{"id":52991,"date":"2016-10-14T07:38:10","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T12:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=52991"},"modified":"2016-10-14T07:38:10","modified_gmt":"2016-10-14T12:38:10","slug":"live-volbeat-concert-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2016\/live-volbeat-concert-review\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVE! | Volbeat"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Franco Cerchiari<\/span>
\n– Sr. Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"volbeat-2016\"<\/p>\n

Volbeat blasted their way into Utah\u2019s capitol city on a warm and perfect September evening and rocked their way through almost 90 minutes of their blend of Thrash, Metal, Hillbilly and Punk. The venue, tucked into the west side of Salt Lake City, was open, spacious, and filled to near capacity with a few hundred people jumping, screaming, singing at the top of their lungs and time and again throwing the \u201cdevil horns\u201d up in approval as Michael Poulsen and company played their best-known songs. The light show was incredible. Strobes, lasers, and pulsating spinning lights of every color kept time with each song, and the result was one remarkable showing. <\/p>\n

The opening act, Killswitch Engage (who did an absolutely killer cover of the sorely missed Ronnie James Dio classic \u201cHoly Diver\u201d) warmed up the audience nicely, and after what seemed to be an extended period of tearing down KE gear to prepare for Volbeat\u2019s show, the opening song \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Bleeding Crown,\u201d from their newest release, Seal the Deal<\/em> and Let\u2019s Boogie<\/em> quickly got things pumping, and they were off. Without missing a beat, the band dove right into the next song \u201cHeaven Nor Hell,\u201d with again that extraordinary light show keeping everyone\u2019s attention affixed to the sounds and sights of what was happening before them. \u201cI Only Want To Be With You,\u201d came next, but Michael\u2019s numerous growls as heard on Live From Beyond Hell \/ Above Heaven release on this night was left out and truly missed, as those growls really allowed Volbeat to make that song all their own. <\/p>\n

Following a tribute to the legendary Johnny Cash by playing an acoustic version of \u201cRing Of Fire,\u201d Volbeat guitarist Rob Caggiano was finally given a chance to shine as midway through the next song, \u201cSad Man\u2019s Tongue,\u201d Caggiano let loose and tore up the neck of his guitar and again the audience roared with approval. It must be said though that only a few times throughout the course of the concert did Rob get the chance to play the 6-string like only he can, but when that time was allowed, he made the most use of it. \u201cLola Montez\u201d was next, and was really a standout, and the give and take between Michael and new bassist Kasper Larsen (who recently replaced long-time member Anders Kjolholm) heard on the following song \u201cGates of Babylon,\u201d showed just how connected Michael can be with not only the audience but also his band mates. <\/p>\n

\"volbeat-slc-9916\"The music went quiet for just a few minutes as Michael yelled out to the audience, \u201cDo you like Satan? Do you like Slayer?\u201d From there the thought was that Volbeat would cover a Slayer classic, but instead what came was some riffs and chords. An absolutely amazing display of fiery red strobes and lasers came when the band began \u201cThe Bliss,\u201d their newest single. After that song ended, the stage went dark for a moment and from there somber lighting came up as fog blanketed the stage as Michael stated \u201cthis next song is for those who have passed on everywhere,\u201d as a guitar began the introduction to \u201cGoodbye Forever,\u201d also from their latest release. After that song closed, things again went somber as a tribute to the late, great Lemmy with Michael giving touching words to one of Metal\u2019s true standouts came but quickly the stage exploded with lights as \u201cMirror and the Ripper\u201d came within earshot. <\/p>\n

After leaving the stage for a few moments as the crowd started a loud chant of \u201cVolbeat, Volbeat, Volbeat\u201d came through loud and clear, the band returned to play a trio of encores with \u201cBlack Rose,\u201d \u201cSeal The Deal,\u201d and finally \u201cDoc Holliday,\u201d with again Rob being given a chance to showcase his guitar talents.<\/p>\n

But\u2026 it was the closing song that really made for a memorable evening. And, sad to say not in the best way. With the time being almost 10:30 PM, Volbeat brought onto the stage some 15-20 kids, some being pre-teenagers, and looked to be no more than 9-12 years old, and singing along to one of Volbeat\u2019s most loved songs, \u201cStill Counting,\u201d The line in the song \u201ccounting all the assholes in the room, I\u2019m definitely not alone, well I\u2019m not alone\u2026\u201d is a great line and shows how committed Volbeat is to wanting to connect with us, their fans, hearing young kids shout out the word \u201casshole\u201d left for a slant of the head, and leaving the venue many of the adults showed disdain for hearing little ones shout out that word. <\/p>\n

Sadly missing from Volbeat\u2019s set was \u201cFallen,\u201d \u201cThanks,\u201d \u201cAnother Day, Another Way,\u201d \u201cHallelujah Goat,\u201d \u201cWe,\u201d \u201cLight A Way,\u201d and \u201cThe Sinner Is You,\u201d all of which can be counted as some of Volbeat\u2019s best songs. But it is understood that a band has to pick and choose the songs to play, and not every song can be played at every concert. However, \u201cFallen\u201d is such an extraordinary song, that not hearing it was a true letdown. <\/p>\n

All in all, a terrific concert, and it can be said that a lot of care, time and dedication to putting on an astonishing light show was a monstrous part of the concert. The band did look tired, but the songs heard were great, and any chance to see Volbeat live is counted as a blessing. Let\u2019s hope they come back to Salt Lake City and give us more. <\/p>\n

Official website: http:\/\/www.volbeat.dk\/us\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Franco Cerchiari – Sr. Columnist — Volbeat blasted their way into Utah\u2019s capitol city on a warm and perfect September evening and rocked their way through almost 90 minutes of their blend of Thrash, […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":52992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13654],"tags":[307,444,164,2267,3216,2091],"class_list":{"0":"post-52991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcconrvw2016","8":"tag-concert-review","9":"tag-killswitch-engage","10":"tag-live","11":"tag-metal","12":"tag-thrash","13":"tag-volbeat"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}