Diamond Eyes tour; Twin Shadow; Cults at the Horseshoe Tavern

Official post and a complete list here, but alt-metal veterans Deftones and The Dillinger Escape Plan are co-headlining actually, TDEP are the openers for the 2011 Diamond Eyes tour. Their first show is mid-April in Seattle, Washington.

There are a couple of Canadian stops on the first leg (namely Vancouver on the 18th and Montreal on May 4th). The closest they're coming Toronto-wise is Detroit, Michigan. If they're headed your way- even if you've only heard of them- I strongly recommend it. These guys do not disappoint.

The Horseshoe Tavern will be playing host to George Lewis Jr. (aka Twin Shadow) come Wednesday of next week. The show is 19+, but they don't usually cost much; the only possible concern is maximum capacity at the venue.

Also on their way to the Horseshoe Tavern this April 4th is New York indie pop group, Cults. More dates here.

Finger Eleven debuts new song

Life Turns Electric, due Oct. 5th, is available for preorder on iTunes.

The song "Stone Soul" was premiered today- (check it out at ARTISTdirect.com). I've never been a big fan of Finger Eleven, but it's hard to deny the catchy riff and vocals of "Paralyzer". Plus, they're from Burlington.

Here's a sneak preview of Faber Drive's new video for "The Payoff". Someone filmed it on the set in Vancouver.


And what's this reissue I hear of from Deftones' Myspace blog?

In celebration of White Pony's 10th Anniversary, the groundbreaking album has been specially re-issued. For a limited time, it is available on iTunes for just $7.99!

Well, I guess if you don't have it already, now's a good time.

Some BLACKDIAMONDSKYE footage

My point about sound and lighting.


I have this thing for drummers... yeah, Abe!


(more videos)

Commence the singing screeching

I mentioned it a week ago in this post, so I figured I'd record it. I am using sheet music for this one, and as you can see there's a page turn mishap in the final stretch.

a BLACKDIAMONDSKYE night

Last night was my first at the Molson Amphitheatre.

Arrival by GO Train was rather early, so there was some wandering about the lakefront and some french fries and onion rings involved before chatting up security at the gate.

I still don't like the design of the venue.

The stage isn't particularly deep, and the size of the pit is pretty dismal. Sound quality's alright, and it makes for a great effect... when the place is full.

Mastodon were the openers.

I was never too sure about them until tonight- they're live performers, definitely. I've always liked them as people, but now I'll look into getting some of their stuff. Their lighting and sound could've use some improvement, but I was up in the 400s, so it's hard to tell. I know that it was better later on in the night, though.

About 90% of the crowd was there for Deftones.

We went from 30% full to 100% standing in the stadium. It started raining a bit, then. Lots of love weed in the air, but Chino sure knows how to put on a show. "Prince" and "7 Words" were my favourites, and there was a tremendous rumble during "Change (In The House of Flies)".

Just proving my point about the crowd.

This was between sets, when the stage crew was about to take down Deftones' equipment. At this point we returned to our actual spots in the section, avoiding any possibility of conflict. The rain had ceased by now, and everyone either retreated to their wet seats or left to get more beer.

Alice In Chains actually put on a surprisingly good show.

I was there with my cousin, who eventually got hungry. We went out to get him a hot dog (which by the way, is ridiculously overpriced there) and ended up running back in, spilling ketchup when we heard the beginning of "Rooster". There were 3 encore songs. YouTube uploads are in progress.

Deftones - Sextape (Official Video)

... it's trippy, I'll give it that. The song itself is one of my favourite's on the album; rather soft for Deftones, but in an artistic way.

Edit: Myspace video was removed; now officially on YouTube.