So this past Saturday, the 25th, was the Iced Earth concert. The opening band was The Sons Of Liberty. For those of you who don’t know, Sons Of Liberty is a side project of, Iced Earth rhythm guitar player and primary member, Jon Schaffer. Sons of Liberty is all about exposing the travesty and tyranny of our government. The songs contain a REAL message.
So first off, the show was supposed to start at 7:00 PM. At least from the information I had. On top of that, way back when I purchased my tickets, the ticket order was Will Call only. I left a little after 6, so I was stressing for time, big time. Luckily my wife knows the streets of LA pretty well, so we beat a shit load of traffic.
Finally got there and picked up my tickets, and there was a huge ass line. It turns out the doors didn’t even open until 8. So, we were waiting in line. While at the end of the line, all the way around the corner of the House Of Blues, a young guy asked me if they give you your tickets at the door. I informed him that there is a Will Call window that you have to pick the tickets up at. He seemed like a nice young lad. Slightly nerdy looking. While waiting in line, we saw him come back toward the end of the line, so I caught his attention and offered him his place in front of us back. We had definitely made a friend. I’m glad though, because he was there by himself, all the way up from San Diego, and he was literally sweating it. It was his first metal concert and he was a bit nervous. I’m glad I was able to offer friendship and comfort to one who felt so out of place.
After the line slowly moved on and we were able to get in, we all went toward the merch booth and picked up our first piece of swag for the night. I myself purchased a bad ass Sons Of Liberty shirt.
We then waited around for a little while for the music to start. We stayed back with our new friend for a bit, who gave me his email address for Facebook contacting, but unfortunately, it must have fell out of my pocket during the show. Sorry bro. After a bit, we parted ways with our new friend and moved toward the front.
The crowd was eager and chanting for Iced Earth. It was fantastic. Many rabid fans…brothers and sisters in metal alike! Which reminds me, while driving on the Sunset Strip toward the house of blues, a someone suddenly cried out “Brother and Sister in metal!!!” in an awesome metal head voice, and it was a guy in the car next to us. He had seen my Iced Earth T-shirt. Going back to the crowd, the curtains began to lift and the crowd got excited. It was Jon Schaffer and pretty much everyone else in Iced Earth, doing the Sons Of Liberty set. The only one that wasn’t there was the singer, Matt Barlow, and instead an additional guitar player was there since Jon was doing vocals.
The performance was awesome. Jon quickly denounced his own vocal talent and went straight to business saying that his main purpose was to spread a message. Between each song Jon would often provide information about the songs and what they’re related to. It was very awesome. It’s awesome to see someone with the balls to go out and try to spread such a message. I think Jon is a great start of this mini revolution and others should follow suite and be an example.
After that, they took a small break and came back as Iced Earth. The show was fucking intense and the crowd was wild! Unfortunately, my wife really just got in the way. It makes it harder to have a good time when you have to watch over another person, and on top of that she brought her friggin’ purse! Uhg! The band was totally feeling the crowd, it was very obvious, and I think this crowd did give it 110%.
After the show, we lined up for the meet and greet which was a very long wait. After the meet and greet we didn’t get out until after 2:00 AM! While waiting in line we made friends with another young man that was also from San Diego. Oddly enough, I didn’t see the other young guy from San Diego who also had a VIP pass. He might of felt alone and out of place. The guys were great, they’re all very friendly guys, Iced Earth. Perhaps because they’re all older and mellow now as well. After getting our autographs and free swag, we reformed for a photo with the band. I look forward to seeing my photo with the band, they took two for us because the band was being goofy when we got up there. It was great.
Over all, it was a tiring, fun, entertaining, enlightening, educational and great show. I look forward to the next.
