Between the Buried and Me : Reno,USA 9/20

 

The Faceless kicked the show off. Musically, I was definitely able to appreciate what they were doing; they have a solid take on technical death metal. A bit like Necrophagist, but with more jazzy breaks and robot vocals. On that note, the vocals were pretty, well, faceless. The lead vocal guy had good presence, but all he does is that death metal vocal with some screaming while the lead guitarist, who shreds like a pro, sings with little to no feeling (and missing a few notes to boot). Nothing was really there to latch onto. Plus the robo-vox were played with some machine in the back. I was really hoping to see a robot up there. Still, the quality of the musicianship made it largely enjoyable. The lead guitarist had some hot licks, and so did the bass player. The drummer was very good, but he looked like he was trying so hard to play the songs that he wasn't getting into it at all. Sometimes, he even looked a bit depressed. The effort he seemed to be putting forth made the stuff sound a bit mechanical, but considering the nature of the music, I can understand some of it. Toward the end we finally saw some facial expression (that wasn't slightly depressed) and that was good. All in all, they were a solid opening act, if one I wouldn't both to listen to or see in my own time.

 

3 Inches of Blood is a couple of decades behind the rest of us, it seems. Their appearance and sound is very much like that of an 80s or early 90s metal band. It's hard for a band with half of the talent and half of the creativity of the band before them to really make a good impression, but they did put on a very high-energy, fun show. The folks surrounding me seemed to be having a great time at my expense. I had to secure my place up front for BTBAM, and everyone around felt like moshing at points. So I was being shoved about to music I wasn't really enjoying, and that isn't very fun. Especially when a lot of them are kind of douches who like bands like In Flames and 3 Inches of Blood. I did catch a drum stick at the end, though. It's personalized and everything.

 

So BTBAM. Lots of excitement was generated in the anticipation of seeing such a glorious band all about the place. BTBAM helped set up all of their stuff, which was neat. Some "BTBAM" chanting arose during set-up which was rather annoying and unnecessary, but we can all appreciate the spirit behind it. Then after the chanting came song requests throughout the crowd, which of course the band ignored. I tried to reason with everyone but they didn't seem to hear me. Then came people trying to push their way to the front as if they deserved it more than the people who were already there. At long last BTBAM's set started. The set was:

 

All Bodies

Selkies

Obfuscation

Foam Born (A) + (B)

White Walls

 

Besides being obviously too short, the set was fantastic. Minimal sloppiness was apparent and the sound was great. The crowd went nuts (mostly in a good way) and the band played well while having a lot of fun. It was really hot during their set - I've never been so badly soaked in my own sweat before - but it didn't quite matter. During "White Walls," Tommy leaned right over me, and handed the mic to my friend for part of the chanting of "White Wall." That was neat.

 

Afterward, I caught a glimpse of Dusty and Tommy packing stuff up and carrying it out, so I had the brilliant idea to walk outside and see if we could catch them. Turned out to be as brilliant as I thought it was initially, because we found everyone. Plus, no one else thought of it (or they just stuck inside to see In Flames, the fools) We discussed the ridiculous climate of the venue with Dusty before some guy came up and started talking to us because he thought we were with the band for some reason (probably drunkeness). Then we caught Tommy for a brief minute as he was going to get their van. I asked him if we get to hear more of his falsetto on the new record. He made a face that implied that there wasn't and said "I don't know, maybe a little," but definitely no "Backwards Marathon" moments. Later on we caught up with Dan, Paul and Dusty (again) and talked briefly about Dan's orbs project, Prog Nation, Gentle Giant, Victory Records and when they will be doing a headlining tour (next January, by the way, or so Paul says). I asked if I could get a picture of them with my brother, which they did gladly. We waited for Tommy to return but I guess he went back inside. And unfortunately we didn't catch Blake. Nevertheless, I've got a great shot of the three of them with my brother. They're all very down-to-earth guys, very nice and funny. 

 

We didn't stick around for In Flames because we were busy hanging out with BTBAM, not to mention we were exhausted by the end of their set.

 

Well this has gone on too long, but in short, overall it was a great night because I got to see and meet BTBAM.

 

Next up for me is Mono and Maserati in San Fran on October 12th.