Why...MEEEEEE, of course! 
Good early morning, ladies and gents of the Noticeboard!
Just got back from the concert, voice shot, neck aching and knees hurting (from all the jumping). Yeah, that's how great it was. HALFORD, in a nutshell, was SUPERB AND OUTSTANDING!!! HOLY CRAP, WHATTA SHOW THEY PUT ON!!!! 
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My sister and I got to The Grove about half an hour before the gates opened (although not before getting lost for a bit). It was raining and there was nothing shielding the people in line from getting wet. There were random people selling umbrellas and those who were desparate enough bought them. But not my sis and I, we were cool. Heheh. When they let us in, right away I went for the merchandise. They were selling several Metal God Apparel shirts, the Hell Brawl shirt (I think it's Hell Brawl, at least), the long-sleeved shirt, the Made of Metal shirt with the tour dates (I bought that one and put it on right away), the Live in Anaheim DVD and the remastered Crucible album. We entered the auditorium and went straight for the railing at the front (yup, that's right...the very front). We were only a couple feet away from the stage! We went to the right side of the house (stage left, where Glenn would play), reached the railing, and stayed there throughout the whole thing.
The first band to perform was Warbringer, a thrash metal band. Their music was pretty good, I'll give 'em that. Heck, even a moshpit formed nearby during one of their songs. The lead guitarist was jumping around and playing some killer solos. He reminded me of KK a little bit for his energy and excessive use of the tremolo bar. Overall a good, energetic band. I give 'em an 8/10. Then came Philm, whose music was surprisingly good, in my opinion. Too bad the vocals sucked. Other than that, I liked their set and so did the crowd, which was getting bigger. I give 'em 8.5/10.
Now then. On to HALFORD!!
This was when the crowd really began to get bigger, especially when the roadies were unveiling Bobby's drumkit and testing out the guitars. I saw Roy several times while he was looking at the setup from backstage. At one point he walked onstage and got a watter bottle from the edge of the drumriser, hiding himself with the curtain while doing so. I waved at him, although I don't think he saw me. Then setup was done, and everyone was chanting, "HALFORD! HALFORD! HALFORD!", whistling and screaming. The lights went down, and that sound at the beginning of Resurrection began. Everyone began to cheer louder, especially when Metal Mike, Roy, Mike Davis, and Bobby came on. It was so cool seeing them for the first time in the flesh!!! It was almost like seeing Glenn, KK, Ian, and Scottie go onstage for the first time. AND THEY WERE ONLY A FEW FEET AWAY!!! Metal Mike began the first riff and the show began.
When it was almost time for him to sing, the one and only Metal God, Rob John Arthur Halford, came out. He was wearing a long trenchcoat that had a red dragon design on the back. The crowd went nuts, and I screamed like a banshee. I had already seen him twice before, but everytime always feels like the first time! In between songs he would talk a bit about his career, his life, etc, and he was quite funny. One speech of his that I liked was the one he gave before starting Cyberworld. He started with "I was born in 19.....23", and talked about the Internet. Haha. Overall he was in great shape and he sang and screamed so effortlessly!!! It felt as though with every tour Rob's vocals were just getting better and better!!! He was also energetic, walking from side to side, playing air guitar and interacting and singing with the other band members. Heck, just seeing him as up-close as I did, sweating and putting alot of effort and heart into the lyrics, hearing him and seeing him give it all he's got...it's like...WOW. More respect to this man, because he just blows away the crowd and makes one forget that there were even opening acts. He is, without a doubt, THE METAL GOD.
HALFORD performed just incredibly. IN-CRE-DI-BLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was so much energy coming from all sides and all members of the band!! They looked as though they were having fun and joked with each other very often. . It was also so cool seeing Metal Mike, Roy, Rob, and Mike Davis taking turns going to different sides during the show, giving us all a chance to see them up close.
Metal Mike was awesome as hell, a madman on the guitar, I tell ya!! Love the faces that he made while playing. At the end of Drop Out he kept the guitar wailing like there was no tomorrow, and after Savior, after holding up his guitar, he swerved around and knocked the mic stand down with it. BAD-FREAKIN'-ASS. At another point he was high-fiving our side. I tried to high-five him, but my arm was too small. BUT! We did have our seconds-long connection during the chorus in Thunder and Lightning. When he came near us, I was yelling, "You're the thunder, to my lightning" (yes, wrong, I know), pointing at him...and he pointed at me!!  He was so cool. 'nuff said.
Mike Davis=another great band member. He went to our side many times and during a couple of instances he lowered his bass guitar close enough for anyone with extra-long arms to touch it (or try, at least). At then the end he threw his bass to the stage. Thumbs up from me!! 
Roy Z...what can I say. I saw him lots of times while he was backstage, saw him even more during HALFORD's set. Another badass and genius on the guitar. He was in great shape...and quite a cutie, if I do say so myself. I love both of those guitarists. But of course...Glenn is always número uno in my heart. 
BOBBY! I wish I could see him a bit more, but he was hiding under all those cymbals. At one point I saw a piece of broken drumstick flying out. Excellent drummer! Kept my teeth chattering.
HALFORD's performace tonight was very special because they played an extra song!! Right after Drop Out, the band members went backstage and came back out wearing red shirts with the Big Boy's Restaurant logo on it. Rob went on explaining how they went to the Big Boy's in nearby Orange and loved it (there's one in Downey, very close to where I live, but I never went there). Then they went ahead and played "I Don't Care" from the Winter Songs album, in time for the holidays. It was quite a treat!!
Golgotha (so heavy live!!!...you just had to bang your head harder), Made of Metal, Fire and Ice (especially...Rob singing the chorus once to each side, what more could you want?!?), Nailed to the Gun (Rob "summoning" the notes from Mike's guitar, stretching out his hand from the guitar), Cyberworld, Saviour, Dropout, Thunder and Lightning, The Green Manalishi, Jawbreaker, and Diamonds and Rust were the big highlights. That connection to the band members is just made better with the fact that they paid attention to all sides and made sure you were part of the fun and mayhem. The crowd was wild and gave it their all. I kept screaming my lungs off to the lyrics, even cried from happiness. It was overall a great performace. I had a great time, and I hope to see HALFORD again, especially Rob when he tours next year with Judas Priest. Even if Judas Priest finishes for good, I hope HALFORD goes on for a little while longer. A big THANK YOU to the HALFORD band for such an incredible performace. Thank you Rob, Metal Mike, Mike Davis, Roy, and Bobby, and hopefully I'll see you guys together again in your next tour!
Rating for HALFORD's performace: 15/10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [Show/Hide Quoted Message] (Quoting Message by guidogodoy from Monday, December 20, 2010 1:44:12 AM)
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guidogodoy wrote: |
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| Who the hell is alive and kicken chicken....and giving a review of the show?!?!?!? |
Edited at: Monday, December 20, 2010 5:11:17 AM |
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