In Flames Show

I hit the door running out of work Thursday with Will and Jessi and we bolted to Norfolk from Richmond. I am impressed, Jessi got us to Norfolk in just over an hour. I love the interstate sometimes. Ok, enough bullshit, onto the show:


We got there, I believe 2 songs into the Zao set. It was a pretty decent walk from the car to the venue, since I've haven't been to that part of Norfolk in forever and didn't know where to find parking. I have to say that I love The Norva. That is one tight venue. I wish they had a place like that up here in Richmond.

I mean their music wasn't bad, we all just got the impression they just didn't want to be there. There was no crowd interaction and no sooner than they played their last song, they dropped everything and ran offstage. So eff you, losers.


Devildriver was the second band playing. Now this was more like it! I've always enjoyed these guys and if I remember right from 2004, they were one of my favorite sets at the Ozzfest second stage. There's never any real frills with Devildriver, they're very solid, but it was good to finally see some personality after the butt nuggets at Zao play. They did start one of the bigger circle pits I had seen in a while, but as Will and I agreed, it was pretty sad. There's nothing funnier than a couple hundred people running around in a circle (in the same direction!). It looked more like square dancing than moshing. I muchly enjoyed their set, though. They did an awesome job waking everyone up for Trivium and In Flames.


Woohoo! Trivium! I'm pretty sure everyone at the Wrecking Crew would agree that this is our our adopted band. We've all see them spring from obscurity to stardom. The first thing that caught my attention were the Dimebag guitars that were being set up during soundcheck. I knew that they were going to play some Pantera tunes. They did awesome. They played Domination and Walk. I just like their stage pressence. Matt does an awesome job creating energy and crowd response. I'm thinking that I'm definatley going to have to see them again this summer as they headline (so I hear) The Sounds of the Underground tour. I'm hoping they announce the bands for that real soon!



I think Jessi and I had more fun screaming at the In Flames road crew than anyone. First thing we see is this very large, shirtless Swede running around setting up equipment then I hear Jessi screaming, "The Mexican!". To really understand what the hobbit was so excited about, go pick up the DVD/CD release Come Clarity from In Flames, in stores now. I'm not plugging, it's just easier to show than explain.

I have to admit..I was blown away. The boys can jam! They are so Swedish it hurts. They most of all were not too uptight to have a good time. Anders at one point reaches out, grabs a digital camera from the crowd and starts taking pictures of the band. Then, he sees a kid holding up a sign which I think said "Let me sing!", or something like that. They pull this kid on stage and he sings...well I wouldn't call it singing...one of their songs. I also believed a lady in the balcony flashed the band, because they were all very distracted. Jessi thinks it was one of the band member's wives, and not a flasher, but I'm not so sure. I know the look of a man that's just seen boobies..and it looked like they just saw boobies.

The show went for well over an hour and it showed, but I was not ready for that show to end. I just had a blast. Considering the events of this weekend, I am very thankful for Will and Jessi for all their support and help. Now I can't stop thinking about moving to Sweden. Who's with me?