Concrete Disciples Music Reviews - In Flames

IN FLAMES
DARK TRANQUILITY
SENTENCED
KILL SWITCH ENGAGED
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September 17, 2002 @ the Glass House

Words by: Rene (The Walrus) Morales

I had been waiting for this show since last month; and it was totally worth the wait. My bro Dave Gilstrap hooked me up with a ticket (and introduced me to In Flames). After going home and washing up, I threw on my Sacrifice mesh cap and headed out the door. As I pulled up to The Glass House in Pomona I couldn't believe my eyes. It was jammed packed and the line was all the way down the street. The show didn't start till 7:00 o'clock and it was only 6:15 pm. Luckily Daves' brother big Steve was already in line with his kid Taylor (who is a rippin street grom). I took my place in line and waited. Once inside we headed up stairs to the balcony to grab some seats and get ready for the show. The opener was a band called SENTENCED from Finland, they rocked. Great vocalist (you could understand what he was singing) and the the lead guitarist had mad skills. These guys had it dialed in. If you like good crisp metal, this is the band for you. The next band was DARK TRANQUILITY, total kick ass metal. This dude could rip out the vocals. Very thrash, speed metal; but in perfect rythm with a killer voice. Thier drummer killed the double bass and snares. I bought one of their c.d's on the way out. If you ever get a chance to see them, don't miss it. They could have been the headliners.

The next band just sucked! KILL SWITCH ENGAGED. They sounded like your typical metal-core orange county wannabe punk band. As soon as I heard thier first song I decided it was a good time for the ear-plugs I had on me. SCREAMING, YELLING, AND NO UNDERSTANDING! These guys need to go back to school and be more original. Finally around 10:30pm IN FLAMES came on. The house was packed and nobody was sitting. They opened up with the title track from the album 'Whoracle'. They just killed it! It sounded better live than on the c.d. Pure hard ass metal, with whaling guitar solos and killer bass lines. It reminded me of the first Iron Maiden show I went to when I was but a wee lad. Every single head in that joint was banging like there was no tomorrow, even the chicks were rockin out! They played for an hour straight with no breaks between songs. Just thrashin', hair flowin, bad ass Heavy Metal. IN FLAMES rocks 100%! no doubt one of the best shows I've been to in a while. When it was all over, I went to bed with ringing in my ears and a smile on my face!