seemed to leave disappointed.

You would think that the godfathers of thrash metal would be intimidating figures to talk to. When Phillyist had the opportunity to sit down with Slayer (MySpace) bassist/vocalist/co-founder Tom Araya, that's exactly what we thought. Boy, were we wrong. Sitting with Araya was sitting with a sage of heavy metal, a gentle spirit with a vast musical background who just happens to front the greatest thrash metal band the world has ever seen. It was pretty damn incredible.

       

When Phillyist decided to cover the Warped Tour, we knew we had a lot to look forward to. We're happy to say that we weren't disappointed. There was a little something for everyone in terms of both music and vendors, both of which were on full display on that sunny day in Camden. We were happy to find the weather cooperating, save for a few light sprinkles that seemed to refresh concertgoers and all in all everyone acted cool, which is always appreciated. Overall we couldn't complain. Oh, except when it came to the $4 bottles of water. That sucked a lot, as did the fact that if you wanted a lineup of the bands to carry with you, that would be $2. And if you wanted a beer, well forget about it unless you had $9(!!!) to pony up. Oh well...on to the rock!

Phillyist has long been a fan of the Warped Tour, and this year is no exception. Tomorrow's tour brings over fifty bands to various stages in what will be a *hopefully* sunny day of rock and roll. We love going to Warped Tour because you can always bet on there being bands you know and love, as well as some up-and-comers and little-known groups to discover and enjoy. It's gonna be a great day.

           

We've always liked Weezer (MySpace) a lot, but never considered them one of our absolute favorite bands. This is largely because, with the exception of the Blue Album, there's quite a bit of inconsistency in their releases. The albums tend to have three or four killer tracks, two or three pretty good songs, and three or four complete throwaways. But we were cautiously optimistic about Saturday's Weezer show at the Susquehanna Bank Center, because we figured there was a possibility that the setlist would include most of the band's standout songs and keep the throwaways to a minimum.

We've come to expect the odd and unusual—but amusingly odd and unsual—from Weezer (MySpace). So when we heard that the band's tour in support of their latest self-titled album would be a hootenanny, our curiosity was piqued. Weezer has invited certain fans to bring their instruments (be they oboes, washboards, whatever) to jam with the band. And everyone is invited to bring their clappin' hands and voices. The band is taking a party approach to their performances on this tour, and that's just fine with us.

          

How about this unseasonably cool weather? Saturday night was pretty much a perfect night for a concert. So our only concern heading into the Maroon 5/Counting Crows show was whether the performers would measure up to the ideal setting.

When we go to see a band that's been around for awhile, we usually find ourselves excited to hear them play our old favorites (because the new crap they've been putting out just doesn't measure up), or we're excited to hear the new material (because it took the band a couple albums to find their stride, but now they're putting out really killer stuff). But with Counting Crows (MySpace), we're excited to hear everything, the new and the old.

Summer festivals are upon us. Many festivals. Kind of watered down, no? So it’s time to take a look at the beasts of the east: All Points West, and Download Festival. OK, no, The Download Festival is nowhere near the project All Points West is. I mean, Radiohead, Underworld, The Roots, Girl Talk, and Animal Collective could all take the cake as a headliner, and you would have a great time.

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets.