List of Metal Bands That You Have Seen Live

Well, I've been to a lot of shows where there was more than one band playing, so I don't remember everything I've seen.  But I'll try to get everything noteworthy (mostly good, but I'll never forget some of the bad ones, haha):

Dream Theater:

-       Washington DC for Six Degrees Tour, drove from Chattanooga all the way up because that was the furthest south they were travelling

-       Atlanta with Joe Satriani and King�s X

-       Atlanta for Train of Thought tour

-       Chicago for Octavarium tour

-       Gigantour � noteworthy others at this show were (note that the venue I went to had one stage, so half the shows, including Symphony X, didn�t happen)

o   Dillenger Escape Plan (HATED them � one of the top five WORST shows I�ve seen)

o   Nevermore

o   Anthrax

o   Fear Factory

-       Boston for 20^th anniversary tour

-       20^th anniversary show at Radio City Music hall, recorded and released on the Score DVD � best concert I�ve ever been to.

-       Hartford for Systemmatic Chaos tour with Redemption (awesome) and Into Eternity (hated them)

-       Hartford for Black Clouds tour

-       Atlanta for Dramatic Turn of Events tour

Hmm, 10 shows�I�m not a fanboy�.

I�ve seen Megadeth once on their own tour in Atlanta, and once supporting Godsmack and Disturbed � the later was a really fun show, though Megadeth played a short set because of Mustaine�s injury (that made me sad).

I�ve seen Queensryche on the Operation Livecrime tour in Atlanta

G3 twice � once with Satriani, Vai, and Petrucci, once with Satriani, Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen.  The latter was noteworthy because Vai brought out his triple neck guitar.

Symphony X three times, twice in Hartford, and once in Atlanta with Power Glove.  The Hartford venue became a place I HATE, because they like to promote local artists, and I sat through 6 awful bands at one of these shows, and 4 awful bands with a 5^th opening act which was actually good (Echoes of Eternity � I have a really funny story about that one if anyone wants to hear) for the other.  Prize for the WORST band I�ve ever seen was at one of these.  I think they were called Sanctuary or Sanctity or something like that.  They were vile, profane, full of hatful lyrics, didn�t really �play� music, but more �killed� it.  The singer made fun of a cute couple that was near the front row, and insulted the audience repeatedly.  My brother and I were in the front row because we wanted to be there for Sym X, and we were totally bored, so at one point the singer says �put your hands in the air�.  We didn�t�so the lead guitarist leans down into our faces and shouts in his meanest growl �put your F***in� hands in the air!�  Winner for worst show ever, mostly because this band hated everyone and everything and it was apparent.

At this same venue, I also saw:

Sonata Arctica � they put on a great show, everyone else before them didn�t.

Animals as Leaders � timed things PERFECTLY for this one.  Me and my buddies knew we weren�t interested in any of the other bands, and we drove 2 hours to Atlanta, showed up 3 songs before AAL came on, and left right after.  More driving than music, but it was TOTALLY worth it.  Tosin Abasi is a friggin� genius and probably the best guitarist alive.

Heaven & Hell with Judas Priest at Mohegan Sun Casino in CT

Trans Siberian Orchestra 3 times at Hartford Civic Center (they put on an AMAZING show � lasers, lights, smoke, fire, snow�)

Def Leppard and Journey at the Mohegan Sun Casino in CT (ok, they�re not exactly metal, but close)

Rush 3 times, once in Knoxville, twice in CT.

PROG POWER USA!!!!

NOTE: I copied the lineups below from the Wikipedia entry, and most of them are not in any specific order it seems.

2005:

Stratovarius

Angra (for some reason I wasn�t crazy about them then, but later on discovered I loved them)

Conception

Therion

Orphaned Land (now one of my favorites)

Pink Cream 69

Symphorce

Manticora

Circus Maximus (this made a fanboy out of me)

Stride (good show, bad albums � bad production I think)

I missed 2006 and will ALWAYS regret it.  Money wasn�t great, but more than that I had looked at the lineup, seen no one I knew, and said �eh, I don�t need to go.�  Now I love the following and am sorry I missed them:

Jorn

Epica

Zero Hour

2007:

I actually went to the showcase for this one and saw Freak Kitchen, who put on one of the most entertaining shows I�ve EVER seen.  I hardly ever listen to the bands albums, but MAN they are fun live � mostly because of Mattias Eklundh, both for his crazy good playing, and his story telling.  These guys are nutty people.

Main show:

All Star Jam

Sonata Arctica (LOVE)

After Forever (awesome show)

Primal Fear

Pagan's Mind (I tired myself out during their set and had no energy left for Sonata Arctica�)

Threshold

Redemption

Virgin Steele

Firewind (these guys put on an amazing show)

Communic

Raintime

2008:

Showcase:

Helloween

Gamma Ray

Manticora

Main show:

Iced Earth

Amorphis

Jon Oliva's Pain

Riverside

Mustasch

Iron Savior

Andromeda

Rob Rock

Elvenking

Spheric Universe Experience

Saint Deamon

Pathosray

I wasn�t expecting this because, while I liked some of the artists in the lineup above, I wasn�t a huge fanboy at the time for any of them, but I think this might have been the most entertaining lineup I�ve seen for Prog Power all around.  I was greatly surprised by most of the bands listed above.

2009:

Fates Warning (ugh�I LOVE this band, but I was so stinking tired I was struggling to stay awake.  I was aware that they were putting on an amazing show, but too sleepy to really enjoy it.)

Crimson Glory (oh man, I couldn�t take these guys seriously � so clich�d.  I enjoyed this more because my buddies and I make fun of this band all the time now)

Brainstorm (singer was drunk and forgot the lyrics.  It was awful�but fun to watch, like a train wreck)

Royal Hunt

Pagan's Mind

Sabaton

Orphaned Land

Diablo Swing Orchestra (this is a fun band to watch, even if you aren�t crazy about their music)

Circus Maximus (wow�they were like 10 times better at this show than the previous, and I thought the previous was awesome � if you EVER get a chance to see these guys live, DO IT)

Mindflow

Cage (haha�my buddies and I enjoyed these guys for many of the same reasons we enjoyed Crimson Glory� )

2010:

HammerFall

Kamelot (Michael Eriksen from Circus Maximus sang)

Delain

Tarot

DGM

T�r

Oceans of Sadness

Stormwarrior

Seventh Wonder (this is the band I am MOST grateful to have had the chance to see because of Prog Power � this show rivals the DT 20^th anniversary show in my book)

Nocturnal Rites

Illusion Suite

Leaves' Eyes

Blackguard

2011:

FRIDAY

Creation's End

Darkwater (another of my favorite bands)

Voyager (didn�t expect much from these guys, but LOVE them now because they put on one of the most entertaining shows I�ve ever seen)

Eldritch

Mob Rules

Ihsahn (replacing Arcturus, who canceled)

Sanctuary

SATURDAY

Haken (very noteworthy � one of my favs now)

While Heaven Wept

Red Circuit (love these guys)

Labyrinth

Forbidden

Therion

That�s all I can remember that�s metal.  Seen quite a few other shows that I wouldn�t consider Metal though.

Heaven and Hell/Judas Priest/Testament (missed almost all of Testament but when we got into the show close enough to hear what was going on the first thing discernible thing was "DON'T FOLLOW THE PREACHER!" which was awesome.

So glad I got to see Dio in some incarnation before he passed away.

Suicidal Tendencies (Twice within a few months. The first time they were cool but the second time they were decidedly anti-metal and were totally "punk." Same venue and everything. The second time they didn't play You Can't Bring Me Down and Mike Muir tried to attack a guy in the crowd for daring to flip him off while wearing a Cinderella t-shirt).

Steel Pole Bathtub/Faith No More (missed Helmet at my first FNM show. My first FNM show is one of the best I have ever seen. Angel Dust tour. Most in-prime band I have ever seen).

Judas Priest/Whitesnake (Insane line-up for me as they were probably my 2 favorite bands at the time. And this was recently. Here I Go Again into Still of the Night ending the opening set with all of British Steel coming up was mind boggling.)

Heart (Not totally metal by definition but someone laying down serious licks and shredding while somebody else belts out impossibly high and powerful notes is pretty metal to me).

Fugazi/Shudder to Think (Not really metal, but a great show. I have seen Fugazi a bunch of times).

Obituary/Cannibal Corpse/Agnostic Front/Malevolent Creation (As awesome as it sounds. Saw CC later with Corpsegrinder a couple of times, too).

Slayer (Missed Sick of It All and Meshuggah. First time seeing the mighty ones, though, so disappointment was limited, to say the least. A former member of Malevolent Creation bought my Malevolent Creation t-shirt off my back).

Black Sabbath/Rob Zombie/Deftones/Slayer/Primus/Godsmack//Fear Factory (OzzFest. Godsmack sucks but they kind of ruled for the couple of songs I saw. The Deftones are horrible. Fear Factory was a second stage headliner).

Megadeth (A couple of times).

Slayer/Unearth (hung out in the lobby during Unearth. I think it was Unearth. It could have been Earth Crisis or some other "Earth" band I don't care about).

Pantera/Prong (Sepultura was supposed to play between them but Max had gotten injured days before. HUGE bummer).

Pantera/White Zombie (Vulgar Display/La Sexorcisto tour. EPIC).

Morbid Angel/Kreator/Vader (As awesome as it sounds. Seen Morbid a few times. Once with Soilwork, I think).

Metallica/The Cult (2^nd concert ever. Saw the Black Album tour, too).

Robert Plant/Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (1^st concert ever).

GNR (Fatty McGee and the guys that aren�t Slash. It ruled my face off).

Slash�s Snakepit. (As not awesome as it sounds. Rad to be mere feet from Slash, though).

Judas Priest/Black Label Society/Thin Lizzy (Missed almost all of Lizzy but seeing Scott and Eric play The Boys are Back in Town makes it count. BLS is AWFUL).

Nile.

Napalm Death.

Mercyful Fate (Shouldn�t count. Got too intoxicated and slept though 99% of the show).

Bad Brains.

Deicide (Twice).

Rage Against the Machine.

Paradise Lost (with Cannibal Corpse or probably Morbid Angel).

Incantation. Immolation. Stuck Mojo. Hate Eternal. (I think. Opening for somebody).

Neurosis.

Death/Hammerfall. (Death at least one other time, too).

Queens of the Stone Age (I actually listened to their set from a bar across the street from the venue when they opened for Ween. I thought they sucked, but kind of like them now).

Corrosion of Conformity/Karma to Burn  

Buzzov*en (Before they got �big.� Are they big? They were local to me).

Skeletal Earth (Not really that big but they were thanked in the liner notes of Harmony Corruption! They were local to me).