As I was leaving work after a late night of Lasik consults on Tuesday, my supervisor chuckled as she told me to have fun at the "wet" puppies concert. What she actually meant was Sick Puppies. First time I heard the band name, I was like who are these guys with a name like that? Either really hard rock which I'm not really into, or just probably some one hit wonder group that will get some quick radioplay on the River. Well, fast forward four years later and the Sick Puppies are still going strong and have quickly grown to become one of my favorite rock bands.
Shaman's Harvest started the night out. Some southern sounding rockers that called us rednecks. haha
Local boys Emphatic were second to play
What is that you ask? A kid's mohawk in front of me. I was trying for an artistic shot of the band through the mohawk, couldn't quite get what I wanted.
Best thing about the concert? It was only $8.97 before the BS fees that are always tacked on. Heck yeah! Concert sold out in eight days at Sokol, so they moved it to Mid America Center and had Shaman's Harvest and Emphatic open for them. They announced that about 6000 people were in attendance last night, great turnout! What I don't understand is why parents would bring their 4 and 5 year olds to a rock concert where beer cans are thrown (yeah, one hit me in the face), mosh pits breakout, and the F bomb was repeated in certain songs by one of the earlier bands? Cheaper than finding a babysitter I guess. Jeez. At least the kids were up in the seats.
The meat and potatoes of the concert, Australian band Sick Puppies!
Emma on bass guitar. HOT! Especially loved how they made the fan blow her hair back the entire concert!
Before any of the bands came out to play, The River staff stepped onto the stage, did their intros and announced a few bands that they're bringing to the Big O in 2011 (don't quote me on these, but I believe this is what they said). No Doubt! Yes! Foo Fighters, YES! BEASTIE BOYS, YES YES YES!!! I've see Foo Fighters with Red Hot Chili Peppers back when the Civic Auditorium was still jumping, great show! I've always wanted to see Beastie Boys, this year might be my chance!
Slowing things down with their accoustic session
More accoustic goodness
Back to the Sick Puppies concert. Great show, great price, can't complain. Only way to do a concert is the mainfloor which is where Cody and I immediately went after getting our overpriced drinks. Sick Puppies turned the entire mainfloor into a huge moshpit by the end of the show. Pretty cool if you ask me. I've never crowd surfed before nor do I plan to, but moshpit I'll do! Shaman's Harvest played their few songs their known for, great job by those guys. I missed their show a few weeks ago because of Thanksgiving and I really wanted to hear Dragonfly. Done!
THE VIDEOS:
Sick Puppies singing Maybe from DJ Chi Wai on Vimeo.
Sick Puppies singing All the Same from Misterlime on Vimeo.
Sick Puppies singing You're Going Down from m w on Vimeo.
Local rockers Emphatic played their tunes, saw them at Riverriot and I was a little more into their music this time around. Might have helped that it wasn't 90 degrees and I was setting my mood for a rock concert instead of Weezer. Sick Puppies came out, and they rocked the MAC. Shimon on vocals and lead guitar, Emma slapping the bass, and Mark on drums. Maybe the coolest part of the show and after? They really tried to get the crowd into it. Most bands just play on and throw a few water bottles out to cool people down. Not these guys. Get up, bounce when I tell you to. Get to know the people around you, have a fun time. They even did a small acoustic session in the middle of the set to help cool everyone down. After playing their last and final song of You're Going Down, Shimon announced that immediately after the show they'll be signing autographs by the merchandise table. And he said that they'll wait until every last fan gets a signature. Wow, how cool is that? That is dedication right there! I considered it, thought about how I have no signatures from musicians. But then I saw the line nearly out the front door and I had to see early postop patients this morning. Yeah, maybe next time. MAYBE
Thanks for the great show guys, especially at such a great price! If you're gonna lose some hearing, might as well be worth it! And that it was!
One of many smaller, earlier moshpits
Even after hitting it big, they still take the time to sign autographs for everyone that wanted one. How cool is that?
*Click on any of the above photos to bigify them*
FYI, it's not easy taking video and pics at a concert standing next to the moshpit. Crowd surfers, people shoving from every direction, coats flying into your face and even shoes. And a 16 can of beer flying through the air just adds to the danger that us photographers put ourselves through just to get the shot. Haha. Love taking pics, that's all I can say. My suggestions? Just take lots of pics, try not to use flash, and hold the camera steady with two hands above your head. Higher ISO setting also helps if your camera has the ability to do so. Link to 311 show here, RiverRiot 2010 link here.
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