Concert Reviews

These are reviews of concerts I have seen recently. I will try to review everything necessary as well as give a little account of what I went through at the shows. 

Band: Betrayer

Openers: Curry Street Rumble, Dreams Destruction and Centre Extreme

Place: Sahara Night Cub (Windsor)

Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Review: My band (Myself, Abby, Josh and Craig) was extremely eager see Betrayer. All of us have been fans of an kick ass local band called Betrayer for quite some time, myself being a fan for about 3 years now. 

Anyways, we got to the Sahara just before 7 PM. We waited around for about half an hour before Curry Street Rumble hit the stage. They weren't too bad, they performed a few originals with covers such as Knockin on Heavens Door (GNR), A few AC/DC songs and Pink Floyd among others. Next was Dreams Destruction, a band whose style was Death Metal tossed in with a bit of classic metal. They did mostly originals with a few covers, one of which was Paranoid which I enjoyed. After this band we went to talk to Betrayer's manager Mark Wolf who was extremely cool to us. Next up was Centre Extreme. They were a good band, sounding like Creed, however, they didn't do any cover songs so for an hour they only did originals. They weren't bad but some covers would have been nice.

Now on to the good stuff, Betrayer. Betrayer took the stage around 10:30. They opened up with the maiden classic ' The Trooper'. Jeff's singing on the "ahh ahh ahh" part in the chorus was incredible. His vocals have improved tremendously since they recorded Rusted Icons. A little while later they performed Seek and Destroy which had my entire band, as well as the rest of the crowd, in a frenzy. Jeff nailed some awesome notes during the song that just blew us away. Next they performed one of my favorite Betrayer songs, Fire to the Coals. Jeff's vocals were again in top form as he soared through vocals as he nailed some notes Sebastian Bach would have been proud of. 

A few songs later and the two guitarists did Eruption by Van Halen, each taking about 20 seconds each and splitting it up. I was very impressed by their guitar skills. After another VH tune Bill (Lozon, lead guitars) took over and performed a solo of Yngwie's Golden Dawn. After his solo Betrayer said they would throw out a free CD, but if you got it you would have to stay up and Head band with them. Craig (McNorton, my lead guitarist) happened to run up and grab it and was forced to stay up there! I couldn't leave him hanging, I went to join the head banging as well. They slammed through Descendants of Death, another original. and by the end we had 15 people up front with us, and a small mosh pit began, however, that was quickly broken up.

We spent the second half of the show head banging up front; usually people would leave and others would come up to head bang with us. So far I haven't mentioned the Drums and Bass. The drummer, Shawn Bastien, would give Lars Ulrich (despite looking somewhat like Lars) a definite run for his money as he was dead on throughout the entire show. The bass player, Norm Michaud, added a pounding groove to the songs and backed Jeff up on vocals when needed. The band finished the metal-ass-kicking with an original - Wretched Ways. 

Betrayer was extremely cool to us, as well as the rest of the fans, They threw out a few free CDs at the show as well as picks (I was able to get one, as well as Craig) and drumsticks. Afterwards we were able to snag some set lists. We all shook hands with the band let them know what an ass kicking evening we had had. 

The only real faults I could find with the night would be the production, as at many times I couldn't hear the bass, Bill's guitar solos at points were hard to hear and Jeff's vocals were hard to hear throughout most of the night. One thing I wished they would have done was added more harmonies throughout the songs, as usually Jeff was left to sing parts that the other 2 stringed members could have contributed on. Other than that this band can easily give Metallica a run for their money. With their awesome musicianship, great vocals and overall tightness of the band, I feel if these guys get the break they deserve they can become huge in the Metal world. If you get the chance make sure to see this band, they will not disappoint.

Set List:

The Trooper - Maiden

Bark at the Moon - Ozzy

Seek and Destroy - Metallica

Fire to the Coals - Betrayer

Sands of Time - Betrayer

Still Loving You - Scorpions

Rock You Like A Hurricane - Scorpions

Eruption - Van Halen

Ain't Talking 'Bout Love - Van Halen

Golden Dawn - Yngwie Malmsteen (Bill's Solo)

Descendants of Death - Betrayer (Headbanging beings)

Rusted Icons - Betrayer

Aces High - Maiden

Run To The Hills - Maiden

Waiting - Betrayer

Tribulations - Betrayer

Holy Wars - Megadeth

Hanger 18 - Megadeth

Wretched Ways - Betrayer

Rating: 9.5/10

More to come!