New Tune from a Band I Like - Alpha Order by Band Name - 1 of 4 - Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold

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A7X and Katy Perry United in 2015

I discovered this video 2562 days (7 years, 5 days) after it was published... I need to find out about brilliance like this before it's been around for 2562 days.

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https://youtu.be/2uOD5jNCmAs

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Enter Sandman played like Jimmy "the Rev" Sullivan

For the most part, the drumming in the video below enhances the original drumming. Imagine if Jimmy "the Rev" Sullivan had not passed away and Lars Ulrich could no longer play drums in Metallica. I know that some would vote for Dave Lombardo or Charlie Benante to replace Ulrich. Based upon this video, I would think Cameron Fleury as a replacement for Lars Ulrich would make a lot of sense.

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https://youtu.be/Ft056folyU8

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12 for Sawyer

These are 12 tunes for Sawyer, my nephew.

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1. Skillet - It's Not Me It's You
2. I Prevail - Blank Space (Taylor Swift Cover)
3. From Ashes To New - Crazy
4. Avenged Sevenfold - Bat Country
5. Volbeat - A Warrior's Call
6. Five Finger Death Punch - Gone Away
7. Chevelle - Face to the Floor
8. Pop Evil - Footsteps (Go Higher)
9. Papa Roach - Help
10. Breaking Benjamin - So Cold
11. Godsmack - Moon Baby
12. Shinedown - Enemies

Honesty Kicks Butt

System of a Down Drummer: I'm 'Not Proud' of Some of Our Recent Shows

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Dude! Nice AJFA T-Shirt There

On the left, Alex & I at Volbeat / Avenged Sevenfold Metallica in Newton, IA on 6/7/2017; on the right, Alex & I at Chicago Open Air

4 months, 4 days Until....

I saw Avenged Sevenfold open for Metallica in June 2017 and I saw Breaking Benjamin open for Godsmack in 2006, but I've never seen Bullet for my Valentine in concert, though I have a MP3 of one of their live concerts - I'm actually listening to it now and I enjoy it. $55 for a GA ticket is not terrible, though I would be more inclined to get a reserved ticket in the lower bowl of the US Cellular Center. As for the "experiences" and "package" listed below, uh, there's no way I would do that.

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Avenged Sevenfold with special guests Breaking Benjamin & Bullet For My Valentine

Friday, February 9, 2018 | 6:25 pm

Presale on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5 @ 10 am - 10 pm with code ANGELS . *** 6 TICKET MAXIMUM PURCHASE ***

Public on sale Friday, October 6 @ 10 am.

Reserved Tickets: $75, $55, $39, $25.
GA Floor Tickets: $55.

Hail to the King Experience: $352

• One (1) general admission floor ticket to see Avenged Sevenfold live
• Additional access to the 'Hail to the King' viewing area - a VIP-only elevated platform next to the soundboard for the Avenged Sevenfold performance
• One (1) official show setlist signed by Avenged Sevenfold
• Invitation to The Paradigm Lounge - an exclusive pre-show experience curated by A7X including:
• Admittance to 'The Stage' - an immersive experience offering the opportunity to play Avenged Sevenfold's instruments and take pictures with their memorabilia
• Complimentary snacks
• Private cash bar with one (1) drink ticket*
• One (1) copy of 'Unholy Confessions', an exclusive A7X tour book featuring a retrospective of the band's career including a collection of never-before-seen photos, with a foreword from Avenged Sevenfold
• Crowd free merchandise shopping opportunity before doors to the public
• One (1) commemorative laminate
• Dedicated venue entrance
• On-site experience host

A7X Experience: $192

• One (1) general admission floor ticket -OR- One (1) premium reserved ticket in the lower bowl to see Avenged Sevenfold live
• Invitation to The Paradigm Lounge - an exclusive pre-show lounge experience curated by A7X including:
• Admittance to 'The Stage' - an immersive experience offering the opportunity to play Avenged Sevenfold's instruments and take pictures with their memorabilia
• Complimentary snacks
• Private cash bar*
• One (1) copy of 'Unholy Confessions', an exclusive A7X tour book featuring a retrospective of the band's career including a collection of never-before-seen photos, with a foreword from Avenged Sevenfold
• Crowd free merchandise shopping opportunity before doors to the public
• One (1) commemorative laminate
• Dedicated venue entrance
• On-site experience host

“Higher” Seamless Package: $142

• One (1) general admission pit ticket -OR- One (1) premium reserved ticket in the lower bowl to see Avenged Sevenfold live
• One (1) copy of 'Unholy Confessions', an exclusive A7X tour book featuring a retrospective of the band's career including a collection of never-before-seen photos, with a foreword from Avenged Sevenfold
• Dedicated venue entrance
• On-site experience host

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I am not sure when, if ever, I will 'move' on trying to attend this show. If I hadn't just seen Avenged Sevenfold in June 2017, I would be more inclined to want to go. If I go, it would be exactly 8 months since the last time I had witnessed them live.

Not the Bon Jovi Tune

Some Harsh Words

1. I hate when the second word of an article is a typo. My hope is I catch things like that in my own reviews.
   
   
   
   
   Read the rest of the review here.
   
2. I hate when you read a review that trashes one of your favorite bands, as described in this review of Count the Stars' Never Be Taken Alive
   
   
   
   

Metallica!!!

See http://prhmusic.blogspot.com/p/metallica-avenged-sevenfold-volbeat-on.html

Des Moines Register Review of the Concert

The poster was $40...

Brookie

Brooks Wackerman is a phenom on the drums - he's in Avenged Sevenfold now.

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Dumbing Down the Lyrics

I read the headline "The lyrics of recent No. 1 singles average at a third grade reading level" and thought what a great teaser to get me to read this article. I thought this chart was interesting:

Giving Due Drummer Credits

I admit I didn't give "The Rev" credit when he was alive, but I should have. I also admit that I am not a huge fan of Mike Portnoy's drumming. I went through my progressive metal / hard rock stage a few years back where the more complicated the drumming was, the more I listened to that band. As it has been with Tool and Dream Theater, I find myself preferring music that has a more direct and, perhaps, a simpler approach to the drumming. For example, I really like Chevelle's "Take Out the Gunman" as an example of a "current" rock radio song I would choose over listening to Tool or Dream Theater.

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That said, here's some isolated drum tracks of The Rev and Mike Portnoy, which you can see on this page: http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/lets-compare-avenged-sevenfold-isolated-drum-tracks-from-the-rev-mike-portnoy

Ringo is Lars and Lars is Ringo

"Avenged Sevenfold drummer Arin Ilejay has hailed his Metallica counterpart Lars Ulrich as "the Ringo of metal" - saying he's one of the most underrated musicians in the world." More often than not, I read about how he is "overrated" as a drummer, mainly because (gasp) he is human and (gasp) he may not play every song every time *perfectly* or to the standards of those who think all the band does is show up and play 3 hours and bitch about growing old.

M in M Setlist & other news

This is the concert I missed Saturday night in Moline, IL:
DISC ONE
That Was Just Your Life
The End of the Line
Harvester Of Sorrow
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Kirk Solo #1
One
Broken, Beat & Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
Wherever I May Roam
The Four Horsemen
Kirk Solo #2
DISC TWO
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Blackened
Kirk Solo #3
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
Last Caress
Breadfan
Seek and Destroy

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In other news, I have a solution for my MOTW issue that I wrote about last week. The issue is that I am attempting to access a PDF from a HTML file on the local PC. The HTML file is coded with the MOTW code but the PDF doesn't have that coding. Therefore, when the HTML file tries to go to the PDF, IE 7 says, "Nope, you don't have MOTW. You're not safe," thus making the PDF not open. The solution is to create HTML files that embed the PDF. I have to create a HTML file for each PDF. I worked on this project on Saturday morning. I go through the As and the Bs in my list of PDFs that I have to change. This gets a bit complicated, but I also have to change the names of 55 PDFs.
The reason for that change is that the HTML file is already reserved by an .exe file. For example, I have an app called "apples.exe." This app, by default, uses apples.htm as its help file and the PDF version of this documentation is called apples.pdf. If I create a new apples.htm that will embed apples.pdf, the existing content in apples.htm is replaced, which is not good. Since the coding is looking for apples.htm, I have to create apples_eu.htm and rename apples.doc to apples_eu.pdf so that generating the PDF creates apples_eu.pdf.

I then have to change my DOS batch file to copy apples_eu.pdf from the network drive and also have to change, if any exist, any link to apples.pdf. So far, my design to only actually open a PDF from the topic I call "Print Documentation" has paid off as there is only one link to change from "PDF/apples.pdf" to "apples_eu.htm." It's the details - updating a tracking doc I maintain, updating the DOS batch file, renaming apples.doc to apples_eu.doc, and then, finally, creating the apples_eu.pdf that is copied by the DOS batch file. I estimate I have 184 more links to change. I hope to breeze through these changes by the end of the day Tue so I can return to my actual writing.

Additionally, the Iowa men's basketball team won their exhibition game against Wayne State yesterday @ Carver. The Iowa women's basketball team also won their exhibition game. So both teams start out 1-0. Good start.

Finally, this week is going to be busy.
Mon - tutor & piano
Tue - clubs after school plus Alex has a test on Wed
Wed - dentist appts, Alex has basketball @ 5:30 and Megan has piano @ 5:30 - no petting Max
Thu - Survivor, Grey's, & ER
Fri - NOTHING
Sat - Saving Abel, ShineDown, Avenge Sevenfold, & BuckCherry in Waterloo
Sun - basketball practice from 4-5 @ Regina

Then it starts all over again.

Optimistically, it seems my cold is wearing away so I may feel like sitting @ the PC @ night and writing reviews. I got a new Who DVD yesterday and I also have a Genesis DVD to review, plus a bunch of other stuff I have neglected. Need to get back in gear.

Back in the Groove

1. What a week. I got hit with a cold around Tuesday and avoided this PC at night. I am still not healed - my chest is tight and I still cough - but I do feel better. I have not had to take my DayQuil to feel okay so I guess that's good - I kind of like not having to be drugged up to be functional.
2. The week at work was crazy. I took 4 hours of vacation yesterday and, judging by the e-mails that flowed to my Inbox, I wouldn't have been bored yesterday afternoon. We are getting ready to send out the next Mass Release and because of some changes we made, there are a lot of loose ends to clean up to make sure we make the release seamless for the clients.
3. I did have a thought about my increasing CD collection. The way my collection is now, when I add a CD by a band that starts with "A," I have to shift the CDs in my collection down one to make room for it. At work, we order CD-Rs in 100 packs for distribution of our releases to our clients. We use white envelopes - instead of jewel cases - and end up with empty 100 pack spindles. My (cool) manager has said that I could use those spindles if I had a use for them. Right now, there are 4 spindles. I could take 400 CDs from my rack and put them on the spindles. Then I would have more room. The only things to consider are that
   
   • I need someplace to put the cases and inlays for the CDs I put on the spindle
   • I need some way to not forget what CD is on what spindle
   I can fix issue 2 with an up-to-date CD list. I don't know how I can store the inlays and CD booklets where I can know where they are. In essence, I already have this type of scenario with the existing CD-Rs I already have on spindles. The only difference to overcome is what to do with the booklets, etc. I can find a plastic Rubbermaid to put that stuff in, I guess, and use some sort of filing system to keep things organized.
   
4. On to music news. I am not going to Moline, IL, tonight to see Metallica. I am going to purchase the show on http://www.livemetallica.com, like I would have anyways, but, as a side note, I don't really have to purchase *that* show. Someone I was talking to said that I could just pick any show and I apologize, I don't remember if it was Dave, Phil, or Kevin that made that comment to me. So, yeah, I'm going to purchase a show and call it done. In hindsight, I kind of want to know if I would have had better luck seeing them in Des Moines, IA, and talking to Lars Ulrich than in Moline. I never considered going to Des Moines on a Sunday night. It wouldn't have been easy to work into my schedule but I suppose for a free Metallica ticket, I could have found a way.
5. In the meantime, I'm looking ahead to a week from today. Tentatively, I'm going to Waterloo to see Saving Abel, Shinedown, Buck Cherry, and Avenge Sevenfold with my friend JR. I have to put the finishing touches on that 'deal' before I call it sealed.
   

A Brief Pause

This week has been crazy and next week will be even crazier, both at home and at work.

At work, I am attending training for a product called JWalk. It starts tomorrow and goes until the 12th. Then, on 9/15, my co-worker and I will start developing changes with JWalk for release on 9/25. I don't think I will be able to work on documentation until 10/1.

Outside of work, some key dates:
9/11 - Megan starts her volleyball league
9/14 - Alex's basketball practice starts up again and I am the assistant head coach. The head coach, Tim, won't be there on that date so I get to run practice.
9/16 - I'm going to Moline, IL, to see Avenge Sevenfold / Buck Cherry / Shine Down / Saving Abel for *free* as Warner Brothers is sending me "hard tix" for that show.
9/17 - school pictures
9/18 - back to school night & Megan's volleyball league
9/19 - we're taking the camper to storage in Zwhingle and spending the weekend in Balltown.
9/21 - Alex's basketball practice

Somewhere in there, I will write a concert review of Avenge Sevenfold / Buck Cherry / Shine Down / Saving Abel. To say I have a backlog of reviews to write is an understatement.

I am still working on my TWing contract and I want to get that put to bed today so I'm signing off.