When I got there, I was surprised to see that the left and right bars at Starland were curtained off. That's disappointing to me, because I feel that Skindred and Nonpoint are so good they deserve to be sold out. But I guess they're not at that level. Worked out for me though, because due to the smaller crowd, I was able to get front row barricade even after arriving 2 hours after doortime. I was a little surprised, because the show was only $25 after Ticketmaster charges, a bargain for a 7-band lineup these days. But I guess the people of NY and Jersey would rather stay in than go see some cool bands for a good price.
I arrived in time to see Australian band Karnivool, who I didn't know, but ended up being a pleasant surprise. I found them to be very interesting musically, especially their last song, which I wish I knew the name of. After Karnivool was Ankla, described as Latin Metalcore. I've never really seen a metalcore show, let alone one that utilized a shekere. Plus, they not only have a drummer, but a percussionist as well, which is definitely something you don't see every day in metal. During Ankla's set, Jose from Sirius' Hard Attack channel came up to perform. Evidently he is a big supporter of theirs, so they wanted him to come up and join in.
Following Ankla was Skindred. I've seen them before as an opener on the Getting Away With Murder tour, so I knew that their show was going to be great. I didn't remember more than three songs going into this show, but I still had fun. The singer, Benji, has a great presence and is skilled at getting the crowd into it. He has a playful personality which I find, well, adorable. Their music is like reggae-slanted metal. Very cool. My favorite song of the set was Nobody.
Finally, Nonpoint took the stage. Saturday, the day before my show, singer Elias had injured his ankle at a radiofest show down in Florida. The fact he still got on a plane, flew up to NJ, and performed hopping around on one foot just to play for us, really impressed me.
Although Elias was hindered physically, the set was still as explosive as I'd remembered from seeing them in '05 and '03 opening for Papa Roach on their Lovehatetragedy and GAWM tour as well. I didn't know every single song, only owning the live CD, but I stayed into it from beginning to end.
The drummer, Robb, is really a show on his own. First of all, he has his set facing sidestage. I'm not sure what the reasoning is. I used to think it was some kind of anxiety issue, like he is afraid to face the audience or something. But he would constantly turn to face the crowd, so that isn't it. Judging from the amount of times he would get up from his set, either to mess with bassist Bastard or Elias, or simply just to walk around, I guess that's one reason. Another is that he attacks his drums like no one else I've ever seen and just needs the space. Sometimes he'd stand up and play, sometimes kneel as he would do a soft drum roll... crazy fun to watch. Also fun, is Bastard. I've never seen anyone so into their own music. I loved it. Apparently this was obvious by the smile on my face, which Bastard recognized and so he gave me a psychotic smile back, which made me laugh.
For me the highlight of the whole set was "Alive and Kicking." To say I went apeshit during this song would be an understatement. I'm not the type to jump up and down during a song, even when the band commands me to do so, but I found myself yelling "Sooo I'm tearing this and everything else between me and what I want to do to pieces!!!" midair so I guess I am still capable of surprising myself.
After the show various band members hung out at the Merch booth, with the exception of Elias, who I assume was already backstage resting his foot. I bought a cool Skindred shirt for $25 and made my way out to the cold rainy parking lot, satisfied with the show. I got to see some cool bands I didn't know before, saw Nonpoint sing one of my current favorite songs, and all for under $30. Good day.
Photos:
KARNIVOOL:
ANKLA:
SKINDRED:
NONPOINT:
MARQUEE OUTSIDE VENUE:
