Reminds me of the 4 days I spent at the youth hostel near the Sonar…friendly metalheads I met from all around the world, from different parts of the U.S.A., Canada, Europe, South America as well as this one girl from Japan, making pancakes, brewing coffee, sharing food, telling stories, doing laundry, singing karaoke, grocery shopping…yep, it definitely resembled that universe.

"Mountain Dew!!!!"

i didn't enjoy atheist either. the best way i can explain it is this: it was as if bret michaels was fronting neuraxis: lots of technical wankery that didn't translate well live, topped off by a frontman with a david lee roth complex. not my cup of tea.

to be fair, however, i will say that the crowd was totally into them, and i heard lots of people talking about how great they thought atheist were. i felt like i was distinctly in the minority of people who didn't enjoy their set. i think it may just be that i'm a curmudgeon.

now, on to bolt thrower… when one waits nearly two decades to see a much-loved band for the first time, one of two things can happen: a) massive, soul-crushing disappointment (which frequently happens in my experience); or b) extreme euphoria followed by days of blissful reflection on the memory. fortunately for me, bolt thrower's show fell squarely into the latter category. perhaps it helped that they played every single song from the fantasy bolt thrower setlist i've been working on since college.

near the end of their set, a friend texted me to ask how they were. my response: "mind blown. can't speak. seriously, bits of brain everywhere." i guess it's a subjective thing, but i enjoyed that bolt thrower performance as much as any i've seen in the last 10 years.

I was looking forward to their North American tour in July with The Faceless, but now I'm not so sure…

atanamar, without going into gory details, Atheist were a mismatched collection of overly proficient musicians.

Asa, it was great meeting you as well. Good luck with your music.