Life of Agony - concert review

nessman · Post by **nessman** » Tue May 18, 2004 9:41 pm

Saw Life of Agony tonight at the Penny Arcade in Rochester. They redid the place - no longer do you have that 2nd level 18" above the floor to hang out on. It's all one flat floor now.

So for $14, two local bands opened, then Candiria and finally Life of Agony. The first opener we missed and the 2nd one sucked ass. Don't know their names, don't care.

Candiria was the real opening band - but they played for only 30 minutes. Hmmm, an 8 hr drive from Brooklyn to play a 1/2 set? OK. They're a good techincal band - but an acquired taste like dark beer or hard liquor. Too bad for them they didn't stick around long enough to be appreciated.

By the time LOA came on stage, a whopping 75 people were in attendance. The warring factions of skinheads from Rochester and Buffalo who tore the place apart last time around 7 yrs ago were a no-show and the few skins who did make were too old to cause any problems. Keith Caputo, the singer, looks like he escaped from drug rehab just for the tour and it took him about 2/3rd's of the set to wake up and belt out the tunes like he used to. The sound for the first few songs was really bad - thought the speaker stacks were gonna blow - but that's what happens when you don't bother with a soundcheck prior to the gig and using more power than the speakers could handle. But after putting down 5-6 beers, I didn't care - it was a good time.

Afterwards, we were bullshitting outside with the car stereo cranking a variety of tunes from the CD changer - Nuclear Assault, Testament and Type-O Negative rocked the post-show parking lot (and no one seemed to notice).

But this 33 yr old is definitely out of his element with these shows. Most of the people there tonight were in their late teens / early 20's with a handful of older peebs like me and my friend. Guess I better save my energy for some easy-listening 80's hair metal band reunion tour at some outdoor amplitheatre deal in the "lawnchair" section.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed May 19, 2004 8:23 am

Either that, or punch out anyone younger than thirty. Bring your nightstick next time!

nessman · Post by **nessman** » Wed May 19, 2004 10:11 am

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:Either that, or punch out anyone younger than thirty. Bring your nightstick next time!

Now you're talkin'!

Vitriola · Post by **Vitriola** » Wed May 19, 2004 4:53 pm

LOA was finished after their first album, which was standard issue if you lived anywhere in the Capital District of NY, epicenter, Cohoes (or as we like to call it, Asshoes). And even that sounds trite and dated to me now.

Candiria sucks ass, and no matter how many people rave about them, they will always sound like someone just started turning a radio dial and recorded it.

Ness, we gonna catch a show when we're up there sometime?

Roody_Yogurt · Post by **Roody_Yogurt** » Wed May 19, 2004 5:05 pm

Candiria makes me think of candiru, the fish I never want to see in person.

nessman · Post by **nessman** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 6:56 pm

Vitriola wrote:LOA was finished after their first album,

Pretty much. Putting Whitefield Crane from Ugly Kid Joe (or whateverh is name is) on vocals was the final nail in the coffin for them.

At least they stuck with mostly stuff from the first album, a few tunes from the 2nd and one from the 3rd.

Oh well - first time I ever saw with LOA was after they released their first album and went on tour with Type-O Negative which was probably one of the best concerts I'd ever been to. Unfortunately it's been downhill from there with LOA getting weaker with each new album and Type-O going from Brooklyn hardcore to gloomy goth and Peter Steele baring it all in Playgirl.

I'm sure this will be their final tour - as for many metal bands who hit it big in the 90's and decided to try a come back tour to see if the fans are still out there.

Ness, we gonna catch a show when we're up there sometime?

Sounds like a plan - don't get to see many shows these days anymore.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:16 am

nessman wrote:
Ness, we gonna catch a show when we're up there sometime?
Sounds like a plan - don't get to see many shows these days anymore.

I'd go see Gwar with you two. Somebody's got to be touring when we are back in NY in December. In the "Many Deaths of Jolt Country" page it is predicted that Ness perishes when a bag of chicken blood is caught in his throat, so there's also that.

nessman · Post by **nessman** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:45 am

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:I'd go see Gwar with you two. Somebody's got to be touring when we are back in NY in December. In the "Many Deaths of Jolt Country" page it is predicted that Ness perishes when a bag of chicken blood is caught in his throat, so there's also that.

Heh - GWAR rules, as well as their other incarnations (i.e., X-Cops, Dave Brockie Experience, etc...).