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I had to be at The Palladium at 3:45 to interview Amon Amarth. I got there right on time and left a message with their tour manager before walking around the closed down city for an hour before finally getting in touch with him and conducting the interview. I was surprised to to see people already lined up with more than three hours before the doors even opened. I didn't and still don't understand why those people would wait for that long on a cold December Saturday, but they seemed pretty upbeat and content with their joking around and Dunkin Donuts coffee.
I gave myself two options after the interview was complete: I could either finish up my Christmas shopping at a nearby Target, or I could try and find a strip club that I always used to drive by on a detour but couldn't find the one time I was looking for it. I decided on the latter, as I figured that that would be the best use of the next two plus hours before doors opened.
Three plus hours, five beers (which went down in just over an hour), three lap dances and a conversation with a stripper who screwed James Hetfield later, I stumbled into The Palladium. Gojira's was about halfway through their set as I walked around aimlessly with a spinning heard, smelling like stripper, until I finally took a seat in the balcony to fully enjoy what was left of their set. Gojira sounded like Metallica covering a tech metalcore band, which sounded pretty damn good. I couldn't find their merch table, or else I would have gladly snatched up their album.
The floor area (i.e. pit) was going crazy before Amon Amarth's gear was even set up. People were swaying back and forth and chanting what sounded like "one of us," but I couldn't make out exactly what was being shouted. The lights went down to even more cheers, which grew even louder as each member took the stage, ready to send their long hair in a flailing headbang with their metalled out guitars and awesome riffs.
Amon Amarth had a real towering stage presence, looking like five vikings ready to control everyone else in the building, which they did, musically speaking. I really enjoyed listening to their singer pronounce his "T's," as it was so proper and defined, almost as rad as the songs they played.
Their set was loud, tight, energetic and full of great guitar work. They had people up in the balcony headbanging, air guitaring and singing along to every word, as well as throwing up the horns like an automatic reaction. The people downstairs were going twice as nuts, and the band was able to feed off of that.
In a decision that I figured that I would regret in the passing days, I decided to meet up with some friends at a bar instead of staying to see Children of Bodom. I had enough money in my pocket for one more beer, which I graciously enjoyed while watching idiots make a mockery of some good songs at karaoke.
Written by: RF
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