Concert Review: “Redeemer of Souls Tour” with Judas Priest & Steel Panther @ Main Street Armory, Rochester, NY

“Redeemer of Souls Tour”
Judas Priest, Steel Panther
Wednesday, October 1st 2014
Main Street Armory, Rochester, NY

Our score: 4 out of 5 stars

After a 2 year hiatus from the music scene the metal gods themselves Judas Priest are back on the road supporting their latest album release titled “Redeemer of Souls”. The tour kicked off on October 1st in Rochester, NY before a near capacity crowd and though opening night didn’t go as smoothly everyone was hoping for both Priest and opening act Steel Panther were at the top of their games.

As the doors to the vast Main Street Armory opened fans quickly flooded the venue in anticipation of the evening’s events. As the evenings advertised 7:30 start time rolled around and quickly turned in to 7:45, 8:00, 8:15 etc. It wouldn’t be till almost 8:40 that opening act Steel Panther would take the stage. The band which has been taking a lot of heat since it was announced they would be part of the tour initially didn’t win over the Rochester crowd as they took the stage to a sea of boo’s. It was unclear if the late start was the fault of the bands or of the promoter however despite the unpleasant welcome the band shrugged it off and blasted through an 11 song set which touched on each of the bands 4 releases. Vocalist Michael Starr handled his vocal duties like a true veteran and in between songs attempted to regain the crowds trust through the bands normal joking and goofing on one another.  This seemed to work as the band left the stage to cheers and applause the total opposite of how the night began.

After a few minutes a large Judas Priest banner dropped from the rafters signaling that the wait was almost over. After a brief intro the arena was filled with smoke and lights as Rob Halford and company ripped into the song “Dragonaut” which is also the first track off the band newest album. Halford seemed a little unsteady at first and was using a cane however by the end of the first number it appeared as though it was just a prop as he lurked back and forth with ease the rest of the night. The band played a variety of songs from their vast catalog such as “Victim of Changes”, ‘Turbo Lover” and “Love Bites” which hasn’t been in the set since 1986. The band’s sound was tight and well rehearsed with Rob’s signature scream being in top form. The newest member of the band guitarist Richie Faulkner seemed even more comfortable and certainly did his part to elevate the night’s excitement. Before calling it a night the band treated the audience to two encores which were both greeted with deafening roars and devil horns thrown high into the air.

When the night was finally over and the venue was silent it was easy to say that despite a few small setbacks the tours opening night was a success.  Both Priest fans new and old were given everything both bands had and then some as it was a great night of music. If the tour is coming to your area make sure to get your tickets as soon as you can as there are very few bands out there right now who can rival the power and fury of the one and only Judas Priest.

Steel Panther  Set List:
1.) Pussy Whipped
2.) Party Like Tomorrow Is the End of the World
3.) Asian Hooker
4.) Just Like Tiger Woods
5.) Gold Digging Whore
6.) Girl From Oklahoma
7.) Community Property
8.) Eyes of the Panther
9.) 17 Girls in a Row
10.) Death to All but Metal
11.) Party All Day (Fuck All Night)

Judas Priest Set List:
1.) Battle Cry Intro
2.) Dragonaut
3.) Metal Gods
4.) Devil’s Child
5.) Victim of Changes
6.) Halls of Valhalla
7.) Loves Bites
8.) March of the Damned
9.) Turbo Lover
10.) Redeemer of Souls
11.) Beyond the Realms of Death
12.) Jawbreaker
13.) Breaking the Law
14.) Hell Bent for Leather

Encore:
15.) You’ve Got Another Thing Coming
Encore 2
16.) Living After Midnight
17.) Defenders of the Faith

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Filed Under: Concert Reviews Tagged With: armory, concert, judas, main, ny, panther, ...

New York Comic Con: Main Stage Highlights

Photography by Elizabeth Phillips

            Media Mikes had an awesome time at the Main Stage of the Javit’s Center throughout this year’s New York Comic, here’s some of the highlights of the panels we enjoyed. Click on any of the banners to take a look at additional photos from each.

            Same as last year, the Adult Swim panels on NYCC’s Friday evening, Venture Brothers followed immediately by Robot Chicken, were hilarious. Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick brought no clips but assured the crowd of a great premiere of the next season of the show–chiefly because it was originally intended for the fifth season’s finale!

            The Q&A session featured much discussion of David Bowie and was capped off by a fan in an amazing Venture-covered dress being too nervous to ask Doc a question, “ARE YOU TOO NERVOUS TO DANCE WITH ME?” he replied before launching off the stage and sharing a short dance to, oddly enough “Greased Lightning” from Grease.

            Robot Chicken’s panel, or the meeting of the silly hats club,  was moderated by Adult Swim VP Keith Crofford and included co-creators Matt Senreich and Seth Green and actors Clare Grant, Breckin Meyer and, in his “annual public appearance”, Macauley Culkin. Later, Doc Hammer emerged from back stage for a bit of light streaking and group hugging that ended with Seth Green licking Doc’s nipple (“He tastes like Dr. Girlfriend!”)

            The Q&A with fans produced their now-traditional sexy pose request and a sudden rivalry between Meyer and a ten-year old audience member named Emmett, who came to the mic with a beef against Green’s new sitcom “Dads.”

            On Saturday, The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. panel was light on cast and crew—moderator/executive producer Jeph Loeb spoke with the duo of Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge who play techies Fitz & Simmons on the show. A short Q&A was followed by a screening of the “Eye Spy” episode of the show. In the pre-screening talk, De Caestecker discussed his desire for his character to gain a pet monkey while Henstridge offered supervillain Loki as her favorite Avengers character.

            Also making showings on NYCC’s Saturday were three tween hit shows with MTV’s Teen Wolf and the CW’s Beauty and the Beast and Reign. The latter two screening full episodes which, admittedly had some of the audience impatiently shifting in their seats anxiously for the Walking Dead that evening–fans seated in the Main Stage are not cleared between panels–making waiting it out a popular option. Meanwhile, the Teen Wolf panel of Dylan O’brien, Linden Ashby, and Jeff Davis was one of the loudest of the day with a hugely enthusiastic crowd.

        Finally the people behind The Walking Dead took the stage to a huge reception from the crowd. An awesome surprise was Dead fan and Community star Yvette Nicole Brown moderating the panel. For a show about a zombie apocalypse, there was quite a bit of arguing over coupling on the show. On relationships in the show, Brown yelled at the crew, “You don’t have to put love in the show, we’ll put love in…we’ll add it in our minds!” From the fan Q&A, a young boy decked out as Daryl Dixon threw down a challenge to actors [Lauren Cohan and Steven Yuen], “Since Maggie is such a bad ass, do you really think she needs Glen to protect her?” 

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Filed Under: Conventions Tagged With: agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., comic, con, Doc Hammer, highlights, Jackson Publick, ...

Concert Review: 3 Doors Down and Daughtry – Main Street Armory, Rochester, NY

“3 Doors Down and Daughtry”
Aranda, 3 Doors Down, Daughtry
Date: Saturday, February 9th 2013
Venue: Main Street Armory, Rochester, NY

Our Score: 3 out of 5 stars

The second leg of the 3 Doors Down & Daughtry tour made its way to the Main Street Armory in Rochester, NY on Saturday despite cancelling the previous night’s show due to extreme weather conditions. Though some of that weather was still lingering it didn’t stop any of the bands from putting on a solid show for the near capacity crowd.

The hard rock band Aranda would open up the night and though their set was brief the band definitely seemed to give it their all. At one point during the 30 minute set guitarist Dameon Aranda began playing slide guitar with his boot. An interesting touch if I do say so myself. 3 Doors Down would be up next and from the first notes of “Time of My Life” to the closing sounds of “When I’m Gone” singer Brad Arnold and the boys commanded the stage. Though the setlist was virtually unchanged from the first leg of the tour the band sounded just as good if not better. To take things up another notch Chris Daughtry would make a guest appearance on the bands most notable hit “Kryptonite” sharing vocal duties.

Daughtry and company would close out the night performing a somewhat hodge podge of songs from the American Idol alums 3 albums. The beginning of the set started off a little rough as it was plagued with sound issues causing the fans in the first few rows closest to the stage to begin voicing their displeasures. As the set progressed the sound seemed to get better however the crowd began to noticeably thin out only after a few of Daughtry’s song. This really made me question the lineup for the evening. Those things aside probably the most exciting part of Daughtry’s set was the cover of Phil Collins classic song “In the Air Tonight” which featured Brad Arnold returning the favor as a guest vocalist.

If you didn’t have a chance to catch this lineup on the first leg of the tour and are a fan of either artist you surely won’t want to miss your second chance. All three acts put on a solid show belting out hit after hit which makes for a great night of music that the whole family can enjoy.

3 Doors Down Set List:
1.) Time of My Life
2.) It’s Not my Time
3.) Duck and Run
4.) The Road I’m On
5.) Away From the Sun
6.) Let Me Go
7.) Goodbye
8.) Loser
9.) There’s a Life
10.) Landing in London
11.) One Light
12.) Here Without You
13.) Citizen/Soldier
14.) Symphony of Destruction (Megadeth Cover)
15.) The Better Life
16.) Kryptonite (w/ Chris Daughtry)
17.) When I’m Gone

Daughtry Set List:
1.) Break the Spell
2.) Feels Like Tonight
3.) Outta My Head
4.) Crawling Back to You
5.) What I Want
6.) Renegade
7.) Start of Something
8.) Gone Too Soon
9.) Tennessee Line
10.) Over You
11.) No Surprise
12.) In The Air Tonight (Phil Collins Cover)(w/ Brad Arnold)
13.) Every Time You Turn Around
14.) We’re Not Gonna Fall
15.) Home
16.) September
17.) It’s Not Over

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Filed Under: Concert Reviews Tagged With: 3, armory, concert, daughtry, doors, main, ...
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