Jager 2006 Tour Review

Jagermeister 2006
Review

Jagermeister Tour 2006
Chimaira
Arch Enemy
God Forbid
Hate Eternal
4/20/06 - The Rave (Milwaukee, WI) &
4/22/06 - HOB (Chicago, IL)
Reviewer: Karma E. Omowale
Photos: Erika Kristen Watt

“This Year’s Jäger Tour was Double Fisting, Hard Hitting, and Infused with Fire”!

Actually, this sounds like a good recipe for inebriation! Jägermeister seeming does more than just intoxicating our livers, they also seemingly are able to intoxicate our souls as well with uncompromising bands like this year’s Spring Tour lineup with co-headliners like Chimaira and Arch Enemy with direct support from greats like Nevermore and God Forbid with the final push over the edge, Hate Eternal. What a toxic and lethal mix this is, a little brutality, a little melody, and whole lot of moshing. Cheers to the one that got this one together, what a hell of a bill! There is something for everybody here! It’s like a Mind Eraser; well I may as well keep going with it, right.

Of course you know we can never seem to keep our asses just in Chicago when it comes to bands we love seeing perform live so for the most part this is another 2-fer, as in Chicago and Milwaukee. Be warned, we were not paying a lot of reviewer attention on both nights, especially since we would see the bands in a couple of days. You know should know the drill by now. There are no pix of God Forbid from the MLW show due to the interview with Arch Enemy’s Michael Amott. However look at the Archives page and you will find a plethora of entries for GF, trust us there! Speaking of God Forbid, we hear that the band is entering the studio of May 1^st for the IV: Constitution of Reason follow-up. Can this be right? Aren’t they still on tour? Well whatever the case may be with this one, we are looking forward to hearing what next the band has in store for us. So now here’s the moment you’ve been waiting for the show reviews…

Hate Eternal Lineup: Erik Rutan - Guitar, Vocals; Randy Piro - Bass, Backing Vocals; Kevin Talley - Session live drums

Milwaukee: First off we were in for a real treat as the Sunshine States’ Hate Eternal showered their black rays of light upon us. However, it seemed more like black rays of misfortune shined down upon the band. Days before the tour, longtime drummer Derek Roddy decided he had enough and announced he would not be joining the band for the tour, something about not making enough money with the band…whatever! Luckily one of metal’s most underrated drummers, Kevin Talley [as in ex-Chimaira, The Red Chord – live, Black Dahlia Murder – tour for Peter Langois, Dying Fetus, and Misery index] was available to take over on the skins! Only to be a fly on the wall to really know how Mr. Talley felt being on the same tour with his former band (Chimaira) as they axed him to make room for their longtime drummer Andols Herrick. How karmic is that? Insane! To the power of “3”, this band was dynamic. Can’t tell you how long we’ve waited to see this band play! Guitarist and vocalist Erik Rutan kicked the night off with a punch in the guts with, “What’s up mother fuckers?”, the band then ripped into the first song. The floor erupted in response. Bassist Randy Piro’s backing vocals were a knock for six!! Talley of course, never misses a beat. Rutan was masterful! And just to think, the set just began!

For the second selection, Rutan screamed, “Let me hear you mother fuckers!”, the crowd reciprocated with death metal growls mixed with wild applause. “This is “Path to the Eternal Gods”!”, unfortunately no pit yet. This extreme trio of hate-infused energy ripped into the song, during which Talley stood up on the riser, further inciting the crowd’s aggression screaming, “Show us what you got you fuckin’ pussies!” Come on, what band doesn’t want a pit but Hate Eternal was MORE than well deserving of one! Well it STILL wasn’t enough to get a pit going. Enraged, Rutan retorted, “Fuck you for not moshing!” The band played even harder during the third song, it must have done the trick, and a gaping pit ensued! FINALLY!! Happy with the destruction they were witnessing Rutan shouted, “Fuck this shit up”! The finale was “Victorious Reign” another song off their latest 2005 release off Earache I, Monarch. The crowd was eventually showed their love, offering a sizeable pit before the band exited the stage. We are DEFINITELY shocked at the Milwaukee crowd; they usually show more affection by way of horns, pits, and shit, this was a more like a Chicago thing. Tsk, tsk, tsk…shame on you! Bottom line: this band played their asses off, spraying the crowd with their blackened hateful venom. Damn was this an AWESOME set, regardless if the crowd didn’t give it up in a timely fashion or not!! Can’t wait to see them in a couple of days.

Chicago: Ahh, such sweet bliss to be able to catch this band again! The biggest difference was that drummer

Erik Rutan of Hate Eternal (Photo: Erika Kristen Watt)

Kevin Talley seemed to be way more at ease this evening; he really settled in. Did I say just how underrated of a drummer he truly is? AMAZING! He is one hell of a talent! The band was more than pumped from the diehard metallers singing along to the first song, without missing a beat whilst pumping their fists and horns madly into the air! Turns out their hard work did not go unnoticed; the band dedicated “Path to the Eternal Gods”, the second song of their set, to the “guys in the front row” because the fans “do not fuck around!” In response, the crowd roared but a pit failed to follow. However, you will be pleased to know that the band’s diligence did pay off; a sizeable pit did ensue towards the end of the song.

The band dedicated another song, this time the fifth song of their set. This time the lucky group was God Forbid! Not feeling the perceived “calmness” of the crowd, Talley hops up off the kit and screamed, “Pussies…”, it was enough to get those fists high and bodies a flyin’. To end the night on the outro, the band received a monstrous ovation. The band exited the stage as the fans screamed, “fuck yeah”. I will have to say the one and only thing that was disappointing was that the band did not play “Behold Judas”. Oh well, the Rolling Stones says it the best, “You can’t always get what you want”! All in all, It was a bloody excellent set!!

Hate Eternal Setlist (in no particular order): I, Monarch; Path to the Eternal Gods; Faceless One; Servants of the Gods; The Victorious Reign; It Is Our Will.

God Forbid Lineup: Byron Davis – Vocals; Doc Coyle – Guitar; Corey Pierce – Drums; Dallas Coyle – Guitar, Vocals; John Outcalt - Bass

Milwaukee: Even though we did not see the show, we overheard drummer Corey Pierce completely fuck up the first chorus to “Forcefed”. The crowd laughed, cheered… Doc commented that it was the first time in two years they had done that. Frontman Byron Davis said, “It’s all good! We’re gonna kick back into the motherfucker” well that they did, as if the blaring faux pas had never been committed.

Chicago: As the intro piped through the PA, the band came out fisted each other, high five style, giving each other the nod before commencing. How brotherly! The crowd lost it, vocalist Byron Davis owned from the beginning. On “Forcefed” the brothers Coyle (Dallas and Doc) rocked the crowd with their lively guitars. To intro “Chains of Humanity”, Davis encouraged his faithful minion to join in on the festivities, “If you know the words, we wanna hear you sing them along with us!” Davis continued to engage the audience, “Who was here when we came here in January with Anthrax?” The crowd went ape shit!

Another faux pas befell the band; the culprit this go round was Davis. The band went into the intro for “Better Days” then Byron said, “Oh shit, no setlist!” Then Doc pointed to one located on the floor. You had really had to be there to appreciate the humor. No matter what transpired within the past couple of shows we viewed, this band is quite masterful in what they do. It’s nice to see them take the good with the bad and for them to be able to poke fun at themselves. This band really puts their all into their live performances that you don’t even notice that Doc and Dallas are often out of tune because they are too busy headbangin’ their asses off.

God Forbid Setlist: Welcome To The Apocalypse (Intro); The End of The World; Forcefed; Chains of Humanity; Better Days; Anti-Hero; To The Fallen Hero; Crucify Your Beliefs.

Arch Enemy Lineup: Angela Gossow – Vocals; Michael Amott – Lead Guitar, Vocals; Daniel Erlandsson – Drums; Fredrik Åkesson – Guitar; Sharlee D'Angelo (Charles Peter Andreason)– Bass

Milwaukee: The excitement mounted as the road crew removed the Swedish from drummer Daniel Erlandsson's massive drum kit. The crowd roared as the band took the stage during the “Intro”; frontwoman Angela Gossow got her faithful followers going even more by addressing them, “All right Milwaukee, are we gonna blow this shit hole up?”, the audience screamed in response. The band ripped into the first song of their set “Nemesis” off their latest Doomsday Machine. The band was on fire, all but bassist Sharlee D'Angelo; he seemed a tad less enthused. Surveying the crowd, Ms. Gossow made her rounds from stage left to stage right making sure ALL within her field of vision were getting into the set. Has it been said to date that Angela is one hell of lead singer before, well she REALLY is! The crowd really got going during “My Apocalypse”, second single off Doomsday.

Gossow dedicated “Bury Me An Angel” to “all fans who have been there for the last ten years”, the fans went wild. Erlandsson shined throughout the set. It's nice to see guitarist Fredrik Åkesson has settled in! Guitarist Michael Amott was simply stunning with his masterful solos. The band ended with a fave amongst all fans “We Will Rise” off their 2004 release, Anthems of Rebellion. The amount of energy the band emitted was stifling in which the crowd happily and greedily fed from…vice versa. It was an amazing ending to a one hell of a set! Before the band left the stage, Gossow, smiled warmly and thanked the crowd for “the support”. To come off our high, someone had the mitigated gall to ask to “borrow” $2.00. How do you “borrow” money from a complete and total stranger? Va fan!! Only in Milwaukee I tell ya!! Anyway, the crowd chattered awhile after the band exited the stage and as the road crew tore down their set.

Chicago: During the changeover the crowd was hyped, how could they not be considering they just got a good

Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy (Photo: Erika Kristen Watt)

old-fashioned ass kicking from God Forbid AND it they were playing the first five tracks off Witchery’s new album, Don’t Fear the Reaper, the “side” project of bassist Sharlee D’Angelo and The Haunted’s Patrik Jensen. The into ousted “Ashes”….the crowd lost it! As art imitates life, frontwoman Angela Gossow puts a feminine touch to brutality with her vocal and delivery whilst performing why not add a pink line underneath lampblack!?! At any rate, Gossow was ready for battle as she and her band stormed the Chicago stage with “Nemesis”. To intro the next song, “The Immortal”, Gossow got the crowd going more, “All right you fuckers, let me hear you…Hey, Hey, Hey…”, loyal to no fault, the audience happily followed suit, which pleased Gossow much. She continued to engage her audience, “Good evening Chicago, are you ready to rock this shit house tonight?” Oh Angela, no truer words have ever been uttered…oh wait; we were not really speaking of the venue, were we. “We are “The Immortal”!” The crowd lost it to this old fan fave. Guitarist Fredrik Åkesson really caught his groove with this song, so nice to see him this way!

For “My Apocalypse”, Gossow screamed “Chicago, bang your head until the end!” Well that is more than easy to this soon to be time honored AE classic! She got the crowd clapping again during the break in the song. It was more than empowering to hear Angela scream during the middle of the next song, “Burning Angel” “Ladies, fuck these guys up in the pit!”, place went nuts as Arch Enemy owned the crowd!! During “I Am Legend/Out For Blood” Gossow thanked the supporting bands on the bill and co-headliners, Chimaira as well. To intro “Bury Me An Angel” a staple for moshers, Angela decided to test the loyalty of the crowd, she queried, “anybody here for Arch Enemy?”, the floor erupted. “Yeah!” Satiated with the response, Gossow continued, “Anybody here love Jäger? Yeah? It's very good for your throat!” Amen to that sister! “This one's for all of you who have been with us for a long fucking time! This is from Blackened Earth, this is “Bury Me An Angel”!” Of course the crowd roared, in their appreciation, a gaping pit ensued. Guitarist Michael Amott's solo simply was heaven sent! Skipping ahead to one of my favorites as well as it would seem the rest of the audience's favorite too, “We Will Rise”, Arch set the place ablaze! Bassist Sharlee D'Angelo shined on this number. Sweet the way they attached “Bridge of Destiny” to it. To conclude their mighty set, Gossow smiled and thanked her faithfuls. She jumped on the riser (in the photo pit) to get closer to her fans. It was hella awesome! Gossow ended with “We fucking love you, have a great night!” Vi älskar dig också; ha en bra kväll!!

Arch Enemy Setlist: Intro; Nemesis; Dead Eyes See No Future; The Immortal; My Apocalypse; Burning Angel; I Am Legend/Out For Blood; Skeleton Dance; Bury Me An Angel; Dead Bury Their Dead; Ravenous; We Will Rise/Bridge of Destiny; Enter The Machine (Outro).

Chimaira Lineup: Mark Hunter – Vocals, Guitar; Matt Devries – Guitars; Rob Arnold – Guitars; Jim LaMarca – Bass; Chris Spicuzza - Electronics

Milwaukee: It was nice to see more people filing into the venue as opposed to the

Mark Hunter of Chimaira (Photo: Erika Kristen Watt)

other way around for the self-anointed kings of NWOAHM. For the ones that were already there, they were warmed and raring to go. The anxious crowd yelled loudly once the techs started testing the lights. After seeing a prelim of the lights, we all knew we would be in for a show! The night had been pretty amazing thus far, could we take much more? ABSOLUTELY! Bring it on! Well Ohio’s Chimaira did just that. Okay, envision this: the lights go down in the venue, then all of a sudden bright white lights shine from can lights located on each side of the stage pointing skyward illuminating the room. It was glorious to see the entire room bathed in white light. The visual alone was stunning but it was only a portend of things to come. Next to bedazzle our eyes and ears, to stage left, Rob Arnold came out playing his guitar over the canned lighting, to the right was Matt Devries, then in the middle was vocalist Mark Hunter playing the guitar. As a treat for the Milwaukee audience, the band decided to play “Implements of Destruction”, the ten-minute wonderment off their last album, The Impossibility of Reason. Hunter said that they may as well call Milwaukee their second home because they’ve always been good to them.

Speaking of impossible after wowing us with “Implements” to crowd got zinged with another humdinger; Hunter managed to leave the place stone cold silent, rather hard to do in Milwaukee when one of their favorite bands is on the stage. It stemmed from him proclaiming that it was Hitler’s birthday today. Everyone’s mouths were left agape with the looks of: ‘Das? What? Quoi? Va? Che? Que?’ scrolling across our faces. Needless to say, it was fucked up! For a brief, second, it would have breathed new life into “Pure Hatred”, but that obviously is not the case here! After the band let out a unified and resounding “Hell no” the rest of the audience followed suite and laughed along with them. It was meant to be a joke, you know, the funny kind only…different! haha Hunter also thought better of his joke and quickly followed it up with, “I’m not a racist”…he then dedicated “Nothing Remains” song to God Forbid. Good come back, Mark!!

The band knockout the audience once more by pulling another rare track out their asses performing “Army of Me” off the Freddy vs. Jason Soundtrack. Hunter tried to get the audience into it more, “When I point the mic to you, you sing “Army of Me”!” Obviously not impressed with the sing-along, Hunter retorted, “That was some weak ass shit! Thanks for the vote of confidence; I’ll just sing it myself!” Hunter was on a kaiser tonight but his vocals were hitting, as well as the rest of the band. Their set was RAW! BTW, drummer Andols kicked all kinds of ass! There was not ONE flaw in tonight’s performance. According to the cavernous pits & flying horns along the other perimeter of the wall of bodies, which occurred throughout the night, would have been a good indicator! On the rare occasion, many stood still just to take in the set. It was truly breath taking. Wish I could tell ya more but I think Erika’s pix say it all. I was too enthralled to be able to write anymore…there’s always the Chicago show!

Chimaira Partial Setlist (in no particular order): Implements; Nothing Remains; Salvation; Down Again; Power Trip; Severed; Cleansation; Army of Me; Inside The Horror; Salvation; The Dehumanizing Process; Eyes of A Criminal; Pure Hatred; Lazarus.

Chicago: The crowd received a royal lashing from Arch Enemy a mere fifteen minutes prior. Since we departed after the third song, it is hard to make a full assessment but from what we heard and saw, it was tight! Right before we left, a rogue hat made its way on stage. Vocalist Mark Hunter bent down to pick it up, tried it on, and then threw it back into the audience. The crowd ate it up. Soon there after Hunter accused the crowd of being the quietest crowd on the tour, “Let me here it from my friends in Chicago”. The crowd really got into it at this point and a pit ensued. In our absence, a friend of Herrick told us that the band played “Implements of Destruction” for us as well even though it is not a selection that is played often. “Mark said he was hoarse and had been sick. Given he was home for his Grandmother's funeral, I'm sure that affected his voice and he said he was "wasted", understandable, he deserved a few drinks after that experience” Well there you go, a real account…until next time, enjoy the photos!!

Chimaira Setlist: Nothing Remains; Save Ourselves; Power Trip; Inside the Horror; Cleansation; The Dehumanizing Process; Salvation; Severed; Picture in the Gold Room; Overlooked; Pure Hatred; Lazarus; Implements.

JAGERMEISTER TOUR 2006: USA/CANADA APRIL/MAY TOUR DATES
Arch Enemy/Chimaira w/supporting acts: Nevermore/God Forbid, and Hate Eternal