RANDOM THOUGHTS ON IN FLAMES & 36 CRAZYFISTS LIVE
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 2:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
As I mentioned earlier today, we saw Gojira live Sunday night, and they decimated Terminal 5 here in Manhattan. But seeing as they were sandwiched in between Alaskan metalcore masters 36 Crazyfists and Gothenburg gods In Flames, I thought I should share some not particularly well organized thoughts on those bands’ sets as well.
- MVP of the night was 36 Crazyfists drummer Thomas Noonan, who, in between songs, puked into a bucket next to his drum kit and then pretty much went right on playing as though nothing had happened. Vince and I were talking about the incident after the gig, and we agreed: Noonan probably vomited next to his kit at least twice in his life before thinking “Gee, I should probably get a bucket to puke into so I can cut back on post-set clean-up time.” Our reasoning was thus: the first time one vomits next to his or her drums, he or she could probably write it off as an anomaly – “I was drunk, that was gross, it’ll never happen again.” I mean, logically, there was a time when Noonan had never spewed on stage, and so the need for a bucket had probably never even crossed his mind. Only after multiple hurlings might he think “A bucket would be a swell idea.” In any case, if I ever meet Noonan, this is the very first thing I want to ask him about.
- Speaking as someone who loves loves loves fucking loves In Flames: this might have been the most disappointing set list of the year. It was totally bogged down by an abundance of material from A Sense of Purpose. Granted, listening to a bunch of songs from A Sense of Purpose is still better than listening to a bunch of songs from St. Anger or Risk, but: come on. That being said, the band was clearly enjoying themselves and brought lots of energy to the show, and the crowd, which seemed dominated by kids still waiting for the onset of puberty, ate it up. So maybe In Flames just doesn’t care about guys like me any more: Vocalist Anders Friden even taunted some dude in the front row who kept screaming for more old material by refusing to play “Pinball Map” until the “pussy” would get into the pit and “prove” to the band that said oldies were still worth playing. And earlier in the night, I’d cringed a little when Friden had announced that the band was going to play some “classic shit” and then ripped into a song from… Come Clarity. And I say that as someone who likes Come Clarity. So, y’know… that was fucking weird.
-AR
Yo sup. I was at that show. Gojira absolutely crushed.
36Crazyfists were pretty good- a solid AlaskanForestCore act.
And yes, I also agree that In Flames was energetic and the crowed was very receptive, but I think “disappointing” is a bit much– it was a solid set. I’m glad they ended with Trigger and Take This Life though… and I was looking for an encore too..
Also don’t mislead people with that photo.
That is not Terminal 5 in Manhattan.
This does sounds a tad disappointing. When I saw them on the touring cycle for Come Clarity they played a lot of stuff from Clayman and Whoracle. Needless to say, it was bad ass.
Agreed for the most part.My lady and I hit up both nights of Gigantour and then trekked to Philly for In Flames’ off date with Bodom and A Life Once Lost back in April.The sets on all three nights were decidedly waaaaaaay better.Morphing Into Primal, Jotun, Graveland, all in their entirety.The Jester Race medley on Sunday, after a month of hearing it was the highlight of the set, was rather a let down.Although I got kicked in the ear a few times to many by a certain crowd surfer who later got dragged to the security guard by his fucking hair(I hate crowd surfers, but I rip the ones who don’t know how to do it right), I gotta say the highlight was Eraser, a song that probably should have been put on A Sense of Purpose, and I will probably never hear live again.
Oh, and the “classic shit” part, he even said it was in reference to their set overall, and “this one is off of Come Clarity.”
Out of curiosity, Axl, did you guys rock the floor, or the upstairs?
When I saw this tour in Detroit I was pretty let down by all of the ASOP songs, too. They did play Sattelites and Astronauts, as well as Pinball Map and Artifacts of the Black Rain, so I guess it evens out.
Perhaps I just don’t like the new CD.
no bucket here (Baltimore show).
http://flickr.com/photos/brandonwu/3087549564/
then again I’m pretty sure that wasn’t puke. I hope.
I am so happy to hear an opinion about this tour that I agree with 100% that I could cry.
Yeah, I’ll give In Flames props for playing The Hive, Dead God In Me, Satellites and Astronauts, and Pinball Map, as well as for their great energy…but seriously, any more ASoP and I might have regretted attending a concert for the first time in my life, even despite Gojira’s amazingness. And the rest of the crowd DID seem to fucking love the new shit, which absolutely boggled my mind.
As for Noonan…that dude is fucking weird. He didn’t puke when I saw them, but he did spray water from his mouth onto House of Blues security and stand on their merch table at the end to scream about how much Trivium sucks. Let’s just say I bought a Gojira shirt instead.
That sucks about In Flames. The last time I saw them was when they were on Sounds of the Underground and they absolutely destroyed. That was during the Come Clarity cycle though, and I thought they even played a little too much of Come Clarity too. It’s an alright album, but they have so much better shit in their catalog.
I’ve seen 36 Crazyfists twice this year. Once at Mayhem fest and once with ATR and trivium. Both times it was boring enough for me to not have the least interest in the band. I don’t know what it was…just zero interest.
I was hoping to catch In flames Gojira and ATR on December 4th but something came up. ATR canceled anyway but I wouldn’t have been too disappointed because I already saw them twice this year. I was kind of disappointed that I didn’t get to see In Flames and Gojira. Maybe next time.
I can see how you’d be disappointed with In Flames’ set. I remember seeing them about a week before Come Clarity came out, and the group mostly played material from Clayman to Come Clarity. They did play a few older songs like “Episode 666″, but they seem to want to play their newer stuff more. I actually think Come Clarity is a good album (a step up from the sub-par STYE), but my say is that if you only like old In Flames, I wouldn’t see them live.
And no, I did not care for the new album a bit. Forgot all about it after 1st listen.
I went to the show in Worcester MA on sat. I can’t say i have much different to report than anyone else. In flames set was really heavy on Asop which is kinda like IF paint by numbers. They did pull out sat. and astronauts, Pinball map, System and a few other old favs. but it was a little disappointing. A pleasant surprise was Howard Jones of KSE joining 36CF on stage for their song Elysium that erupted KSE’s hometown crowd. Yeah and Gojira came out stomped ass.
I saw them in Austin, it was just OK. They were loud and clear but neutered sonically by the digital guitar sounds, unlike Gojira who sounded more powerful. It was difficult to follow them as far as the sound goes. It seemed like In Flames was very calcutated, note perfect but not quite as interesting. Not that it sucked at all, I enjoyed all the bands.
@ Chip: Totally feel you on the digital guitar sounds. IF’s guitar tone sucked and didn’t cut through the mix at all. There was also something iffy and artificial about the snare that wasn’t quite right.
I love In Flames, new stuff and old stuff, so I thought the set was awesome. Good for Anders for taunting the guy, he should back it up and get in the pit. Theirs a lot of skinny guys, and young guys including me that were in the pit and were dong alright. Also why they don’t play a lot of old stuff Anders explained he said something along the lines of ” We here every day of our lives play old shit, and when we do most of you fucking people stand around and stare at us like zombies, so were gonna play these and you better prove to us why we should play old shit.” After this they went into the jester race medley, and I think his speech worked cause that crowd started moving.
I’m a pretty big 36 Crazyfists fan, they’re always solid live (especially in smaller venues). Metalsucks dont actually give them anywhere near enough coverage. You guys didnt review their album tht came out back in the summer, and when their video for the first single came out you described them as an Every Time I Die rip-off, or words to that effect. Total ignorance.
I used to travel quite far here in the UK to see them but I stopped going to see In Flames when I realised I had only really enjoyed their live show the first time I saw them – and that was just after they released Reroute To Remain. The band seemed less clinical and intense as well then.
But I understand the reasoning for their setlists now – the fans do seem to respond much more positively to the newer material. Maybe fans like me who prefer the pre Clayman era would be better off going to see Dark Tranquillity and get them into larger venues with bigger pay cheques. But then again, those people probably are already.
It’s just – for me – In Flames’ older material is infinitely more interesting in every sense. The Sense Of Purpose songs just seem to blur into one. I don’t hear the same passion in them anymore and that’s a shame because I think they were just incredible on albums like Whoracle. But that’s the age old moan with them isn’t it and people change so I’ll move along eh.