I got there before 11:00, but they didn't start until 11:30. No worries though, they were showing The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale on the TVs, so that kept us entertained (For reference, Roy Nelson won in the finals, and Kimbo won too!) However, they played it on the wall behind the band, so you may see UFC behind Garden of Bedlam in the photos I took! Madison's is a place I've never been to for a concert, and it struck me as kinda small (Well, the concert area at least), but the atmosphere is nice, it's close to my place, and everyone seemed to like it, so it's all good!
Garden of Bedlam took the stage, and were alright....just kidding, they were AWESOME! I think part of how well they played was because they were so happy to have won the Kiss battle, cause entusiasm to play = great performances! Buzz had to apologize for his voice, which was giving him some problems, but it wasn't a visible issue until they covered "Fucking Hostile" by Pantera near the end of the night, little complaints here! No, for most of the night, Buzz sounded as great as he ever has, good range, I like how he can be both heavy and melodic at the same time, always have! Josh Belleau kept up his amazing guitar work, every single solo he played was excellent! Evan Belleau remains a very good bassist, you can hear his playing clearly through the music, and he's got some good grooves! And of course, Derek Turner was great behind the kit, drummers need more credit as it is, and he played just as well as I've ever seen him!
You knew Buzz was psyched to play when he was jumping on tables and going into the crowd while singing, which is always cool to see from any band! And the crowd was very good, they were headbanging away and partying and enjoying every second of this show! Also, we got a very cool surprise, as Lion Ride guitarist Marco "Marc O'Lion" Pedalino joined Garden of Bedlam to cover Iron Maiden's "The Trooper"! I thought Marco was just handling the sound, so seeing him join Garden of Bedlam for the song was awesome! Great solo too! See, even with the one point loss in the battle, Lion Ride & Garden of Bedlam are still friends, so think twice before you bash Garden needlessly for beating Lion Ride! But for me, one of my all-time concert highlights happened late in the show, where Buzz had PULLED ME ON STAGE, put his arm around me, and basically told the crowd who I was, praised all my work on the SMS, and the crowd went nuts! That was totally unexpected and I loved every second of it! I just wish I'd knew so someone could get a picture! Thanks Buzz!
The show ended with an encore of The Deftones' "Headup" and, I think this is a first, a request for a Garden of Bedlam original, "New Rain" from the crowd! I've heard "New Rain", "Against The Grain", and "Everything Will Die" before, but all three still sound awesome live, I can't wait to hear studio versions of these songs on the band's next album! Overall, great show, I can't wait to see Garden of Bedlam on the 15th at The Essar Center, that will be one hell of a night! The band played as good as they've ever played, and a great crowd responded accordingly! I was headbanging like mad, and yes, my hair's still tangled. Oh yay. But it was well worth it, and I'll do it again sooner rather than later! Thanks to Garden of Bedlam, Marco, Nolan from Bring The Fallen, and everyone else who said hey or praised the SMS last night! And, I love my new Garden of Bedlam shirt, well worth the money! Now, show Kiss what local metal is all about!!!Obviously, I took pictures, so check out the ones I took at this location, or by visiting our Facebook page! My screen (or, what's visible of it, it's broken) had trouble in the dark room, so excuse any bad angles or shots. But the quality's good, and you can catch UFC behind the band in some pics too! That's all I have for now, thanks everyone for the support and readership, I appreciate every hit! Next post will have news, my preview of Tuesday's Three Days Grace concert (that I'll be in attendance for), or both! Stay tuned!
P.S., I'm giving you guys a heads-up on this because it fits so well with the topic of Garden of Bedlam: I don't know when, but I plan on re-reviewing their first EP on the SMS, because after looking at it again, it's not up to my normal standards from my last six reviews. Not nearly as in-depth or detailed as I'd like. I'm not sure when I'll get around to it, but keep an eye out, cause I really want it to match up better with my better reviews since I started regularly reviewing local albums. I'll let you guys know when I do revisit it for a second look!
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