Flogging Molly Iron City Birmingham, AL 11/24/14

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Slipknot, Korn, & King 810 Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN 11/21/14

After all these years, I finally got to see Slipknot. They were pretty good, but I do not really enjoy the concept of masked bands. Luckily I was far away and did not have to worry about encountering them.

Upon arriving, we were greeted by a Christian protest group from the area that had ridiculous signs. LOL.

The first band was absolutely terrible and extremely easy to make fun of.  They were called King 810. They played

Killem All (They destroyed a keyboard in the process of this song)

Murder Murder Murder

Desperate Lovers

Treading and Trodden

War Outside

Fat Around The Heart

Afterwards, it was time for Korn. It had been a few years since I had seen Korn and Brian Welch was back with them, so for me, it was anticipated. They played

Twist

Here To Stay

Right Now

Love & Meth

Falling Away From Me

Good God

Hater

Shoots & Ladders (with a small snippet of One by Metallica)

Got The Life

Freak on a Leash

Blind

Then, it was time for the almighty Slipknot. No other words need to be spoken. They played

XIX

Sarcastrophe

The Heretic Anthem

My Plague

The Devil In I

Psychosocial

The Negative One

Eeyore

Liberate

Frail Limb Nursery

Purity

Before I Forget

Duality

Left Behind

Spit It Out

Custer

Encore:

742617000027

(sic)

People = Shit

Surfacing

Til We Die

It was a fun night.

Voodoo Festival Day Three New Orleans, Louisiana 11/2/14

And we have made it to Sunday.

Everywhere you turned, someone was ranting or raving about Foo Fighters closing out the festival in the coming hours.

Personally, I was super excited to see Foo again, considering it had been over two years since the last time I saw them.

But, before we can talk about the wonderful man who is Sir Dave Grohl, we have to discuss the bands that lead up to the evening.

The first band of the day was Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors.

I had previously seen them in 2013 when they opened for Needtobreathe in Birmingham at Boutwell Auditorium and their set was wonderful. This time proved to be no different.

They played the festival like they were playing to thousands in an arena despite the hundred or so in attendance. There is something to be said about bands that carry themselves in that way.

They played

Good Light

Nothing But Trouble

Tennessee

American Beauty

Here We Go

Live Forever

What Would I Do Without You

Can't Take It With You

Rooftops

Fire and Dynamite

Afterwards, I went to see the John Butler Trio.

I was somewhat familiar with this group because of the song Ocean (which seems to be a crowd favorite)

To classify Butler as a Reggae artist would be too simple.

He blends rock, bluegrass, funk, blues, and jam along with a traditional Reggae sound.

While some people love Reggae Jams, they are not for me.

But, Butler's guitar skills are astounding and he knows how to move his audience.

He played

Cold Wind

Hoe Down

Better Than

I'd Do Anything (Soldier's Lament)

Blame It On Me

Pickapart

Ocean (Extended Improv Jam)

Zebra

Livin' in the City

Since 2011, unless you have been living under a rock, the song "Sail" has been listened to, or made fun of by you or someone you know.

AWOLNATION's Aaron Bruno is the man behind this five times platinum single.

I was looking forward to this band but once I entered the photo pit, I took three pictures and left the stage.

Why?

They were so loud and the speakers were thumping so hard they almost burst.

The bass made it hard to breathe.

After escaping that new kind of hell, I made my way to the back, where the sound was still so loud, but more distorted and it was hard to determine if you were hearing music or static.

Even though the sound was terrible, the performance itself was great for getting the crowd moving and even more pumped for Foo Fighters.

They played

Megalithic Symphony

Guilty Filthy Soul

People

Not Your Fault

Jump on My Shoulders

Kooks Everywhere

Kill Your Heroes

Soul Wars

All I Need

Some Kind of Joke

Sail

Burn It Down

In anticipation for Foo Fighters, Trombone Shorty entertained the crowd with original jazz compositions as well as covers of Green Day's "Brain Stew" and The Guess Who's "American Woman."

*Drum Roll please*

FOO FIGHTERS TIME!!!

I am just going to get straight down to the near perfect set-list.

They played

All My Life

I’ll Stick Around

Rope

The Pretender

My Hero

Generator

Walk

Learn to Fly

White Limo

Arlandria

Cold Day in the Sun

Big Me

Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love (Van Halen cover)

Something From Nothing

Breakout

Monkey Wrench

Hey, Johnny Park!

Times Like These

Dear Rosemary

Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)

Best of You

This Is a Call (with Trombone Shorty)

Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie cover)

Everlong

Few bands can play over two and half hours and still have a crowd on their feet. The band played to their crowd, but also to their die-hards (like me) who wanted to hear the deep cuts and rare B-sides.

Overall, Voodoo was a wonderful, spiritual experience for me and I cannot wait to do it all over again next year.

Interview with Drew Holcomb at Voodoo Festival 11/2/14

While AWOLNATION was performing on the main stage, I was in the press tent getting ready to interview Drew Holcomb. He played earlier in the day on the Flambeau stage to a crowd of about 50 people. You can read about it here.

Without further ado, here is our interview with Drew Holcomb.

How was your performance today?

It was good. Anytime you're in a historic music city, it's always great. We don't have a lot of touring history in New Orleans; it's only our second time. We never play here. It was great: beautiful day, beautiful weather.

You have a new album coming out next year?

Yep. In January.

Can you elaborate on that?

It's our fourth studio album. It is probably the most fun I have ever had recording. We just went in with a bunch of guys we really trust and went to a studio we really liked. We tracked the whole record in eight days, which is usually like 8-10 weeks for us. We had fun and we did it quick, which was good.

You did Moon River [Festival] this year. How was that? I specifically want to ask about the band booking process and why you chose Will Hoge, because I love him.

I've always wanted to host my own festival and more specifically, I've always wanted to host it in Memphis, my hometown.

I was just there a few weeks ago for Pearl Jam.

Oh yeah! At the FedEx Forum.

The way I chose bands was, since it was the first year, I asked my friends. Will and I have become good buddies in Nashville: very similar style of music. It's become a good hang.

Do you think the festival will happen again?

Oh yeah. We already have a day. We haven't announced it yet, but we definitely have a day. It was very successful.

What is next for the band?

We are leaving from here to go to the west coast, then in January we releasing the record and going to Europe, coming back to tour and headline all over the U.S.

Is there anything else you want to add?

We've been at this for a decade and it feels like we're finally doing it exactly how we're supposed to be doing it and that's a good feeling.

On a side note, the cover album y'all did a few years ago, I actually played the John Prine cover (Long Monday) on my radio show.

Oh! That is so awesome! Thank you!

Emily: I had never heard that before and it was great!

I wanted to ask why you chose that particular Prine song. That is an extreme deep cut, not popular song.

When I first got married, that record came out. My wife was a school teacher and we were apart a lot and that was like our anthem. We were like "we are going to spend these couple of days together. It's going to be great. It's going to be a long Monday when I have to go back out on the road.

Congratulations on your baby, by the way. She is precious.

Thank you. I think so too. 

Voodoo Festival Day Two New Orleans, Louisiana 11/1/14

Voodoo Music + Arts Festival continued Saturday with more diverse artists throughout the musical spectrum.

Even though Halloween was over, that did not stop the holiday from being celebrated by festival goers.

The first band of our day was The Wild Feathers from Nashville, TN.

I had already seen the band once in Starkville, MS through my travels following the band Needtobreathe.

They describe themselves as "If Led Zeppelin & The Band had a baby in Joshua Tree that grew up listening to Ryan Adams covering the Stones 70's country influenced songs," which I think is a wonderful description.

Their was an eclectic group of people their ranging from ages 16 to 60. Not many bands can have a widespread fan-base like that anymore. So, props to these guys for being different.

They played

Hard Wind

Backwoods Company

Got It Wrong

Hard Times

If You Don’t Love Me

I’m Alive

Christine

Happy Again

American

Left My Woman

How

The Ceiling

While we are on the topic of crossing genres, one artist we had the joy of seeing, was City and Colour.

Dallas Green, who leads the group, used to be in the hardcore band Alexisonfire (who I had the privilege of seeing at Warped Tour in 2009 before the split.)

Their set included

Of Space and Time

The Lonely Life

The Grand Optimist

As Much as I Ever Could

Ladies and Gentlemen

Sleeping Sickness

Thirst

Fragile Bird / As Much as I Ever Could / Sorrowing Man

I made my way over to the main stage and it was time for 30 Seconds To Mars. I had previously seen them in Charlotte, NC, they were not good and this time was no different.

Their shows are overly produced and Jared Leto uses obvious backing tracks to accompany him while he pretends to play guitar.

He moves around too much and he wastes so much time with stage antics and it is annoying. He also talks about absolutely nothing. Their fans are dedicated, but more "cult" like. The die-hards bring in flags on poles and they listen to Leto when he says what they should do with them.

They played

Up In The Air

Search and Destroy

This Is War

Conquistador

Kings and Queens

Do Or Die

City of Angels

End of All Days

L490

The Kill (Bury Me) (Acoustic)

Bright Lights

Back In Black (AC/DC Cover)

Sad But True (Metallica Cover)

Closer To The Edge

Following the monstrosity of 30 Seconds to Mars, I travelled to the Electronic Stage to see Skrillex.

Sonny Moore, the mastermind behind the project, was originally in an early 2000s post-hardcore band, From First To Last, who I love.

The group has since re-formed without Moore after a four year hiatus.

With that being said, Skrillex performed a 47 song set during his time frame, as he was one of the main headliners of the festival.

He played

My Name Is Skrillex

Try It Out

Flontie Stacks Pt. 2 (Boaz van de Beatz Cover)

Collard Greens (Schoolboy Q Cover)

Legends (Yellow Claw Cover)

All Is Fair in Love and Brostep

Club Action (Smookie Illson Boot) (Yo Cover)

Burial (Yogi Cover)

Imagination (City Cover)

Yaba Dabs (Habstrakt Cover)

Work (A$AP Ferg Cover)

Wild (Snails Cover)

Survivors (Zomboy Cover)

First of the Year (Equinox)

Ragga Bomb

Recess

Turn Down for What (DJ Snake & Lil John Cover)

Intergalactic (Beastie Boys Cover)

Express Yourself (Diplo Cover)

Bangarang

Jump Around (House of Pain Cover)

Fuck That

All I Ask of You

Internet Friends (Knife Party Cover)

Balderdash (Wiwek Cover)

Terror Squad (Zomboy Cover

Wild for the Night (A$AP Rocky Cover)

Make It Bun Dem

King of Africa / Go

NRG (Duck Sauce Cover)

No Flex Zone (Rae Sremmurd Cover)

The Devil's Den

Stranger

Change Positions (Pauline Cover)

Biggie Bounce (Tony Romera Remix) (Diplo Cover)

Rock n' Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain)

Breakn' a Sweat

Summer (Calvin Harris Cover)

Club Goin Up (Drake Cover)

Robot Kitty (Excision & DZ Cover)

Promises (Nero Cover)

Summit

Freak (Steve Aoki Cover)

Ease My Mind

All I Do Is Win (DJ Khaled Cover)

Dirty Vibe

Take Ü There  (Jack U Cover)

Breakoe (Boaz van da Beatz Cover)

To close out the night, I made my way back to the main stage for the Arctic Monkeys.

They are constantly in heavy rotation on our station and their Saturday night headlining spot was well deserved.

They played

Do I Wanna Know?

Snap Out of It

Arabella

Brianstorm

Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair

Dancing Shoes

Crying Lightning

All My Own Stunts

Knee Socks

Fluorescent Adolescent

Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?

I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor

No. 1 Party Anthem

505

Encore:

One for the Road

I Wanna Be Yours

R U Mine?

They were the only band of the festival weekend to have an encore. To me, that says so much about their fans and their prestige as a band.

Onward to Sunday...