I Saw Armenian Thrash Metal with My Teenage Daughter

[On the Road]

well, System of a Down -- at least the lead singer is Armenian. Angie is 15, and we went to the Baltimore concert Monday night with a couple of her friends. Great time, in spite of the ear damage and the warmup act (Bad Acid Trip), which is probably the worst live band I have ever heard. I probably would have gotten along much better with my parents as a teenager if we could have gone to some concerts together -- I think it's important to share these things.

SoaD is actually one of the few current bands I really like. Very interesting sounding -- echos of Slavic music and fusion, arcane lyrics ("somewhere between the sacred silence and sleep: disorder, disorder, disorder...."), delicate acoustic bits alternating with blasts of pure sound.

Their politics are on the right side, too. ("Why don't presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?") Lots of links to global activism on the official website. Somebody needs to get the kids fired up.

[Modem Butterfly]

1. Armenian Thrash Metal...

...THAT'S the user name I should have chosen!

Damn it!

:banghead:

[flamingyouth]

2. I love System of a Down

:hi:

[eyepaddle]

3. If ever a post called out for a "no shit, there I was"

begining--this one has to be it!

At least until the part where you mention System of a Down! :P

I like SoaD as well, there music is fairly intricate and not a straigh out chug-fest. How do they sound live though? Their stuff needs to be balanced, if one part drowns out the others you might be in for a real train-wreck.

Still, a good band though!

[On the Road]

5. Their Live Show was Harder

than their studio stuff -- I like the CDs better. They still had the delicate parts, but much of the time they just turned up the volume and blasted. I've heard other bands do that, probably in an effort to please the fan base. Lots and lots of head-bangers and moshers there.

The staging was pretty conventional -- I was hoping for something more elaborate. But it's hard to get away from cliches these days, and they didn't try to push it.

"Toxicity" and "Ariels" were particularly good performances. There were some interesting bits. For examplle, the lead guitarists played the entire first verse of "Sultans of Swing" as a solo, and ended with "We are the System, we are the System of a Down."

[MercutioATC]

4. I've had bad acid trip as a warmup act...

...oh, you meant a BAND???

;)

[On the Road]

8. Yes, and Trust Me...

one is no better than the other. I would thought it was impossible to write rock music that tuneless, muddy, and boring. And at 120 decibels, it better be worth the toll it takes on your eardrums.

[sniffa]

6. i Love SOAD

:loveya:

[frylock]

7. they're good..

Toxicity is such a great LP. I'd like to see them live.