Top 5 Concerts of 2012

I went to 16 concerts in 2012 (real professional/touring bands not friends or locals). That's two more than last year, but still about ten less per year from my heyday in the mid-late 2000's. Getting old sucks.

Anyways, here are my top 5 favorite concerts from last year:

The Dillinger Escape Plan/NAILS/Dangers! @ Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock. 1/18/12.
The first show of last year was pure insanity. Introduced to Dangers!, NAILS shook the floor boards and Dillinger caused sheer pandemonium as usual. I sprained my wrist in the pit, and damn near lost my voice singing "Milk Lizard." My last time seeing Jeff Tuttle live with the band also. You will be missed man.


Refused & The Hives @ The Warfield Theater, San Francisco. 4/18/12.
Road trip/vacation. Check. 2nd time seeing The Hives in same week. Check. Watching Refused perform songs off The Shape of Punk to Come live even though the band broke up in 1998 and you've only enjoyed their music posthumously. HOLY FUCK. Singing "New Noise" with the thousands of other awe struck individuals, worshiping our mighty Swedish Overlords = priceless.



Hatebreed @ The Fox Theater, Pomona. 9/29/12.
Tour celebrated the tenth anniversary of Hatebreed's Perseverance album. This was the greatest karaoke night of my life. Every song on that album is like a tattooed Drill Sergeant. You will lift weights, scream and smile like an idiot when Perseverance plays and you will like it. The most fun I've had at a metal/hardcore show in years.



Converge/Torche/NAILS @ The Echoplex, Los Angeles. 10/28/12.
Sickest tour lineup of the year. Every band slayed (even "local openers" Dangers!) but Converge took the cake, like always. They played "Jane Doe" at FYF, but kept the old/rare song motif going this night, playing "Heartless," "You Fail Me" and "My Unsaid Everything." New songs off their killer new album were top notch live as well. It was Converge overload and I loved every minute of it.



No Doubt @ The Gibson Amphitheater, Universal City. 11/24/12.
I was worried this show might suck because I spent a good chunk of 2012 hating on No Doubt's latest album Push and Shove. Luckily, they played a crap load of old material and, miraculously, those new songs sound kind of awesome live. Gwen Stefani remains one of the hottest women in the universe.

Hatebreed: 10 Years of Perseverance Tour @ The Fox Theater, Pomona.9/29/12.

I can't believe it's been a decade since Hatebreed dropped their major label debut/Earth shattering album, Perseverance. Has it really been that long? I remember carefully placing that Hatebreed sticker on my high school locker like it was yesterday. Bumpin' this album during countless workout sessions, and grueling car rides to work over the past 10 years...this record has become like a close friend. Even though I sort of stopped following Hatebreed over the past few years, and haven't seen them in concert since 2006, I was beyond stoked for this special anniversary tour, where they promised to play the entire Perseverance album in it's entirety.

A little something about this record. It's the soundtrack to your personal revolution. You can accomplish anything with this album. Like the title says, it's about PERSEVERANCE. No matter what kind of shit you're going through, this album can and will help your overcome. Yeah it's a fast and brutally heavy hardcore record, maybe a little too aggressive for the average Top 40 fan, and although aggressive, the music is simple, catchy and most of all, the lyrics are positive and motivational beyond belief. Jamie Jasta is my personal Drill Sergeant. Check it out:

I know your fear of loss
And your struggles with faith
And how it takes everything that you have to face the day
The virtues you possess now bring you eternal pain
All you have is contempt for a life you can't obtain
All your heroes have failed you
Yet you try and prevail
Face your torment and dismantle your doubt
Refuse this legacy of shame and deceit
Cause the only real truth in your life that you know is hostility

Your world is coming apart
Remain steadfast

Perseverance
Against all opposition
Crushing all limitations
Pure strength through solitude
Discipline and determination

You can't accept what you've been told
Anchored in sin you must reverse your descent
Declare the weight of the world has yet to claim you
And admit that your faults will not restrain you
Glimpses of fate bring light to your despair
Realise hope isn't short of your grasp
Resurrect every dream that you've buried alive
And never succumb to the war that you fight in your heart

Your world is coming apart
Remain steadfast

Perseverance
Against all opposition
Crushing all limitations
Pure strength through solitude
Discipline and determination

 Jesus H. Christ. How does that NOT get you pumped? I'm a relatively scrawny guy but I feel like fucking Superman (nay, THOR) after listening to Hatebreed.

Anyways, on to the actual concert. We missed the first opening band who I never heard of, and caught the last song from All Shall Perish which was a bummer since they're pretty cool. Oh wells. Whitechapel was next. They got a good reaction from the crowd and even though I'm not a huge fan of their deathcore sound, they put on a good live show and their drummer rips. 

Of course the main event was Hatebreed. They came out, the place went nuts. I went nuts. Instant time travel to the early millennium. I've been to some crazy shows at the Fox before, but I've never seen the floor turn into an absolute war zone like this. This was my 4th time seeing Hatebreed live, but first in about 6 years so I kind of forgot how insane the crowds get at their shows. People jumping, moshing, kung-fu fighting and singing, dear lord the singing. It felt like the audience was louder than the band at some points.



The band mixed their setlist up a bit. They played their entire Perseverance album, with songs from throughout their discography mixed in between. All of Hatebreed's songs have the same, uplifting/chest beating quality to them. "Before Dishonor," "Tear it Down," "Live For This," "Destroy Everything,"  "In Ashes They Shall Reap," these additional tunes kept the energy going all night.

I don't usually lose my voice from singing along at concerts, unless it's Iron Maiden or something epic, but I was definitely a little raspy the next day. My love of Hatebreed has been rekindled and my undying respect for their Perseverance album has only been reinforced. All an all, an amazing show.

Pomona/SoCal represent.